June Harvest Tally
I’ve been keeping track of just about everything we’ve been harvesting from the gardens this year with my handy dandy Garden Harvest Spreadsheet that I made up. It’s been great to watch all of my totals add up.
So far strawberries are our winning harvest, totaling over 25 pounds (and we’ve still got some more ripening). When I was at the grocery store I saw organic berries for $4.99/lb, that means we’ve saved over $120 – WOW. We froze some to make jam later, enjoyed a strawberry pie, some strawberry rhubarb crisp and strawberry pancake syrup, as well as a good amount of strawberry shortcake.
I’ve also been harvesting peas from the few plants that the deer didn’t find. Not as much as I had hoped, I have none tucked away in the freezer because we ate the 2 pounds (both shelled & sugar snap) harvested. We also harvested a half pound of herbs including: lemon thyme, thyme, chives, basil, oregano, and mint. A pound of lettuce is also on my tally as well as 2 pounds of sour cherries we picked at my mom’s house.
My mom also invited me to pick some wild black raspberries are her house yesterday and I was able to pick 3 pounds. And the final exciting thing that made it in our June tally was 1.5 pounds of honey!
One of the frames in the hive was drawn out weird so we removed it and added a fresh frame, it happened to be about 1/3 filled with honey, so we harvested it. I must say, our bees make some pretty good honey!
What’s been in your harvest basket lately?
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Harvesting Sugar Snap Peas
I’m currently harvest sugar snap peas, MMMMMMMM. They’re Oregon Sugar Pod II peas and they’re really tasty. Last year I grew Super Sugar Snap peas and they were good, but slightly bitter. These Oregon Sugar Pods are sweet, crisp and very tender. These kinds of peas are some of my favorites to eat, I like that they’re not as much work as podding peas, you seem to get more for your harvest since you eat the pods.
We’ve been steaming them for 4-5 minutes and then drizzling them with a little olive oil and sprinkling them with freshly ground pepper and salt. So far this season I’ve harvested 1 pound of these peas. I’m glad I planted some in pots on my back deck since the deer ate all the peas I had in the garden beds out back. At least we’re able to enjoy some peas!
What kinds of peas do you like? Sugar snap or podded peas?
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Storing Winter Squash
A while ago Meghan asked me how to store winter squash. I kept meaning to write a post about how I do it, but I kept forgetting (sorry Meghan). It really couldn’t be simpler to keep these lovely veggies around all winter.
I’ve heard that some people store their winter squashes under a bed, others in a pile in the living room. I simply put mine on top of a dresser that acts as a sideboard in my dining room. They are lovely to look at and since they’re in plain sight, I remember to check them often to make sure none of them are going bad.
Different kinds of squash store for different lengths of time. That’s one thing I love about butternuts, they seem to last forever. If you want to learn more about the different kinds of squash, what they taste like and how long they keep check out this site.
Where do you store your winter squash? Any great tips & tricks for the rest of us?
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Elderberry Syrup
Em from Dance of the Small Things asked for my Elderberry Syrup recipe back when I posted about the items I had canned as part of the Harvest Keepers Challenge. I make syrup every year and we use it for pancakes and we also stir it into tea as a sweetener. Elderberries are super healthy and great for you. Handmaiden’s Kitchen has a few posts on the benefits and how to make an elderberry tincture.
Elderberry is used for its antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, to improve vision, to boost the immune system, to improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsilitis. Bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice destroy the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect a cell. People with the flu who took elderberry juice reported less severe symptoms and felt better much faster than those who did not.
This is my recipe for syrup. You can just make it using sugar, elderberry syrup and lemon juice if you don’t mind a runny syrup. I prefer mine to be a little thicker so I use pectin, I find it works much better on pancakes this way (doesn’t make the pancake soggy). If you plan on using this only for health benefits in tea, you probably don’t need to add pectin. I use no-sugar pectin so I can make a reduced sugar syrup, I also use organic evaporated cane juice to sweeten my syrups & jellies.
First you want to pick very ripe elderberries (I always pick as many as I can, I think this is about 10 quarts) and remove all stems (stems are poisonous so make sure to get as many as possible). Next, you’ll cook the berries down with a little water to prevent sticking. I usually barely boil mine for 30-35 minutes in a big stock pot with the lid on, every so often I crush them with a potato masher. Next let them cool a bit and press them through a sieve if desired (you can leave in the seeds if you’d like, I strain mine out). You’ll end up with elderberry juice.
I ended up with about a gallon of elderberry juice from my stock pot full of berries. At this point you can refrigerate the juice if you’d like for a day or two before you make the syrup, or you can proceed and make the syrup right away.
ELDERBERRY SYRUP
1. Bring boiling water canner, half-full of water, to simmer.
2. Prepare jars, lids and rims for canning.
3. Measure 10 cups of prepared juice into pan and add in 1/2 cup of lemon juice.
4. Measure 8 cups of sugar into bowl, set aside.
5. Mix 1/4 cups of sugar (from bowl that you set aside) and mix with pectin in a small bowl.
6. Stir pectin/sugar mix into fruit juice, add 1/2 teaspoon of butter to keep foam down.
7. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that can’t be stirred down), stirring constantly.
8. Stir in remaining sugar and return to a full boil and boil for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. (remove a small amount of syrup from pan and cool quickly on cold plate to test consistency, you want it to by syrupy but not too thick).
9. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of top. Wipe jar rims and threads, cover with lids and place jars in elevated rack in the canner. Water must cover jars 1 or 2 inches above lids. Cover and bring water to a gentle boil. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner. Remove and cool on rack.
Just a note: Make sure you’re picking real elderberries and not ink berries. If you’re not sure, find someone who knows and have them help you. As with anything else, make sure you’re not allergic to something before you eat a big helping of it. Also make sure to check the seals on the jars before storing them.
What kinds of delicious syrups/jellies did you make this summer?
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On the Preservation Front: In the Freezer
I am part of the Harvest Keepers Challenge over at Freedom Gardens, so I’ve been trying to preserve some of the things I’ve grown, been given or bought at the Farmer’s Market. I’m not a big fan of canning, but I do all this to be more environmentally friendly and reduce the frequent flier miles of our fruits & veggies and because it’s much healthier to eat locally and preserve your own. I made a detailed post about everything I have canned in jars last week. I do like freezing, it’s so easy: put food in containers, chill in the fridge, then put in the freezer. So what have I been preserving in the freezer?
Throughout the summer when we bought sweet corn I froze the left-over corn. In the freezer I have 24 containers of frozen corn (each one should be enough for 2 meals).
The freezer is also stocked with berries galore. I have 40 bags of blueberries (2 cups each), 15 bags of black raspberries (2 cups each), 21 bags of blackberries (4 cups each). I can’t wait for winter cobblers & pies. I may even make up a batch of blackberry jelly for Christmas gifts.
I also have 7 quarts of frozen roasted tomatoes and 7 containers of grilled peppers (green & poblano peppers) in the freezer. The peppers & roasted tomatoes are layered between wax paper so I can easily grab some when I need it for pizza or sauces. I also have a jar of frozen basil in olive oil and a jar parsley in olive oil as well as a few containers of frozen greens (turnip & beet) that will make their way into some veggie soup this winter.
My freezer is also stocked with a few pastured chickens that I bought from our local farm as well as 2 turkeys (one will be Thanksgiving dinner, the other will be made into sausage). I also have a small amount of venison from my dad’s hunting season last year. I’m hoping he gets another deer for us this year and we’ll be set for meat for the next year.
So what’s nestled in your freezer for the winter?
