So Many Tomatoes!

I can’t complain about having too many tomatoes. I plant so many tomato plants I’m bound to get a huge harvest of fruit, but very year as I stand over the hot stove I briefly feel sorry for myself. Briefly.

My sauce is simple: tomatoes, some canned paste to thicken, onions, garlic, Serrano peppers and spices that vary from batch to batch. It’s never the exact same sauce twice.

So many tomatoes it’s overwhelming.

First they have to be peeled.

Then they need to be chopped up.

Then simmered on the stove with herbs and spices.

Finally, after hours of work they are secured in jars for the winter months.

There are lots of good resources for canning tomatoes, so I’ll leave that for the experts. Canning is simple and inexpensive, and in the dead of winter I’ll open a jar of sauce and be rewarded with the smell of garden-fresh tomatoes.

 

 

 

Late Bloomer: Cathedral Bells

This is the first time I’ve planted this lovely annual vine. It can grow as much as 25 feet in full sun and well drained soil. I’ve got mine in a large pot adjacent to a trellis that it climbed with no assistance. I took these photos over a period of four days as the first blossom appeared.

</