Preserving Options for Garden Riches: Canning and Pickling

Canning and Pickling: Preserving Possibilities

Two popular, and related, methods of preserving the bounty from the garden and/or the farmer's market are canning and pickling.

Canning is preserving fruits or vegetables by partially cooking them, putting the cooked produced into sterilized glass jars with tight-fitting lids, and then processing them in a hot-water bath or pressure cooker until the lids are hermetically sealed to the jars.

Fruits and vegetables that have a high acid content, such as tomatoes, or where vinegar is added (such as in  my recipe for green salsa) can be safely canned with the hot-water bath method.

Vegetables with a low acid content, such as green beans or corn, should always be processed in a pressure cooker: the hot-water bath method is not safe for these kinds of vegetables.

Pickling is preserving vegetables, such as cucumbers or onions, with a a strong vinegar or brine solution.Some pickles preserve slowly in the refrigerator, as in this recipe for Refrigerator Dill Pickles. while other pickles are processed in a hot-water bath, as in this recipe for Garlic Dill Pickles.

By Dvortygirl (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

With all of these methods, it is imperative that you sterilize the jars and lids beforehand. Also, plan to take your time with the processing: devoting half a day to canning and/or pickling is not unheard of. Do not try to hurry the process.

What are your thoughts about canning and pickling? Are these preservation methods new to you, or are you a seasoned veteran? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. Bon appetit!

Preserving Fruits and Vegetables: Freezing and Drying

Two Easy Ways to Preserve the Harvest: Freezing and Drying

It's that time of the year again: the garden is producing beyond your wildest dreams, more than enough to eat fresh and to have some left over. Two ways to preserve those garden riches are freezing and drying.

Freezing

Freezing is a great option for many fruits and vegetables, especially if you can pick them at the peak of flavor: in a home garden, this should be easy enough. For vegetables, I cut them up, as necessary, blanch them, and then lay them out on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the vegetable pieces are frozen, I transfer them to freezer bags. Colorado State University offers an excellent guide in choosing the best vegetables for freezing.

I treat fruit similarly, when I dry pack them, except for the blanching: instead, for those that are prone to browning, I dip them in lemon juice before placing them on the cookie sheet. Another option is the syrup pack or sugar pack, depending on the fruit. For a more extensive guide in freezing various types of fruit, it's hard to beat the National Center for Home Food Preservation's document Preserving Food: Freezing Fruit.

By Tiefkuehlfan (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Drying

Another easy option for preserving fruits and vegetables (as well as herbs and seeds) is drying. This method needs no refrigeration and is especially handy in preparation for the aftermath of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or tornado, or in preparation for a zombie apocalypse.

While I am a fan of my Nesco dehydrator, other variations exist. sun drying is possible for many fruits, especially if you are blessed to live in an area with plenty of sun and low humidity. Oven drying is another option for most fruits and vegetables. For additional tips in drying fruits and vegetables, be sure to consult the Virginia Cooperative Extension's page Using Dehydration to Preserve Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats.


Do you have any favorite practices when it comes to freezing or drying produce? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. Bon appetit!

Peach-Strawberry Pie

Pie of the Month: Peach-Strawberry Pie

Happy Bastille Day! At first glance the anniversary of French independence may have nothing whatsoever to do with peach-strawberry pie. However, much like the events that led to the storming of the Bastille, this pie came about through a series of timely and haphazard events (okay, I know this is a stretch, but let's work with it).

This month's pie was born quite by accident. I was planning to make a peach pie for July but then found that I did not have enough frozen peaches; however, I did find that I had enough frozen strawberries to add to the peaches. I tweaked the spices a bit, and came up with this pie.

As always, I suggest serving this pie warm, with a scoop or so of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.

Recipe for Peach-Strawberry Pie

Crust: You can either buy pre-made crust or make your own, depending on time and inclination. If you prefer to make your own, here is a good recipe.

