Check out this monster tomato!! It was the highlight of my morning. I’ve been canning for 12 hours now! Luckily, I’m done with the hard part. Now I can sit back and relax and just switch out the canner every so often. Yahoo! These are my pitiful little onions…I’m still not sure exactly why they flowered instead of growing. They are so cute that I almost don’t mind except that they’re already gone! Don’t they look almost like little purple light bulbs?
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It Has Begun…(drumroll please)
What is IT? Canning season that is. And no, that’s not why I’ve been missing. I’ve been missing because my blogging addiction has given way to a Ravelry addiction which has led me to begin knitting everyone’s Christmas presents now, while I’m still motivated and sort of have the time. I promise to post more soon. My order of peaches came in tonight which will lead directly in to apple and tomato seasons which might clash slightly with the vacation to who knows where that we’re taking the week of Labor Day. That will all keep me busy but it will give me lots of blog worthy material too. I leave you with this. Anyone who can tell what it is gets an imaginary pat on the back from me. 🙂
Continue readingCanning Rhubarb, and more planting
I’m trying a new theory. Instead of eating within the seasons, how about preserving each season so I can have it all year long. Case in point: last year I made the heck out of rhubarb muffins for a couple months. I’ve been craving them for about 10 months now. I like to can as much as possible to save freezer space for meat so I thought I’d try canning rhubarb. It was the easiest canning experience ever!! I had a bag of rhubarb that must have weighed 10 pounds. I could have run it through the food processor like I sometimes do but cut it up by hand instead. It is easier to work with and looks nicer. Plus, I didn’t feel good and sitting in front of the TV with the cutting board for 2 hours made me feel like I accomplished something. Anyway, I chopped it in small 1/2-1 inch pieces. Add 2-4 cups of sugar to each 16 cups of rhubarb. I used only 2 cups because I prefer a very light syrup. Toss together in a big bowl and let sit for at least a few hours. The natural juices will seep out and create
Continue readingGrowing Challenge Check-In: Planting
My garden isn’t small but I didn’t have any room to plant corn. Our neighbor Jeff was kind enough to come by with his tractor and rototiller and make the above long strip of garden for me. It is between the pasture fence and the road. We had to put the fence far off the road to make room for snow in the winter but can still use the space all summer. I planted 5 different kinds of corn the first day. I still had some room so in went 2 packets of sunflowers, hopefully to use in granola bars this fall. Well, there was still a ton of room left so I just kept planting. All the peas and beans went in. Then watermelon, zucchini, and squash. There is still room so I added eggplant seeds and may stick in some eggplant seedlings to fill it up. I’m trying to plant less valuable crops there since I wouldn’t put it past some idiot to drive through it or pick from it. The tomatoes and other crops will stay in the main garden. Plus, now there is room in the main garden for pumpkins!! Here’s the complete running list, new
Continue readingAlmost Local Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza
This is a quick and relatively easy dinner option for us. I personally don’t like pizza so I make a separate pan of breadsticks for myself. I like the following recipe which can be found at http://www.wheatfoods.org/Quick-Whole-Wheat-Pizza-Crust.217.1.htm Ingredients:2 cups whole wheat flour1 package active dry yeast/instant yeast3/4 teaspoon salt1 cup hot tap water (120 – 125°F)1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 tablespoon honey or granulated sugar I mix the ingredients together in a bowl and then dump it out on to a floured countertop. I add parsley, oregano, and a little garlic salt to the dough to taste. Knead for a couple minutes adding extra flour as needed. Then roll out with a rolling pin into a circle big enough for your pizza pan. You can make 2 thin crust pizzas or 1 regular crust with this recipe. Carefully transfer the dough to a greased pizza pan. Last time I bought cheese sticks Kraft brand was on sale so I bought that kind. We think they are gross: plastic like with no flavor. I thought I’d use them up by making this pizza with a stuffed crust. Just push some extra dough up over the lip of the pan. Place strips of
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