"How many things?" I'm too busy to take time to count! Sounds like you do too, Abhaya! It did hit home about juggling 6 pots on the stove when I almost put the hot peppers in the peach jam pot instead of the tomato salsa pot. Wonder if that is how "Peach Preserves for Cold Mornings" happened? LOL I did start freezing fruit when in season but I ran out of freezer space (I have 3!). Some fruit you just can't freeze, like figs. They get picked and jammed immediately, don't dry well in my Excalibur, so it is fig jam making every other day for 6 full weeks from 13 trees (what was I thinking?), and, let me tell you that pears ripen REALLY REALLY fast after you pick them so "Hurry" is their name (my DH laughs when I tell him I am full of "hurry" for the day). Macerating any fruit is best for me - two days are better than one - if the recipe warrants it. Meatless fruit mincemeat is SO much better, I've found, as are most jams made with liquid pectin, or with no pectin. It does not work with dry pectin because you mix it with the fruit BEFORE you add any sugar. I seem to remember that Carol (readinglady) said you can let the jam sit overnight in the fridge if you aren't sure of the get set with a cooked jam or jelly without pectin. That is a great tip and thanks to her for sharing, though I haven't tried it yet, but with the glut of fruit in my kitchen this week, I will. I did go, "duh!", when I figured out that I can fill a plastic dollar-store bowl with sugar and put it on my digital scale, use the same bowl without tare, and not have to level off cups of sugar repeatedly, just plop the bowl on the scale and start dumping sugar until the number is right. I marked the bowl with a permanent marker for weight of 4 cups, 5 cups, etc. Such a time saver. Duh! I also keep a teaspoon and a tablespoon in each jar of spices for quick measuring (I buy in bulk and put each kind in quart canning jars - and, I make my own pickling spice and apple pie spice mixes - very much cheaper and quicker!). I make a lot of mixed spice things so the idea of busylizzy's plastic containers is perfect for those recurring fussy measurements. Instead of containers though, I think little plastic snack bags with measurements for whatever and stuffed into a quart jar would work quite well for my major repeated jamming/pickling marathons. I put double-tipped robe hooks on the wall so that my preserving pans can live there out of the way (and can dry after washing, not in the overflowing dish drainer). When you have a small kitchen you have to think "up". Strainers and colanders also live up there, along with cupcake pans, measuring cups, spatulas and whisks, and anything else with a hole in it using these wall pins (picture hanging hooks). It may look "full" to some people but I like to think of it as "creative and functional wall art". Mind you, I have a separate canning kitchen than my home kitchen so it may not work for everyone but may be inspiring to those who have small spaces to work in as I did for many, many years. I like the idea of making brine up and refrigerating it - good tip! - thanks again buzylizzy! I've even thought of canning the brine way before cuke harvest - anyone know if that works? It might be a great winter project! One thing I simply must do simultaneously is to listen to music or books on tape while I am canning. I find I concentrate better (as any teenager will tell you) with noise. Most other times I like it very quiet. Weird, huh? Nancy Here is a link that might be useful: Wall pins-scroll to the Hillman Group Quick Hangers

Last year I wasn't sure how many plants to plant and I wanted to have a good variety, so I grew about 12 different varieties, 2 of each, for a total of 24 plants. It was just me and my wife, but I figured I wanted to try out a bunch of different varieties and figured on some possibly being duds, dying off, etc. Well, even with last year being terrible for tomato growing, I still had enough that we were eating tomatoes for lunch and dinner (hadn't found a breakfast tomato dish yet, heh), making salsa, bruschetta, and tomato sauce by the gallon, I gave 10 pound bags of tomatoes to my parents and in-laws, friends, people at work, etc... And even with all that, my kitchen counter, island, and back patio table were covered in tomatoes of varying degrees of ripeness. I didn't can any tomatoes since I frankly didn't expect what I got and was overwhelmed, and since I've never done canning, I was afraid to mess it up, heh. Those we didn't use, we gave away to friends and family. For the coming year, I want to can some, but additionally I was thinking of donating extras to local charities. That being said, I'm cutting back a little this year, from 24 plants to 18 total - I figure I'll spread them out a little more than I did originally (my garden got a little crowded towards the end of the season) and I also figured that if this season turns out to be any good at all, I should likely get even more tomatoes out of less plants. In my opinion, since you plan to can extensively, make sauces, etc., and you seem to have a short season potentially, I would still think that 50 would be enough - but being the person I am, I tend to think you should grow as many as you can comfortably. If you have extras that you can't can or use fresh, etc., I'd just give those to peopl who can use them. I am of the train of thought that I'd rather have my yard used for growing things I can eat rather than silly grass (and some weeds), heh.

For season long growing? Probably just one, maybe 2. It all depends on the variety and type of tomato plant and how aggressively you will be pruning it, and how you will be supporting it. You might fit 3 of the small dwarf types in it but it would be crowded, 2 determinate variety if supported but again the root balls will get crowded because of the depth and will need careful monitoring for water and nutrients (personally I'd only put 1). Indeterminate varieties definitely only one plant and for of the really huge varieties like Sungold it will be too small because it is so shallow. Think of it this way - the common spacing on tomato plants in the ground is 3 sq. feet. You can get by with 2 sq. feet and some do if you prune them heavily but the root balls can still get really over-crowded. Tomato plants are taproot plants and really prefer deeper containers. For example a 2'x2' by 18" container would work better. As the plant grows it will get very top heavy and such a shallow planter can easily tip over so you'll need to stake it to the ground or tie it off to something. Dave

Hi Labs! My read of the OP's: "14 inches square by 12 inches deep (iniside). If filled to depth of 11 inches this will be a little over 9 gallons (1.5 cu. ft.). " Sounds to me like they have built their own inner container and have 14" X 14" X 11" of actual soil/medium. That sounds right since the math is ok (except for the part about 1.5 cubic feet, that's a typo and should be 1.25 cubic feet). 1.25 cubic feet is 9.2 gallons, and in nursery pot-speak, is 7.25 gallons (dry wt., nursery jargon). I think you can get away with that. I have a Sungold myself in a 9 gallon (water measure) mix by coincidence at the moment and I have left the option open to add extra and can add a third more if I decide to do that. The Sungold roots are already permeating everywhere, so the cautions are all good ones. I don't plan on having the plant for a long growing season so it suits me well. I'll be sorry though, when the root mass becomes restrictive in the summer heat ... because unfortunately that is when most space is needed. Spacing you should give each plant a minimum of 4-5 square feet depending on how and where you train it, but for Sungold 10 square feet would be quite nice. Be sure you get reasonable Sun exposure for all plants. If they are in a line, I would prefer 3.5 feet minimum spacing between stems. If you do 2.0 feet you will need to culture vigorous indeterminates like Sungold with just one main stem and be pretty militant about that for Sungold. Similarly 2.5 feet spacing and you can get two main stems trained well. As mentioned their is a lot of variety in spacing the needs of different varieties ;-) Hopefully you have the vertical dimension covered ... that's the hardest part. Most of us prefer around 7 feet above ground supported distance but we take what we can get! Some of my plants are already over 7 feet tall. PC