Filling:

3 cups frozen sliced peaches
2 cups frozen sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
splash of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the frozen fruit in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice; stir. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flower, and cinnamon. Mix the dry ingredients with the fruit until well blended, and then add the vanilla extract.

Line a pie pan with the bottom crust. Perforate the bottom of the crust with a fork. Add the fruit mixture and spread evenly throughout the pan. Roll out and place the top crust onto the pie; seal the edges and then flute them. Make decorative slash marks in the pie so that pressure does not build up inside the pie.

Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Bon appetit!

Peach-Strawberry Pie (own photo)

Make Weeding Fun--No, Really!

Weeding Can Be More Fun, with a Little Imagination

When most people think of weeding, the word fun rarely comes to mind. After all, weeding is drudgery, a chore, a punishment that ranks up there with the rack and the thumbscrew, right? With a little imagination (okay, more than a little imagination), weeding can become enjoyable, even amusing. Read on for some decidedly tongue-in-cheek suggestions.

* Go Shakespearean on those weeds. Practice reciting the "Alas Poor Yorick" speech by Hamlet in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark:, holding aloft a tuft of pulled weeds:

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how
abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at
it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know
not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your
gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment,
that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one
now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?
Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let
her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must
come; make her laugh at that." -- Act V, Scene 1

Really ham it up. As a variation, try reciting this speech in a falsetto voice. 

* Sing "Let It Go" from the Disney movie Frozen, at the top of your lungs, while you are picking weeds--preferably with a flourish. Even better: visualize an icy frost emanating from your fingers as you touch those weeds. Note: If you have small children or if your neighbors do, they will probably join you in singing "Let It Go." While they are singing, you might be able to get them to weed a bit on your behalf.

* Play poker, using the weeds as currency. This works better if you can convince up to three other people to join you in this activity. Seven Card Stud or Texas Hold'Em, anyone?

* Create a mini-bonfire for those pulled weeds (use a fire-safe container) and dance around the fire with wild abandon.

Happy weeding!

"Tripleurospermum perforatum 20041012 2572". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tripleurospermum_perforatum_20041012_2572.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Tripleurospermum_perforatum_20041012_2572.jpg
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Basil: Herb of the Month

Basil, Take a Bow: Herb for July 2014

Each month, I'll be featuring a herb, chosen seasonally but otherwise randomly. This month, the herb of honor is basil, or Ocimum basilicum L. 

By Quadell (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Basil 

Basil is easy to grow and difficult to kill: an attractive feature for beginning gardeners and seasoned gardeners alike. Basil is easily sprouted from seed or transplanted from established plants.This herb prefers a sunny spot in the garden; water once or twice a week to keep the plants healthy without diluting the essential oils that give basil its characteristic aroma and taste. There is no need to fertilize the basil plants: less is definitely more here. Grow basil and tomatoes together: basil is an excellent partner in companion planting. 

By www.openfootage.net (http://www.openfootage.net/?p=386) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Of course, basil is an essential ingredient in pesto: this recipe is a great one to try. I also like to make a basil vinegar that can be used to make salad dressing or marinade. Here's the recipe: 

Basil Vinegar

2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed well and slightly bruised
4 cups white vinegar

Place basil leaves in a gallon-sized canning jar. Heat the vinegar until it is hot but not boiling. Pour the vinegar over the basil leaves. Close the canning jar and give the jar a good shake or two. Let the vinegar steep for one month; shake the contents every few days. 

Strain the vinegar; compost the spent basil leaves. 

Bon appetit! 

Blueberry: Pie of the Month

June's Pie of the Month

Starting this month, I will be trying something new: featuring a pie of the month (What are the criteria for determining the pie of the month? Whatever sounds good at the time, although I do try to keep in mind what is in season). This time around, the pie of the month is blueberry pie.

Blueberries are a super food, full of antioxidants, fiber, and other healthy benefits: good for the heart and the brain (if someone looks at you quizzically while you are enjoying the blueberry pie, you can always say, "Don't worry: I'm getting my antioxidants") . Plus, they are delicious.

