Friday, September 26, 2008

Busy, Busy

If you've been wondering where we've been, maybe this photo will give you an idea. We have an over abundant crop of tomatoes this year. Here is a photo of our first picking.
Actually it is The King and Duchess' first picking. She is our garden fairy...loving each and every aspect of the garden. When The King planted tomatoes, she was right by his side handing him the plants and helping press them into the ground. When he was weeding, she was right there with him, never complaining, not even when she would get pricked by a thistle. When he was harvesting, she was hauling buckets and buckets of tomatoes to add to the pile. She absolutely loves to garden!
Then she stayed by his side as they prepared the tomatoes for canning.
The day they picked, the tomatoes were wet and muddy. Duchess took it upon herself to wash the tomatoes before The King began the blanching process. As you can see, she was the ONLY child of ours who considered helping with this part. Then Jouster stepped in by coring and peeling gallons and gallons of blanched and cooled tomatoes.I didn't com into play until after Jouster finished coring and peeling. I decided what the final product would become and bossed people around. I'm good at that--bossing people around--I think it is a firstborn thing. Here is a look at some of our efforts. Above are whole tomatoes, tomato juice and tomato soup base. We learned a lesson this year. If the tomato product has not been cooked before processing, the water from the tomatoes will separate (the tomatoes on the right side of the photo show separation). If you don't mind how it looks it saves a step in the whole process.
Here is some of our salsa. There are a few jars of pickles hiding in the back. I think we have about 160 quarts of canned "stuff" so far.

Yep, we are still here. We've just been a little busy.

7 comments:

  1. Whoa! That is a ton of put up tomatoes. You must be oozing tomatoe juice through every one of your pores. Bet you'll be healthy all winter with all that vitamin C.

    great job

    Kimmie
    mama to 6
    one homemade and 5 adopted

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  2. I'm so jealous! That would save us a ton of money. Someday maybe. We're starting small. This year I got black dirt and a spot for the garden. Next year, plants.

    My photo tips are to shoot really close to the subject, don't try to fit all the action in one photo, and take a ton of pictures.

    I've taken my cues from mycharmingkids.net

    It's always so good to hear from you. I hope you're feeling better.

    Please connect J and J Moore to Amanda's site if possible. I'm forgot to save their address after they sent a gift when Amanda came home. But I think if them. T. and S. G., too.

    Katie

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  3. Beautiful Tomatoes! I can see you have been busy, your Garden Fairy is a real trooper! :)

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  4. Wow!! Bet you are so proud of Duchess and Jouster! :)

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  5. I just picked a bunch more tomatoes today but am having a hard time finding the time to get it all done! I wanted to make pickles this year too but my cucumber plants drown out this spring....bummer!

    I love canned salsa....yummy! Spaghetti is the only other tomatoe product I make.

    You are lucky you have help....none of mine help me at all!

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  6. HI MIchelle!!

    Glad to hear that you are back and all is well, I did alot of gardening with my Mom growing up , you are giving your children such a wonderful gift, one that they will remember for the rest of their lives and probably give to their kids!

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  7. Wow, that is a lot of tomato's. Very cute helper you have there.

    Julie

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