One of the more interesting recent activities had been canning up the unexpected bounty of the new tomato house, or the Red Greenhouse. Finished in mid July, in the midst of of cold gray summer, we didn’t expect to see many red tomatoes. But alas, due to what was obviously prime tomato growing conditions in the red-greenhouse, great quantities of big green tomatoes were hanging on the overgrown plants by mid August. Hoping to get some ripe before the big freeze, we picked off all the flowers and turned off the water.

Over the next two months, we picked the tomatoes as they began to ripen, hoping this would force the plant to keep trying to produce more ripe tomatoes. And we continued picking every few days as the green tomatoes began, w showing a respectable amount of color. The front window sill and bookcase were covered with tomatoes, ripening into a range of colors from red and orange to gold, stripped green zebras and a maroon colored Purple Cherokee. And lots of Roma tomatoes and little Sun Golds.

And the results? We harvested nearly a zillion tomatoes, most of which were roasted for several hours in the wood cook-stove oven, slow cooked for a day or 3 on the back of the wood burner, and then canned.

Now to find lots of ways to eat all these tomato sauces and pasts before next season.