I've canned more tomatoes, tomato juice, and green beans than I had originally planned. I put six quarts of corn in the freezer after intentionally planting just enough, I thought, for corn-on-the-cob, fresh, a few times. Okra has finally started, and I'll be putting plenty of that in the freezer for our wintertime gumbo. My single eggplant keeps producing more than we can use. The sickly zucchini plant finally died, but if I can keep enough water going to the garden, I have a couple of young plants starting to bloom.
I've concentrated on canning tomato juice lately. When I have some left over that isn't enough to fill a jar, I put it in the refrigerator and drink it next morning. Now I find myself getting out of bed wishing for a glass of cold tomato juice, but I don't want to open a jar that I just processed and sealed the day before. So today I made about a gallon of juice, put a quart of that in a jar in the refrigerator, and after cooling the rest, will put it in quart freezer bags just for immediate use. I add a little sugar to it, and a little salt: I'd say 1/4 of a cup of sugar and less than two teaspoons of salt for a gallon.
I am giving lots of tomatoes away. Blight is always in evidence on the plants, and I don't want to waste a single tomato as long as we have them. If somebody can use them, that's great.
Today Cliff had to see the doctor to get his prescriptions renewed for another year. We are liking our young doctor better all the time. He is pleasant and caring, and young enough to outlive us, the good Lord willing. After reading a blog post on Dr. Kevin, MD, I'm glad we have a young one picked out. Doctors are expecting an influx of new patients next year.
That's a lot of canning you're doing. My husband would love you. He just LOVES tomato juice.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of tomato juice although I adore tomatoes!! You are getting lots of great veggies.
ReplyDeleteI love tomato juice and it's good for you too! You have really been doing a lot of canning. I had to buy tomatoes yesterday. I just love them this time of year. They never taste half as good as fresh from the garden. Thankfully I have a lot of stands nearby selling the fresh produce.
ReplyDeleteI too have been having tomato juice quite often and Larry loves it. I like my juice room temp and he lives his icy cold. I like watermelon room temp and he likes his icy cold. Why? Well, I think it has to do with being really poor. Most of the stuff we ate at room temp. Too hungry to wait? I guess that was the reason. We only had one small frig and always had cows. Lots of milk was in there and maybe there was no room for the melon. Usually we sat it in the shade until evening and ate it in the yard. Oh, it was so good.
ReplyDeleteDad always wanted sugar added to his stewed tomatoes. Not really sweet but just a little and then he crumbled biscuit in his bowl of tomatoes and ate up. This was dessert!