This evening, The Husband and I planted six rows of purple hull peas. We missed the almanac's planting window by a day, but maybe they'll make.
The broccoli and brussels sprouts that I planted last week have come up. I could not believe how quickly they sprouted. I planted them Friday afternoon. By Saturday night, there was a white dot in one of the tray compartments on the broccoli side. By Sunday morning, ALL of the broccoli side had sprouted. By Monday afternoon, the brussels sprouts were up, too.
They're leggy, though. They're in a south window, with a flourescent light shining on them, but they seem to need more light than they're getting. I'm scared to put them outside - even in the shade - in this heat. Cross your fingers that I can keep them alive until they can go outside.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Canning Frenzy
As soon as I can work up the energy to get up, I'm going to bed.
It was a long day in the kitchen.
When I went to bed last night, my plan was to get up early this morning and go to the garden before it got so hot. I didn't factor in that big old margarita I had with dinner last night. It was almost 9 before my feet hit the floor. I was slightly headache-y, slow and mean. Before I'd even finished my first cup of coffee, Nanny called, wondering if I was planning on working in the garden. I said I was, and that I'd be down there as soon as we finished breakfast.
It was hot as blazes. Nanny was already out there, and had picked the squash and eggplants and was working on the tomatoes. All I really wanted was a few hot peppers and a few squash. But the butterbeans needed picking - some of them had already dried up - and I knew that if I pick get them Nanny would, and she was already hot enough.
I came home with a two buckets of tomatoes, a sack of squash, and a sack of hot peppers. In addition, there were two grocery bags full of pears on my kitchen table. I set to work peeling and chopping. By 4 p.m., I'd canned four pints of pear butter, 5 pints of squash pickle, and 6 pints of pepper jelly.
I made the pear butter a little differently this year. These little pears were slightly under-ripe and hard as rockes. Instead of peeling them then cooking them, I just washed them, put them in a roasting pan, and baked them in the oven at 350 for an hour. They came out brown and wrinkly. When they cooled, I quartered them and stuffed them through my Sauce Master, peelings, cores, and all, using the juice screen. The ground pulp felt a little gritty, so I ran them through the squeezer again, using the berry screen (it has a finer mesh). The second squeezing took out a lot of the "grit." I put sugar, lemon juice, honey, cinnamon, and cloves in them and cooked them until they were hot and bubbly, then put them in the jars and water bathed them. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have pressure canned them. Maybe I'll research that tomorrow.
After the canning was done (which, as you will know if you've ever done any canning, involves washing a mountain of pots, pans, bowls, measuring cups, spoons....) I had to go to the grocery store, as we'd invited the kids over for dinner. When I got home, the men-folk were doing stuff on the tractor. It was 9 p.m. by the time we ate.
I'm going to bed.
It was a long day in the kitchen.
When I went to bed last night, my plan was to get up early this morning and go to the garden before it got so hot. I didn't factor in that big old margarita I had with dinner last night. It was almost 9 before my feet hit the floor. I was slightly headache-y, slow and mean. Before I'd even finished my first cup of coffee, Nanny called, wondering if I was planning on working in the garden. I said I was, and that I'd be down there as soon as we finished breakfast.
It was hot as blazes. Nanny was already out there, and had picked the squash and eggplants and was working on the tomatoes. All I really wanted was a few hot peppers and a few squash. But the butterbeans needed picking - some of them had already dried up - and I knew that if I pick get them Nanny would, and she was already hot enough.
I came home with a two buckets of tomatoes, a sack of squash, and a sack of hot peppers. In addition, there were two grocery bags full of pears on my kitchen table. I set to work peeling and chopping. By 4 p.m., I'd canned four pints of pear butter, 5 pints of squash pickle, and 6 pints of pepper jelly.
