THE PERFECT DAY FOR NESTING

That's what my father called it when my mother got busy baking and making jam. It was usually one of those cold English days when everyone turns to the kitchen for cheer. This morning was just like one of those days from my childhood. I call it dank, damp and dreary. I ventured outside but not for long. Bone chilling. I had a job to do in the kitchen.

Yesterday morning I uncovered the lone cherry tomato plant. It had not fared well in the frost. There was nothing to do but pick all the tomatoes and find something to do with them. I could make more green tomato chutney but I fancied a change. A little research came up with a recipe for pickling the tomatoes. I had all the equipment but needed to get a few fresh spices which I picked up at our local Central Market. What a wonderful idea just to be able to buy the small amount you need instead of a whole jar. Spices don't last for ever.

I found the recipe at Garden Betty, Four ways for pickled green tomatoes. I chose two of the suggestions. The basic pickling spices and the curry with ginger.

Here are the jars ready to go in the canner; the canner that I bought back in 1972 and have carried from house to house since then. In fact, when David got it down from the high shelf in the garage he was surprised to find two cycling helmets in there!

The canning process took 20 minutes and now I have my jars of pickled tomatoes. Can't wait to taste them. Thanks Garden Betty for the recipe.
The rest of the tomatoes I am going to make curried tomatoes as a side dish, suggested by one of my garden blogging friends. I think it might make a nice accompaniment to some Texas redfish caught by David.

THE 1LB TOMATO

Tipping the scales at exactly 1lb. It would be a celebrity even if it wasn't a Celebrity!

Just one day without picking and I have filled two colanders and a bowl. More roasted Roma tomatoes in the oven. Their wonderful aroma fills the kitchen.I am beginning to wish I had picked some of them green and made my green tomato chutney. I'm now stuffing tomatoes with squash instead of squash with tomatoes!

Thank goodness I picked the garlic and had it drying in a sheltered place. We had over 3" of rain in two days. They would have been rotting in the soil, I'm sure. Unfortunately with the rain comes the splitting tomatoes. The yellow pear are particularly affected.

BOUNTY FROM THE GARDEN

Today I picked the last of the beets from the garden. They were a second crop planted some time in March and I wasn't even sure if they would produce that late in the season. Now I wish I had put in more rows. We love pickled beets. You know what will be on the table tonight; beet tops with roasted beets. Tomatoes are in abundance and I am managing to keep down the numbers of leaf footed bugs by giving them the creep and grab treatment. These will probably be the last of the patty pans as the plants are going into a serious decline......and not due to the squash vine borer but the heat and humidity.

The Italian romas are all going to be roasted and frozen for use in the winter.

I have two kinds of yellow tomato. The first is the yellow pear which I picked up at Garden a Go Go at Diana's house. I can't remember who gave it to me but thank you anyway. It has been a great producer. Maybe I will be serving some them next Saturday for Garden a GoGo at my house!

The second I have no idea. It produces medium sized round fruit which have a strange translucent look; not terribly attractive. They are quite tasty although the heat is causing the skins to become a little tough. I probably would not grow this one again- even if I knew its name.

Either way it all makes for a great insalata caprese.

Or stuffed squash with beet tops/beets.

Yesterday I pulled out all the garlic and it is drying out on the gravel. Not the greatest crop but enough to keep us going for a few weeks. I think the garlic is better suited to sandier soils and mine might be too heavy. So the beds will mostly lay dormant until later in the year when the fall/winter crop will go in.

These are the reason we garden behind walls. Mama and baby eye me through the cedars. There is also another mama with twins.

This lone deer is a regular visitor behind the back garden. Always looking for a handout.

"Green tomatoes, red tomatoes, tomatoes with blossom end rot, beans, beet stalks..... I don't care. Just send them my way. I'll compost them for you"

Otherwise I'll just have to eat agave!

WHO'S BEEN EATING MY DINNER?

GARDEN SURPRISES

I love the common or garden coreopsis, golden tickseed, Coreopsis tinctoria. Especially when I get some variations on a theme. This year two different flowers have shown up.

These are the kind of surprises I love.

This is the kind of surprise I can do without. Yesterday I discovered my swiss chard eaten to shreds. Overnight!

Here's the culprit. They can move with some speed. I have seen them barreling across the ground.

Or should I say culprits. I no longer have any tolerance for these caterpillars and they are getting the bag treatment. Birds don't want them and nor do I. What are they anyway? I have so many of them. Some eat mint, some eat zucchini leaves, some eat chard.... in fact they eat everything.

Then there is the time spent on bended knee checking for the eggs of the squash vine borer. It's the only way to have squash.

A lucky catch. this morning I caught the culprit, but not before she had been busy laying eggs. A count of 15 this morning.

Tomatoes are looking good this year. I picked the first ripe one this week, which is a record for this garden. It was celebrity in more ways than one.

It looks as though we are going to have a late crop of beets this year. This is the first time I have planted them other than in the fall. Beets and beans in the same bed.

GREEN TOMATOES

Much as I like fried green tomatoes, a winter without green tomato chutney would be hard to take. This year, as my second planting of tomatoes struggled to make it through the hot summer, I thought there would be little chance of my picking tomatoes in the fall. I managed to pick 4 lbs last week and they went straight into the pot. Here's the recipe from last year's post.