Fall: Last Harvest of the Vegetable Garden

We only got a slight frost this week, but it was time to harvest the last of our vegetables. Our pantry shelves are overflowing with preserved foods. Our freezer is full of frozen fruits and vegetables.

It was a bountiful year. JEJ also picked all the grapes today for jam making later in the week. The winter squashes were ready to pick, and we decided to just pick the tomatoes green.

As soon as the garden is done each year we release the chickens to devour their own bounty. They also dig up grubs and find eggs of some pesky insects that would show up next year. They were in heaven today and felt a new sense of freedom.

I look forward to enjoying soups, breads, sauces, and oven dishes prepared with our own vegetables during the winter months.

The garden in August.

The garden today.
Growing a vegetable garden is definitely a worthwhile venture.Thanks JEJ for all your work!

Summer in a Jar: Salsa Five Months Later and a Keeper from the Recipe Box

When things get busy in the fall and we had more ripe tomatoes than we could take care of at the time, I just threw the ripe ones in ziplock bags and froze them. A few weeks ago I had to buy my first jar of salsa from the grocery store.

 I decided it was time to can another batch of my own salsa. Just in case the extra water added more weight I added more tomatoes than usual.

 One thing I discovered is the tomatoes are easier to work with after being frozen when it comes to removing skins and seeds.

 It smelled like late summer again in the kitchen as we chopped tomatoes, onions, green peppers, garlic, and hot peppers.I love how beautiful the combination of red and green looks in the pot as the salsa simmers.

The batch made eleven pints of salsa. I can't wait for the jars to cool a bit so we can sample some with tortilla chips. We will feel like we are back to late summer once again.

 Here is my recipe which I created after trying a variety recipes for salsa.I don't like anything hot and spicy so I go easy on the hot stuff. The ingredient I take out is cilantro since my husband doesn't like it. The ingredient I think is a must. Lime juice.

Christy’s Zesty Salsa

 10 cups tomatoes (seeded, cored, chopped)

(About 6 pounds)

5 cups chopped and seeded green peppers

2 ½  cups chopped hot peppers ( Anaheim and jalapeno are mild,

poblanos and serranors are hot…….add a few seeds to make it hotter.

I mix these types……..usually Anaheim and jalapeno.)

5 cups chopped onions

5 cloves garlic,minced

2 TB fresh cilantro, minced

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)

1 cup cider vinegar

½ cup lime juice

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 min. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving ¼ “ head space. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 6 pints.

Tip: If my tomatoes are watery I strain the mixture to keep the salsa from being soupy!

November 2nd: I am Thankful for The Harvest

 Every day I get to enjoy the fruits of our harvest. Whether I grab potatoes in cold storage for dinner, open a jar of canned tomatoes for a sauce, find a bag of shredded up zucchini for bread, or peel apples for a pie, our harvest provides us with bountiful choices of food.

Honoring Harvest and Hermiston Yellow Seedless

One of the simple joys of raising a garden is harvesting those first vegetables. Today JEJ gathered carrots, beets, and cabbage. I believe coleslaw tastes just a bit better when the carrots and cabbage are home grown. The beet is in a category all by itself. It looks beautiful as it is picked. It's red dye fills the pan with gorgeous color and the savory aroma of cooking beets just smells like late summer. What a garden feast we experienced!
We topped our dinner off with something we brought back from our trip. I found a Hermiston Yellow Seedless watermelon. When I saw the wedges on a plate to sample at the produce place, I thought it was pineapple. I think it tastes close to other colors of watermelon, but is such a beautiful color when sliced.

Now.... off to check those zucchini recipes for using the four that came out of the patch today!