Where the Harvest Went

I had an overabundance of tomatoes, and not enough of everything else. The tomatoes are still alive even: it is odd to still have tomatoes in November here. I guess it is just making up for the late start I had with them.

I had a friend post her canning activity, and I was saddened because I felt like I hadn’t done anything. In reality, I did plently. I was just a bit lazy about it. Here’s what I have

cans

My mom came to my house with apples from her trees and made me twelve quarts of applesauce. It was awesome. Moms are great. I also made about 12 quarts of tomato juice. I don’t drink tomato juice, but it does make some pretty awesome tomato soup. I’m sad because I didn’t do peaches this year. We had a peach tree in a community orchard, but it froze. I didn’t can tomatoes, because I still have some from last year.  I made a grand total of one quart of pickles, but otherwise the cucumbers didn’t do well.

I froze a lot. It’s simple, and I’ve got a chest freezer to fill up anyway. There’s about 8 bags of grated zucchini, 15 or more bags of salsa, three bags of marinara, and another 12ish bags of whole and crushed tomatoes. We had as many tomatoes and tomatillos as I wanted. I simply stopped picking them after awhile. I also have a winter squash to break open and freeze soon.

Not a bad year. I think it’ll last me awhile. But next year: less tomatoes, more of about everything else.

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Creating a Harvest

The summer squash has been producing. That’s about it for now. The tomatoes didn’t set fruit in the high temperatures in June. I’m regretting only planting heirlooms. Hybrids often have better fruit set in the heat. The other plants are coming along slowly. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been able to get a harvest and eat it, just that I have needed to be a little more creative.

For example, I made this stir-fry the other day. Ingredients: summer squash, banana pepper, green onions. beet greens, dandelion greens, fennel leaf, and leftover chicken. I had not idea how it would turn out. It was delicious.

I like eating common weeds. Besides dandelion greens, I’ve also been eating the common weed purslane, especially since my lettuce just started to bolt. (Which I’m fine with. I’m sick of lettuce, we’ve had an unlimited supply the last few months.) Their are veggies I can pick if I don’t mind them small: potatoes, carrots, and beets. I think it is better to pick veggies when you need them, even if they will get bigger. Better to have a small consistent harvest than more produce than you need all at once.

squash

The last of the lettuce.

The last of the lettuce.