Hello, friends. As often happens at the height of summer, there were many things to harvest last week. There was not a lot of any one thing, but a wide variety. There were elderberries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, figs, apples, basil, purslane, oregano and chanterelles. The elderberries were dehydrated. The first couple of chanterelles were used in fried potatoes and peppers, along with purchased mushrooms, which I like to add in, if I have them. The purslane and basil were turned into several batches of pesto, and frozen. Another day, four chanterelles were dehydrated.
We're still having issues with rotting tomatoes, pretty much getting some every day. I'm beginning to work on this Sunday evening, and there were sadly seven found today, plus several that had been chewed on. We still have high hopes that the Italian pear tomatoes I started will come through. They're a great canning tomato, being very meaty, with very little seeds, and also make great tomato sauce. We've gotten one so far. I was able to can six quarts of tomatoes last week, so very thankful for that, though it doesn't begin to fill the shelves with the amount we need. I canned them in the steam canner I asked for, and Joseph gifted me last year. It takes the same amount of time, other than the time it takes to bring the canner to a boil, as it uses 2 1/2 qts., instead of the gallons the water bath canner uses. Using less water is also a plus.
I forgot, but I also harvested lambs quarter twice, and blanched and froze them. J tilled up an area, and planted peas. In the past, we've only grown them in the spring, but want to see how they do in the late summer. Gardening is always an experiment. He has been asking for my Mom's Fresh Fig Bread with Sherry, and on Sunday I made two, with one to freeze. The tomato skins from canning were dehydrated. I'll probably use them in bird suet. Sunday afternoon, Joseph was looking out the window, and saw a beautiful peach on a tree. The squirrels left us one! Which is lovely, because the last two kiwi remaining on the vine went missing over the past week. The vines are heavily deer-browsed, so I suspect they're the culprit. Ah well, you win some and you lose some. But, sometimes a single peach is all it takes to brighten your day.
9 comments:
No doubt that peach was relished with every bite! I've never heard of using purslane for pesto. How creative!
Looks like we are in for a week of cooler temperatures. Enjoy!
That peach hasn't been savored yet. It's still a bit hard, with not much fragrance. But soon!
I began using purslane, based on a Local Milk recipe for Purslane Pistachio pesto. These days, I'm very loose with the recipe. It calls for lots more purslane than basil, but as I have more basil, that's how I do it. Sometimes, I use pistachios, sometimes walnuts, and my cashew parmesan.
Hip Hip Hooray for cooler temps, and rain! Have a beautiful week!
Our pear tree, I fear, is going to be like your peach tree & kiwi vine. It's absolutely loaded with 5 different varieties. This is the first year the chipmunks have raided it. I'm so bummed. Next year I guess we'll have to net and tie the net at the trunk since they climb up that. I'm hoping your peach is juicy and loaded with flavor!
The fig bread sounds so good!
Bummer about your tomatoes. Hopefully your remaining ones ripen for you. I've been wanting a steam canner! Thank you for letting us know that you like it. I have it on my wish list.
Have a wonderful week and happy you should receive cooler temps and rain. We are hopeful for both as well, at least for a day or two!
Oh wow, you have a peach tree grafted with five varieties?! We did try netting one year, but the birds got caught in it, and the squirrels still seemed to get most of them. Hopefully, you'll have better results.
I do like the steam canner. The only con I can see so far is the fact that you can't do a double layer of pint jars. Here's to rain and cooler temps for us both!
The single peach made me smile! Our next door neighbors have a peach tree, still fairly young, probably needs pruned more exactingly (their observations, not mine) and the squirrels strip it clean every single year.
Those dang squirrels! It's rather disheartening.
I like that fig bread recipe! That's the trouble with squirrels. Once I planted a bunch of fruit trees. They had a lot of fruit, even though just young and small. Before the fruit ripened, the squirrels had picked them all. And it's not like I could've picked the fruit early, because the squirrels picked them while still green and were wasteful (taking a bite and leaving). Deer...they are harder to watch. Good luck with the other tomatoes! andrea
That sounds familiar... fruit trees, hazelnuts, they take most of it, all of some things. Joseph had the idea that maybe as the tomato plants grew, and the ripening tomatoes would be higher up on the plant, we'd have less rot. Let's hope so! Thanks!
Congratulations on the single peach! Consider it just the beginning of great success.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
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