1 Mar 2015

garden share collective: march


I am exhausted.

I have reached that point of summer when I am just plain exhausted. When maintaining the vegie garden is a chore. No longer a relief after work, but another chore to fit in: watering, picking the beans and zucchinis - or as mum and I say, the beans and zucchinis and beans and zucchinis and beans and zucchinis ... our phone conversations lately go something like this: What did you do today? Oh, I picked more beans and zucchinis. And beans and beans and beans and beans? Yes, and more beans; just for a change. And what are you having for dinner tonight? Oh, I thought I'd have beans and zucchinis. What about you?

Yes, you can guess the response.
Luckily, the tomatoes have started ripening. Boom! Mum came up to help me pick my vegies - I had a breakdown one night over the phone and tearily pleaded for some parental assistance. So mum came over and got to pick my beans and zucchinis for a change. And at lunch she quipped to dad, isn't this pleasant, we're eating someone else's beans ... anyway, mum helped me pick bucket loads of tomatoes. As you can see above. She had warned me, somewhat ominously, only a couple of weeks earlier, that I'd have a lot of tomatoes ripening all at once.

And now I have, and I have trays lining my kitchen benchtop. I'm eating my way thru them merrily, but also cooking them. I think this was my real intention for the tomatoes all along: cooking them and squirelling them away for later. I have been roasting wedges of them, sometimes merely anointed with some olive oil and S&P, sometimes with herbs and garlic, then freezing them for winter use. For blitzing into a smooth sauce or probably just using them as is; they are such rich velvety wedges of tomatoey goodness.
Really, you can never have enough tomatoes. However, I may not have enough freezer space. Wow, do I need to ask santa for a second chest freezer out in the garage? I asked mum if I could rent some freezer space and she said, you'll be lucky.
But back to the garden. Watering is the other big issue, one that is breaking my heart. It's distressing to see how dry my garden is, despite mulch and my constant watering (or so it seems). Even though we have had a couple of 'big rain events' here in Hobart, it has overwhelmingly been a dry year so far (and the eastern shore where I live is notoriously dryer and warmer). I am just struggling to keep the water in the ground. And when it does rain, I am beginning to think that the mulch just stops the rain getting into the soil. I have become cynical about the rain and its unlikely appearance; I have become one of those people who view hot summer's days as a threat to the health of my garden.

So I am exhausted. There is a small part of me that realises autumn and the oppressing dark of Hobart's winter will soon be upon us, limiting gardening time and opportunities. But there is a small part of me that is also looking forward to the break that the winter season will bring.

32 comments:

  1. Ooh, such pretty tomatoes! I do know that feeling well - that the garden gods are blessing us just a little too enthusiastically. This weekend I am experimenting with passata. I have about 45 jars to fill, which necessitates a LOT of tomatoes!

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    1. yum passata ... but 45 jars! just the thought of THAT, jo, exhausts me. 45! good luck!

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  2. Your tomatoes look awesome and I am impressed by your shed loads of beans and zucchini. Very hard work now but they will be a joy during the winter months. Do you freeze or bottle the beans? Keep on keeping on!

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    1. i am going to start freezing the beans - and leave some on the bushes to dry out - i've reached my bean limit, i think, linda! i didn't think bens froze well, but mum told me today that cooked beans do, so i'm goign to do that.

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  3. Oh my goodness!! Ok, I totally understand you being completely exhausted, with this awful heat and dryness (my garden is the same, no matter what I do) and the constant gardening and the cooking, but oh my god I am SO impressed. That is incredible. You have inspired me to try harder with my tomatoes. You are a wonder woman!

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    1. hello maya! I haven't visited you for a bit :-( but oh, thank you for your wonderful words - that cheers me up a lot! and gosh, in WA you would have it even hotter than here in Hobart... *slaps self about* shall stop whining! and glad to inspire you -do make sure you read my earlier tomato post with my dad's tricks and tips.
      take care and I shall head over soon.

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  4. I sometimes get that way in the summer too. But it isn't about harvesting. It is about preserving.

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    1. you're right daphne - the harvesting part is the easy bit. it's once you bring it into the kitchen that the hard yakka begins ... hope you are coping with your snow :-)

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  5. I completely understand how you feel, I've been in exactly the same position, only with less tomatoes. So much time required. But it's absolutely wonderful in the winter to have precious home grown produce, it really is. So hang on in there, it will all be worth it in the end. I really like having a break from it all in the winter as well. Spring is just around the corner here though, so it is time for me to dig out my seeds. CJ xx

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    1. thanks CJ - I need another cheerleader right now! and I know in the gloom of winter when I pull out some of those ruby-red roasted tomatoes I shall feel very very satisfied and cheery!
      enjoy looking at your seeds! I am collecting some from my cosmos and larkspurs and marigolds for next season's colour in the veg patch.

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  6. I can understand how dealing with that much produce could be so overwhelming and I sympathize. Unfortunately for me I was very, let’s just say, unlucky in the garden this year. I like the part where your mother came to your rescue and assisted :-) Just remember e winter is still a little way off and in my opinion autumn (Tassie's best time of the year) and its magnificent colour is upon us.
    D

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    1. i agree with you D - autumn is definitely hoabrt's best season. the chill is already in the air!
      maybe next year for you. there's always next year in the garden.

