Tomatoes Galore!

This year was a blockbuster year for tomatoes in our garden!  I would hate to guess how many tomatoes my Mom, my Dad, Cara and I have picked out of the garden.  It took forever for them to start turning red, but once they did start, we would pick a half to a full 5-gallon bucket full every other day.

I have peeled the skins off many, many tomatoes in the last month.  I have canned three big batches of salsa, one batch of tomato juice, and one batch of spaghetti sauce.  I have used the onions, green peppers, jalapeno peppers and tomatoes from our garden, except for the one time that I was short on peppers.  I traded tomatoes for green and jalapeno peppers that time from a guy that works with Keith.  The tomato plants are winding down on producing, but there are still a few left.

Next, our attention will turn to apples.  The two apple trees at the farm are loaded with apples ready to be picked.  A few branches have already broken due to the weight of all the apples.  I am trying to decide what to make with all of them.  My Mom and Dad will freeze numerous ready-made apple pies.  Cara would like me to make apple butter.  I may decide to can applesauce, apple slices and pie filling.  We'll see how ambitious I am!

Take care,
Michelle