Tomatoes - FAIL

Oh, tomatoes. We had such plans for you. Sadly, our crappy weather and blight had other plans. Laura planted over 40 tomato plants, including mostly organic and some heirloom varieties.

Here's what she planted:

• Kellogg's Breakfast
• Black Cherry
• Gardener's Delight
• Martino's Roma
• Black Krims
• Heinz Processor

Hopefully we will be posting our yummy salsa and green tomato chow recipes and pics next year. For now, here's the sad result from this year.

Boooooooo!

Alliums

Laura planted the entire allium family this year:

• Chives
• Garlic
• Leeks
• Onions
• Scallions
• Shallots

The garlic didn't do so well...not even a scape. However, we are planting more this fall so next spring they'll be in the ground and ready to grow all season.

The onions are coming great! They will be ready to harvest in a few weeks. There are a couple dozen at the most, but that's still a couple dozen organic onions more than we had. 

We've been eating the scallions since June. Always nice to be able to run out to the garden to grab supplies for supper. 

We have a few chives too. We didn't really plant them, so much as they sort of grew through the moss covering the soil in the pot they've grown in for the past few years. We didn't cultivate them as we should have, not even so much as removing the moss. We suck. lol

Today is our first harvest of both the leeks and the shallots. Laura picked 4 leeks and 4 shallots, all if which will be in a Leek & Potato Soup shortly. (see recipe below image)

Leeks and shallots

Sauteing leeks, shallots and fresh herbs

 Evenly chopped carrots and potatoes,
cooking separately to ensure even cooking and less starch

Soup and buttermilk biscuits

Leek & Potato Soup:

2 carrots
4 shallots
4 leeks
2 cloves garlic
3.5 cups cubed potatoes
olive oil
chicken or vegetable stock
coffee cream
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
fresh marjoram
fresh parsley
fresh thyme


How does this all get put together into a soup? I can only guess - Laura's working on that part. I shall be trying to get her to impart it. Anyone who knows anything about making soups would be able to figure it out without instructions. Basic, right? 

Basil

Yum. That is all.

OMG, zucchini, zucchini, zucchini...

These zucchini were harvested yesterday and today. The largest of the four is 20" and weighs 5lbs 8.5 oz. 

Tomatillos

Our first tomatillo has been harvested! It is 2 1/4" in diameter and weighs in at 2.3 oz. Cute little guy. Apparently we will be making salsa with these little buggers.

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
A dozen tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 small chopped onion
3 mashed cloves of garlic
1 or 2 hot peppers, seeds removed, roughly chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro or Vietnamese coriander leaves.

Peel husks off tomatillos and discard. Rinse tomatillos under running cold water to remove the sticky coating, which is always present. 

Place in a saucepan, cover in cold water (some tomatillos float) and simmer for about 10 minutes until fruits are olive green and about to burst. Drain, leave to cool.

Combine in a blender the onion, garlic, hot peppers, cilantro and salt to taste. Whirl. Add tomatillos and whirl again until smooth. Serve in dipping dishes, with tortilla chips. 

18 lbs tomatillos

Salsa Verde

Bush Beans & Beet Greens

We picked just over a pound of Laura's lovely yellow, green and purple bush beans for dinner along with 1.5 lbs of beets and greens. Then we ordered Burger King. The new plan is to have beans and beets tomorrow.

1 lb bush beans

1 lb 6 oz beets & greens

Jams

I make jams and jellies every fall, using whatever fruit I can gather from what we grow as well as what other people grow and give me (my parents' grapes, their neighbor's plums) and that which grows wild, like blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. 

And, someday we will have more of our own berry bushes. What kind of berry bushes, you say? Probably all of them. lol

Blueberry Jam

Bring to boil:
4 cups blueberries, lightly mashed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 pack or Certo fruit pectin crystals

Stir in:
5 1/2 cups sugar

Heat to a roiling boil then cook for one minute, stirring frequently. Skim off foam. Pour into 6 250 ml or 3 500 ml sterilized Mason jars. Process in water for 15 minutes. 

Wild blueberries, Aug 12, 2013

Six 250 ml blueberry jam

Jumbleberry Jam

Bring to boil:

3 cups blueberries, lightly mashed

1 cup raspberries

2 cup blackberries

2 tbsps lemon juice

Stir in:
6 1/2 cups sugar

Heat to a roiling boil then cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Test by spooning a teaspoon of the jam on a chilled saucer. After a minute, push your finger through the jam and if the surface wrinkles, it's ready. Skim off foam, if any. Pour into six 250 ml or three 500 ml sterilized Mason jars. Process in water for 15 minutes. 

Pick all the crap out of the berries

Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries

Cooking the jam

Sterilized jars - I always sterilize more than I'll probably need

Processing the jam in a water bath

There was 1/2 jar left over after all the jars were filled. 

I didn't process it - I don't expect it to last more than a few days :)

Plum Jam

Wash plums and remove stems and debris.

5 lbs wild plums

Bring to boil:

5 lbs wild plums

1/2 cup water

Turn heat down to simmer. Mash plums while simmering about 15 minutes. Begin removing by about a cup at a time and remove pits, reserving the fruit and peel. You'll find your own best method; I used a mesh strainer over a bowl and a spoon to push the juice and fruit through. Makes quite a mess. Wear old clothes.

The mess, from right to left: 
Boiled plums in pot, mesh strainer in a bowl to mash plums through, 

bowl of pit-less fruit, bowl of pits

Stir in:
5 cups sugar, about a cup per lb of plums

Heat to a roiling boil then cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Test by spooning a teaspoon of the jam on a chilled saucer. After a minute, push your finger through the jam and if the surface wrinkles, it's ready. Skim off foam, if any. Pour into sterilized Mason jars. Process in water for 15 minutes. 

Zucchini

We harvested our first few zucchini of the season this weekend. We have a 14" Costata Romanesco zucchini. Looking for some great recipes. We also harvested some zucchini blossoms which we promptly deep-fried last night. Yummer!!!

Recipes

Mom's Zucchini Bread - Allrecipes
Fried Zucchini Blossoms - Epicurious
Crunchy Zucchini Rounds With Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
Stuffed Zucchini
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

We've harvested quite a few rather large zucchinis, so we tried a few recipes - not necessarily the ones posted above, which I only collected here as a place to save them, just in case. But Laura made Chocolate Zucchini Cake with a cream cheese frosting, which was moist and delicious. We also deep fried some zucchini sticks, along with more blossoms and had our friend Missy Savoy over for a snack. She loved them! Laura made some zucchini bread too, but it was too moist. Still want to try those Zucchini Parmesan Crisps.