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  7. So much tomato goodness, great gardening & harvesting!

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  8. I know what you mean about beans and zucchinis. I just wish I had the same problem with tomatoes .. It is so dry here too - watering like crazy and hoping that it is going to rain soon! Your produce looks great - I have tomato envy :D

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    1. oooh, i've never been the source of tomato envy before! i like it!
      i hope you get thru your beans and zuchini glut. and good lukc keeping your water levels up - it's hard work at times, isn;t it.

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  9. It's actually validating to read this post... I often feel the same way. Fruit and veg gardening is so much work and it's not breeze. Sometimes I get really fed up. We've had our extreme summer weather in Brissie again and we've had too much rain recently in which some of my garden has suffered. I share the pain lol!

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    1. oh jem, i'm so glad i put my sense of malaise out there then. i like to burst the bubble soemtimes about gardenign beign good for the soul and stress-relief - so it's good to know others feel the same way!
      too much rain ... not enough ... where, i wonder, is it perfect??

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  10. Even though it feels like too much now I'm sure you will be very glad of those parcels of tomato goodness come winter! I can't say I'm ever sorry to see a glut of homegrown produce, but sometimes it is a lot of pressure to feel you have to make the most of it. I've gotten better at not feeling bad if something from the garden gets consigned to the compost bin. At least I know it's going to grow something else delicious down the track, so it's not totally wasted.

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    1. i can assuage my guilt bek by giving stuff to my mum's chicken and their old dog. but yes, i guess it is the pressure of having to 'process' it and all at once... i am filled with the warm and fuzzies at what is stored away in my chest freezer out in the garage.

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  11. The garden can be tiring at this time of year, I hear you and I sympathize. That tomato harvest is glorious and slow roasted tomatoes can not be beat! You will get a break very soon and be wishing for these harvests to return again :-) We also need more freezers space. It makes thing difficult when you can not store what you have easily. Look after yourself and take a break. The garden can work itself out for a week or two or more

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    1. thanks for your lovely words kyrtie. as i type this, i am away in th north of the state for a couple of days, for work, and it is pretty blissful being in a hotle and not having to think about watering or harvesting or cooking at all! though whatawaits when i get home on the weekend... i wont think of that just yet!

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  12. you have some killer tomatoes E and you are 100% right you can't go wrong with heaps of them. Sorry to hear you have had a bit of rough time, I too recently had a meltdown and all that fixed it was my mum coming to visit. Unfortunately our conversations are all about the rain and what I am not picking thanks to the rotting garden. There is always hope this month. Look after yourself and enjoy those stunning tomatoes.

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    1. thank you liz - mums are just what we need sometimes (always!). rotting vegies though - that's at the other end of misery.
      ha and yes, i do grow some amazing tomatoes don't i? i've even had a little boast to my father about my fab toms :-)

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  13. We are over run with tomatoes too! Just today we roasted up a whole heap to freeze for winter. We have also made a big lot of tomato pasata to use in pasta sauce. We have also blanched our beans to freeze for winter. I know how you feel about the constant nature of the garden at this time of year. CB is always out there harvesting!

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    1. hello jo - and welcom to dig in, i believe? and thank you for your sympathy/empathy!
      roasting tomatoes is the best. i have cooked them in a basic kind of stew to freeze, but even my beautiful tasty varieties are so much better when roasted.

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  14. Your tomatoes look fab. I feel just like you in late summer but now, as we near the end of winter I am so grateful to go to the freezer to get out a pack of tomatoes in whatever form. We ate our last bag of green beans at the weekend and enjoyed them so much it was hard to remember just how glad I was when they finally stopped growing.

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    1. oh you've made me chuckle anne. i'm sure i will feel the same way in a few months time. mum says we really will miss fresh green beans when they stop, but yes, right now, it;s more like "WHEN are they ever goign to stop?" :-) the joys of eating seasonally (and freezing!)

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  15. Oh those are the tomatoes of my dreams, gosh how prolific is your garden, awesome! I roasted and froze some of my excess cherry tomatoes, and they are lovely and flavourful. You will be happy in the middle of winter. up here in the tropics we have had such a dry season, and I too begin to wonder how the ground can be so dry when it has just recently rained.

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    1. i would never think of you having a dry garden, AA. gardens (and seasons) can really test us.
      little frozen cherry tomotoes - perfect in a winter soup or risotto, a little burst of summer!

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  16. Look at your gorgeous tomatoes, such variety, so many and they are bursting with colour and flavour. Summer certainly has been blooming in your garden E. Roasted tomatoes, you are lucky to have so many and heirloom varieties too, well done :)

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    1. i am lucky, merryn - dad prefers heirlooms and as he starts the plants off froms seeds, that's what i get! but who would go back to anythign else once you've seen and tasted a black krim or the apricoty-blush of a big beryl? it's life changing. or maybe just palate changing :-)

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