I made the pear butter a little differently this year. These little pears were slightly under-ripe and hard as rockes. Instead of peeling them then cooking them, I just washed them, put them in a roasting pan, and baked them in the oven at 350 for an hour. They came out brown and wrinkly. When they cooled, I quartered them and stuffed them through my Sauce Master, peelings, cores, and all, using the juice screen. The ground pulp felt a little gritty, so I ran them through the squeezer again, using the berry screen (it has a finer mesh). The second squeezing took out a lot of the "grit." I put sugar, lemon juice, honey, cinnamon, and cloves in them and cooked them until they were hot and bubbly, then put them in the jars and water bathed them. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have pressure canned them. Maybe I'll research that tomorrow.
After the canning was done (which, as you will know if you've ever done any canning, involves washing a mountain of pots, pans, bowls, measuring cups, spoons....) I had to go to the grocery store, as we'd invited the kids over for dinner. When I got home, the men-folk were doing stuff on the tractor. It was 9 p.m. by the time we ate.
I'm going to bed.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli
Lately, I've been too busy gardening to blog about it. Actually, the work has been in the kitchen instead of the garden.
The tomatoes are cranking out their fruit. Last week was the first week that we had enough tomatoes at once to put some up. Nanny canned 4 quarts of tomatoes one day, and a couple of days later I picked enough to can 4.5 quarts of plain old tomatoes, and 6 pints of chili sauce. I made the chili sauce with the Lemon Boy tomatoes. I used red onions, red and green bell peppers, and red and green hot peppers. The cider vinegar and brown sugar turned the mixture a pretty golden color. It's good! It's a little on the hot side - I threw in a few of the tiny, hotter-than-firecrackers Thai peppers - but I like it that way.
Last night I made salsa - 6 pints - and mixed the yellow and red tomatoes together. It is prettier in the jars than I anticipated. I "stumped my toe" on the cumin. While it may not be so great for just plain chip-dipping, it ought to be yummy for cheese dip.
We opened a jar of squash pickle last weekend. It's good, too! I had thought I was tired of squash and was contemplating yanking up the plants and putting something in their place, but I might let them crank out one more batch of squash pickle, first.
On the canning agenda for this afternoon: hot pepper jelly. The peppers are doing obscenely well this year, and we love hot pepper jelly on chicken, pork, or with cream cheese on crackers.
We started our garden too late this spring to fool with cabbages, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. I've always wanted to try growing them in the fall, but the garden centers around here only carry those seedlings in the spring. Today, I bought one of those 72-pellet tray greenhouses and planted half of it with broccoli and the other half with brussels sprouts. Now, if I can just remember to keep it watered....
The tomatoes are cranking out their fruit. Last week was the first week that we had enough tomatoes at once to put some up. Nanny canned 4 quarts of tomatoes one day, and a couple of days later I picked enough to can 4.5 quarts of plain old tomatoes, and 6 pints of chili sauce. I made the chili sauce with the Lemon Boy tomatoes. I used red onions, red and green bell peppers, and red and green hot peppers. The cider vinegar and brown sugar turned the mixture a pretty golden color. It's good! It's a little on the hot side - I threw in a few of the tiny, hotter-than-firecrackers Thai peppers - but I like it that way.
Last night I made salsa - 6 pints - and mixed the yellow and red tomatoes together. It is prettier in the jars than I anticipated. I "stumped my toe" on the cumin. While it may not be so great for just plain chip-dipping, it ought to be yummy for cheese dip.
We opened a jar of squash pickle last weekend. It's good, too! I had thought I was tired of squash and was contemplating yanking up the plants and putting something in their place, but I might let them crank out one more batch of squash pickle, first.
On the canning agenda for this afternoon: hot pepper jelly. The peppers are doing obscenely well this year, and we love hot pepper jelly on chicken, pork, or with cream cheese on crackers.
We started our garden too late this spring to fool with cabbages, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. I've always wanted to try growing them in the fall, but the garden centers around here only carry those seedlings in the spring. Today, I bought one of those 72-pellet tray greenhouses and planted half of it with broccoli and the other half with brussels sprouts. Now, if I can just remember to keep it watered....
