Canning & Processing Tally

I'm feeling pretty good about my harvesting, processing, and canning this year. We entered summer almost completely out of home-canned fruit and now our shelves are overflowing!

 

I didn't do so hot taking pictures of garden harvest or what I canned this year. I want to do better on that next year.

The oregano and vegetables were all from our garden.

We had 3 different friends offer free cherry picking in July, and I took them all up on the offers!

2 had sweet cherries, and 1 had a pie cherry tree.

Peaches, pears, and apples were purchased.

 

We ended up with:

 

1 1/2 quarts dried oregano

 

23 quarts sweet cherries

2 quart bags chopped frozen sweet cherries

15 cups pie filling (frozen)

12 pints? a bunch of cherry-berry syrup (jam that didn't set--oops!)

 

5 cups raspberry freezer jam--home-picked fruit

 

8 quarts sliced carrots, frozen

 

39 quarts peaches

 

5 quarts green beans, frozen

 

9 pints plum jam

Free plums from behind the elementary school!

 

33 quarts pears

 

41 quarts applesauce

 

6 pints pickled beets

 

I think that will do it for this year, unless I decide to make some more jam--which is tempting.

I want to make some more lemon-ginger marmalade.

 

My care for the vegetable garden and flowers really dropped off in September...along with my blogging. This list is helping me realize why--I was canning everything in sight! Everything from the carrots on down has been done since the last week of August.

(Not to mention school starting, soccer practice, etc., etc.)

 

Let me just say it again.

It's a good feeling to have all that done for the year.

Vegetable Garden Glory Days

 August is high time for the vegetable garden.

Everything is green and lush and billowing.

Also, the gardener is still watering and even weeding, on occasion.

 

Overview

 

This view out my kitchen window every day made me so satisfied.

That's a lot of goodness going on out there.

 

Starting from the top left: 

Basil has gone to seed without me drying any.

However, I was able to freeze some.

Tomatoes producing enough for fresh eating.

 

So many marigolds!

They became a Wall of Cheerfulness that just keeps going and going.

I love it!

 

Not pictured: my pole beans, which did not climb the poles as they were supposed to (even with help from me!)

 

Middle terrace:

 

We've got a few a pumpkins hiding under there: some minis and some just small.

 



 

The cosmo jungle.

You are looking at the reason for such small pumpkins, right here.

I love it so much, I decided to keep it.

There also a few zinnias in there on the left.

Also, there are onions hiding amongst the jungle foliage.

 

Cucumbers still going, but production slowing down.

Zucchini also slowing but going.

 

 Bottom Terrace (minus the kids' gardens):

 

oregano and zinnias

One of these days I'll get a photo that truly represents how many bees are on the oregano when it flowers. Many, many bees. Also, wasps, including these very scary-looking 2-inch long all black ones.

Bean patch.

This is a mixture of purple, yellow wax, and regular green beans.

Good for daily snacking.

 

Yay beans!

Carrots bushing out and looking good.

Sweet potato actually flowering!

It's pretty, and it's huge and bushy.

The rest of the potatoes are about done, but I'm going to wait to harvest them for awhile longer.

We should have at least another month before frost hits.

Late July Vegetable Garden

Everything is filling in and getting bushy.

We're harvesting beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

...And the occasional beets, carrots, and onions.

Love it!

 

Bottom terrace:

(kids' gardens will be in a separate post)

 

Oregano, beans, beets, carrots, potatoes

 

Middle Terrace:

 

cucumbers & zucchini

 

cosmo jungle

You can just barely see the big, fat onions peeking out in front there.

They don't seem to mind the takeover.

 

Pumpkin flowering amidst the jungle.

 

Mini pumpkins and beans

The peas were still limping along, but I pulled them out.

The pumpkins needed some space to run into that wasn't covered up with cosmos, anyway.

 

 

 Beans in front, new beans coming up on the left, pumpkin vines behind.

And of course, those glorious marigolds up top.

They are so bright and cheerful!

 

Top Terrace:

Basil is going to seed, with marigolds right in front looking amazing.

The tomatoes aren't very tall, but are producing several small fruits consistently.

Another view of marigolds and basil.

The cosmo jungle, from the top.

So beautiful!

Early July Vegetable Garden

 

Pardon the blurry look to these photos.

My camera has been acting up.

 

Oregano starting to recover from the haircut I gave it.

Zinnias starting to peek up from behind.

Spinach and swiss chard gone.

They were only about 3 inches tall and already bolting.

I have planted beans in their places.

Sweet potato is going for broke. I'm so curious what we're going to find when we dig it up.

Potatoes are still full and bushy.

 

Up to the middle terrace: 

Peas are struggling. It got hot so quickly this year that they just haven't been growing.

I'll give them another week or two, then I'm yanking them out.

No harvest yet.

 

Mini pumpkins starting to fill out.

Beans growing.

 

Jack-o-lantern pumpkins starting to run!

Once I pull out the peas, I'm going to let them run over to that end of the bed.

And all that feathery goodness?

Volunteer cosmos from my little cutting garden patch last year.

I pulled out the ones most crowding my other stuff.

The rest I'm just going to let make a jungle, I guess.

A flowery jungle...hmmm...sounds perfect!

 

Get a load of these onions!

For once in my life I'm growing big onions!

I take back all the onion grumbling from the past.

The only thing different this year is that I spaced them out 4-6 inches.

That's it. And just look at them!

Now I'm ready to grow onions every year, forever and ever.

 

This is at the end of the terrace, looking back toward the onions and cosmo jungle.

Zucchini is actually growing and flowering.

Good sign.

And those are cucumbers climbing that trellis (with quite a bit of encouragement.)

Tons of flowers and even a few small cukes coming. Yeah!

 

Top terrace:

Marigold, basil, and tomatoes.

Starting to fill in.

 

 

Plus, the pole beans are starting to climb!



Mid-June Vegetable Garden

It's already heating up and the warm-weather crops are starting to come on!

Spring veggies are struggling.

 

Overview.

My daughter's garden.

Oldest son's garden.

We've been harvesting beets, spinach, and swiss chard from the kids' plots.

This oregano has since been chopped back, and the stems/leaves dehydrated.

1 1/2 quarts this time.

spinach, carrots, beets

Our unseasonably hot June has meant that these are struggling.

I did finally put down compost between the rows, which has helped some with water retention in the heat.

Potatoes looking great and starting to flower.

 

Middle Terrace:

These pole peas are also struggling.

My mini pumpkins coming up.

 

Regular pumpkins starting to get some growth, as well.

The feathery plant in the background is a self-seeded cosmo.

 

Onions, more volunteer cosmos, plus a few zinnias just starting to poke through.

 

My youngest son's garden patch:

beets, carrots, and peas, looking bushy and healthy

 

I think the cucumbers are going to love this hot weather!

They're starting to climb the trellis.

 

After getting some new seed from a friend, I finally have a few zucchini growing.

 

 

Top Terrace:

Tomatoes, basil, thyme, and marigolds.

Starting to fill out a little.

 

This is strawberry season, but I have not gotten any pictures of it.

We have not had as good a harvest as last year, but have had some.