Garden News - Page 5

There is more out there.....!!!!

Looks like I will be pickling some tomatillos soon enough! Salsa, any one? 

Look how tall these sunflowers are! I think they must be close to 12 ft! Those are giant marigolds just starting to bloom, and they are about 3 ft. tall. The corn is decorative Indian corn, that has to be about 6 ft!

I almost forgot to share these! I think what I made is based on something from the Southern regions called, Good and Evil Pickles. They are cucumber and jalapeno peppers, and garlic pickleing all togetther. I didn't quite do the bread and butter thing to them. I did use my own grown dill seed head in the jars, though. I made three pint jars. I will have to make sure they end up with people who appreciate some heat. Otherwise it would be a waste of my pickles!

I think it was YR who asked me if I had all these shelves of pretty jars stored, when I started out with my new hobby. I said, No, then. Well, LOL, I have pickles everywhere, now! In the cupboard, in the fridge, in a crock on the shelf...! Good thing, in the garden the pickling cucumbers seem to be burning out, I think I have enough pickles! 

This is the raised bed herb garden, that I made and moved every heavy stone in place. The bright orange flowers all massed together are nasturtiums. More are in that bucket in the back. It seems to be a great growing year for nasturtiums. I used to delight and amaze little kids when I would tell them to eat the flowers! That was always so much fun, they have a crisp peppery taste, one does not expect. What I want to do next, for now, is to harvest the seed pods from the spent flowers. I can pickle these and make what is referred to as, "Poor Man's Capers". That will be different. 

Apparently, my kitchen's preserving effort reputation is spreading. I have had one of my DH's work mates put in a request for my, "Thousand Dollar Mint Jelly". I tell you. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Just be glad you have all that jar space filled and canned also..WHEN the stock market crashes , and it is evident it will , sooner or later, you will be ready for the days you feel like crying over spilt milk or dill pickles...

You can crunch a pickle and think of all the crisp 100.00 bills we have to make up some day or never...

CLICK those gold and silver coins...and sell lots of "thousand dollar jars" of Mint Jelly

Just do not advertise or let it be published where you live or UNCLE SAM will want you to buy a permit, have your kitchen inspected and pay a 2,000.00 permit fee and they will find something to keep you from going into business or you will have to sell your recipe to a "Licensed Vendor"

hick up....sneeze...cough....cry....yelll....scream....

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

YR

Well, I am very disappointed. My fermented pickles are mushy. The texture is terrible! I am going to throw them all out! Ugh! Hopefully, I will still be alive by tomorrow. I tasted one of them. They don't actually taste that bad, but I can not get past the mushiness. No one is going to eat them, not if they can eat one of the crispy dills I have sitting in the fridge! 

So, what did I do wrong? Well, I have been trying to figure this out all morning and I think I might know what happened. I suppose you think this is so simple, how could I screw this up! To my horror, I believe I did not remove all the blossom ends from ALL the cucumbers. Some might have been a wee overripe. I did sneak in the different varieties. I didn't think it would make such a difference! I thought I used bottled water, too, to keep things pure. I can't remember which salt I used, I think it was the granular Kosher salt. Maybe my math was wrong or something, when I divided the recipe. 

The thing is, there are enzymes in the blossom end of the cukes that affect the process and will cause mushiness! That part was not mentioned in the actual recipe I was following. It was mentioned in a procedure part of the book in a whole different section. I must have missed it! And I just found, if I had topped the crock with a horseradish or grape leaf, it would have countered the bad enzyme of mushiness found in the blossom end! I happen to have tons of horseradish leaves and wild grape leaves growing in the back yard. Too late for me now!!!

I have dumped everything, scrubbed everything and will have to try again next year for the sour fermented pickles from days of yore. The pickling cucumbers are tired out at the moment. They just stopped growing. Reminds me of the story of Job? ...was it? The good lord giveth and the god lord taketh away! LOL

Next on my list: Yellow Tomato Jam, Lemon Verbena Jelly, Poor Man's Capers. And in the crock I will use the Marketmores, and make pickled sweet slices out of them. These are a quick  eating condiment pickle. Worth a try. 

I think I will just freeze all the beans I can. I got to get busy. And the most important thing I need to do is make chocolate zucchini drop cookies for my boys. They dropped me the hint, yesterday.

 What are you doing in here? 

This is my dog doing the OUT, below. Out of the garden! He knows better....the rascal!

PS to Cheri... about your sunflower questions, sorry I never answered. Usually I use any usable sunflower seeds to feed the birds and other wild life. Sometimes little worms get in the seeds because I don't spray them with pesticides. This just happens to be a nice year for me, growing sunflowers. Who knows, if the worms leave them alone, I might try to eat some of them, too! 

I think I should call this batch, "Fort Knox Goldbar Tomato Jam". What do you think? I think I might have something here. Hmmm.

I am so glad the recipe reminded me to use rubber gloves to mince the jalapeno. I used lime instead of lemon. And basil. Got my fingers crossed, the damn stuiff jams properly.

I wish it weren't so cloudy outside. The jam looks a bit dark here in this picture. Oh, well! 

It was zucchini baking day, today. I used my DHs Sicilian grandma's recipe to make "zucchini cake". I just separated the batter into two. I will glaze the tops later, And give one to my neighbor to help with the sadness of a family death. I didn't make the lemon verbena jelly, yet.   If I can, I wonder if taste wise they will pair, well. Not sure.

....the chocolate zucchini drop cookies are a request from my kids, 

:)