[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Regarding Amish Paste. They really do get tall and are not vigorous producers, at least in my garden, so may not be best in a green house. Try a few next year and see!

Johnnies might have some good alternatives given that they are geared toward small farmers. (Marmond? I have not tried this; Diana have you?)

[Pollard]

I think the quantity of plants for paste/sauce tomatoes would take up too much room in my little tunnel but the only tomato canning I've done is a 7 qt load of stewed tomatoes so I don't really know how many plants I would want or need to do 2-3 loads of sauce. USDA guide to canning says 35-42 lbs for 7 qts of tomato sauce or 30 lbs for 9 pints of pasta sauce. pages 3-8 and 3-13/14

Tunnels are popular for tomatoes for small farmers but they tend to have more than one tunnel and use one or more just for tomatoes. They did a survey of Kansas farmers using tunnels and some were starting tomatoes 4-6 weeks earlier than in the field so there's definitely a benefit.

I really should start shopping Johnny's for seeds because no one else has the filters they do including greenhouse/tunnel rating.

Cauralina looks like a good candidate for a dual purpose tomato for the tunnel. Johnny's is very proud of them at almost a dollar a seed ($13.75 for 15) but if I could grow 15 plants in one row in the tunnel and get 2-3 loads of sauce plus a few to snack on, that would work.

Getting enough at one time from an indeterminate for a canner load is another story. Cauralina are 8-14 oz so at 8 oz, two per lb and I need 30-42 lbs which is 60-84 tomatoes? (Pozzano are 4-6 oz - if 4 oz, four tomatoes per lb or 140-168 fruits - insane)

So for all you tomato sauce/juice makers; Does 30-40 lbs or 60-80 or more fruits seem right for a canner load? How do you store tomatoes until you have enough for a load? Peel and freeze?