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Thank you So much! I am in the garden today, ‘dealing’ with tomatoes. The pretty ones are mostly gone. The crows have figured out “phooey on the fence, we’ll just land on top of the tomato plants & commence pecking/destroying from there!”. They have a very nice bird bath with fresh water (big enough they get in & splash around in it) so being thirsty is no excuse for eating my tomatoes!!

This is the recipe that interests me the most with all the ingredients currently available:

Small-Batch Basil and Cherry Tomato Freezer Jam

I mowed from 1-4 in the heat yesterday & got everything done that really needed it. The back field & lower half of front pasture still need doing, but I am out of gas. The garden needs attention the worst right now. Temps in high 90’s with heat index over 100 the rest of the week ... yuck!

QUESTION: If you pick cherry tomatoes (Sweet 100s in particular) when still partially green, but with some ‘blush’ of color, will they ripen up? If the Celebrities have any color, they will ripen up on the countertop.

Finally made it to the tomato patch today .... in at 10:15 & the sweat is literally dripping off. I cleaned the patch - still need to pull out the main stalks, but all the branches are cut off. There were some ripe tomatoes, but I also picked any green ones larger than a ping pong ball and I plan on using them for Green Tomato Chutney.

I still have not talked to my brother about his turkey deep fryer stand to possibly use for heating my large canning pot - boy, would that speed things up. Between the jalapeno pepper jelly, the fig jelly, blackberry merlot jelly & now the tomato chutney, I will be canning for at least 2 days, longer if I have to use the stove for heating the pot. The upside is it’s going to be 100 outside the next 3 days, so being inside is a ‘good’ thing.

The spaghetti squash - some of the vines are still growing & blooming & I have some small squash on. I am torn between calling it quits, or letting it go. The weeds have gotten in that raised bed & the squash vines were so thick, I didn’t wade in & pull them, so a major clean out is appealing.

One jalapeno plant is pretty much gone - totally wilted. That one is getting pulled - has some good peppers on it. I may freeze some of them for my brother - already have about 20 in a bag for him. I am “poppered” out & have enough for 30 jars of jelly, so I’m ‘done’ on the jalapenos, for the most part. I may freeze a few for myself for this winter, but freezer space will be at a premium before long - half a hog coming early next month.

Last but not least ... still in LOVE with my herbs. When the borage bit the dust (bloomed out) & I pulled it, the African Blue Basil took off! I cannot believe how big it’s gotten and the blooms are really attracting pollinators. I am going to have to get another one for next year. Sadly, both of the lavender plants in that bed died ... they were larger when I bought them & not accustomed to being outside in extreme heat. One was a Super Blue & that one dying really ‘hurt’. The upside is that the 3 lavender plants, two new & one 2-year old Super Blue on the side of the porch, are doing just great. I plan on taking cuttings from the Super Blue to see if I can root them - that is how to propagate based on some recent reading. Much smaller plants that are acclimated early should do much better. Everything else is doing well - the chamomile is dying, but it’s a perennial & may have self-seeded. Between the chamomile & the borage, I’m curious what will come up next spring!