A Tomato with Heart & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Our area was in 94 or 95% totality during the eclipse.  The guys and I donned welding helmets off & on to view it.  Though the light looked odd, I was surprised it remained light.  The rooster started crowing, and Guinness cried for his evening walk during the odd light.  The crescent shapes were viewable for some time, especially noticeable under the trees (for pics, see the last post).  I heard of three areas that had rain during the peak.  I'm glad we were able to view it, though we sure could use some rain.  In between going outside for the eclipse, I was able to can 6 pints of tomato juice.  I made potato salad, asian cucumbers, and tried a new recipe for zucchini fries one night, all with garden vegi's.  The zucchini recipe was not a keeper, but you never know until you try.  The zucchini (tromboncino) was dredged in flour, egg & bread crumbs.  The leftover egg & a bit of flour was cooked up for the pups dinner, & the bread crumbs and flour went to the chickens.  Zucchini ends and some potato skins went into the broth bag in the freezer.  The pups also got a small, odd shaped cucumber and some tromboncino that had seen better days.

I learned from a friend that the current Verizon rewards program is being phased out.  The account is in J's name, and I've never kept up with the rewards, but knew he did not use them.  I was told there is much less to choose from now, but was able to get a $5 coupon for one of our favorite local restaurants.  We have to use it in 2 weeks, but I think we can do that.  I looked at magazines, but they were more than I wanted to pay, even with the discount, so I opted to use the rest of the points to enter sweepstakes for overseas trips.  At least there's a chance of winning, rather than the points just expiring.  I went through ebates to buy a used pattern for scrubs.  I haven't sewn any clothes yet, and am hoping that will be a relatively easy first project.  I also went through ebates to buy a book that will be a Christmas present.  Eggs were boiled for the pups, and the water used on outdoor plants.  I'm joining in with The Prudent Homemaker today.

Another green striped cushaw squash was harvested, along with lima beans, butter peas, figs, pawpaws, hazelnuts, yellow squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, apples, pears, plums, eggplant and sweet red peppers.  The significant rain we hoped for turned out to be 1/8", so we're still really hurting for rain.  We ran out of rain water for the house, so J switched us back to well water until cisterns are replenished.  Here come the stains :(.  Enough purslane and basil were harvested to make a double batch of pesto.  Because of the dryness, there's only a little of this and that coming in.  A good variety, just not much of anything.  The majority of tomatoes I'm harvesting are golf ball size, so most of those are being juiced, and the pulp dehydrated to use in bird suet.  After saving up figs for many days, I was able to make another batch of fig honey jam.

Of the fall seeds I planted, the kale have come up nicely, and some of the collards.  J bought cabbage and collard seedlings, which we planted in the garden.  I cut up and froze 4 red bell peppers, which is probably plenty for the coming year.  Peppers are something I like in small doses, and the only way I consistently use them is in Rhonda's crustless quiche, and in pumpkin soup.  A story Rhonda shared this weekend about a garden initiative for refugees is brilliant, I think.  It seems good in so many ways... poor, unused land being turned into healthy gardens,  people having meaningful work and building community, being able to pass on their knowledge to another generation, etc.  Can you tell I love this idea?!  I cut the tomato at the beginning of the post for caprese salad, and found the heart inside.  Love is all around us.  Many wishes for a wonderful week.