At some time, Michael and I plan to sell this pretty place–not because we don’t love it, but as we age, we realize we may not need anything quite as large.

So, from time to time, we go look at other property; and frequently, we hear the words “million dollar view.” It’s a little challenging for me to not say anything; because I do have a million dollar view. The river is just past that fence. The mountain is…well…it’s right where you see it!

I just look outside. Our hay was baled today. Tight as a tick.

It’s a busy time in Mendota. Gardens are seeing their last days of summer. While I did not put out a garden this summer, my friends, neighbors, our orchard, and Mann Farms have kept me well supplied. During the past months, I’ve canned potatoes, chicken, strawberry jelly, peaches, tomatoes, tomato juice and spaghetti sauce. In the next three days, I’ll can about 24 pints of spaghetti sauce as well as quite a bit of grape jelly. All of this leaves us with a small grocery store of sorts right in our pantry. I thought of this quite often during the days of the pandemic when people stayed in their homes and apartments in urban areas. How did they do it? We sat up here on our hill, gardened, worked on projects and waited for the world to return to normal.

While we did not put out a garden, I’ve missed it. Mike has, too. Next year, we will put out a small garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, a few green beans, etc. I’m planting garlic next month. I’d also like some potatoes. I just learned how well they can.

Speaking of canning, these homegrown tomatoes are in the canner right now as tomato juice.

These tomatoes lined up on my porch (below) are Romas. They have more pulp and make great spaghetti sauce. They skin so easily when I scald them. They are easy to work with. I scald them in hot water and then pinch the skin right off. I then cut out the core and they’ll go into the food processor. The spaghetti sauce I make costs about $1.50 per pint for me to make when I buy the tomatoes, and it’s so much better than what I purchase in the store. It’s not so sweet and sugary — although my recipe calls for about 1/2 cup of brown sugar–but that is spread in enough sauce that makes up about 24 pints. Far less sugar than store bought.

I’m waiting to hear the POP POP POP of jars sealing. The jiggling pressure canner and the sealing of jars are sounds of my summer.