Food from the Garden

 The garden harvest continues!  Some of the hot peppers are ripening, and the zucchini's producing as well.  The first ground cherries are ripening, and fruit has set on all the tomatillos as well (a month earlier than in past years!).  I think the garlic is close to being ready too.  (Other Boston gardeners with garlic, is it time to dig it up now, or do I need to wait longer?  I planted it last fall.)  The tomatoes are coming along, but it looks like several weeks before anything's ripe; I didn't grow cherry tomatoes this year, so no early tomatoes for me.  The winter squashes are vining everywhere, and the Mystery Squash in front has white flowers and might actually be a birdhouse gourd.  No fruit on it yet, but the flowers sure are pretty!  Oh, and the okra has been loving the hot weather we've been having the past few weeks.  The proto-okra pods that have formed have usually died after the flower blooms, but there are a couple out there that might  be getting past that initial stage.

( On to the pictures! )

How Many Cans Can a Canner Can if a Canner Can Can Cans?

Answer: Lots!

Now that summer fruit is ripening, it's time for putting things up: canning, freezing, dehydrating.

Now, if you can things, I think you should enter your jams, jellies, salsas, sauces, pickles, etc. in county fairs! I did last year, and I won prizes! Woo!



More observant viewers will have noticed there's a distinctly non-canned temari sitting amidst the jars and ribbons; I entered that in one of the arts & crafts contests, and got ribbons for that too! There are also lots of contests for baking, quilting and sewing, knitting, crocheting, photography, art, and various kinds of crafts. If you enter something, you stand a very good chance of winning a prize. You might even get prize money!

Local fairs (with entry due dates) include:

• The Big E (W. Springfield, MA) - Canning, Baking, Photography, sewing/quilting, knitting, crocheting, crafts - August 1 (late entry August 15)
• Topsfield Fair (Topsfield, MA) - Canning, Arts & Crafts - September 3; Baking, Honey - September 26 (yes, the website is down as of post time)
• 3 County Fair (Northampton, MA) - Canning, Baking, Arts & Crafts - August 20
  

( More info on the fairs under the cut. )