Honestly there is not much blooming these days but I figgured I might as well start a new thread otherwise they get too long.



marigolds


Matrona sedum


Berries on the Wentworth Viburnum.


Juliet tomatoes


some early girls and some whoppers

I cannot believe how much produce you have grown this year. Amazing!

And, you still have plants blooming.

Wow, those tomatoes look good enough to eat.

Hee, hee, hee. Dot, I ate them all!

Juli, I have had a great year for my veggies. And I am still picking. But what with all my veggie garden expansions for next year I should be growing even more come next season.

I guess there is always something in bloom. Just that there is not that much compaired to other times of the year.

Rita, you still have lovely things blooming.
When did you begin to pick your tomatoes? I don't recall when it
was, but it seems as if you have had bumper crops for some time.

It is very hard to remember when I started with the tomatoes so I looked back at the old Porch Swing Threads and see I was posting about eating a tomato and cucumber salad from the garden on July 8th. Then posting about some tomatoes I picked on July 12th with pictures. Then on July 15 posted the more pictures of tomatoes I picked. Those first ones comming in were mostly the smaller tomatoes and then on July 18th I had Early Girls and Whoppers producing. But I was eating tomatoes off my Patio and Better Bush tomatoes (both in containers) on July 5th.


I also posted that my Salad Bush Cucumbers were producing already by July 3rd so cukes for a long time also. And posted picking 9 more by July 6th. But they are really done now and I might pull them out today.

So, you did have plenty of fresh veggies to eat for most of the
summer. Don't you just love picking veggies for dinner from
your own garden instead of having to get in the car and drive
to the grocery. It is sooooo convenient and tasty.

We have been eating Zucchini and corn sauted with Canola Margarine or oil and salt and pepper. It is so good from the garden. A cple days ago we had that and green beans, tomato and beets for supper. No meat, just veggies and we were so satisfied. It is wonderful to be able to do that from your own yard.

I have really been enjoying that fact that I have been able to pick and eat so much from my garden this season. Nothing like fresh from the garden.

cucumbers I picked today.

and I picked tomatoes! these are not even all of them




my peas I planted at the end of july are big and starting to bloom

My, all that just makes me hungry. I gotta go cook something.

I made a nice cucumber and tomato salad to eat whenever tonight. Then I made and ate a nice tomato sandwich. Guess I don't have to cook anything right now.

I made a salad with the tomatoes, bell peppers, and banana
peppers from the garden, added broccoli, and made a quick and easy soup.

Fry up some Jimmy Dean sage-sausage and onion, banana pepper,
and add Campbell's Minestrone soup with a can of kidney beans. Add
a dash of garlic. We don't have this very often, but I am down to the
"what in the world will I cook next" stage.

It sounds yummy to me! I am making spagetti for dinner tonight. I like it with meat sauce so I just fry up some ground beef and add it to a big jar of Prego Marinara sauce and let that simmer. It is cooking now and I can boil the noodles whenever I get hungry.

Having leftover saukerkraut for dinner that I made in the crockpot yesterday.

I used my crockpot over the summer but now that it is comming into Fall I will be using it much more again just as I did last winter. I made lots of my own soups and loved them but of course who wants to eat hot soups in the hot hot summer. So haven't had my crockpot chicken soup or split pea in a long time and was actually thinking of split pea last night. And I love saukerkraut in the crockpot, will have to make a big batch for sure. I love it with lots of potatoes. I mush up the saukerkraut and potatoes and eat that with knockwurst or if I don't have any even with boiled hot dogs.

And I like chuck steak pot roast style in the crockpot and various chicken pieces done in the crockpot. Then there are those various bean and chili dishes I can make. Oh, I am making myself hungry thinking of all these yummy dinners.

I do not know HOW I EVER managed without that crockpot!

Stop it you guys. I just ate, and now I'm hungry again.

That's how I do it Rita.

Spagetti cooking now!

I just bought a new crock pot last week, and made pulled pork. Yum!! I'm going to use it more this winter. I really love everything cooked in there, but never think to use it.

Rita, I think you mentioned making stewed tomatoes on the Porch Swing thread, and then freezing it. Are the tomatoes still in chunks after freezing? I've never frozen tomatoes before, nor have I eaten any that have been frozen! Guess I've lead a sheltered life! I want to make a big batch of salsa again, but don't feel like canning it again. That was a LOT of work! So, I'm hoping to freeze it this time instead. I've got a great recipe that doesn't call for any cooking, but I think I'd need to cook it before freezing it. Any suggestions on that?