The Life of H{e}arts: Welcome Autumn...

So I know that TECHNICALLY the autumn has not yet arrived, but as soon as I pluck the last pepper from his leafy home, I know that the time has come to yank up all other greenery left (ahem...mostly weeds) in my little veggie garden for the year. Now if I were an overachiever, I would be getting my lettuces, radicchio and fennel plants geared up for the late autumn harvest, but alas I am not. I need these cooler temps and lack of mosquitoes for all things pruning in the Hart garden proper...so maybe one day when it is all under control I will be able to concentrate on making ourselves a sustainable veggie patch, but I fear that will never happen.

Tending our garden is like painting the golden gate bridge...

As of now, my little veggie patch is like a secondary outdoor cupboard for salsa makings and basil for fresh pesto...this year I added peas and green beans to the mix. As for the level of success, I'm going to stick to the excuse that there was far too much rain... ; )

So the salsa. As an end-of-summer treat, and much to the hubby's pleasure, I made 6 gigantic jars of mexican salsa. I must say that as a first attempt it turned out pretty good! Although I think I need a proper pressure cooker/canner...and maybe a wall knocked out of my kitchen to store everything...

Homemade Salsa...

Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I will say that I don't often cheat when it comes to cooking, but I found it completely convenient to use a salsa mix that I picked up my last trip to the USA...Mrs. Wages. And thank you indeed to Mrs. Wages, she rocks.

So what do you need for the salsa....?