Wishing For Pine Needles

Harvesting

As you can tell, our wee vegetable garden is a group effort.

Happy Harvesting to you and your own little gardeners!

 

Touring - Day 4

As we've been discovering our new surroundings I continue to be amazed at the way the kids could spend hours every day in the same backyard, but with each new one bringing a slightly different discovery, game, or adventure.  This day it was the lilac bush.

They notice everything about it! 

And they take delight in it. 

They want to show me.

They just want me to be with them.  And play with them. 

They continue to amaze and inspire me, and are without a doubt the greatest teachers I've ever had.

(And they bring me the most beautiful bouquets.)

I love you, kids! 

Touring - I Stand Corrected

In attempts to make good on a little plant identification slip-up , allow me to introduce the "real" asparagus of the backyard!

 

(Thanks to all of you more-experienced-than-me gardeners out there, I now know the difference.  ahem.)

The asparagus has become a favorite tasty treat around here....just ask Rylen and Marianne who often eat it raw.  (I guess there's nothing like picking a quick snack while playing in the backyard!)  It also has become part of the lovely picnic table centerpiece.  Who knew?

We are soaking up the beautiful spring weather we've had and spend as much time in the great outdoors as we possibly can.  Gardening away.  (And trying extra hard to correctly identify all that sprouts up beneath our toes!)

Happy out-dooring!

Touring around Town - Day One

This week is our official 'spring break,' so we are going to spend a little time getting more acquainted with our new surroundings.  This tiny town is quickly growing on us, and we are learning how to live fairly harmoniously in our close quarters. 

One of our favorites so far?   A bright and sunny backyard/garden!

(Complete with a small harvest of fresh asparagus!)

Please join us on our tour this week - we'd love to have you along!

...dreaming...

of something green in these pots!

Two combined snowfalls have since surrounded them in an additional foot of snow!

(Happy Spring dreaming!)

Canning for the First Time

I recently spent a glorious, crisp late afternoon with a good friend, which is enough fun in and of itself. But we didn't just chat and laugh and drink Diet Coke like any old time. (Well, I guess we did do all of that.)  But, we also canned 9 quarts of tomatoes!  

This is incredibly exciting to me.  I have wanted to acquire this skill for the longest time, but never knew quite how to learn.  Well, it just so happens, that I recently discovered that my friend and neighbor, who I see just about everyday, has been canning for her entire life with her mother and grandmother.  What do you know?  Practically in my own backyard.

I went to the local farmer's market and bought a box of canning tomatoes.  They had some blemishes on them which are cut off during the process and makes the tomatoes less expensive.  I am pleased to say that I did add some of my own tomatoes to the mix, which will make them taste all the better, I'm sure!

We started by washing out the jars and placing them in the oven on a cookie sheet at 250.  We left them in the entire time it took to prepare the tomatoes.  Also at this time we put the lids in a saucepan to boil on the stove.  This sanitizes them. 

Next we rinsed the tomatoes and put them in a clean sink filled with scalding hot water. This kills bacteria in addition to making the skins split open so it peels off easily.

    

Notice the steam coming off of the water?

After the skins split, say 10-12 minutes or so, take the tomatoes out one at a time, peel the skins, cut out the core and the bad spots, and cut it up coarsely.  It goes directly into a big pot.

See how the tomatoes are all still chunky?  Next, bring these pots to a boil.  It is important to stir constantly so the tomatoes don't scald.  (If they do, that's grounds for throwing the whole batch away because they will have a burnt taste.  Yuck.)  As they boil, the tomatoes will start to break down.  The liquid will look milky and frothy while this is happening, but will eventually go back to being clear.

We let them boil for probably a half an hour or 45 minutes.  When they are almost completely broken down and the liquid is clear, then they are ready to go in the jars.

It is important to remove the jars from the oven using a clean towel, and to not touch the rim at all with your fingers.  We poured the tomatoes into the jar using a canning funnel. The trick is to fill it no fuller than the bottom of the funnel.  When it is filled, get a lid (from the boiling pot of water) with a fork and dry it with a clean towel.  Also, dry the rim of the jar with a clean towel. Again, no fingers on anything. 

Once the lid and screw cap are on, pick the jar up very carefully and upright and screw the lid on as tight as you can possibly get it.  Set it on the counter very carefully, and wait for the lid to pop!  (That sound became music to my ears...)

This method is called Open-Kettle canning.  I suppose it's because you cook the tomatoes in an open kettle?  

Even after the lids have popped, the jars need to remain in the same place for 24 hours. After that, they can be moved to storage and enjoyed for as long as they last! (Mine are still on my counter, because they are so darn cute to look at...)

Doesn't this seem like a very September-ish thing to do?   I hope you are all enjoying your September in your own special ways!

A Good Enough Harvest

This evening's meal was extra good, mostly because it included produce from our very own garden!

The peppers are growing like mad, but the tomatoes are having some difficulty.  There is a blight that is affecting some tomato crops in this area, and unfortunately ours seems to be one of them.  But tonight we picked some dandies and thought they would be a perfect addition to the onion/pepper mix.

We didn't grow the onions, but picked them up from this lovely little farmer's market.  

We are pleased with our little harvest so far!  (And learning lots for next year!)

Ever heard of a Grow Bag?

Either had I, until a few months ago when I was planning our "garden."   A trip to the library for this awesome book and a couple of bags of Miracle Grow later, our deck was adorned with these beauties!

The pepper plants now...

The grow bags are working well for a variety of reasons.  First, I am not an experienced gardener.  I have never tried planting much, other than a few annuals in the front bed which are usually hanging on for dear life by the first week of August.  Secondly, although we have a nice size yard, our beautiful pine trees make it a bit too shady for lots of growing.  And lastly, we have a small zoo of woodland friends that like to munch away on anything and everything they can get their little paws on.

But in spite of these things, I was determined to make this the year to begin to learn the art of gardening.  

We are pleased with our new endeavor thus far!

This year I planted only cherry tomatoes, beef tomatoes, and red and green peppers in the grow bags.  

But I can easily see more grow bags (and more fresh vegetables) in our future!

Back in the Game

I went a little longer between posts than I would have liked, and this time I can blame it on the good, (old-fashioned) flu.  It hit me like a truck earlier in the week and I have been mostly out of commission until today.  I am the only one that got this little bug, thankfully.  The rest of the gang is doing great!

Special thanks to my wonderful husband for holding down the fort here and even taking some time away from work on my very worst days.  And to my parents and sister for helping out with the kiddos!

Today was spent cleaning, organizing, and getting back in the game for the most part.  It's a really great feeling, let me tell you!

I would like to share some of our Mother's Day goings-on - a process that has begun new landscaping and gardening projects around here. 

And what's a Spring day spent gardening without some bare feet?  

(Especially when they're this cute!)