apricot preserves

Two grocery bags of apricots = 11 half pints of preserves





My eight quart stockpot was only big enough to fit half at a time. Woof!



I picked, cleaned and cooked down the apricots last Sunday. Then everything sat in the fridge until this weekend. Brought the preserves back to a boil in the stainless steel dutch oven (in 2 batches), then processed them in the big stockpot.

Since I don't have any real canning equipment, I improvised with foil at the bottom of the stockpot (instead of a rack) and rubber band-wrapped tongs (instead of a jar lifter). Ghetto fabulous!

pasta with tomatoes, basil, and smoked mozzarella

A favorite with fresh tomatoes. Super easy and delish!





While water is boiling/pasta is cooking, cut up tomatoes. Toss with salt to taste in serving dish. You want the salt to render out some tomato juice, so let that sit for a bit. Meanwhile, cut up mozzarella and basil. Add to tomatoes, along with some olive oil. Stir. When pasta is done, drain and dump into tomato mixture. Stir some more. Good warm or room temp.

apricot tree - fully loaded!

All the branches are weighed down.



Lots of lost ones under the tree in the rock mulch and on the driveway.





Two in an old bird's nest — not staged, I swear!

weekend update

In the raised bed, the fennel is bonkers. Note to self: next year put a tomato cage on it while it's still small! Robesons are ripening.







Lots of bees (and hornets!) in the fennel



In the south-facing bed, Sungolds are looking good. Lost one of the three basil plants — other two are ok. One has totally bolted already.



First Sungolds and Robeson!