Adventures in Canning

Ok, so my garden bombed this year. The tomatoes were taken over by weeds. The bell peppers have finally started to set... see?

It looks like I have an ivory and a green in this pot.

One of my good friends gifted me some beautiful cherry tomatoes:

and plum tomatoes. I used the plum tomatoes and the few from my grandma to make Bell Fiesta Salsa last night:

Now... this was my second attempt at canning. I do not have a canning pot. These two jars are pints and are now in the fridge... I realized that the pot was going to be too short too late. The water is supposed to cover the top at least an inch or so, it was maybe half an inch. I didn't want to take the risk and put them in the fridge after they cooled. The lids didn't pop, but the buttons were down. Oh well, I know it will get eaten!

I went out today to get Red Haven peaches for jam, completely forgot the lemon juice. I'll pick it up on Thursday along with a half bushel of tomatoes for bbq sauce and more salsa. In half pint jars this time...

Not Meant To Garden This Year

I don't think I am meant to garden this year. I had this big plan. All of the tomatoes and peppers I started (except for one), have not survived. The day after I planted them, we had 4-5 straight days of rain. The one that did survive was planted before the others and hasn't grown much. But it's still alive!

I checked the four Walmart Marglobe tomatoes this morning and they are still there. However "something" dug up the Walmart Black Beauty zucchini. "Something" had been digging in my green onion pot again too. "Something" needs to find another place to hunt for food!

It looks like I'll be checking out the local farmers markets more than I planned this year...

Garden Update

I am sad to say that only ONE of my veggies survived our recent deluge of rain. It rained, hard, for 4-5 days straight... starting the day after I planted them. The only one that survived is the one that I planted a week before. It's a scraggly, sad looking tomato. We'll see how it does. I still have a tray with 10 bell peppers in the house. They are only about an inch and a half tall. I weeded an area for them yesterday. I hope to plant them in the next few days. They are still getting acclimated to the outdoors. It's getting late in the season to plant though. I might still pick up a zucchini plant, not sure yet. My green onions in the pot are doing well. Something was digging in the pot, but it seems they gave up.

Dill is coming back in my butterfly garden. I think I may get some carnation seeds (if I can find them) and sow them on the other side of the porch. I may also get some wildflower seeds for a corner of the pasture.

I never did find the missing green bean seeds... giving up on those for now. My local farm stand has awesome beans in the summer. I might as well give them some business!

Hot!

It seems that the older I get (yeah, I know... 30 isn't old), the more people complain about the weather. The winters are too cold (does seem like these last few winters have been MUCH colder) and the summers are too hot. For the last few days, we've had high 80's - high 90's. And haven't turned on the air conditioning. The house has been 85 at the highest, but not awful.

I went out in the pasture today to till up a small area to sow green bean seeds. Connor came with me and after about 40 minutes, we had both had enough. Now we're cooling off in the house in front of the fan with a grilled cheese sandwich. I love our Honeywell fans!

So... I didn't get the green beans sown yet... Why? I can't find the darn seeds!! I swear, with the way I lose things, I need to Super Glue my possessions to me. I thought they were with my other seeds. Nope. It was only a $1 packet, so easily replaced, but not the point. I've lost both of my address books at least 4 times. We are supposed to get rain for the next 4 days. If I can't find and sow them today, they will have to wait till next week. I need to get my tomatoes and peppers out too. Those might happen today. We'll see!

While I was making the grilled cheese, I was dreaming of summer foods. I can't wait to make grilled cheese with fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. I can't wait for fresh sweet corn, zucchini, onions. Yum!