Here's a photo of the zucchini that hid so well it didn't get harvested by the neighbors. I left specific instructions that they were to take all the zukes they could find, and they tell me there were several baseball bat-sized ones.
I'm also showing the red Zyliss tomato peeler that Jen Weibel gave me as a gift.
Below, you can see my tomato-canning production this year.
Vacation Lesson 5: Don't leave town for 3 weeks right during harvest time. Especially if you planted 40 tomato plants of a determinate variety! Last year I was able to put up 40 quarts of tomatoes and we happily ate them all, so I was hoping that this year with all my expanded garden space I would really be able to do well. But, alas, the neighbors tell me that hundreds of fruits fell on the ground to rot (and some got eaten by the neighbors, thankfully) during my absence. Just before I left I picked a dozen or so tomatoes and I knew that the big harvest was about to begin without me. Sad, sad, sad. Next year we'll sneak away for vacation during the slow months when not too much is happening.
At least when I came home there were still enough in the garden for me to do one last (and first) harvest, probably enough for 12-15 quarts. I'm sure a few more will ripen over the next few weeks, too. One thing that is making the production a little smoother is the tomato peeler that Jen gave me. I am using it instead of boiling and icing tomatoes to make the skins come off. It's faster to just peel them.
Standing in the kitchen, late at night as I am, reminds me of LAST August 30, when I was doing the SAME thing, only I happened to be in labor! Sweet Clementine- tomato canning will always make me think of her.
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