I’ve been a bit behind on the blogging front the last few weeks, having spent my time instead…

Harvesting and preserving 4 bushels of tomatoes into 3 types of soup, 2 kinds of tomato sauce, and plain tomatoes now filling a large chunk of my freezer.

Harvesting 9 rows of potatoes — who’s idea was it to grow seven different varieties? (oh yes, mine).

Harvesting and drying rows of garlic and onions. And wondering why I have already used up all but 3 of 50 onions we grew.

Making blueberry jelly and garlic jelly.

Making several batches of soups from our bounty and freezing these as well.

Picking the last of the summer squash. So many got large I’ve made 16 zucchini loaves so far – eating some, giving some away and freezing some – and I still have two more zucchini waiting on the counter!

Collecting some apples from the wild apple trees in our back bush and making two large batches of apple sauce, great as a topping over ice cream in the winter.

Harvesting the 6 basil plants in the garden and making several batches of pesto – again destined for the freezer.

And I still need to…

Pick and freeze the last of the beets.

Harvest and store 3 rows of carrots.

Collect seeds from my Zinnia patch for next year.

Prepare the soil and plant next years garlic beds.

Harvest and dry bean seeds from some climbing beans we let grow large to try in winter soups.

Clean up the rest of the garden.

And wait for the delivery guy to come next week to deliver my second freezer (not surprising given my list above).

No complaints however. I have made a tremendous effort this year to use up everything from our garden and let nothing go to waste. All of the work will be worth while when, in February, I pull out some soup or sauce from the freezer, have a quick meal, then relax by the fire with a good garden book, planning for next year.