If you’ve been following along for the last three years (and I know you have been), you know that I haven’t been successful growing tomatoes. Until now, that is. I started plants from seed myself, and the 5 gallon buckets I have them in have worked out very well. My red cherries and yellow pears have been moving along very nicely, even with some branches yellowing, curling, and dying. I think it’s because of uneven watering and the intense heat upstairs. The deck radiates heat, so I lose more water.
Here are a few gratuitous beauty shots of my growing tomato babies.
Yesterday we had a MASSIVE rain storm that last lasted about 15 minutes. I collected 40 gallons of water, which was great. We haven’t had rain in over a week, so all of the plants were happy. This afternoon I noticed that several tomatoes had suddenly ripened and were actually starting to crack. I picked nearly 2 1/2 pounds of tiny tomatoes! They each had one of three destinations:
1) Ripe ones went to the jam pot. Today.
2) Almost ripe headed to a paper bag to finish ripening. 1-4 days.
3) Green (no color, very hard fruit) were sent to the pickle jar to become cocktail garnishes. 2+ weeks.
So then I made tomato jam. I used this basic recipe for cherry tomato jam from Jordan’s Kitchen. I had about two pounds to work with. Then I canned them in a water bath. Wound up with 4 perfectly filled 8 oz jars. WOW. I’m so excited to use it. Goat cheese and crostini. Or maybe just a spoon.
I hope that I’ll be able to harvest at least the same amount again in a few weeks. I now feel very comfortable with tomatoes on the roof. Keys are small varieties and keep them watered.
Roof Garden Gal 
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