I am amazed at the quantity of veggies our small raised bed garden has produced so far.  We’ve had more squash to pick than we can eat and share.  The zucchini grew before our eyes and we let some of it get too big to use.  The tomato vines are hanging heavy with ripening tomatoes.  We’ve also picked a mess or two of Lima and green beans.  We have enjoyed a few cucumbers and the cantaloupe vines are full of softball sized melons.

In spite of our garden harvest – I’ve made 3 trips so far to KY for more produce.  I got a whole case of roma tomatoes for $8 and have made some yummy salsa. I’ll be sharing the authentic western recipe for the salsa in an upcoming post here at Taracooks.  I know that 12 pints of salsa won’t last us until next summer, so I am hopeful to make another trip north next week for more tomatoes and more salsa.

I also purchased nearly 12 dozen ears of Peaches-and-Cream Corn, and the family helped me shuck, cut, and freeze it all.  The corn is cheaper now than the week I purchased it at around $3 a dozen ears.  If I can make a little more room in the extra freezer – then I can freeze some more corn.  Everyone needs more corn right?

Of course I couldn’t resist buying a case of peaches.  We froze several bags for breakfast shakes and cobblers and canned several jars of preserves.

I was also so excited to make Blackberry JELLY – without the seeds – from some KY tame blackberries.  I used my juicer to extract the juice from the seeds and it took only a couple of minutes to juice 4 quarts of berries.  Since this was one of the most cherished items my mother ever made, I am so pleased to have figured out how to duplicate her jelly.  I also plan to share that recipe here real soon.

My fingernails are tarnished with fruit stains, and the kitchen floor is just a sticky mess from all that corn cutting.  The kitchen has been a total disaster for a couple of weeks now while mounds of laundry go unattended in the wash room – which lies right across the hall from the kitchen. There are at least a couple more prime weeks of harvesting, canning, and freezing before me. Then summer will seem mostly gone – and it’s back to home schooling and regular cooking.

‘Till then, stay tuned to Taracooks for more posts on picking and canning and freezing.

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