Ooooh. Yeah, beetles. Pick them off one by one and kill 'em. If nothing else, it helps keep them down from year to year. Whatever you do, do NOT get those beetle catcher thingies, which just tend to attract the beetles to your yard.

I was going to say pretty much what Stewie said. Shake them off the plants and into a bucket of soapy water. A horde of Japanese beetles can skeletonize your plants in no time flat.

Oh, and since we're talking shop, I picked about 17 lbs of tomatoes when I got back from Indiana the other day.

In case you're wondering, that's a hell of a lot of tomatoes.

Oooh, tomatoes! What do you plan to do with all of them, mudpuppie? Do you can them?

I am thinking that my household could consume pounds and pounds and pounds and pounds of garden-fresh tomatoes and still long for more. Mmmm, mmmmmmatoes.

CONFIT

Since the tomatoes started coming in I've been a bit obsessive about them. (I don't have any of my own; it's been a terrible year, so I've been buying them). Been eating them just sliced, with dinner, and in sandwiches and.or salads at lunchtime. I can't get enough. 17 pounds sounds good to me.

With that amount you could make a big big bowl of gazpacho.

With that amount you could make a big big bowl of gazpacho.

Yeah, but I'm not sure I could get the kiddie pool home in my car.

*sigh* I am so jealous of all you people with real gardens/allotments. I desperately want one, and I don't have the space and it feels stupid to invest the energy in a Pea-Patch when I'm most likely moving in a year.

And yes, confit! Or can them, or make and freeze pasta sauce. I hear you can sun-dry them yourself too, but I've never done it.

What stewie said on the beetles & the no-bag thing.

Holy frijoles 17 pounds is a lot! We have lots of tomatoes. But they seem to want to stay green. Forever.

Well, you know what they say: when beetles have sex on your raspberry bush, love comes innuendo!

They really do say that.

This year has a been a sucky year for tomatoes, even by Colorado standards which are rough no matter what. Zucchini on the other hand are plenty prolific. I've given away more zucchini than I can remember. Basil has done well, and I've made lots from the cutting back of flowering stems. I'm thinking I might have to move back to California just for the gardening.

Japanese beetles? Don't have em, but then my crop is lame this year. Flowers on the other hand are doing splendid. Coneflowers galore this year, and of all different colors. I went for many different new and exciting, plus old and standard as well with the coneflowers. And, Oriental Lilies! WOOT!!! Smells so nice, and so pretty.

To me, Japanese beetle traps are the quintessential smell of summer.