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Glorious Corn!
Twenty-five ears of corn - corn I grew! - chillin' in my freezah. Yeah.
I wasn't planning on picking corn when I went to the garden to start the soaker hose in the green beans. Truth is, I don't know when it's ripe enough. I've just been letting it sit on the stalks. Meanwhile the racoons have intensified their assault. (Word must've gotten out in the 'coon community.) My neat corn rows have a strip-mined look about them.
This evening, The Husband stepped in and took charge. He picked and shucked and silked, and we blanched them and put them in freezer bags. Nice-looking corn. Twenty-five ears that the racoons didn't get.
The Husband thinks there may be that many more ears that will be ready in the next few days. I figure we ought to be good for another dozen, assuming the racoons only get *half* of what's still out there. They may step up their own harvest when they realize they've been raided.
I wasn't planning on picking corn when I went to the garden to start the soaker hose in the green beans. Truth is, I don't know when it's ripe enough. I've just been letting it sit on the stalks. Meanwhile the racoons have intensified their assault. (Word must've gotten out in the 'coon community.) My neat corn rows have a strip-mined look about them.
This evening, The Husband stepped in and took charge. He picked and shucked and silked, and we blanched them and put them in freezer bags. Nice-looking corn. Twenty-five ears that the racoons didn't get.
The Husband thinks there may be that many more ears that will be ready in the next few days. I figure we ought to be good for another dozen, assuming the racoons only get *half* of what's still out there. They may step up their own harvest when they realize they've been raided.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Some Like It Hot
There were blackberries at the farmer's market today. I couldn't remember how many pounds/quarts of blackberries it takes to make a batch of jelly, and I'd left my cell phone at the office and couldn't google it nor even call anybody who might have a box of Sure-Jell in the pantry. So I guessed I needed 5 quarts. Cost me $20, which is a bargain considering the misery I'd suffer by picking the little wild knobby ones rimming the field behind our house.
I came home and washed the berries. Had to wash jars. Had to climb up in the attic to get the Sauce Maker. (Grabbed the pressure canner while I was up there - I'll be needing that soon.) Had to wash the Sauce Maker, then figure out how its million pieces fit together. It's all gaskets and wing nuts and augers and clamps, and everything has to fit together just right, or you'll squeeze juice all over your shoes while you're cranking it. And you have to clamp it to the table really, really well - I know whereof I speak in this - or you'll send the whole business flying. My kitchen table is round, and it's hard to clamp something to a round edge. I had the idea of pulling the leaves apart and clamping it at the interior seam, but I couldn't get the table to come apart by myself.
About that time, my daughter-in-law called and said they were coming over for a visit. I told them that I was squeezing blackberries for jelly, but they could come anyway. They were warned.
I put my daughter-in-law to work stirring and skimming almost the minute they came through the door. My 5 quarts of blackberries had yielded a big pitcher full of blackberry juice - enough for three cookings of jelly, 8 pints, altogether. We ran just a tad short on juice for the third batch, and made up for it with orange liqueur. (In retrospect, I wish we'd used chocolate liqueur, instead. Maybe I should make one more trip to the farmer's market for one more batch of blackberries.)
After we finished the jelly, I started a batch of salsa. We had to go to the garden to get peppers and onions. The Thai pepper plant is loaded with tiny peppers. They are hotter than firecrackers. I picked a few of them for the salsa, and one to offer my son, who claims to have a thing for hot peppers. I warned him it was hot. He bit the end off his pepper and chewed. One second later, he said, "Woo!" Two seconds later, he said, "Woooooo!" and spat the pepper into the garbage can. Heh. At least I warned him.
