This is the end of the day. It all started early, getting the kids up, dressed, fed, making lunches and getting them off to school.
Then it was processing the last batch of basic red sauce. 8 gallons of raw tomatoes and some roasted peppers became 6 quarts of concentrated red heaven, along with some garlic, olive oil, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. That brings my total up to 102 quarts for the year. Last year I did 80 and it was not enough. Still have some pizza sauce to make, straight puree to can for making bloody mary mix in November, and some mixed veggies in acidified tomato puree. Other than that, I am thinking of cutting them up and dehydrating whatever I don’t give away.
Just because. Shot I took today.
After dinner (pizza with roasted Jimmy Nardello peppers, onion and garlic) we made a trip out to the Ness farm to check on things and pick the earliest of the popcorn. I found a couple other things out there too. Those rutabagas are really big, being about two and one pound respectively. I took these for dinner tomorrow.
There is still 60 feet of row of those, so I am going to have to get creative in storage solutions this fall. We use them when we make venison pasties, but not this much. Might have to pressure can whatever we cannot eat or give away in the first couple of months. I can leave them in the ground quite a while too. Frosts are not going to hurt them.
Cabbages are heading up well finally. Never did for me last year. There is going to be plenty for making kraut, and I have more in my own yard here.
We picked a dozen sunflower heads to dry off in the safety of our house so that they do not get stripped like the entire acre of them did last year. Just a fraction of the number we had last year, but being laid up, and being discovered by blackbirds, meant there were a lot of really well fed blackbirds and nothing to save by the time we got to them last year. Biggest heads are about 20 inches across, with most 12-16 inches.
Popcorn is still variable, and I only picked the ones that had really started drying down. Plenty of good ones for seed, and plenty of cull ones for popping. Lots left to harvest. Most of it, really.
So this is what we brought home. Sunflowers are on drying racks on the deck. Popcorn is sitting under a ceiling fan in the kitchen. Rutabagas have been topped, tops went to the bunny, roots are in the crisper. Squash is just sitting on the table. I am really sore, but all in all it was a really good day.
