Gardening Blues

It was not a great gardening year. The garden had too much shade. The corn variety we chose lacked flavor. The basil was covered up by the vigorous zucchini. But we did get five pumpkins.

Considering the poor garden prospects this year, I was suprised to find my orchid bloomed! It has a spicey smell. Karl gave it to me about 14 months ago and I wasn't sure it would ever bloom for me. But I found these four blossoms tucked next to the window. It was not a great tomato year either. Only one ripened on the vine. We missed picking it before it was too ripe because it was in the very middle of the bush. So, we picked them all two weeks ago and brought them in the kitchen. They finally ripened. I blanched them and deseeded them this morning and pureed them in the blender.

This sauce is now simmering on the stove. We are going to have some for dinner tonight and I'm going to try freezing the extra in quart bags for another day. It smells really good!

I made this quilt top yesterday. It has nothing to do with the garden but it is a ginkgo leaf pattern. I'm going to quilt it and hang it in the bathroom.