This week it is soo hot and dry! We hope that you are staying cool. We have been combating the heat by working in the early morning and evening. Also, we have been spending our days at the lake or the creek.
This week's box:
Carrots
Green Beans
Yellow Wax Beans
Garlic
Red New Potatoes
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Tomatilloes
Pepper
We are back from the great North Lakes of Wisconsin. Evaline, Finn and I had an amazing time swimming, making castles and visiting with family. Adam had a wonderful time growing veggies, fishing and living the bachelor life. It's nice to be back just in time to enjoy the heat of the summer.
The Coriander can be used fresh or you can dry it to use
later. The Garlic is not cured so use
it right away. We are hanging the
garlic now to cure it and you will be getting plenty of it. The garlic harvest looks fantastic! The bulbs are large and very tight.
We did get a little rain this week; which is a huge
help. We need a bunch more, but we will
take what we can get.
The sweet potato slips are in the ground. This year we are trying a bean tunnel that
looks very cool and the bean have taken to it.
The tomatoes are staked and huge.
Our Cherokee Purples are the size of baseballs, so it shouldn’t be long
before we are enjoying homegrown tomatoes.
We canned up a bunch of pickled beets that are delicious and
beautiful. . (recipe below) I put the chard in a lasagna in place of
spinach and it turned out great. I find
that I can use the chard in place of spinach in most recipes.
Have a fantastic week and we hope that you enjoy the
veggies!
Take care,
Anne
Pickled Beets
1. Trim beets, but
leave the stem, roots and skins on.
This allows the beets to keep their shape and prevent them from falling
apart.
2. Cook until
tender. I used the pressure cooker and
only took 25 minutes.
3. In a saucepan mix
1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water with a teaspoon of salt this will be the liquid
to add to the jars.
Slip
the skins, stems and roots off the beets.
Fill
the jars full of beets and vinegar mix.
Put in
the fridge and enjoy later.
Or if
you would like to can the beets consult the Blue Book of Canning for exact
instructions.
Wasn’t that a fantastic rain last night!You could hear the sighs of relief from
all over Southern Illinois!We sat
on our screened in porch throughout the storm and enjoy every second of it!
Over the last few years I have begun canning veggies from
the garden to have the fresh tastes in the winter.It is really easier than I thought it would
be and very rewarding in the winter when the vegetable department leave a whole
lot to be desired.If you are
interested in canning I recommend the Ball Blue Book of Canning; it
provides a necessary base of knowledge about canning and is full of
recipes.Many things only require a
water bath to can making it very affordable to give canning a try.
Don’t forget that it is strawberry season in Southern IL and
this is a quick season.I recommend
buying way more that you can eat so that you will have plenty to put away for
the summer.I went to Blueberry Hill
where they DO NOT spray their berries (thanks for the tip Amy) and bought 2
huge flats of #2 for a bargain.I canned
a gallon of strawberry sauce; which is jam that didn’t set right, but still
tastes so good.I would like to go back
to get more strawberries to try it again.This time I will follow the recipe; I have a very hard time with this
skill.It canning is not your thing
freeze them. To freeze strawberries all you have to do is clean them and cut
the stems off.
You can, also, pick your own berries if you are looking for
a fun outing to enjoy the beautiful weather.Remember, you are always welcome to come out to our farm and try your
hand and back at hoeing or pulling up weeds.Just give us a call to make sure we will be home.
