Last year it was so hot that our tomatoes never really grew. The plants grew big enough, but it was too hot for the blossoms to hang on and really form into tomatoes. We got a stray one here or there, but hardly any until the end of the season when it had cooled off. We ended up picking a bunch of green ones in October and had them ripen over the winter. Not this year. We came home from our vacation and the tomatoes were ready. I was able to have enough ripe at the same time to bottle them. I got 7 quarts of tomatoes--from our very own garden. It's a lot of work, but worth it. [It may be cheaper to go buy canned tomatoes, but we know we can grow and preserve our own food if the need arises.]