Really, I didn't intend for it to be like this.

[Atman]

Okay, maybe I did. For the last week we've been eating almost nothing but stuff from our garden. We even have artichokes! We canned tonight -- cukes, beans, tomatoes, squash, peppers -- then ate our heirloom tomatoes and some local corn picked a few hours before dinner. Absolutely sublime! Haven't stepped in a grocery store in more than a week!

[femmocrat]

1. I have tons of tomatoes.

Not much else though! It was too wet earlier this summer and some seeds did not sprout.

[No Vested Interest]

8. This city girl is so impressed. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

2. So, how do you can vegetables with confidence?

I mean, what is the process to keep it preserved and safe for later use?

[csziggy]

7. Use good recipes and directions for canning

And follow the most recent procedures carefully.

I did canning using the Ball "Blue Book Guide to Preserving," which costs very little (http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/blue-book-guide-to-preserving/shop/229696/). But you can get pretty much all their recipes and instructions free online: http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipes

[eridani]

9. I can only acidic foods and freeze everything else.

That means mainly tomatoes. Pickled carrots and beans are OK because of the vinegar.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Pressure cooker canning.

I just got one, but have only done rhubarb things with the hot water bath. The pressure cooker is intimidating, but I plan to try it. You should be able to can with confidence using that method. My grandma did.

[applegrove]

3. Heirloom tomatoes are my new favs. Yummy with green goddess dressing.

[brer cat]

13. Wow, that brings back memories.

My mother loved green goddess dressing, and made it often. For some reason I haven't thought about it in years. I will have to look up a recipe and try it again.

[applegrove]

17. I've never made it. Just had the heirloom tomato salad with gg dressing

at my favourite restaurant. I wish I could buy heirloom tomatoes at the grocery store but we can't.

[rhett o rick]

4. It takes a lot of good weather in the Pacific NW to get good tomatoes. I've got

my fingers crossed.

[obxhead]

5. Sure, just go ahead and brag

*pout* I wish I could.

Started the garden work here in April (VA) which is late, but winter was bitter.

All we've gotten were some awesome green tomatoes which fried up nicely.

Oh well, we move to SW FL Sunday. Looking forward to the lettuce and spinach salads in my near future.

[cwydro]

6. and i have

dozens of fresh eggs from my happy, free range chickens!

Haven't bought an egg in five years. Never will again.

You are so right about the love of fresh and safe food that we grow ourselves

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

10. Have had tomatoes for a month, Cherry types

But I have a sauce tomato too. And 7 'Sweet 100' vines because they came up in a pot last fall and I separated them and kept them going over winter indoors. Didn't know what they would be, but not my favorite. Japanese Climbing Cucumber for the first time this year. Got some seed a while back in a seed exchange with a DU'er and this year the seed sprouted and didn't get eaten by the critters who do such things. Japanese Egg plant ready to pick too. Only picked one so far. Yellow crook neck squash, butternut squash, Kuri squash and some pumpkins doing well. Figs are the big event now. Have been able to sell some too. The hard work comes after the first rains, when the chestnuts fall and the rush is on to get them before the wild life. And markets until Thanks Giving to attend.

Enjoy the bounty...

[ErikJ]

11. No potatoes?

I thought Idaho was famous for its potatoes!

[jen63]

14. My ex and I cold packed (canned)

a whole cow one year, using pressure canners. It wasn't a cow known for tender meat.
Talk about sublime chili. It was so good and I was so disappointed when it was gone. As long as you hear the "suction" sound when you take the lid off you're good. If in doubt, throw it out. Good veggie soup too, saves the trouble of boiling the meat until it's tender and you can trim off all the fat that you want, unlike the grocery, that just throws anything in the packages. Good stuff.

[KittyWampus]

15. Congrats! Our zucchinis & cukes were a flop but our string beans and blueberries are banner crops

[Atman]

16. We started out slow...

TONS of rain here (Connecticut) in the Spring. The ground was so wet we'd sink into it up to our calves. But then we had an unusually mild summer. Warm, but no heat waves. Very few days even approaching 90. The squash didn't really like it, but we still got lots of them (spaghetti squash, acorn squash -- we didn't do zucchini or yellow this year). Everything else has been loving the perfect weather. Warm but not too hot, sunny, cool nights, plenty of rain. We had lots of failures last season, so we kind of over-planted this season. Insane amounts of produce all over the house. What we can't store we'll be taking to the local food bank. I mean, really...we have several POUNDS of green and yellow beans, and more coming every day. Cucumbers out the wazoo. Our single artichoke plant now has NINE 'chokes on it. Tons and tons of peppers of all varieties, from jalepeños to peperoncini, you name it. It has been a bountiful year, that's for sure!

[cbayer]

18. What a wonderful thing!

One of the things I miss most is a garden, but someday I will have one again.

Enjoy the season and pack away as much as you can.

[Ms. Toad]

19. We joined a CSA this week. Good - and bad - move.

Unfortunately, the unseasonably cool weather has really cut down on the quantity we are getting. One of the risks of a CSA. But we are enjoying what we are getting & looking forward to another distribution tonight!

[Atman]

20. Been just the opposite here in Connecticut.

Squash like it hot, and it hasn't been hot at all this summer. Still, we've got several spaghetti squash (spag sq pizza is the BEST!), too many acorn squash (quinoa stuffed acorn squash with mango is heavenly!). Watermelons are doing fine, and as I've said, we have more greens than we know what to do with. Peppers, beans, artichokes, basil, beans, more beans, cucumbers, pumpkins. It's garden madness.

[Ms. Toad]

21. We have greens coming out our ears -

Our summer has been the same - unusually cold - and rains washed away some of the spring crops. Everything is late, and nothing in abundance - aside from greens.

[Atman]

22. Last year was so bad, we doubled the size of the garden this year

Now this year has been great. We can't keep up, picking twice a day. Nothing to complain about!

[truedelphi]

23. And I got excited about these two city guys,

The film makers who collaborated on the documentary "King Corn" - well, they put together an entire mini- garden in the back of a pickup truck.

In New York City!

Really kuhl story:

http://www.motherearthliving.com/vegetable-gardening/natural-home-interviews-truck-farm-filmmakers-curt-ellis-and-ian-cheney.aspx#axzz3AW1q7peg