The summer squash is producing fast now, faster than our taste for fresh summer squash can keep up.

So, four quarts are blanched and cooling to go into the freezer. They'll be a great addition to soups and stews this winter. Aren't they pretty?

I've been reading a great book, The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week) by Robin Mather. If you have a food garden, you'll enjoy this book. The recipes are interspersed rather abruptly, but the techniques she very plainly explains would build confidence in anyone who wants to preserve their garden bounty.