Produce Production

The day didn't go exactly as planned yesterday, but it was so nice to take another day off from canning. As I mentioned, Mike and I made a trip into town. We first stopped off at Working Hands Farm to pick up 40 pounds of tomatoes. They grow the most beautiful tomatoes. Here's one box of 20 pounds. And there's another just like it.

Also, I've harvested about two dozen from our own plants. Our own plants are producing fast and furious now.

The tomatoes are going to get turned into pasta sauce and salsa, and maybe some tomato jam, depending on how many I get.

From the vegetable garden, I harvested about half a bowl of green beans. They seem to be slowing down a little bit. I have these, plus two gallon zip-lock bags full of beans. Today, I'll be canning six more jars. The rest will either get eaten or frozen. Either way, today will be my last day canning green beans.

Now here's something new to me. I harvested ten zucchini blossoms. I'm trying something new tonight. I'll have to report back tomorrow on how it worked out. 

I picked them directly into a zip-lock bag because I didn't want to handle them too much. This video I watched seemed to emphasize how "delicate" they are.

I'll be doing something different with mine, but I might like to try this stuffed version some time.

The corn has me a little worried. We're leaving on our trip in about 10 days. I'm really hoping some will be ready before we leave. There's still time, so my fingers are crossed.

On the other hand, I believe the plums will be ready. They've turned nicely purple. Yesterday, I found a few that were beginning to soften.

I'm not planning to can any of these, but I'd like to take a big bag along for making a couple of favorite desserts and for eating straight from the bag. 

The bee garden continues to bloom in profusion. Yesterday, the last sunflower yet to bloom opened up. It's especially pretty. All of the giants are blooming too.

Here are a few of the wildflowers I spotted.

This next one is a new one. It looks like a little hibiscus.

I still had some watering to do. As I walked past the catio, I found Sadie sleeping on the far wall next to the house.

Later, she helped me with my sewing.

Your purroject is about "The Sea?" I don't like water. It's too wet fur my purreferences.

Purrhaps you would like to do something more feline oriented? Pawsibly you could do a sea of cats.

So I was able to finish the top-stitching and I was just getting started on the main element when I had to stop for the day. It was terribly difficult to walk away from it.

You only get this little peek until the reveal in November. My piece is inspired by a photograph I took while we were visiting the Outer Banks of North Carolina a couple of years ago. While I was working on this, I smacked my hand to my forehead when I realized I could add in another element from the Outer Banks, not pictured in the photo. I know...I'm such a tease. You'll just have to wait and see. And I will too, because it isn't finished yet.

Yesterday I realized I have at least two "modes" of passion for quilting. When I'm making these art quilts, the passion kind of wells from inside, and it's exciting watching them come together. It's very hard to stop once I get going until the rush of inspiration subsides. Traditional quilting is more cerebral with its attention to math and precision, and there's something very gratifying about nesting seams together, particularly from a tactile standpoint. Do you know what I'm talking about? So, I'm hoping I'll have some more time to work on this today. It's all coming together as I hoped it would, and now I just want to keep working on it until it's finished.

Okay, so the green beans will come next. The tomatoes were picked from their vines yesterday, and so they can wait until tomorrow. I expect the tomatoes will take up most of the day Sunday and Monday. If there are any left over, I'll spend a little time with them on Tuesday too. It's a busy life, but canning season is winding down. The end is in sight.