Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

65°f18.3°C, clear and low humidity. Perfection!

You know how we all long for the first fresh, ripe tomato? And how heavenly that first bite is, every summer? 

And then, here they come. Lots and lots of them! From the sweet little cherry ones

to the pink and yellow and black and red, suddenly there is a glut of tomatoes!

And then our friend sent a text: come get all we want from the greenhouses.

Today was picking day. We brought home less than usual--about 4 bushels--and set to work immediately.  These photos are what we have left at the end of canning today. 

We made 44 quarts of juice today; now, what to do with the rest?  I don't need salsa or pasta sauce or ketchup or bruschetta or pizza sauce, as I still have plenty from last year that we need to use. I think I will dry some, can some whole tomatoes, then probably give away the rest.

We met this gentleman at the greenhouses. He is related to our friend Mark who owns these greenhouses, and he had come after hot peppers. (Mark only grows peppers and tomatoes in the greenhouses.) This man actually lives just over the hills from us, and he is 85 years old. You would never guess it from the way he worked and talked. He was quite the talker, but very entertaining. 

He sure picked a lot of peppers. I have zero interest in hot peppers, but he planned to make several different things from them.

This is inside one of the greenhouses. Morning glory vines have overtaken the plants now that Mark's picking season is over. There are 7 of these large buildings: 3 for peppers, one for yellow tomatoes, and the rest are red tomatoes. Mark also grows 20 acres of pumpkins; he sells his produce at the Charleston farmer's market. In addition, he raises hay, field corn and cattle. 

Time for bed. We planned to do booths tomorrow, but that is not happening. I need to catch up on other things, but I will have to get started on drying the tomatoes too. At least that will be easier than canning them. 

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Good morning! It's noisy on the porch this morning. The woodpecker is drumming, the goldfinches are squabbling, the doves are chasing each other through the trees, the nuthatches are racketing around and the hummingbirds are flying their usual Blue Angels daredevil loops. All's right in bird world. I've had my tea, now let's see what photos  I haven't shared yet, before we leave for the long drive to the Huntington VA.

Window view yesterday morning.

Taken last year on my porch

Out in the garden 

I used to cross this bridge every time i subbed on one mail route. I used to stop here and eat my lunch, as there was never much traffic.

Seen in Lowe's on Tuesday. For a mere $429 these scary guys can be yours. They move too. Very creepy; the tallest is about 10 feet tall.

An auction win, probably made in England 1930-1940.

Another from the auction.

We saw this scary repair job in the hotel parking garage last week.

Definitely didn't make me feel safe!

Sculpture at the Clay Center for the Arts in Charleston,  where the Vince Gill concert was held.

Some ridgetop evening views.

Um, ignore the crack across my windshield.  We have got to get that replaced, soon.

Saw this beautiful guy along Joe's Run last week.

Or maybe the week before.

And finally, just a thought:

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

More Canning, and Other Stuff

Mostly overcast and quite humid day. Feels unsettled, like something coming. High of 80°f but sticky and uncomfortable. 

It was another day in the kitchen for me. I made the elderberry jelly, and it came out beautifully. 

I was lacking a half cup of juice for the second batch, so I added a half cup of white wine. I must say, that batch tasted even better than the first one! You can see the difference in color in tge photo, as the jelly with wine is lighter in color. I ended up with 14 half-pint jars.

Yum! Had to taste test, you know.

Next was a little more corn, which I decided to freeze on the cob, vacuum-sealing it so it should taste almost fresh when we use it.

Last, the tomatoes.  I had a motley mix of pink, black and red tomatoes that needed to be used before they went bad. I had seen a recipe for tomato dill soup, so I decided to give it a try.  I think it tastes delicious,  and could be served hot or cold. 

I had enough to make 7 quarts, plus a pint I put in the fridge for tomorrow's supper.

Besides kitchen duty, I finally got the old radio moved in place. 

I had a stack of suitcases full of DVDs in this corner, so I made space in the large old cupboard to the right for all of those. The suitcases will go to a booth, one more small step in downsizing. The old radio is a temporary resident---it doesn't work and we can't fix it, so I am thinking to gut it, put a new back on it, add lights and shelving and make it a bar cabinet, leaving the old radio dial and knobs in place. Still undecided about the door---remove it, remove just the speaker cloth and replace with plexiglass,  or leave as is? Currently there is a non-working record player in there that slides out when you pull on the door. I think it just looks so cool, so it can sit a while, until we have time to work on it.

We also continued working on this set:

I am not happy with the table top, but it is what it is. It's still slightly messed up from where the former owner left it out in the rain. We tried hard to fix it, but it's not much better. So it will go as is. All that's left to do is wax the top and add feet to one of the chairs.  As soon as we have time, we will get this to a booth.

I had a pretty nice day, all round, but poor Larry spent most of his working on his mower, again. I guess it is heading back to the shop as he has worked on it for many hours over the past week with no luck. So aggravating for him. And of course the grass is quickly getting out of hand. 

Tomorrow he has a doc appointment in Parkersburg,  then Wednesday another one in Huntington,  so there won't be much else happening here at home. I am very glad I worked through all the garden stuff, because Thursday we will be picking tomatoes from our friend's greenhouses, and that means the rest of the week will be spent processing them. No rest for the wicked!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.