How SAD - I think I might actually like fall if it didn't mean two things: 1) Back to work which means a lot less free time for the gardens and 2) WINTER is an inevitability. Yuck, I just hate saying that word - winter. I really should live in a different state but I wonder if tolerating this winter is part of what makes the summer so sweet.
The cucumbers have slowed considerably thanks to the cold weather we've had the past few days. It's gotten down to the upper 30's at night, which makes me nervous as I have a garden full of green Romas still! Twenty-two quarts of pickles - AND a bag of cucs donated to a good friend - all, in all, the cucumbers were a success!
Now on to tomatoes - I picked three boxes of romas that were "almost" ready so I could monitor them more closely in my window sill now that I'm headed back to work. I have big plans for spaghetti sauce, salsa, and just plain tomato sauce and hope that the weather cooperates!
We've been eating potatoes for at least 6 weeks now. I've harvested half of the reds, and just a few of the Norkota plants. I found a website that gave advice for freezing potatoes, so I thought I'd give french fries a shot. I peeled, sliced into "fries" and boiled the potatoes before freezing them on a pan and then transferring to freezer bags. The site said that when ready to cook, toss the frozen fries in a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. Hopefully that works!
When Joey (my four year old) saw me taking the pans of fries out of the freezer, he said "Where did you get those?" I told them they were from the garden. He said "WHAT?! Rita grows french fries in her garden? That's silly!"
