making tomato sauce

first batch ran thru the strainer equaled 3 gallon size zip lock baggies.




batch 2 tomatoes


some big


some cherry


strainer in action


that batch added another two gallon bags of juice


thawing


i helped the thawing along




i keep adding them one at a time


still thawing








finally got it all thawed and start cooking it down


pot two cooking down


time to start steralizing stuff


my regular canner has a pinprick leak i still havent repaired so i used my pressure canner instead (without pressure). notice how low my over-the-range microwave sits. it barely fits.


NOW we're getting nice and thick


in the canner


got four quarts of spaghetti sauce


pressure canner with my water canner lid, a little goofy but it worked


trouble with the over-the-range microwave is that moisture collects on its underside. some day i'm going to get a regular range hood and i'll be SO happy.


cracks in the tomatoes. if you dont use them RIGHT away, they start molding along the cracks. then they're all gross and wasted.


cracks and discoloration


looks big and pretty on one side


not so pretty with all its cracks


another one




truth is more cracks

wild caterpillar

i found this crazy caterpillar


turns out its a Hyalophora Cecropia








the caterpillar will turn into this pretty moth http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/kwhcecropia.htm

my garden


sunflower


big fat fuzzy bumblebee


tomatoes


green bean flowers are weird looking

flowers and cheap tomato cages

another puzzle. this one was missing SEVEN pieces. i've never had one missing so many. but i get them at goodwill for 99 cents... so occasional missing pieces arent unusual.


cleome flower. my dad sent me the pic asking if i could help identify it, and the lovely folks in a gardening community helped me figure out what it is. its interesting looking.


the tomato plants in wimpy cages that fell over. i tried to prop them back up, but the cages were so bent.


so i pulled the old wimpy cages off and put new strong cages in. which is NOT easy to do on full grown tomato plants with lots of (cherry) tomatoes already growing.


knocked a few loose from one plant


wimpy bent to fuck tomato cage


second one fixed


more knocked loose


calendula flowers




marigolds


giant zucchini plant (with some powdery mildew)


sunflowers are coming


what the sunflower head looks like as its first coming in


garden in full swing


crazy tomatoes


more crazy tomatoes


beans


nasturtiums still in full bloom