I pulled the last of my sweet peas on Friday and hope to chop up the vines today. Then I'll turn the organic material into the soil, digging it deeply so it can decompose throughout the winter. Most of the garden plots over at Franklin Park are being stripped of produce - pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, late corn. Everything has to be leveled by October 1st, and all stakes, boards, trellises etc have to be removed.
So, I've been shredding plants as I pull the vegetables, then leveling the berm. I still have much to do, and will probably pull my remaining tomato vines at the end of this week. I hope to dry them for recipes that call for 'sun-dried tomatoes'.
I'm drying some of these plums in a dehydrator, for prunes, but will give the bulk of them to the food bank. 
I pulled all of my basil, and made pesto sauce using fresh grated parmesan, sesame and olive oil, ground almonds, pecans, walnuts, and peanuts, and a minute amount of sugar to bring out the sweetness of the basil. The color of this fresh basil is preserved by using Fruit Fresh. I do not can pesto as the parmesan cheese would become compromised; I've read that it can be frozen in ice cube trays for individual uses.
Hot peppers from my garden.
Hot Pepper Polenta Chipolte Soup using many of my garden vegetables. The base is chicken broth and corn chipolte, with fried chipolte sausage and drippings on the top. I also fried the polenta chucks in the drippings. I'm finding huge surprise zucchinis in my garden. I just groan when I see them as they explain why some of the 'little fellas' on the vine just failed to get big. But, I use everything.
Zucchini Bread with a caramelized pineapple/cranberry, pecan topping. We hosted another 'Intensive Phase of Growth' in our home over the weekend, so as I was working production in my kitchen the Baha'is were doing a little planting-harvesting of their own, visiting many of our neighbors in Hilltop, building friendships. About 25 of the Baha'is went out, but some remained here praying together and offering all kinds of assistance or support. I'll always remember the spirit in my house those two days - people coming and going, food being brought in for meals, children out in the backyard playing, giggles and laughter coming from all the rooms.
While I chopped vegetables or diced fruit for syrup, people gathered around to chat. Everyone (especially the youth) were interested in the procedures, such as this sieve that I use for making my plum syrup. 
This is pasta sauce, made from tomatoes, finely chopped celery, carrot, kale, golden beets, sauteed onion and garlic, leeks, fresh basil, oregano and parsley. A drop of Thai beef paste for salt, Mandarin oranges for sugar, and a little Merlot to enhance all the flavors, then it is simmered for three hours with frequent stirring.We've got a gorgeous sunny day today, so I'm going to put plums in the dehydrator and get out for my jog...this is something I've not been able to fit in for several weeks now and I can tell the difference when I put this off. I count my blessings for my good harvest, for the wonderful friends who shared stories in my home over the weekend, and for these last few days of sunshine in the Pacific Northwest.
