Canning, especially tomatoes

I am planning on canning whole peeled tomatoes this year. I will end up with about 10 pounds of tomatoes from my garden and I am going to buy another 10 pounds from a farmstand. I have a few questions for people who have done this before...

1. I have jars and lids and the water bath canner. Anything else I need, equipment wise?

2. Any tips for canning in a very small kitchen with minimal counterspace?

3. I've been picking and freezing tomatoes as they get ripe. I've been told that when you thaw frozen tomatoes the skin slide right off... any experience with this? I know I have to blanch the fresh ones.

4. Any general tips you can give me from personal experience? And what else do you can, besides tomatoes? I'm going to give pickles a shot as well.

Re: Canning, especially tomatoes

No advice, but wanted to say good luck. I am going to try canning this summer too.

Re: Canning, especially tomatoes

I have canned before- not whole tomatoes, but fresh crushed tomatoes. It was a lot of work, I won't lie. I prefer canning jams.

I always found this site to be very useful
fresh picked canning