This is the first time I've canned marinara sauce. I would have made salsa but the sweet peppers - Carmen and Mama Mia Giallo - are at least a week from full ripeness. I grill the sweet peppers then remove the seeds and skin to make a pulp that is blended in with the tomatoes for the base. This makes a smooth rich-tasting salsa that is hard to beat. Since the tomatoes are nearly finished I'll have to buy a batch of sauce tomatoes to make the salsa.
I got five pints of marinara sauce. It has lots of fresh basil and oregano. Two fresh limes were used for the acidifier. I have no idea how it will turn out.
Just under three pounds of beans were harvested. Production from the pole beans is tailing off. I need to remove some of the tangled, beetle damaged foliage and let the plants establish some new foliage. They should get a 'second wind' and start producing again.
Okra and Diva cucumbers have been producing consistently. The okra has been steadily ramping up production. This week I harvested 1.6 pounds of okra, which is actually quite a bit of okra, probably at least twelve pods. I've been pickling it with hot peppers. As the okra reaches peak production later in the month I plan to bread it, blanch it in the oven and freeze it.
I wish I could say the same about the Calypso pickling cucumbers. Last year they went wild, this year there is a trickle. I've made 5 quarts of refrigerator pickles so far, but I'm waiting on enough to make a gallon batch of lacto-fermented pickles. The vines are looking hopeful after the addition of some compost at the base.
I picked two Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers.
These peppers make a good snack, like eating some berries, but these two topped a grilled pizza. This is my second attempt at making pizza on the charcoal grill. Even though this one turned out better than the first one it is still a work in progress. It looks like I will have to try making this on a pizza stone. Too many things can go wrong when cooking directly on the grates. It may look a little messy but it was quite good, with lots of fresh basil and those peppers.
To see what other people are growing head on over to http://www.ourhappyacres.com/
6 comments:
Glad you at least got enough tomatoes for some sauce--is blight taking the plants down? That pizza looks really good.
That's a nice batch of plum tomatoes. I lost most of my plum tomatoes to BER last year so none for me this year. I made sauce from the other types using Dave's blender technique: throw everything, skin and all in a blender, cook it down and freeze it.
That's too bad about the tomato plants - some years are just bad ones for disease. I'm finally having a 'not so bad' disease year after a couple of doozies. That sauce looks great, btw - I'm sure it will be savoured over the winter months.
And I actually think that pizza looks delicious - I'd be all smiles if it showed up on my dinner table :)
It's too bad the peppers didn't ripen in time for the salsa. I've only gotten a few ripe peppers myself so far. My pole beans are also taking a break, not a bad thing really. They are blooming again so it won't be long. You are braver than me on the grilled pizza! I tried it once, and the crust was a disaster. I bet the flavor was good though on yours. If you get it worked out I would love to know how to do it.
Right now I'd be happy with 6 pounds of tomatoes! Next year I think I will plant more of the blight-resistant ones that are coming onto the market, and not so many of the old-fashioned ones. Your pizza looks great - very "rustic". Who needs perfectly round pizza?
Your pizza looks so amazing, I'm going to have to try some Jimmy Nardello peppers on pizza. Your marinara sauce looks great, too. We're having a bad year for cucumbers as well, they've done better for me during extra wet year.
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