Tomato Canning
The Ozarks farms grow many different kinds of crops, from corn to hay. Many farmers would tell you that rocks are the most prolific field crop! But for nearly seventy years, tomatoes were a vital part of the local economy. Tomatoes were suited to the soil found in Taney and Stone County, plenty of water was available, and large families provided a labor force.
The first step in raising tomatoes was clearing ground. Trees were cut, stumps dug out, the dirt plowed, and marked for the tomato plants. Tomato seeds were planted to produce seedlings. The small plants would then be transplanted to the fields when the chance of frost was past. The average field was four acres in size and the whole family was involved in the transplanting process. As the tomato plants grew, weeds had to be pulled and plants watered during dry spells. Eventually, sometime in late July or August, the tomatoes would be ready for harvest. The family would all turn out to pick the fruit and the first part of the tomato harvest was done.
The second part of the tomato harvest was canning the fruit. The first tomato cannery in the area was built in 1895 in the central part of Stone County. At the height of the tomato production there were as many as 60 canneries in Taney and Stone Counties. Many started as small outdoor canneries. Empty cans would be shipped in from eastern steel towns already sealed except for a small hole in the top. Tomatoes were forced into the cans through holes that were then soldered shut. The cans were cooked, cooled, and sold to the buyer. These small outdoor canneries produced 500 to 1,000 cans each year.
As developments in agriculture such as fertilizers and hybrids came into use, tomato production increased. Canneries also grew. They moved into buildings where the hot summers and the heat from the cookers led to intolerable heat for the workers, mostly women. Tomatoes had to be sorted, washed, scalded, and peeled by hand. They were then packed into cans, sealed, cooked, cooled, boxed, and shipped. Ozarks tomatoes went to stores across the country.
One of the most interesting canning factories was at the School of the Ozarks. The School built its first factory in 1928 and rebuilt it in 1939. Students provided all the labor for the growth, harvest, and canning of tomatoes and green beans. In 1939 the School produced 400,000 cans of vegetables.
By the 1960s, it became easier and more profitable to grow tomatoes in the agricultural areas of Florida and California. The last canning factory in the Ozarks, located in Reeds Spring, closed in 1968. The industry was gone but Ozarkers still prize their homegrown tomatoes.
Works Consulted
Image of canning label courtesy of Lyons Memorial Library, College of the Ozarks
Godsey, Helen and Townsend. Flight of the Phoenix: The Biography of the School of the Ozarks . . . a Unique American College. Point Lookout, MO: School of the Ozarks Press, 1984.
McGill, Robert. "Red Gold--Ozark Tomatoes." In the Heart of Ozark Mountain Country. Reeds Spring, MO: White Oak Press, 1992, pp.94-98.
