Today's Harvest. More Apples & Sauce Tomatoes. Orcas Pears. 27 Aug 23.

 Today the temp was mid 90s, so I wasn't up to a lot of garden work.

The Gravenstein Apple tree may have as many apples remaining as I have harvested.  I cleaned up some fallen apples (chickens eat them, whereas if left on the ground, yellow jackets thrive on them).  I picked all I can handle at the moment.  These are just from today.

Also, the sauce tomatoes.  There is probably another crop as big, ripening in about a week.  Then they will be done.

I picked Orcas Pears, most of that tree's crop.  All I need is a batch or two, to can.

They are still pretty firm, but starting to fall from the tree.  It's a challenge getting them when they are ripe enough to can, without being so ripe they become mushy.

Seeds Planted Today. Radishes, Turnips, Spinach, Lettuce, Swiss Chard. 26 Aug 23

 I planted these today, where I dug the onions.  I think they should give sone vegetables in Sept and Oct.

That's all for today.

The tablet seems to be uploading better now.  That's good.

Gravenstein Apple Harvest. 26 Aug 23.

 Gravensteins are among the earliest apples.  My only earlier variety is the modern, disease resistant, yellow variety "Pristine".  This tree is a dwarf that I planted about 5 years ago.  It may be alternate year bearing, based on results so far.  I missed the first dozen or so apples that fell on the ground.   Gravensteins are delicious, heirloom type apples (from the 1600s!) that are big, early, but don't keep long at all.  They also cook into a softer result than other apples.

I made a pie with the first 8 or 9 apples.

There are about a dozen more apples on the tree.  It's a nice crop this year.

Dwarf, Heirloom Tomato Harvest. And Tomato Pie. 26 Aug 23

 These are from a couple of weeks ago.

This was today.

The tomato pie I made.  I substituted Mexican style shredded cheese mix for the original type, and switched 1/4 cup corn meal replacing that amount of flour in the crust.  Also added a few chopped Jalapeños.  It made for a very tasty tomato pie.

Sauce Tomatoes. 26 Aug 23.

 I'll try to catch up a few posts from last week or so, until current posts.

Here is the first batch of sauce tomatoes.  The modern hybrid, "Supremo", had larger, earlier, firmer, meatier tomatoes, compared to my own saved seed plants of Roma VF.

I cooked down about 40% of them, reducing volume by 50%.  Pureed the result in food processor, froze in 1-cup portions.

I made most of the rest into salsa, and canned it.  The salsa also contained home grown green peppers, Jalapeño peppers, garlic, and onions all from my garden,

I'm not sure, but I think I will have a second crop, just as large, from the sauce tomato raised bed.