It's a joy when you harvest your own tomatoes and get almost free food. Happy Harvest

nanaeraba (54)in Steem-Agro • 11 days ago

So today, I had an amazing time doing something I've done over and over, to harvest the crops and cook them directly. It's not just a joy but it makes you feel you you're in control because you didn't have to depend on the market or grocery store having it.

Pluck the ripe ones

Step 1: Harvesting

I looked for the ones that are healthy and fully ripen and plucked a few because the tomatoe Stew as for myself and two sisters, we didn't need too much. We have storef the rest for later.

Careful with the knife

Step 2: Cutting

I had to cut it and as usual, be careful in the kitchen when you're handling the knife or any sharp object. I don't know anyone close how hasn't cut themselves when they started cooking. If it happens, use the first aid kit as quickly or or dress it well so you don't get infection. But I forgot to talk about washing the tomatoes properly before using them.

Make Tomatoe Blend or Puree

Step 3: Tomatoe blend

Then you blend the tomatoes. If there's no blender we manually grind it but we have a number of blenders in the house so there's no need. But in a future blog I'll show you how I grind it myself.

Smell was giving

Step 4: Cooking

Of course you'll need your peppers, your onions, your oil and salt or seasoning for flavor. Then with all that together, you cook it. I reserve the actual cooking process for another blog.

Taste is different from the grocery store ones

It's ready to serve but I know I over simplified the entire process because I'm talking about harvesting your own crop and not the cooking side. I'll share my own way of cooking in the next blog.

My Advice

My advice for anyone that can will be to grow your own tomatoes, yes, seriously. If you have a backyard garden and you still buy them from stores, then you make your life more difficult than it should be. One plant, a couple of cedis or naira or dollars to invest, dozens of tomatoes through one season, the math is easy.
Store tomatoes are harvested earlier. How else could they survive all those miles and days? So you get a tomato that looks like it should but tastes like a paper towel.

Backyard tomatoes are left to ripen fully. In a second bite, you will see why it is better than the store bought because you get more flavor and more nutrition, just like when everything you eat got its time. You are also sure about what fertilizers or chemicals are used in your tomato growth process. There is no guesswork on where the tomatoes come from since you know for sure where and how they were grown.
Waste should not be overlooked either. You can just step into your yard to harvest the tomatoes needed. There will be no plastic container with six tomatoes that you won't eat and will just forget in the fridge to rot.

And if you grow enough, you can turn all those extra tomatoes into tomato juice that you can freeze and use during the rest of the year. I plan on doing that very soon so I'll take you through the process. So you get your tomatoes in January, but don't pay for their high price and poor quality when canned.

Growing food seems to be a luxury for many people but it should not be. It is planting, watering and harvesting, as easy as it gets. There is no denying that there will still be groceries but there will also always be your backyard. And only one of them costs you money week by week.