The weather has turned just cool enough to allow baking and canning in relative comfort; it is the last week for blueberries and peaches, and the end of the tomatoes and sweetcorn can't be far behind.

It turns out that it takes a lot of tomatoes to make any appreciable amount of canned tomatoes, nevermind tomato paste. The economics of the family farm are becoming clearer, and next year we're going to plant a lot more tomatoes. And bigger ones: nobody wants to spend an extra hour peeling a hundred cherry tomatoes to make one measly quart of sauce. Gimme six big beefsteaks and be done with it.

It takes also a lot of peaches to make jam, and peaches ain't cheap up here. When we get land, we're putting in a peach tree. That list, of course, is always growing: asparagus is ever at the top, apples, blueberries to the horizon, grapes. This year we forgot garlic, chard, leeks, sweet peppers, and melons.

There are some tomatoes, some salsa, and some blueberry jam on shelves in the basement. A new crock of sauerkraut and one of pickles on the counter. There are two pounds of blueberries in the fridge and three pounds of peaches in the fruit basket, waiting to become blueberry-oregano (J's idea, and apparently a new one) and (the much more common) ginger-peach jam. Our garden isn't making enough tomatoes at once to can them, and they're a bit pricey at the market. I'm considering calling some farms and inquiring about buying a bushel.

Next year might also be the year for a pressure-canner.