with the recent rains i decided to pick
some of the tomatoes before they start
splitting. they were mostly ripe.

we picked eight buckets (about 130 lbs) and
most of them are resting on some tables in the
garage until i can get the processed. plenty
more on the plants, but we'll see how they do
when the sun and heat return.

and so it begins this year with those picked
and 13 quarts of tomato chunks cooling on the
counter. plus a pint of extra on the side.

we also picked four buckets of bell peppers
(red, green and slightly yellow) which will
get turned into stuffed peppers Wednesday.

it's not often i pick and process in the same
day (a bit too tough on my back and feet) so
i'm rather ready for a bit of a nap.

we decided to not put up bean salad or pickled
beets this year as we've not been eating as many
of them and still have a good supply laid by.
helps with trying to keep up with the watering and
weeding. until yesterday we'd not had much rain
for about a month so we've been behind "normal"
by a fair bit. so while these rains are not
going to help the tomatoes much they will help
the rest of the gardens and it will give me time
that i don't have to water so i can get most of
these tomatoes put up.


songbird