Just Peachy

What do you do with a 1/2 bushel of Red Haven peaches from the farmer's market?

You wash them. You blanch them and peel them.

You slice them and spilt them.

And you make canned peaches.

And peach jam.

And peach salsa.

And then you wonder what to do with the remaining 22 peaches, realizing that you cannot bring yourself to peel anymore of them today. Perhaps some pie filling or some zesty peach barbecue sauce?

I've been busily canning this summer, and in August and September, of course, it gets frantic. Besides peaches, I've processed blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and tomatoes, which I made into bruschetta.

We've also started getting a great crop of green beans and are thoroughly enjoying the eggplants, which have twice been made into eggplant Parmesan and will be made into the same two or three more times before the cool weather slows the garden down. We've had a very productive purple bell pepper plant, but I've realized I don't use a lot of them, so I may just plant red next year, which are called for in a number of canning recipes.

I've decided to wait to harvest any carrots until it gets colder as I understand cold weather makes them sweeter. Can't wait until the boy can help me pick those.

We still have a lot of green tomatoes and sweet peppers that aren't ripe. But we'll figure something out for those. I've learned a lot this year and have refined my gardening plans for next year. Fewer cherry tomatoes (just one plant is really enough), same number of eggplants, some plum tomatoes, more broccoli (and more room for it!), replant the red onions, maybe some red potatoes, and I believe we will try again with the cucumbers, but perhaps not the squash, pumpkins, or melons. They take up too much room then die of powdery mildew. Not worth it.