Quote of the Day: Preserving
“It is the natural course of events for food to be abundant for a little window in time. Blackberries will be lusciously ripe for just a couple weeks. Rich porcini flush quickly as the rain comes. They won’t wait for your schedule. Be it pickling or jelly making,r ally yourself for gathering and deal yourself into the working game in your kitchen. BEtter yet, deal in some friends or family too: have a working party. Putting up food together links you with thousands of years of human traditions. And it’s a blast.”
Connie Green and Sarah Scott The Wild Table: Seasonal Foraged Food and Recipes
This past week a lot of the garden has been at maximum production. It doesn’t matter how I plan, it seems everything comes ripe at once, and always before a trip or some other big event. The result is LONG days of frantically putting up food for the depths of winter.
This has been one of my best tomato years every, the bounty just keeps coming. So far I’ve canned around 40 pints of tomato soup, 15 quarts of tomatoes, along with putting a bushel in the freezer to be made into sauce when there is more time. I have also been drying my ‘Principe Borghese’ tomatoes, which are perfection. I grow this variety just for drying and I dry as many racks as I can. They are amazing in omelets and sprinkled on top of pizza.
My late flush of zucchini and beans are coming on strong, I did the first picking of beans yesterday and put a gallon of blanched haricots verts in the freezer. Zucchini was cubed and blanched, and grated as well, both varieties are tucked away in the freezer to be added to winter soups and frittatas.
The apple trees are also producing by the bushel this year. One variety is ready even though I am not. I picked a half bushel for eating and then froze the rest to be turned into apple butter and some applesauce for Mr Chiots. Yesterday, I managed to preserve over 150 lbs of homegrown fruits and vegetables for us to feast on this winter. Not only will I save a bundle on my groceries, we’ll be eating healthfully as well. The satisfaction of nourishing yourself is an amazing feeling!
What are you putting by for winter?
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Stop By…
If you’re going to be at the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Spring, PA next Weekend (Sept. 18-20), stop by and visit Mr Chiots at The Jojoba Company booth. You might get lucky and see me as well (or give him a message and we can meet up)! If you’re interested, you can also pick up some of the lotion bars, lotion tins, or lip balm that I made for them.
I made some of these bars for a blog post for a client and gave them away as gift. Everyone loved them so much that the company asked me and a friend to make up a batch for them to sell. If they sell well then it looks like I might have another small side business. So swing by and pick up a few if you’ll be at the fair, I guarantee you’ll LOVE these beauties!!!
Are you doing any traveling in the near future?
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HMM…..
Where I lived in Ohio for many years there was a big Wooly Bear Festival. The wooly bear caterpillar signaled what kind of winter we were going to have (see more over at the Farmer’s Almanac), they were harbingers of what was to come. As a kid, we’d look high and low for them and compare notes as to what they were saying about the upcoming winter. Earlier this week I spotted an all blonde one in the garden and had to think about what exactly that meant. That means a mild winter, the middle of the wooly bear is supposed to signal the milder portion of winter, the dark brown the harsh parts.
Of course I’ve seen my share of regular ones too. It’s certainly not scientifically accurate, but it’s a great way to get young ones interested in nature and to help keep them from killing every insect they see.
What are the wooly bears in your garden telling you about this coming winter?
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Summer Saved
I don’t do much canning, but I do put up a few jars of tomatoes every summer. There’s nothing quite like cracking open a jar of crushed tomatoes in the middle of a snowstorm. The smell brings you right back to summer.
Last night I worked late into the night getting 8 quarts and 4 pints of crushed tomatoes put up. Earlier this week I made 20 pints of tomato soup. I’m hoping to at least double this if the tomatoes hold on and the weather continues to be nice. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for no late blight and sunny days.
Do you jar up tomatoes? What’s your favorite recipe to use them in during the winter?
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Wonder
One of the things I love about gardening is all the wonderful wildlife you get to see while doing chores. This weekend I was weeding and mulching the 5×5 Challenge garden and was startled by a frog.
Then, Mr Chiots called me out the other morning, he found this amazing salamander while he was out working.
I just love seeing this beauty all around when I’m outside working! Frogs, toads, and snakes are probably my favorite things to see while out working. I know they’re hard working creatures that are doing my garden loads of good.
What’s your favorite kind of wildlife to see in the garden?
