A WORKING VACATION

As I finish my short work week today, I am heading into a 10-day vacation cycle. I will be doing a short trip to middle TN and then home for a week of working on the garden home. In days and weeks ahead I will be giving my long range goals for the veggie patch as well as my updates for the LANA Christmas home tour, which I officially registered to do yesterday, Tuesday. The dates for the home tour will be Friday night, Dec. 4 from 7-9 pm., Sat. Dec. 5 from 1-5 pm. & Sun. Dec. 6 from 1-5 pm. I hope you will make an effort to at least come see my house...it will be worth it!
We are getting rain again this week which means more & more cucumbers and hopefully more tomatoes and squash. I harvested a large amount of tomatoes on Monday this week and yesterday processed them into cored, cut up chunks. I put these in a large pot and added salt, pepper, a little sugar and some basil and cooked them down into a stewed tomato chunky soup mix. I then let it cool completely and put it into quart "zip lock" freezer bags. I inserted the empty bag over a large heavy plastic storage container for support and inverted the top over the side to hold the bag then ladled the soup mix into the bags. I then pressed out all the excess air and put in a large plastic bucket for cautiousness and put in the freezer. When these bags froze I put them again in gallon bags to help prevent freezer burn. If I keep this up I should have enough soup, spaghetti and starter mix for all winter...hey, isn't that the idea of a home garden anyway?
I have harvested enough squash since Sunday this week to feed 4-neighbors with fresh squash and enough for me to make 2-casseroles. One I kept and am eating on here in the garden home and the other I gave to some very ill neighbors. Cucumbers are never ending now with the many-many plants taking over the back fence. They are being harvested by the bucket fulls about twice a week. So this garden season I would have to say has already been a success even with any failures from the peas the raccoons got into, etc.
As I being work on the garden home for the LANA holiday tour I may not have as much time to write here but hope to be in touch at least twice weekly +/-. Hopefully the time will not go too fast during vacation this week but I have lots to do and places to go. I must get things done here inside the home for this tour. I have removed the once covered up transom from the two front doors. But I broke 2-panes out and 2 were already cracked and I have someone scheduled for that replacement. But when the new door gets in that will look so good. But that chat will come later.
Take care my gardening friends and remember: GARDENING: One yard at a time!