weekend shots

I truly have been consumed with garden and canning responsibilities for the past several weeks.  Yesterday afternoon I put up six quarts and seven pints of diced tomatoes.  I do love it.  Shaun asked me if I was about done canning for the season.  I told him "as long as there is an abundance of tomatoes out there, I am not finished."  Our next few years of canning may not be filled with such a lucky crop and I would hate to kick myself for letting him mow down the plants when there could have been more done.  As long as I've got the jars... which I am down to quart sizes only pretty much, I will keep going.  Although salsa in quart jars may seem a bit much.  I love it and every day at work I secretly hope to be able to leave early so I can get started.  Crazy lady.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

tomatoes to feast on

After a few bad luck years with tomatoes we have surely been blessed this year.  We have more than once filled our back picnic table with delicious red fruits fresh from the garden.  I have been canning my little heart out and not complaining a bit about it.  It's amazing what things seem to overwhelm and something like this does not.  Even though I was pulling jars out of a canning bath at nine thirty last night.  I have put up five batches of salsa, three batches of tomato juice, two batches of pasta sauce and two batches of diced tomatoes... and I'm not done yet!  I haven't actually had enough tomatoes to can diced tomatoes (not to mention juice) since 2010.  A home canner will begin to ration the goods.  To this day I have one jar of homegrown diced tomatoes left in the basement pantry... just in case.  I love the whole process from starting my own seeds for the garden, planting the garden, hoeing, weeding, nurturing, picking and putting up.  It's all so lovely when it goes as planned and truly takes several months.  I start seeds in late March and plant the plants in May then now it's August and they are producing like crazy.  And the other thing is (I'd better watch my bragging) that the tomatoes are stellar with no rot, very little bad spots and no splitting.  If you don't believe me... see for yourself.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful gardening and canning season!

My... what beautiful peppers you have!

Looks like a tomato party!

Canning salsa last night.

The crushed and diced tomatoes.

Please don't think that all is perfect in my little canning world.  I filled a jar with tomatoes that apparently wasn't hot enough to handle the hot tomatoes and when I picked it up the bottom fell off.  I had tomato and juice in the drawer and cabinet and floor.  Luckily it was only a pint jar!

And finally... a recipe.  This is the recipe I used for two batches of tomato juice that I have full intentions of enjoying in a bloody mary on some cold winter morning or day.  They will also be used as back up for soups and such.  This recipe has just the right amount of spice and heat and once in a glass of ice all that is needed is the vodka and Worcestershire sauce and maybe a little salt.  Or you can leave out the vodka all together and have an amazing nutritious drink.  Enjoy!

By the way... for my batches of this I used my father-in-law's banana peppers which have a lot of heat this year and I used my Vitamix to chop my peppers, onions and celery.  What a life saver!  And always remember to use gloves when handling peppers.

Grow Baby Grow

 

I feel like we are in the down hill stretch of seed starting and really we are.  This year I started a lot of seeds indoors, especially in the tomato department.  I currently have 96 plants if they all make it.  I know that sounds like a lot but to me it is just about right.  We will plant our normal batch in our garden which is usually around eighty of the same variety, a handful at the day care and the rest are late tomatoes that won't get planted until later.  This time I have about half Bradley, half Roma for the first batch planted.  I will can the Bradley's and make pasta sauce and make salsa from the Roma's.  The store on Etsy that I ordered my Bradley seeds from also sent a free packet of variety tomatoes, of which I planted them all like a good girl.  So really, my late tomatoes are a grab bag assortment and who knows what we will get.  The good part about that is that if we get something we like we can save our seeds for next year.

 

I also have cabbage and eggplant planted which is the first time I have begun both from seed.  They are doing great.  My green peppers did not come up so I will have to buy those plants. 

I have two dill plants which need a few more weeks, zinnias in two varieties who are ready for the ground, and a new flower that I've never grown before called Cleome. 

 

I have been caring for these little seeds, seedlings and plants for weeks upon weeks now, watering putting in sunny windows and moving them outside on sunny days and back in at night.  I actually get nervous when they are first planted in the ground like a little mother hen thinking a rain drop will drown them.  Our planting time seemed like it was taking it's sweet time getting here since we plant on May 10th or there-a-bouts.  This year we are already planning to wait another week or two.  The ground temperature is not warm enough nor dry enough to plant for our taste.  It takes warm ground to make these babies grow and I am not convinced that we won't have another frost.  I have to say it is ok with me right now that my plants have a couple of more weeks to mature.  If not, I would be stressing about not having them in the ground and might be tempted to plant them when I shouldn't.   Patience and gardening grow hand in hand.

 

Late tomatoes.

 

They look like they need water but really they don't.  I watered then decided that some needed a little more soil for support. 



