Day 254
Tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes. It has been a true blessing that we have an updated and enlarged kitchen as my wife has basically lived there the last three weeks. We have been completely overwhelmed (literally) by the amount of tomatoes our plants have produced so far and by how many potential harvests are potentially still coming. Of course, Jack Frost could visit Wisconsin any time now so we shall see.
My wife has been canning for the majority of our marriage but this year’s bountiful harvest has taken it to the next level. She’s been forced to try new things simply because she has so many tomatoes to work with, so it’s worth trying something new and experimenting a little. We’ve got more salsa than ever before, plenty of sauce, tomato paste, homemade ketchup, and our first attempt at tomato jam. We’ve even dehydrated tomatoes since we have so many.
But sharing is caring, so we are happy to share the wealth with our friends. Over the past few weeks, our backyard garden has become a pick your own tomato adventure. We've had a number of guests come and practically pick their weight of tomatoes. I’ve brought them to my school for a number of my colleagues and bribed my principal with an egg carton full of cherry tomatoes. My wife has traded produce for produce with some of our tomatoes. Plus, our chickens are fed very well with tomatoes that have either started to burst or fallen off the vine. Even our dog likes to visit the garden on occasion and chomp away. To help with our continuing harvest, we took down the garden gate, inviting the wildlife into our buffet. Based on how much still remains, it doesn't look like they’ve gotten the memo yet.
Besides the tomatoes, the zucchini are finally slowing down, the cucumbers and peppers have wrapped up their gifts for the season, and much of the kale has been harvested while the lettuce has gone to seed.
At this point, anything we get from the garden is icing on the cake. Our garden has surpassed our wildest expectations and will continue to provide food for years to come.
