Roma | Better Hens and Gardens

Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes (oven dried really)

This is the time of year when things are coming in from the garden so fast that it’s hard to keep up – I’m putting the corn, beans, squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and raspberries into the pantry or freezer in various forms as fast as I can. So, sun-drying tomatoes is a nice method of preservation because it requires little work, they’re a lot less expensive homemade than from the store, and there are a couple of recipes (like Sun Dried Tomato Dip) that I like to have them on hand for.

The only problem is, we live in Ohio, and sometimes there’s very little sun - so I make [...]

Continue reading Homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes (oven dried really)

Soil Block Tomato Seedlings

My first try using soil blocks for starting seedlings wasn’t highly successful (see Seeding Soil Blocks) because I didn’t get my grow-lights up in time to keep the seedlings going. However, it wasn’t a total loss since I’m just reusing the 3/4″ blocks to start more seedlings. The photo below shows 2 week old tomato seedlings that were started in reused 3/4″ soil blocks. These were misted frequently, and everything germinated well – I used one seed per block, and nearly every seed germinated. A heating mat would speed germination up even more, so that’s on my list of needed garden items.

The great thing about the soil blocks is that you [...]

Continue reading Soil Block Tomato Seedlings