jenna rose journal

August is always such busy and exciting month. I am working long days on my new line, building inventory for fall, wholesale orders, and the Cabbagetown show, which is just two weeks away.
I am also working extra hard so I can squeeze one more trip up to the lake while there's still a hint of summer heat left. This is why I have been so quiet here lately.

And when I am not in the studio there is just so much to do this time of the year. The cool evenings are perfect for mountain biking, and the fruits and vegetables that are in season right now are all so good that I am trying to preserve as many of our favorites as possible.

Last week when I went to buy tomatoes to make salsa I found big bushels of plum tomatoes. I needed 12 cups of tomatoes for the salsa anyway, so I figured I would just can the rest of them, which I was hoping to do at some point anyway. Well, as it turns out 12 cups makes a minor dent in the bushel and while spending an entire evening canning the rest of them it started to feel like a bottomless basket of tomatoes.

We have had so many jalapenos and red chillies coming up in our little garden and I was happy to be able to use both in the salsa. I usually use just one or so at a time so I didn't think to wear gloves. The next morning I woke up to burnt finger tips and was worried about how spicy the salsa would be. It's spicy, but not too spicy. Although I might think differently when I crack open a jar in a few months.

I ended up with six jars of salsa and fourteen jars of tomatoes. After the jars are processed I set them on our kitchen's brick fireplace mantel until they cool. I wish I could keep them there always. At one point I had jars of garlic scapes, beets, and peaches all lined up and the different colours looked so pretty up there.