A Bountiful Harvest

This is what 36 pounds of vegetables look like:

Guess where I'll be spending some time today?

I picked four pounds(!) of sungold cherry tomatoes - many are split, so I'll cut those in half and dehydrate them. I am awash in cukes and zukes and cannot keep up with them! Work was busy and exhausting this week, and I barely even cooked. We need to get the propane tank refilled, and I'll grill up a big old mess of zukes. So very tasty that way. Freezer pickles will be the way to go for a good many of the cukes. Even though called freezer pickles, it's more reminiscent of a cucumber salad. Delicious in the winter months. Hmm, lots of serrano and jalapeno. I am glad that my hubby has finally discovered how delicious spicy food is. It took me over ten years to wear him down - and he's of Latino descent! The stereotype certainly does not apply here.

I have a friend at work who is (American) Indian (she says to call her Indian , not Native American, so no need to worry about PC here). She told me that she stews up tomatoes, squash, and hot peppers into a dish called javacita (pronounced havasita). I'll see what I can come up with for that.

Last week, thanks to recipes from my friend, Chile, I made six half pints of lemon zucchini relish and a quart size jar of cucumber kimchi. I am addicted to the kimchi, so I'll be sure to make that again. A lot of cukes fit into a quart size jar (very thinly sliced, of course).

The cukes have powdery mildew disease (it attacks the plant, not the fruit, as far as I know), so I don't know how long it will be until they are wiped out. It's a problem moving up the East Coast. Squash bugs are also rampant this year, but I'm glad to be getting squash. Last year, I got very little squash. I planted by green beans late, so I managed to avoid a huge Japanese beetle infestation there. Still waiting for the corn. Some of the plants are over eight feet tall, and the ears are starting to form. Looking forward to silver queen fresh off the cob.

I need to not be lazy after work this week and start prepping a couple of beds for fall planting. Marathon training will be ramping up, and that will take a lot of time on the weekends. So, balance, balance, balance. That, and not squandering huge amounts of time on the internet. My FaceBook, um, habit, needs to slow down.

Happy weekend, all!