Recipe for Blueberry Pie

Pie Dough

You can either make your own or buy the commercially-made crust that rolls out

Pie Filling

4 cups blueberries, frozen or fresh
3/4 to 1 cup sugar, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer the mixture until thickened. Let cool and then scrape the mixture into a bottom crust that has been perforated with a fork. Roll out the top crust and place it on top of the pie; flute the edges to seal. Slash the top crust at several points so that pressure does not build up in the pie while baking. Brush the top crust with an egg wash (1 egg, thinned with a splash or so of water and then beaten) to encourage a shiny crust; sprinkle the top with sugar if desired.

Bake in a 400 degree oven (Fahrenheit) for 35-45 minutes, or until the top crust is golden brown. Let cool for awhile (anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours: in my household, there is no way that pie is cooling for a full two hours, uncut). Enjoy with a dollop or so of vanilla ice cream. Bon appetit!

Homemade Blueberry Pie

Top Twenty List of Plant Ideas for the Small Garden

Limited Vegetable Garden Space? Try These Top Twenty Plant Picks

As gardeners, we often have grandiose dreams about creating the perfect garden that expands as far as the eye can imagine, let alone see. However, we may be limited by time, space, or both. Yet, we long for truly fresh vegetables as well as the unique kind of therapy that only a garden offers. Some plants, such as corn and full-size watermelons, will gobble up valuable garden space, so we need plants that are space-wise and productive: hence, my top twenty list of recommendations of vegetables and the occasional herb, in no particular order.

1. Beefsteak tomatoes
2. Roma tomatoes
3. Zucchini, bush variety: one or two plants will be plenty
4. Yellow crook neck variety: again, one or two plants will suffice
5. Green beans, bush variety or pole variety: the latter will make excellent use of vertical space
6. Wax beans, bush variety or, better yet, pole variety, for the reason mentioned above
7. Yard-long beans: these are a pole variety that produce well and look impressive
8. Swiss chard: once established, it is hard to kill and can withstand warmer temperatures
9. Jalapeno peppers
10. Sweet banana peppers
11. Baby watermelons, grown vertically
12. Japanese eggplant
13. pickling cucumbers, grown vertically
14. slicing cucumbers, grown vertically
15. dill, to go with all of those cucumbers
16. asparagus: these perennials, once established, will produced for up to thirty years
17. basil: this herb enhances nearby growing tomatoes, and it is a must for fresh pesto lovers
18. spearmint: grow this in a pot; otherwise, it will invade the rest of the garden
19. rosemary
20. Greek oregano

Feel free to mix and match from these ideas for a successful summer garden, small yet productive.

Are there any other space-saving plants I did not include here that I should have? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potager_en_plate-bande.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Potager_en_plate-bande.jpg 

Friday the 13th Fears? Create Your Own Lucky Garden

Bring Luck to Your Garden with Lucky Plants

There's nothing like the appearance of Friday the 13th to jangle the superstitious nerves of folks and to cause a fear known as Triskaidekaphobia. Of course, luck--good or bad--tends to be what we make of it, and we can create our own luck, rather than be doomed to a self-fulfilling prophecy of ill fortune.

As gardeners, we can invite good luck into the sacred space of our gardens. Here are but a few ideas to help facilitate good luck and prosperity in the garden.

Edible Vegetables Associated with Luck and Prosperity

Beans
Cabbage
Eggplant
Lettuce
Peas
Pumpkin
Spinach and other greens
Sunflower (seeds)
Tomatoes (yes, I know that botanically, tomatoes are fruits: let's run with this)

By Sengai Podhuvan (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Edible Fruits and Nuts Associated with Luck and Prosperity

Almond
Bananas
Blackberries
Figs
Grapes
Hazelnuts
Kumquats
Lemons
Orange
Pears
Pineapple
Pomegranate

By Rosendahl [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Edible Herbs Associated with Luck and Prosperity

