Fruits of our labor

Autumn is upon us. One day I'm looking intently to find leaves in the trees changing their hues and only a few days later the horizon seems to be splattered with color throughout forests. Photos of people apple picking and strolling through pumpkin patches are beginning to decorate the many corners of the world wide web. The stores are in full swing Halloween mode. I've enjoyed several candy corn binges. Oh autumn! (I LOVE fall)

It's getting cold at night now but the day time temps are keeping really nice. My four tomato plants are scraggly and probably ready to be pulled but these babies keep cranking out the fruit. There are even new blossoms all over them. I think my tomato plants have yet to get the memo. Summer is over.

The fruit has gotten smaller and smaller as the summer has drawn to a close but it just keeps on coming. Today I went through the plants and picked all the green tomatoes. Oh, I love how they smell as I'm pulling them from the plant. Gardening is a gift I'm joyously grateful to have partaken of again this year. 

The small batch of green tomato chutney I made in August has all been eaten and I've learned that I LOVE green tomato chutney. My very favorite use for it was to spread on top of cream cheese that I'd spread on a hot morning bagel. So I was eager to slice up all these beautiful green gems. I tripled the last batch I made. I took a photo of all the fresh ingredients in the pot and somehow deleted it before it made it's way to the computer. It was really pretty. So instead you just get to see the brown goop simmering away. Oh, the yummy brown goop.

I've been wanting to have a go at canning (or bottling if you live in the UK) for quite some time but I'll admit I've been terrified of it. I could never bring myself to just buckle down and give it a try. I always figured that one of these days I'd rope a friend into showing me how or learning how with me. Until today. Okay, I have a confession to make. Chutney because of it's high sugar and vinegar content is self preserving. You don't need to technically "can" it, you know with the boiling water bath and pressurization and all that jazz. BUT, I says to myself, "ah ha, here's a chance to have a go at canning and for the most part I can't screw it up and give someone food poisoning from a faulty seal or whatever because, well, chutney is self preserving." Perfect! I did buy these jars today so this little venture ended up costing me $7. I did not however buy any of the canning supplies that are beginning to fill stores now a days. You know the lid plopper on-ers, the wire dunking in pot basket, the green puller out of pot thing; yes I could go on and on and on. There are so many canning accessories. It really boggles my mind.

And there you go. I now have nine jars of green tomato chutney (that I LOVE) all properly canned. My very end of summer, beginning of autumn fresh green tomatoes that I grew from four little seeds are all tucked away in those brown jars with apple, onion, raisins, a lot of brown sugar, a good helping balsamic vinegar, and ginger. In all honesty my cup is overflowing right now. I feel like a conqueror. AND my kitchen is clean (that's another victory for me; normally a day like today would include my going to sleep for the night with a very messy kitchen). I've had a really great day!

Ahhh, good night!