Before and After

It's approaching mid-August and the garden is showing the expected effects of heat and lack of rain, but there were still plenty of things to pick and process. 

Tomatoes before:

Tomatoes after:

Two gallons of roasted and blended tomato "goop" to freeze and cook down in the winter. I was hoping for more regular tomatoes but we only got two, and those got eaten right in the garden!

Zucchini before:

Three giants and two babies

Zucchini after:

12 cups of shredded zucchini for the freezer, to be baked into zucchini bread when it finally cools down. 

Zucchini, spaghetti sauce, cheese, some Italian seasoning, and a little garlic powder. I like it cold. 

Cucumbers after: (I forgot to take a before photo!) The container was full originally but cold cucumbers are just crying out to be eaten when it's hot.

Hot peppers before:

The after photo will depend on what Justin's hot-pepper-loving coworkers do with them. They're pretty, and Ryan has used a few in eggs and stir-fried rice, but I tried a small piece of one and my mouth burned for 10 minutes. These are all getting passed along to people that can appreciate (and tolerate) them. 

These few green beans will just stay in the refrigerator and I'll make them for dinner over the next few days. 

Not too bad for only receiving about 22 sprinkles of rain in the past week!