I came home and washed the berries. Had to wash jars. Had to climb up in the attic to get the Sauce Maker. (Grabbed the pressure canner while I was up there - I'll be needing that soon.) Had to wash the Sauce Maker, then figure out how its million pieces fit together. It's all gaskets and wing nuts and augers and clamps, and everything has to fit together just right, or you'll squeeze juice all over your shoes while you're cranking it. And you have to clamp it to the table really, really well - I know whereof I speak in this - or you'll send the whole business flying. My kitchen table is round, and it's hard to clamp something to a round edge. I had the idea of pulling the leaves apart and clamping it at the interior seam, but I couldn't get the table to come apart by myself.
About that time, my daughter-in-law called and said they were coming over for a visit. I told them that I was squeezing blackberries for jelly, but they could come anyway. They were warned.
I put my daughter-in-law to work stirring and skimming almost the minute they came through the door. My 5 quarts of blackberries had yielded a big pitcher full of blackberry juice - enough for three cookings of jelly, 8 pints, altogether. We ran just a tad short on juice for the third batch, and made up for it with orange liqueur. (In retrospect, I wish we'd used chocolate liqueur, instead. Maybe I should make one more trip to the farmer's market for one more batch of blackberries.)
After we finished the jelly, I started a batch of salsa. We had to go to the garden to get peppers and onions. The Thai pepper plant is loaded with tiny peppers. They are hotter than firecrackers. I picked a few of them for the salsa, and one to offer my son, who claims to have a thing for hot peppers. I warned him it was hot. He bit the end off his pepper and chewed. One second later, he said, "Woo!" Two seconds later, he said, "Woooooo!" and spat the pepper into the garbage can. Heh. At least I warned him.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Folks, it's a red letter day.
Sunday, July 1, 2012: I pulled two ears of ripe corn today.
At least, I hope they are ripe. Having never had corn to actually ripen before the racoons got it, I'm not altogether sure when to pick it.
The tomatoes are beginning to ripen. We gathered a few yesterday, and I made spaghetti sauce with them. I'm growing some different varieties this year, tomatoes that don't turn red when they're ripe - Lemon Boy and Mr. Stripey. It's hard to tell when they're ready. I picked one of the Lemon Boys Friday afternoon, and Nanny and I lit into it with a kitchen knife and the salt shaker to taste it, but it wasn't quite ripe. The Husband picked a Mr. Stripey yesterday. I wasn't sure it was ready, either, but today I sliced it, anyway, and it was delicious. The flesh was...buttery. It was so big that one slice covered an entire piece of bread.
I squished the first tomato worm this afternoon while I was watering the garden. Time for a dose of BT.
The squash is still coming strong, as are the cucumbers. I put up six pints of squash relish yesterday, and still had a couple of pounds of squash left over. The Husband will probably give them away at work tomorrow.
The zucchini are beginning to bloom. Rattlesnake beans are running nicely up their supports.
Sunday, July 1, 2012: I pulled two ears of ripe corn today.
At least, I hope they are ripe. Having never had corn to actually ripen before the racoons got it, I'm not altogether sure when to pick it.
The tomatoes are beginning to ripen. We gathered a few yesterday, and I made spaghetti sauce with them. I'm growing some different varieties this year, tomatoes that don't turn red when they're ripe - Lemon Boy and Mr. Stripey. It's hard to tell when they're ready. I picked one of the Lemon Boys Friday afternoon, and Nanny and I lit into it with a kitchen knife and the salt shaker to taste it, but it wasn't quite ripe. The Husband picked a Mr. Stripey yesterday. I wasn't sure it was ready, either, but today I sliced it, anyway, and it was delicious. The flesh was...buttery. It was so big that one slice covered an entire piece of bread.
I squished the first tomato worm this afternoon while I was watering the garden. Time for a dose of BT.
The squash is still coming strong, as are the cucumbers. I put up six pints of squash relish yesterday, and still had a couple of pounds of squash left over. The Husband will probably give them away at work tomorrow.
The zucchini are beginning to bloom. Rattlesnake beans are running nicely up their supports.
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