Final Harvest

Now that it is truly fall, and the weather is getting cooler, the final harvest from the garden has been done. Many tomatoes, jalapenos, habaneros, and ground cherries have been obtained. Some of the tomatoes are green, as they were rescued from the early frosts.


Additionally, a trip to the apple orchard was made to obtain apples for sauce, and apples for eating. This year I got Empires for eating and McIntosh for sauce. I got an excellent deal on the sauce apples - $12 for 20lb of apples! I generally do not put sugar in my applesauce, as I figure most of the recipes I use it in call for sugar anyway. And the people who eat it direct can have it tangy, as I like it, or add a bit of sugar to taste. Making applesauce is surprisingly easy - if you have a food mill, that is. Just wash the apples, chunk them into pieces (I like eighths.), put in a pot and boil with a little water until they are very soft. Run them thru the food mill, skins and seeds and all, and presto! you have applesauce. Yum!!

So, here is what the final harvest looked like.


It includes the above-mentioned tomatoes and peppers. We also harvested, and I canned, a ton of green beans. I am sure my mother is still wondering how she ended up with a child that LOVES green beans, particularly the canned variety, when she has abhorred them since Day One.