Harvest Home...

  Up early, trying to beat the heat...picked about 30 pounds of mostly Roma tomatoes, which I will grind and sauce tomorrow.  Picked a few big ones too, one of which I cut in to for a bacon and tomato sandwich on Italian herbed wheat bread I made last night. One slice covered the whole sandwich!!!  It was heavenly.

  I dug probably 10 pounds or more of Red Pontiac potatoes,  they are gorgeous. Picked another 7 or 8 pounds of green beans..will can again in a few days.  There was a small amount of okra and several cucumbers. I'm going to chop some of the big cukes today and can sweet relish.  I think I will dry some more of the smaller ones, as I was real happy with the way they turned out.  Picked a few peppers, but not many. The plants are loaded though, and the fruit is glossy and healthy and firm. Picked a few jalapenos too, and will make some fresh salsa tonight.

  And...it's only 10 AM.  lol...

  I have to go to Miss B's  at 1 and stay til 5.  She's been going through lots of old things and "finding" papers she's never seen before. Of course, she has seen them...she just can't remember.  This is really an experience for me, as all my grandparents and parents have died at relatively young ages, and I've not dealt with this up close much. It's horribly sad...she'll have little moments where she suddenly "remembers" that her daughter died in March or that her husband died last month...and she starts to grieve a little all over again...assuming she did grieve in the first place. She is losing herself,  little pieces at a time. 

 The Irishman is gone to a meeting and I stayed behind to work in the garden. I startled (or was startled by) a beautiful huge long grass snake when I was digging potatoes. I finished the one side of the long bed and declined to do the other side. Let the wildlife guy do it. lol  The a little further down, I found a long snakeskin he had just crawled out of. It was still soft. Watching snakes shed their skin is remarkable, if you've never done it, I hope you get the chance. I watched a big rattler go through the process once. I was mesmerized. Rattlesnakes intrigue me anyway...

 Had another big storm last night..the days have been brutally hot and humid, with temps in the high 90's and heat indexes at 114.  No playing outside in that much, lol.  But the rain and sun have been good for the gardens. We are going to have a stellar harvest this year. That's a good thing, as the pantries are looking a little bare. I need to get out there one more time this morning and pull the seed tops off the big basil plants as they are starting to bolt in the heat. They are about 3 and a half feet high and beautiful. I'll be pulling them up to dry soon. I want to get a planting of beets in this week if I can figure out where to put them. I also need to check the edamame to see if any of it is ready to pick. I know nothing about the times of things on that. A couple of days ago, there were pods. Gotta watch it....

  OK--busy morning and have to run to town for cat food. My kitties are indignant that I've run out of canned food.  I say, let them eat cake. lol

Namaste.