(((Gandle))), I'm certain the harvest and frost are only a distraction, and that your mind and heart are really reacting to what's going on with your sister. I can only offer (trial-&-error-based) guidance on certain aspects of the harvest, and hope that it can give you peace that spills over into other aspects of your life. First, let me say I understand the abundance of green tomato thing. I recently found myself with 22 lbs of them when I had to do destroy one of my vines. There's a long story here that involves a little break down on my part, and an emergency consultation with Calliope (Thanks again, Suzy!), but I'm not ready to tell it yet. I did learn that green tomatoes cannot be peeled the way ripe tomatoes can be (blanching and dunking in ice water) and that any attempt to try otherwise is an exercise in frustration. If green tomatoes must be peeled, the easiest way is with a plain old veggie peeler. Also, they don't go through a manual food mill too well... but you probably already knew this since you have infinitely more experience than I in these matters. I can personally vouch for this recipe for Green Tomato Bread. I had no idea what they meant by "ground green tomatoes" so I peeled and seeded several, and gave them a quick chop in the food processor so they were still a little chunky. I also added a generous handful of chopped walnuts and golden raisins to the recipe. I made four loafs and they were very well received. I also used ground cloves because it sounded like the recipe was calling for whole cloves, and, well, that just sounded gross. Of course, in the process, I managed to spill a whole jar of ground cloves all over myself... it filled my all pockets and permeated my clothes. I was ready to cry. But it turns out Steve really likes the smell of cloves so it ended up working out OK for me. ;o) I'll be trying green tomato pie later tonight. If it turns out, I'll post the recipe I tried. I'm sorry about the frost thing. I'm not ready either.

If that's cracking at the stem end that I see, it's probably just bacteria introduced though the cracks. It's not particular to Brandywines, any cracked tomato can have this problem, but Brandywines are prone to cracking after heavy rains. Hope that helps, at least somewhat. laurel-tx

When the frosts come we bring in the green tomatoes and put them on the window sill, over the next several months they ripen and we have tomatoes until January. This is in 9b where killing frosts come in Nov.

Have you posted at the harvest forum? They can give you some great canning tips. They (and I) always recommend the Ball Blue Book of canning - if you don't have a copy, you should pick one up, it's a great resource. These are the steps I always follow, I find that it's a good formula and always works for me. Hopefully it's not too much information - I'm probably being too thorough, but better safe than sorry. 1. Wash jars. Wash rings, rinse new lids. Put lids in a small saucepan with water on "low" so they get warm and the rubber becomes soft for canning. I set up a workstation - basically a kitchen towel spread on the counter next to my stove to set jars on while I fill them, and keep the rings at a corner of the towel, within reach. The rings don't have to be hot. I also dampen a paper towel for wiping the jar rims clean before putting lids on, and keep that handy on one side of the towel. 2. Put jars in a big canning pot**, filled so that the jars are covered with 2 inches of water. The jars will be full of water, which will sterilize them as they heat. Put the lid on the canner (if you have a pressure canner, just set it on, don't tighten). 3. Bring water in canner to a high simmer, while preparing food for canning. I usually crank the heat to high and turn it back when I hear it starting to boil. 4. When food is ready to be canned, the water in the canner should be plenty hot, so it will come back to a boil quickly. If it's not, keep your food at the ready. (You want those jars to be sterile if you're heating them in the water.) 5. Pull a jar out of the canner using a jar lifter, and carefully pour the hot water from it into the sink. I have my own angle technique that works - just be careful when you do this, because you pretty much have to pour the water toward you to keep the jar in hand with the lifter. Practicing with cold water isn't a bad plan if you haven't done the pour before. :) Or if you're more sensible than I am, you might set the jar down for a moment on your towel, then pick it up again from the side with the lifter and empty it that way. 6. Fill the jar with food to be canned, wipe the rim, put a lid on, then put a ring on. Tighten the ring to finger tight - it should be snug but not super tight. (All the ring does is apply a little pressure so that there is good contact between the lid's sealant and the jar rim - it doesn't hold the lid on; the natural vacuum will do that.) 7. Put filled jar back into canner, and pull the next empty jar. Repeat steps 5-6 until all jars are full. I do these steps as quickly (but carefully) as possible so that the first jar sitting in the hot water doesn't end up with soft pickles. 8. Put lid on canner when all jars are filled. Bring back up to a boil (should only take a few minutes, since the water has been simmering the whole time). Start timing when the boil starts, and pull the jars when the timer goes off. If pressure canning, you would wait 5 minutes (possibly more) after the timer goes off to pull out the jars. **If you're lucky enough to have a dishwasher, you can put the jars in there on sani-cycle and it will keep them hot as long as it's closed. Still, you'll have to be sure to get the canner simmering with enough water to cover the filled jars by 2 inches, and starting the heating while you're prepping food is good timing. With a dishwasher you won't have to deal with pouring hot water down the sink. That's how my mom always canned. I wish my husband would hitch up our dishwasher. Someday...