Tomato harvest

I planted a garden this summer. Did I tell you that? Normally, I don't even try because I tend to kill things. And rather quickly. But this year I was DETERMINED to grow something.
So I had my FIL build me a raised bed on the side of our house.

And I actually had things GROW. Over the summer we enjoyed radishes and lettuces and swiss chard, lots of basil and chives and parsely. Carrots and cucumbers. Oh my! It was de-lish!

Now that the weather is getting cooler my monstrosity of a tomato bush (seriously this thing is huge! see pic below) is finally ready for harvesting a bunch of tomatoes! And if you know me IRL you know I love, love, LOVE fresh, homegrown tomatoes (and this heirloom variety was named "best of Seattle" how could I go wrong?)! I've been more excited about this plant than really any other in my garden (other than broccoli. But that was a bust- the aphids took over and there was nothing left of it :( )

This thing took over half my garden... sadly that meant my onions had no chance (next year I will most definitely trim, trim and trim some more so I don't have such a huge plant)


So Wednesday morning I went out and picked everything I could!

I ended up with about 3 bowls full (and there are still more that weren't quite ready yet). And even though I <3 tomatoes, I knew there was NO WAY I could eat them all. So instead I took the advice of our CSA farmers and roasted them!

 I split up what I had into 2 batches- one "Italian" (tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil) and one "Mexican" (tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers) all from either my garden or the farm.

 I threw them in the oven @ 400 for 30 min, then turned it down to 275 for about 5 hours, stirring them every 30-60 min or so.

 And viola! 3 freezer bags of each! I can't wait to use them this winter in some sauces and soups! If they taste half as good as my house smelled, they will be heavenly!

And on a side note- I think we may need to get B her own step stool for helping out in the kitchen...  (and yes, I do believe I have the world's tiniest kitchen)