It's been a slow growing season, and now the work begins. The hail storm, while severely damaging the eggplant and chile peppers, seems to have caused them to grow to heights never before seen. Suddenly (it seems) they are heavy with fruit. The tomatoes are just late; some of them were badly damaged and never grew much taller, but are likewise loaded. I have dubbed a yellow summer squash my 'golden zuccini' because of its gargantuan size. Good thing it can be seen! Lots of winter-type acorn squash will be OK if protected from the early frosts. Now the work begins.
Tomatoes to can and freeze, eggplant to blanch and freeze for some special dishes this winter. Chilies to peel and freeze. 'Zuccini' to shread and freeze. Apples from my son's trees and pears from the produce store to put up dried, frozen, and canned. This is the only kind of kitchen duty I tolerate; the results can be admired for months instead of minutes. Last winter I experimented with unusual combinations of dried herbs to make soothing, warming teas, so this fall I am harvesting and drying larger quantities and trying new ideas. In my garden a marigold, Mexican terragon (tagetes lucida), has a wonderful anise flavor. I have several varieties of mint, and a mint relative, lemon balm (melissa officinalis).
