So finally I am having a good year for the tomatoes and it is time to start canning jars of sauce and crushed tomatoes for the coming year.  I had only a box and a half of lids left from last year, so I went out early yesterday morning to get additional lids.  I found empty shelf space where they should have been at several stores.  Reluctantly, back at home I looked for an online source and did not have much better luck.  Oh, there are a few sources which claim to have the lids but they appear to be price gouging unless their lids are actual gold rather than gold colored metal.  Apparently a shortage of canning lids is yet another result of the COVID pandemic in the US. 

The pear trees have been generous.

There was a assortment of acorn squash varieties.

And the pumpkins started a second batch.

We don’t have corn from the garden for the 4th of July, but it is getting close with silks showing well now.

Likewise, the tomatoes are starting to change colors, but it is going to be a while longer before they are ripe.

Pumpkins are coloring up well.

The pie pumpkins are growing up the cage and putting out several small fruits.  The peas on either side are also growing up and being productive.

One of the tomato plants is already showing lots of large fruit.

Some of the beans and peas that have harvested.

At the same time the garden is starting to produce fruit and veggies to harvest, I am still working on tasks that should have been completed by early April.

While I was clearing the neighboring raised bed to make way for another planting of corn, I noticed a couple of carrots that looked like they might be ready. Carrots tend to be very random in germinating for me, so the crop comes in over a long time. And the raised beds with hardware cloth at the base are the only way to go with carrots. Otherwise the soil may be too tough and the gophers will see to it that none are ever ready to go to the kitchen. So it was nice to get a couple of decent looking carrots. Only how, since the bed is made from two 6 x 1 boards, did the one get to be 15 inches?

Among the should-have-been-done-months-ago tasks to clear the bed is moving a clump of tarragon. Two years ago I started moving it and took most to another bed as a “temporary” home for it. Thus I now have two big tarragon patches. I took the shears to initial planting so I could find the base of the plant, I will have to see about drying it and perhaps doing some herb crafts in the fall.