sun dried tomatoes~

 put the sun to work for you...

cut your tomatoes into thirds and lay flat

choose your seasonings, i used s&p, lavender, basil, rosemary, italian seasoning, herbs de provence, the choice is yours.

my husband built me these stacking trays from old pallets,  

i took window screen material and fitted them inside the trays and then covered the tops, secured with push pins, to keep out the insects and birds.

i bring the trays in at night because of wildlife. in our constant heat i knew these would be ready in no more then 2 days. i kept taste testing them, i thought they were perfect in just a half of a day, but decided to give them 2 full days. 

after drying to the plumpness of raisin, i firmly pressed them tightly in an air tight jar and covered with olive oil.