I got my first cucumber! Only one, but more are coming. It was really good with cut up tomatoes with dinner that night. I didn't even think to get a picture of it before I hauled it inside for dinner. Aside from my first cucumber of the year, this week was all about the tomatoes. Boy, did we have tomatoes. Good thing I'm off work for a few more weeks, because I was able to can a boatload of tomato things. I canned 6 quarts of tomato juice yesterday. Here's the before:
And here's the after! I just love looking at my filled jars!
10 quarts of chunky pasta sauce (new recipe.) This brings my total pasta sauce up to 19 quarts. That ought to be enough for the year!
And enchilada sauce! Ok, it started out as salsa, but then I was multi-tasking, and trying out two new recipes, and not really following either one, and talking on the phone, and it didn't really want to be salsa anyway, but enchilada sauce instead. So I canned the second batch in quarts instead of pints. Here it is in my pantry, just waiting for the middle of winter for me to come home from work and have some for dinner. I can just hear them saying, "Pick me! Pick me!" Aren't they pretty? I think I might look for some new, more modern shelf paper for my pantry, though! What do you think?
Oh, and the sunflowers are all starting to flower! I was able to pick 2 bouquets to bring inside this week. I have a volunteer in with the tomatoes in one of my beds, and I picked a few from that plant, along with some in a new area not planted before.
I'm happy to report that my chard is coming back from the dead. I messed up on the watering, and I thought it was being watered automatically, only to find that it was, in fact, trying it's darnedest to live on nothing! I revamped my drip system in that bed (long story, even longer bed!) and my chard can now live happily ever after. The End!
Total this week: 67.25 lbs
tomatoes 54 lbs
squash 9.25 lbs
chard 3.25 lbs
cucumber .75 lbs
You have been quite busy canning!! I canned all day today.
ReplyDeleteIt is well worth it when winter arrives :)
Robin, YES! A girl after my own heart. :)
ReplyDelete~~Lori
Woohoo! We got 4 jars of the salsa done last night!
ReplyDeleteWOW! I'm envious! lol You've been busy canning all those tomatoes! Homemade is the best!
ReplyDeleteThat chard should get a medal for bravery in living despite lack of water! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThe tomato preserves look wonderful and I too love to admire my finished jars of produce. Something really beautiful about how they look and what they represent - food for the long winter ahead.
Chard can survive just about anything. Once I tilled the bed with some chard in it - it survived and produced new growth.
ReplyDeleteLovely jars of pasta and enchilada sauce.
Oh look at all those cans of tomatoes. I did salsa, sauce, and juice too, but not nearly so much.
ReplyDeleteYour tomato harvest simply amazes me, not to mention your canning abilities!
ReplyDelete