Harvest @ Heath

As the sun sets on summer, the harvesting has begun at Heath; tomatoes have been ripening rather quickly since the end of August so, I have been creating sauces, soups and tarts in order to use up this abundance of fruit.

Whenever time allows I have been canning tomatoes in Mason jars to have available once the weather turns cold. The thought of losing these gorgeous gems is hard to fathom, but with the sage advice of my mom, who told me to place the whole, freshly picked tomato into zippered plastic bags and place them in the freezer until needed is sheer genius. Then when we need crushed tomatoes, I can take a few out of the bag, let them thaw, which has similar effect to that of blanching.  The skins split, and slip off easily, leaving the pulp ready to be incorporated into creative and tasty recipes.

As for the squash and pumpkins they are growing rather prolifically on the vines. The huge leaves are a foot in diameter and the gorgeous yellow flowers are still vibrant in color and quite tasty in salads or battered and fried for a snack. I am waiting for the rinds to thicken a bit and the color to deepen to orange so; they will be perfect as Halloween decorations.

Garden stylishly,
K