Harvested grapes
As I mentioned in my last post, animal activity can be a good indicator that a crop needs to be harvested – and fast. After harvesting our favorite apple tree last weekend, I went to check on the grapes. Sure enough, the birds have been swinging by there too so I started that harvest. I could tell I had already lost part of the crop to birds, but we still had a lot left.
Tomatoes ripening for processing
Slow and steady, I continue to harvest tomatoes. In the picture above, you can see a batch of paste tomatoes I brought inside to fully ripen. These have since become sauce. I’ve got another batch ripening right now and think I’ll be able to pick one more before the tomatoes totally give it up. Above, you also see a batch of Beefsteak tomatoes from the market. My tomatoes alone have not been enough for sufficient sauce making this year.
Second batch of tomato sauce
And here is the finished sauce! Sometimes I make a chunky sauce. This batch is smooth, made so by using the food processor on the onion, carrots, and celery. You’ll notice that the sauce is in pint jars instead of quarts. I find that a pint of sauce is just about perfect for a family dinner and I’d much rather use the whole jar at once instead of having to put leftovers in the fridge and possibly forget about (and waste) it.
Right now, the sun is shining brightly, which means I’ve got excellent weather to complete some outdoor early fall tasks. First up, we need to do a general tidying of the garden. We need to mow, weed whack, and clean out some of our spent beds. Later in the fall, after our Big Leaf Maple has dropped its leaves, I’ll create a leaf mulch from the leaves to use as a nice thick mulch for the empty beds. Also in my plans for today: garlic planting. I’m planting three varieties this time: Inchelium Red, German Extra Hardy, and Broadleaf Czech. I grew the Inchelium Red last year and saved some bulbs for planting. The other two are new to me so I had to order the bulbs. Garlic bulbs are pretty expensive so I am hoping that I’ll be able to grow enough of each variety to avoid having to purchase new bulbs next year.
Oh, I almost forgot that I’ve got another box of pears to can this weekend, even though they are a pain in the ass.
Hope you are enjoying fall so far.
Sandy
The 10 Year Challenge 