These early mornings. Yesterday I was out the door and on the road around 5am heading to town. It was nice with very little traffic I was able to drop off empties at one brewery and then pickup 3 barrels at the other brewery. Once home I quickly emptied the barrels into the sheep pen, unhooked the trailer, and was able to still get a half hour of soak time before having to get J up for school.
The hunter's moon was still hanging in the sky. We got to see it when it rose and then when it set.
With J to school I had to get the tomatoes going. This time I chose to use the Kitchen Aid juicer. I started with the Tsunshingo and bumblebee tomatoes, followed by the cherries. That gave me the nearly full bowl of juice that went to the kettle.
The mortgage lifter and Tom's all got cut to pieces then run through. They gave me a nice red juice and filled the bowl to the brim. I haven't used the juicer that much but am totally sold on it now, especially for paste.
With the juice all together it gave me a slightly yellow mix that mellowed as it cooked to a more reddish orange color. I set it to start heating about 11:30am and it started to boil about noon.
The tomato set to heat I headed out to build the sides for the trailer. The wood had the nails removed already so it was just a matter of cutting the lengths and putting it all together.
Between trips to the house to stir the tomatoes I got the wood all cut and laid out. The bottom piece of each side is the taller 12 inch wide and the top piece is the 10 inch wide.
The sides went together fairly easily and it started to take shape quickly.
I have a few things that I will be having to do like cut holes for my ratchet straps to fit through under the boards so I can tighten barrels down and I need a new hinge for the rear.
I had to take a break to go pickup J from school. Again I pull into the parking lot and there is a classic car parked in the line. Looks like a mid 40s Chevrolet, maybe early 50's.
Crazy cool color and in quite nice condition.
The tomatoes had been bubbling for 2 hours and had reduced maybe 1/4 of the volume.
The rear gate of the trailer is a single height board and I could only find a door hinge so had to make due with it for now until I can buy a correct hinge.
The closure is a gate hasp thing that works for now.
The rear gate will only swing 180 degrees right now so will stick out perpendicular to the trailer too far. The new hinge will allow it to swing forward towards the wheel so it isn't hanging out in space.
I used the framing brackets to attach it to the trailer deck. I want it solid but also removable and since I have no welder to build bracket for the outside I had to make it work for now. The sides are on pretty strong now and I can push and pull on them without them giving too much. I am not sure if I will leave the sides on for long since I mainly need them to haul the debris away from the roofing project.
Finally the tomatoes had reduced enough, it took until after 4 pm for them to be thick enough. I ended up filling 12 half pints completely and had none left in the kettle. They went into the hot water bath for 35 minutes and then cooled in the towel overnight.
Today it will be raining all day, I am going to be resting my foot and prepping for my ham exam tomorrow.
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Now that's a productive day. Awesome stuff. That trailer is looking good, too! It's great to be able to do that sort of thing on your own.
All while nursing an injury which came back to get me in the evening. I have a need to be doing constantly, partly to regularly feel this feeling of accomplishment. I truly love diy and it is generally do it by myself which makes me have to be more crafty in making things work, especially heavy stuff.
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Gab
a very productive day friend congratulations
Nice trailer build. Much like here, making do with what you have around. Tomato sauce does take a long while to cook down.