Just to Make Things More Fun

Tuesday after work, my mom and I went and picked several more buckets of tomatoes from the garden.

When I got home, I drove the Ranger in the garage.

When I went to start unloading the tomatoes, I tripped.  Seriously.  I tripped walking in the garage, and I thought I was going to die.  Mostly because the toe I tripped with was the one I had surgery on several years ago.  It really doesn’t move well, and it was bent farther than it has bent in probably twenty years.

I decided I should have it checked out because I couldn’t bear any weight on the toe.  Luckily, I didn’t break it, but I am in a fun shoe for the next three weeks.

Of course, that makes it a challenge.  Insurance companies don’t issue one shoe for the barnyard and one for the rest of my life.  That means I had to get creative.

It worked.

(Fuzzy photo because Betty Lou was trying for seconds on her peanut butter cracker.)

Actually, it worked better than I thought it might.

I even managed to climb over the gate with Penny’s meds.

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Vintage or Everyday Use

The garden has been quite productive.  Last weekend (the 6th and 7th) I worked hard to can the tomatoes I picked on Labor Day.  I’ve been canning so much that I had to clean my pantry to make more room.

I’ve been canning tomatoes for a long time.  My mom canned before me, and her mom canned before her.  I have in my possession a lovely vintage food mill.  It is a Foley food mill.  I’m not sure how old it is for sure.  They began making them in 1926, and I’m guessing this one is from the 1940’s or 50’s.

I did find one at an antique store that I bought for myself, but the hooked leg was bent.  I went back to using the one from my mom, and eventually used the spring from the one I bought to replace the hand-me-down.

salsa and roasted tomato sauce in progress

Now that spring is starting to wear out, so I decided to try for a new one, even though I’ve finished most of my canning for the year.

Well, this one doesn’t work.  I couldn’t use it.  At all.

working on tomato juice after the sauce and salsa

I had to go back to the vintage one.  Sigh… If it really dies, I don’t know what I’ll do.  But that might be a problem for next year.  Last weekend I picked about eight five-gallon buckets.

I gave them away! So far this year I’ve canned 64 pints and 3 half-pints of tomato sauce; 17 1/2 pints of salsa; 8 quarts and 5 pints of tomato juice (with 2 1/2 gallon bags in the freezer to still can); and 5 quarts and 34 pints of cold-pack tomatoes.  I do still want to do a batch of relish and maybe more tomatoes if I get caught up with everything else.  We’ll see…

And someone asked me about a butter dish behind Sky in one photo (I didn’t forget–just busy).

Sky

Well, this is also passed down from my mother’s mother.  It was her favorite butter dish, and I remember her using it when I was little.

I do not use this one.  I’m pretty sure I’d break it because it’s glass.  It just gets to look pretty.

The Land of Milk and Tomatoes

I really hoped to get caught up with the three day weekend.  But I am absolutely drowning in milk and tomatoes.

Astra waiting to go in and be milked

Over the weekend, I made two batches of Mozzarella cheese.

I made two batches of feta (which uses some of the buttermilk I made overnight Friday into Saturday).

I finally gave up and just froze a couple of gallons for next year’s kids, and I still have more in the fridge.  I still have soap and mozzarella sticks to make.

Of course, Aurora has to peek in the milk room and see whether or not she’s going to get a treat.

Aurora

I roasted tomatoes Thursday and Friday evening.  I canned them and roasted more on Saturday.  In total, I canned 20 1/2 pints of roasted tomato sauce over the weekend.

I also canned 20 pints of cold packed tomatoes.

Then I decided to go pick the garden on Monday.  I figured I might have some to ripen throughout the week.  It takes two pictures to show you what all I have sitting around waiting to be canned yet.

Holy never-ending tomatoes! You can’t even tell I’ve picked any tomatoes yet.  They are still completely loaded.

I washed, cored, and froze three and a half gallon bags that I will turn into juice at the end of the canning season.

Up next will be salsa, more sauce, and more cold pack tomatoes.  I’m pretty sure my family and I will have enough tomatoes to survive the zombie apocalypse.