Basil
Chamomile
Dill
Garlic (more to ward off bad luck so that good luck can arrive)
Ginger
Oregano
Parsley

By H. Zell (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Non-Edible Plants Associated with Luck and Prosperity

Aloe vera
Bells of Ireland
Bluebell (not the ice cream, although eating some Blue Bell ice cream while hanging out in the garden couldn't hurt)
Clover, especially the four-leaf variety
Daffodil
Honeysuckle
Money plant (also can be and is often grown indoors)
Periwinkle
White heather

By Phyzome under the GFDL. (Phyzome) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Do you have any other plants in your garden that you would consider lucky? Please feel free to share in the comments section.

Mango-Pineapple Salsa

Mango-Pineapple Salsa: A Recipe of Opportunity

We had some mangoes and pineapple that were dead-ripe and needed to be used. With that in mind, I came up with this salsa on the spur of the moment; every single household member, even our resident curmudgeon--loves this salsa. In this spirit, I give this recipe to you, for your enjoyment.

The Recipe

6 large,very ripe mangoes, cubed
2 medium ripe pineapple, cubed
3 orange sweet bell peppers, chopped
1 to 4 chopped jalapenos, to taste
2 small white onions, diced
1 handful or so of cilantro, chopped
2 cups vinegar
the juice of 3 to 4 limes

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes,until the vegetables are tender. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then blend part of the batch, enough to make a chunky salsa, or to taste. 

Take a cue from Blue Bell Ice Cream: eat all you can, fresh,  and then can the rest. 

With this batch, I was able to can 1 quart and 2 pints of salsa. For pints, process in a hot-water bath for 10 minutes; for quarts, process for 25 minutes. 

This salsa is fabulous teamed with chicken, turkey, or fish. Bon appetit! 

Homemade Mango-Pineapple Salsa

Garden of My Dreams?

Ultimate Garden? Dream On! 

Each year, at the end of the academic year in late spring, I, like many gardeners, go through the same mental process. We think that this year is going to be different, that our garden will be bigger and better, with more space devoted to what we euphemistically call a hobby. Our garden dreams may very well end up looking like this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pieskowa_Ska%C5%82a_ogr%C3%B3d_zamkowy.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pieskowa_Ska%C5%82a_ogr%C3%B3d_zamkowy.jpg 

Or this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hever_Castle_rose_garden_with_fountain.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Hever_Castle_rose_garden_with_fountain.JPG

Or even this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buenos_Aires_Entrada_al_Jardin_Botanico_Carlos_Thays.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Buenos_Aires_Entrada_al_Jardin_Botanico_Carlos_Thays.jpg

However, a common mistake is to overestimate the time and energy involved in creating and maintaining a garden. Are watering needs being met? Is enough time being devoted each week to everyone's least favorite task, weeding (yes, according to Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "A weed is but an unloved flower," but most gardeners choose to shower love elsewhere)? Is enough energy being spent in dissuading pests from your precious plants? Are compost and/or fertilizer needs being met? If plants need to be pruned or staked, is enough time and energy being devoted to these tasks? Finally, will your schedule allow time to simply be in the garden, to sit, relax, and/or meditate in the positive space you have created?

 If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it is time to scale back that dream a bit. This is not settling for "second best": it is being realistic. It is far more gratifying to start small and expand that garden as time and energy permit, throughout the growing season, than to try to keep up with a grandiose gardening plan that will leave you burned out and feeling frustrated. Trust me on this one.

Gardening is supposed to be a fun, emotionally-rewarding pastime, not a drudge or a chore; that said, anyone who wishes to garden needs to expect to put time and sweat into any gardening aspirations. According to Liberty Hyde Bailey, co-founder of the American Society for Horticultural Science, "A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them."

. And starting small and then building up the garden gradually allows the gardener's imagination to flow more freely, according to Mrs. C. W. Earle, in Pot-Pourri from an Surrey Garden, 1897: "Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination."