I'm new, too. A local community center takes in excess backyard produce near us. With luck I'll need to use them, but I'd like to make "tomato concasse" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concasse) and then freeze it in zip-top bags. I saw Alton Brown do that on his "Good Eats" show and it looks promising. I would love a freezer full of tomatoes in the fall and winter.

You can core and freeze them just as is, then thaw out for soups etc.

You can also can - check out the harvest forum here, lots of good information. There are tons of things you can make with tomatoes canning them :)

Salsa's, Tomato Sauce etc etc

Soup kitchens, senior centers, family, friends, neighbors or bring a box of them to church on Sunday morning. Too many tomatoes? Never an issue.

I did think of the church, so that is a possibility (and I've looked into canning/freezing - I don't know if I'm that great a cook! :) )... I just didn't know if these places will take produce from someone walking in off the street. But maybe if they think I have an honest looking face.

I'm just worried I'm about to be pummeled. The small ones (pears, grapes & cherries) started turning red/yellow over the weekend and I have a couple dozen larger tomatoes that have been full-size for a couple weeks now and they look like they are just starting to turn.

There are a plethora of food pantries and 'soup kitchens', although I have no contacts at any it might be worth it to call or just pop into one and see if they can use them. Last year I took some to work, and gave some away to friends and neighbors, but the bulk of my tomatoes went into spaghetti sauce. I chop a bunch of tomatoes, boil them in just enough water to cover and for just long enough to turn them to mush, then I use a spatula to mash the pulp through a screen while separating out the seeds and skins, simmer it down to the desired consistancy, then add some chopped onion, pepper, garlic, and basil, to taste, simmer it for a bit more, and you have a nice simple sauce. I freeze some and can a lot of it in my pressure canner. It takes a few tomatoes to make a bit of sauce, maybe something like forty pounds of tomatoes for 7 quarts of sauce if I recall correctly. I used or gave away all that I made last year, and I bet I could go through 50 jars if I made them, so it will be hard for me to grow too many tomatoes on my urban lot.

Well, you could just box up the excess and send them down here. ;D

bcskye "Well, you could just box up the excess and send them down here. ;D"

Yeah, send me some,too! What a nice problem to have! I give loads of tomatoes to people at work, at church, and to family members. We eat a lot of them, and the wife cans the rest. I oughta be selling some!

Thanks, xwagner, for the tip on coring and freezing. Sounds easier than canning.

One of the "problems" I have is I've already given family and friends some of the 20 +/- plants I just had no room to plant. So they probably won't need that many... I work out of my home, so no office...

I do have a friend who is very active in our church and she's going to check on that for me. I do like the idea of the pasta sauce. I'm one of those people that prefers my tomatoes in the cooked form.

Any suggestions on which of these might make a good sauce?

Black Krim
Black Russian
Cherokee Purple
Paul Robeson
Orange Oxheart
Lemon Boy
Carbon
Gold Medal Yellow
Green Zebra
Black Ruffles
Ceylon
Ghost Cherry
Moonglow
Red Pear
Yellow Pear
Jaune Flamme
Mortgage Lifter
Julia Child
Aunt Ginny Purple
Red & Yellow Brandywine (though these two have been slow... The red is just starting to bud and the yellow now has a couple small tomatoes)

You can pretty much mix and match, the coloring and taste will be affected, I prefer a more traditional red sauce, but when you reduce them down, they will all be pretty sweet. I like the lemon boy and I like the cherries because they are generally sweeter and I have a bit of a sweet tooth. You don't have to reduce the paste ones as much as they contain less water to start.

Hello zeke!

If you google Chicago farmers market, follow the link for chicagowatch.org, they have an application & requirements.

Another thought would be to sell via craigslist.

Well, I don't think that you'd have trouble giving tomatoes away to food pantries, neighbors, etc. but I also think that you'll be happy if you end up saving them so that you can use them when these beautiful summer days are but a memory.

With the cherries/grapes/small ones, I freeze them whole on cookie sheets and then toss them into freezer bags to store. Throughout the year I toss them in a pan them along with olive oil, pesto, etc. and let them thaw to create an instant yummy sauce for pasta.

With bigger ones, you can puree them, then strain out the peel/seeds. Add them to a pot of sauteed diced onion/garlic and herbs and cook slowly to reduce down to a rich tomato sauce, perfect for pasta. Can add in meat, or other veggies as desired and then freeze.

The rest, I'd can and use throughout the year in a myriad of recipes. Canning isn't terribly hard once you get the basics down.

I too had crazy germination rates with my heirloom tomatoes (I didn't know quite what to expect from WSing) and gave away close to 150 plants. Still have around 40 waiting for some more warm days to bring forth their bounty so I can get my tomato plans rolling.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for all the helpful tips! They are appreciated.

As a side note... What percentage of seeds you start do you normally expect to make it to the fruit producing stage?

Are heirlooms substantially better or worse?

I'm thinking you're going to need to do more than can or freeze. I got over 350 lbs. of tomatoes from 15 plants and you have 4 times that amount.

Try Greater Chicago Food Depository.

I had a 100% success rate with all my heirloom seeds this season. Last season I only had one that didnt pop up. Perhaps your friend was using old seeds.

WIll they cross polinate with eachother and produce hybrids?

Someone told me that I would be lucky with heirlooms to get 25%

I don't know why people get these false ideas about heirlooms. They may not be as disease-resistant as some hybrids, but they grow just fine and I have always had near 100% survival rate of seedlings that I grow from seed.

Anyway, I hope you find some good uses for all the extra tomatoes. Sounds like you've done well for a beginner who "messed up".

We have a homeless center nearby which would gladly take any produce people have. I hope you can find something like that so your excess fruit does not go to waste.

Congratulations on a successful garden. You've done Mom proud! Wouldn't she be pleased?!

I just got an email that is perfect! Check out www.ampleharvest.org. It is a program designed to get back-yard gardeners extra produce into food pantries. What a great idea! I think I will post this info on other forums.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ample Harvest Website

Last year brokenbar posted a recipe for 'sun' dried tomatoes. It's terrific and a great way to use those extra tomatoes you'll have.

Here is a link that might be useful: sundried tomatoes

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. It appears there are a couple food pantries not too far away.

As for the question would my Mom be pleased? I think so... Though I'm sure there is a small part of her going "Why couldn't I get you interested in the last 40 years?"
:)

The trouble with too many tomatoes is picking them, especially cherry tomatoes. A lot of people would like free tomatoes if you would give them to them on a silver platter,but how many would go out in the hot sun and get rashes from rubbing against the tomato plants and pick a bucket of cherry tomatoes, its very time consuming. I was thinking about letting people pick them themselves, but they might damage the plants or bring in disease if the were smokers.