Sun Dried Tomatoes ~ It’s as Simple as That!
Posted by carolom on February 6, 2011
Our Summer garden has erupted with tomatoes, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, lettuce and lots of herbs and our first crop of grapes and figs.
Late rains, lots of sun and Sal’s Gardeners know-how has resulted in a rich blessing of organically grown vegetables.
I didn’t know that it is very easy to make sun dried tomatoes. We had our first small plate of them this weekend and have made some more.
I will update the photos as the tomatoes begin to dry.
All that is needed is:
Tomatoes, a knife, a tray and some salt
Wash the tomatoes…
Cut them in half longways, leaving them joined at the bottom
Sprinkle the tomatoes evenly with salt.
Do they make your mouth water? It’s hard not to eat them when you are salting them…
Find a sunny spot in the garden and the sun will evaporate their moisture over the next few days. 
On the third day the two trays have shrunk to one and we can see the tomatoes begin to look like the Sun Dried Tomatoes they are becoming…
Janneen Wanganeen said
They look great Carol…I’m waiting on my 1st home grown tomatoes to grow! Inspirational to continue to grow home made vegies & fruit
carolom said
Now you know how to sun dry we can exchange tomato sandwiches….lol
Natures Mandalas erupting all over the garden. Just spotted Egg Plants on a bush that I didn’t know about. Deep purple fruit with purple flowers that grow on a natural downward arc….
pobept said
I am on a limited salt intake diet, a health thing, doctor said.
Anyway I did some tomato’s last summer, sliced 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick, placed 1 layer deep on a drying tray made from 1X2 board frame, screen wire stapled to the bottom and screen wire over the top to keep the little bugs out.
Covered them with clear plastic at night to keep the morning dew off of them. Removed the clear plastic when I got up and outdoors.
At 100+ degrees {38C} sun shine, it required 2 1/2 days to have them ready to package for storage. They are much better used in tomato sauce than fresh ‘winter’ tomato’s I get at my local market. I’m building several more trays and will sun dry a lot more vegetables this coming summer.
Hope you like your tomato’s as much as I enjoy mine.
carolom said
I like the sound of your drying tray Pobept…it is only low 30′sC here so I think ours will take a bit longer….
Thanks for calling by and sharing your story…
nancycurteman said
Wow, the photos were so vivid that I didn’t even read the “how to” section first time through and had to return to the beginning to learn how to make sun dried tomatoes. Beautiful.
carolom said
Stay tuned Nancy, I will be updating as they shrink and shrivel and become the deep dark drops of yummy goodness that really add something to the summer table…