First Days of Fall

Thirty quarts of tomatoes. That's what she canned. Not me. For anyone who has read my book, Grow It. Eat It., you have probably guessed that I don't like to can. I much prefer filling the freezer.

So that's what I've been working on. Beans. Apples. Tomatoes. Peppers. Basil. (I have a love affair with basil. I love the taste and smell of it. I love that when I'm done working with it, the smell lingers on my fingers. For me, it's a symbolic smell, the smell of late summer, of delicious dishes with pasta and tomatoes, of a garden full of produce and flowers.) So it's now wonder that I have a backache, but it's nothing that a good night's rest won't help. And it will be worth it on a blizzardy winter's night when I open the freezer for a taste of summer.