I've had to stop canning for a while. Partly because of this:

(this is just part of the ongoing tomato harvest)

And partly cause I have no more room to keep it all. It's too hot round here too keep the jars in my garage and I am not fortunate enough to have a pantry in my house. Plus, I am limited to what I can can as I don't have a pressure canner (yet.) So we just have pickles and relishes, jams and syrups. And plenty of them!

But this doesn't stop the fruit and veg from continuing to grow... (especially those damn zucchinis!) So today I did this:

Went to a lovely friend's house the other night and she plied me with peach sangria. It was DEE-vine and before we knew it we'd necked a pitcher of it. Oops. I'll have to get the recipe from her but it was some combination of white wine, peach vodka, sliced peaches, sugar and something else? Funnily enough, I can't remember...

So I was inspired to make this peach voddy...

Put some peaches in a jar, a bit of sugar (I used light brown) and fill up the jar with cheap vodka. I'll maybe strain it in a few days (or when I remember) and put it in a clean jar. 

Yum.

Man am I tired. On the other hand, I do have this to show for it:

I've been canning something every day this month I think. And (nearly) all from the garden. We need to grow more fruit I think - that is what I've had to buy - and who doesn't love a good jam?  I did manage to get one batch of strawberry out of my plants though. But as strawberry is a clear favorite around here I think it will most definitely not be enough.  So on that note, the hubs and I have been thinking about expanding (gasp!) the garden. It's already about 4000 square feet but I swear most of it is various vines! Watermelon, cantaloupe, butternut squash and some crazy (non-edible) birdhouse gourds. Oh, and cucumber... which is the reason I was inspired to post today.

This:

is from the past 3 days.

I only have three plants!

So today I will be pickling them. Do you know I HATE cucumbers? I struggle to eat a lettuce leaf that has come into contact with one. But I LOVE me some pickles. And as I've never made them before this year, I don't have a favorite recipe so I'm trying a few different ones. This is batch three and I'm trying the very clever Alana Chernila's recipe. Well see how it goes!