Preserving the Bounty

Whew.  I think the worst thing about having a garden is trying to figure out what to do with all the excess.  That sounds awful.  That should be the best thing about having a garden.  And don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for all the food and all the bounty that God provides us.  I'm just weird...and maybe lazy, I guess.  I enjoy the planting of the garden and the beginnings of watching it grow.  If someone else would come do the pickin' and the preservin', I'd be a happy camp...er.

At first, I was really upset that the chickens, or various other critters, were ruining all the tomatoes.  But now, well, not so much.  Critters are getting about half of the tomato crop, even though I'm picking them before they ripen completely.  Even so, I've got more than I can keep up with.  Well, not really more than I can keep up with...more than I want to keep up with.

This is not all of them, I have a whole bunch ripening in a basket outside and many more still on the vine.

In the past two days...

I've made stewed tomatoes...

and the dehydrator has been going non-stop...

shriveling up tomatoes.  This is the easiest way to preserve them, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them now that they are dried.

And the cucumbers!  Ay-ay-ay

Eight pints of bread and butter pickles didn't even make a dent in the big ol' pile of cukes in the fridge.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go taste them now.  This was my first time to make these and my neighbor's grandson wants some.  I need to make sure they're edible before I hand them over.