I've got a few minutes before I must scamper off so just a quick post...

So many green tomatoes....what's a girl to do? Spend a ridiculous amount of time searching the interwebs for recipes of course. I have yet to taste test the green tomato salsa from last weekend but there is a tiny voice in my head telling me to wait a bit. Let those flavours get to know each other first.

I've long been a fan of The Pioneer Woman and today I poked around the Tasty Kitchen tab to see if she had any green tomato recipes. I was quickly rewarded with what looks to be a tasty gem....Green Tomato Relish.
The recipe calls for 4 1/2 pounds of green tomatoes so it will put a nice dent in the box of baby fruit.

The garden forecast has been calling for frost the past few days and it looks like any hope of an Indian Summer has been dashed.

Sadly, we picked all of our green tomatoes and have them stored in a large box where I hope they will continue to ripen.

If not and if this recipe for green tomato salsa is successful, I will be making numerous batches. This morning I made a single batch as a test and it yielded 2 jars. Perfect for taste testing.

I have also stocked up on heavy duty freezer bags for the remaining carrots which are safely nestled in the ground. That is also a big project as you must trim and peel and then blanch prior to freezing. I am sure the reward of garden-y tasting carrots in February will be worth it.

Yum!



Pt. 2 Later the same day...
It is freezing out there today! The air has more than a nip to it now that the clouds have moved in.
Some fall clean up motivation moved me to pull up a few things and turn the old compost bin. The peas definitely got hit with frost so those came up along with rhubarb (which I froze for winter treats), a few nasturtiums and some gladiolas that didn't do much this year. I hope we can count on a few warmer days to completely put the yard to bed as there is a lot to do; perennials to cut back and bits of grass to pull that have been poking up where we removed lawn. Plus, some of the flowers still look nice and it feels too early and too soon to say goodbye.

Oh my....it's September 11th and the garden is already starting the inevitable decay. We've had a totally crappy summer here in Calgary. So much rain, so little sunshine. The tomatoes have been stuck on green for weeks and weeks. On a positive note, the carrots are delicious and the snap peas have been a great little treat as I survey the yard. The beets did well and make the most amazing snack in the form of baked chips!
J's attempt to grow corn has not been a success and the tallest plants are not even 5 ft. There are signs of fruit but we may have snow before we get to sample the 2 or 3 cobs we may get! He is referring to them as decorative greenery!
As you can see from the picture, the sunflowers have really triumphed. The stalks are 3" across and one or two are in excess of 10 ft tall. Hard to believe that you can put a little seed in the ground and be rewarded with these giants.
Because I try to adhere to the glass half full outlook on life, we are considering the summer of 2010 as our learning garden....
Tomatoes-yes!
Snap peas-yes!
Carrots-yes!
Beets-yes!
Zucchini-yes!
Peppers-not so much.
Broccoli-disappointing.
Corn-nope.

As far as flowers, I learned that sweet peas should be planted much sooner than you think although they ended up doing really well. Columbine should probably be purchased at the garden centre and not grown from seed...it needs that headstart. I did not get any flowers...but the leaves are pretty.
Last but not least, plant way more bulbs than you think you need. They look sad in a little group of five...I want swathes of them in the spring! I will be stalking the garden centres once again.