Just Catching Up

So much has been going on that I haven't blogged in over a week. We've been working in the backyard - moving the fence back to the property line to give Ginger some run-around room & do something about our drainage issues. Frank pulled all the fence posts out and now I need to do a lot of clean up - get rid of the 'marsh grass', get some fill, regrade, then replant. I've got plenty of elephant ears and Cannas which need to be thinned again - and they LOVE water. Jasmine, Carolina Jessamine and Passion flower will cover the fence in no time so I think it'll look pretty.

Last weekend I canned a ton of tomatoes. Did 5 quarts of quartered/chunked tomatoes and 4 qts of crushed. Of course I already used one to make sure they came out okay & they made wonderful sauce :) I'm going to love having fresh tomato sauce in the winter. I did 3 cups of basil pesto too - now frozen in ziplocks so I can grab one when I want it. I even canned my first batch of Okra - it's really taken off, so it'll grow like a weed now.
Here are the tomatoes before canning. I think they are finally slowing down now. -- I think. As you can see, the garden has been incredible so far. I was having a hard time finding enough time to keep up with it. My green beans are looking stinky though - I think something is eating the leaves. Time to pull them and start a new batch. There's still plenty of growing time left - I just hope it isn't too hot to start seeds in the ground. We'll find out.