Tomato harvest and homemade spagetti sauce

The tomatoes in the garden have produced a fair number of tomatoes this summer. I have been harvesting them and they have been ripening like crazy.

Today's project is homemade tomato sauce. I will freeze it and store it for winter pasta dishes.

First off, I scalded the tomatoes so I could peel and seed them.





Then I added the tomatoes to onions (also from my garden) and garlic that had been sautéed. I also added some sweet peppers to the mix.




I let the tomatoes cook down until they broke down completely. Then I added tomato paste and spices (oregano and basil). I cooked it a while longer until it thickened.

After it cooled a bit, I puréed it in my blender. This is so the kiddos can't tell that I added onions and peppers to the mix.

Here it is all puréed and cooling. I can't wait to use it over pasta this winter!



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Summer produce!

I love early summer when the garden starts producing all sorts of great things from veggies to fruit and flowers. Yesterday the kids and I picked strawberries and lettuce and some lovely smelling peonies.

Now if I can only find a way to keep the birds from getting into the berry patch!






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Some of my flowers

Its been a little bit since I posted. It seems spring and summer are always very busy with mowing the lawn and upkeep of the yard and garden.

I went wandering around the yard this morning and took a few photos of my yard that I wanted to share with all of you.

Here are a few beauties I found in my garden:






Hope you enjoy my photos!

Spring on the Prairies

I love springtime on the prairies! Everything seems so fresh and new. Here is a little collage of some of the photos I have taken of my garden and some of the plants growing in it.



From top left to right: rhubarb, chives, asparagus, plum blossoms, honeyberry blossoms and dandelion.

Enjoy!!