Busy Bee

Lately, I have had a whole lot of doing and not a lot of sharing!  I have had many days of work at the day care (thank goodness!) and after work it is on to watering, chicken feeding, husband feeding, working on the dove hunt magazine and gardening.  By the time I sit down it is time to turn on Sanford and Son and call in the dogs. 

Today I thought I would take a quick minute to share some pics of our garden.  All the hard work shows I think!  And finally I noticed this morning that my egg gourds are finally coming up.   After three tries, with apparently old seeds, I bought some new seeds on Etsy and planted egg gourds for the fourth time.  Now we will have eggs to decorate next Easter that won't go bad!  I can't wait.  All I have left to plant for now are pumpkins.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow night since the seeds need to be soaked.

Dill reminds me of fireworks.

Green beans and black beans.  Laurie... you've got some canning to do!

My husband, showing how tall the trees have gotten that were plated a couple of winters ago.

This picture was taken a week or more ago.  We strawed our tomatoes this year to help with the weeds and water.

Volunteer Zinnias.  Came back from last year, along with volunteer basil, dill, and sunflowers.

Canned Tomato Basil Sauce

I finally gathered enough tomatoes to can something!  Garden-wise, our tomato crop of 53 plants had a rough beginning, as did everyone I talked to near and far around this area, not just up here on the hill.  We had a lot of heavy rains early on this summer followed by very hot, dry days in the 95-100 degree range.  Soaked soil + hot on top isn't good for tender roots of tomato plants apparently, at least that's all we came up with as an excuse.  When our tomatoes did start to turn red on the bottom they also started to rot on the bottom.  Or the tops began bleaching out before the whole thing had a chance to finish turning.  I had to start picking the tomatoes as soon as I saw them even slightly begin to turn colors.

Once our tomatoes seemed to be doing alright, they ALL started to turn.  After having thoughts of "we are never going to have tomatoes" and "just weed-eat and mow 'em down, they are breaking my heart" to "wow here they are... this is going to be a fast and short season!"  I am thankful for what we have gotten and have tried my hardest to make the most of what we have been blessed with.  I also made the most of what our neighbor Mr. Butler shared from his tomato patch in which I didn't have to be told twice to get what I wanted out of!

Since August 4th I have managed to can 7 pints of tomatoes and okra, 4 pints of seasoned tomato sauce, 5 pints of pasta sauce using Mrs. Wages mix (which is my favorite and seems to be obsolete around here) and 12 pints of tomato-basil sauce.  All in all I have used somewhere around 64 pounds of tomatoes.  I would like to put up at least two more batches of sauce that can be used in recipes from spaghetti to minestrone soup throughout the winter so we'll see.

I would also like to share the recipe I used to can the tomato basil sauce.  I wish it only took an hour start to finish and I wish you would end up with mega pints of sauce but sadly... no and no.  But the recipe will be a wonderful base for many dishes that call for pasta sauce and can be seasoned later on with garlic, Italian seasonings, vegetables... whatever you wish.  I know it smells fabulous cooking in the kitchen and will aid in keeping us healthy until next year.

Tomato Basil Sauce

10 pounds tomatoes
3 Tablespoons fresh, chopped basil, or 1 tablespoon dried
Lemon juice
Salt

Peel tomatoes by dipping in to boiling water for about one minute.  Allow to cool to the touch and easily remove skins.  Core tomatoes (cut the top off) and cut in to quarters.  Place half of the tomatoes into a large, stainless steel stock pot and bring to a boil, crushing with a potato masher.  Add remaining tomatoes, turn to a lower temperature and allow to simmer uncovered for two hours stirring often as to prevent sticking.  Remove from heat and stir in basil.  Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use canning salt) into each hot pint jar.  Ladle hot sauce into jars, wipe rims clean, add hot lids and screw bands on finger-tip tight.  Process in a boiling water canning bath for 35 minutes.  Allow to cool.  Label jar contents and store.  Enjoy as you wish during the coming, fresh tomato-less months.

That's Amore

Last night for supper I made Talapia with lemon sauce, asparagus, italian tomatoes and lemon poppy seed muffins... all in under 30 minutes. Sometimes timing is everything. Of these recipes I want to share the Italian Tomato side dish that I made because tis the season for homegrown tomatoes which are the best and it's simple. So for you tomato lovers... here it is.

Italian Tomatoes (for 2... cause that's all there is at our house :)

2 large tomatoes
4 Tbsp italian breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice tomatoes in half. Squeeze ever-so gently to get some of the seeds out. You can cut a few out. Place tomatoes in a casserole dish flat side up. In a small bowl combine breadcrumbs and olive oil. I also had fresh basil on hand from my herb garden so I cut about a tablespoon of that up and added it. You can also use just breadcrumbs and add whatever spices you like. Spoon the mixture on top of the tomatoes. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.

I am a tomato lover especially this time of year when they are fresh from our garden. I'll try just about any recipe that includes them!!!