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Saturday harvest (half went to Stove Top and Wife, half to us):
Corn - We ate a lot of it last night and blanched/froze the rest, stored in freezer bags. The husks will be used as mulch and compost. Four trays of corn silk are drying for tea. We grew Kenyan corn (white), plus red, blue, and yellow. The yellow corn had the worst insect and bird damage - the white and red fared better. Very few of the blue ones came up, but they did interbreed with the white and produced a striking blue and white variety. All interbred with the Kenyan corn. The results was denser and starchier than store-bought, but tasted very good.
Tomatoes - lots of teardrop, red, and gold cherry tomatoes, and large red tomatoes. Most had bites from insects, but we were able to clean them up and make a tasty sauce out of some of them and salad out of others. We still have a bag full in the refrigerator.
Tomatillos - these were made into sauce (they're not very good raw) which will be frozen and used as sandwich spread, dip, and pasta sauce during the week. We planted one bush of these, and two more came up of a different variety. The original one didn't produce much, but the volunteers produced about a bushel so far. Apparently they're a weed plant around the area.
Purple beans - The beans are being fermented using a process that we're hoping gets rid of the allergens in them so Rialian can actually eat them. He may test with a very tiny amount once they're done.
Buckwheat - these are brown seeds in little hulls, resembling tiny brazil nuts. Each seed has to be separated from the flowers. When the flowers are dry, they're brown like the seeds, so they're hard to see. We're trying to think of a good, low-tech way to separate the seeds from the flowers that doesn't involve manually picking the seeds. Meanwhile I've separated out about half a cup so far. There's a big patch full of it coming up...
Chard - blanched and put into a freezer bag and put into the freezer.
Basil - Small amount harvested, chopped up and stored in a freezer bag in the freezer.
Okra - harvested too late, so it was mostly inedible lignin. Composted.
This is the first time we've actually gotten into preserving food from the garden.
Sunday:
We went to the garden early and did a lot of weeding of the beds and paths, as well as hoeing of the non-planted area so we can plant winter plants there. We are considering how to make cold frames to protect the winter plants during freezes. We're thinking discarded glass doors and straw bales would make good cold frames that won't blow away or collapse under snow. I'm balking at the idea of having ugly discarded doors in the garden that I have to store somewhere during the summer, but I'm considering the possibility.
After gardening, we went to the farmer's market. I picked up some parsley and chives which I planted in the herb garden by the kitchen, and Rialian got some spearmint. We stopped at the antique shop and bought some bell jars so we can store assorted harvests.
Corn - We ate a lot of it last night and blanched/froze the rest, stored in freezer bags. The husks will be used as mulch and compost. Four trays of corn silk are drying for tea. We grew Kenyan corn (white), plus red, blue, and yellow. The yellow corn had the worst insect and bird damage - the white and red fared better. Very few of the blue ones came up, but they did interbreed with the white and produced a striking blue and white variety. All interbred with the Kenyan corn. The results was denser and starchier than store-bought, but tasted very good.
Tomatoes - lots of teardrop, red, and gold cherry tomatoes, and large red tomatoes. Most had bites from insects, but we were able to clean them up and make a tasty sauce out of some of them and salad out of others. We still have a bag full in the refrigerator.
Tomatillos - these were made into sauce (they're not very good raw) which will be frozen and used as sandwich spread, dip, and pasta sauce during the week. We planted one bush of these, and two more came up of a different variety. The original one didn't produce much, but the volunteers produced about a bushel so far. Apparently they're a weed plant around the area.
Purple beans - The beans are being fermented using a process that we're hoping gets rid of the allergens in them so Rialian can actually eat them. He may test with a very tiny amount once they're done.
Buckwheat - these are brown seeds in little hulls, resembling tiny brazil nuts. Each seed has to be separated from the flowers. When the flowers are dry, they're brown like the seeds, so they're hard to see. We're trying to think of a good, low-tech way to separate the seeds from the flowers that doesn't involve manually picking the seeds. Meanwhile I've separated out about half a cup so far. There's a big patch full of it coming up...
Chard - blanched and put into a freezer bag and put into the freezer.
Basil - Small amount harvested, chopped up and stored in a freezer bag in the freezer.
Okra - harvested too late, so it was mostly inedible lignin. Composted.
This is the first time we've actually gotten into preserving food from the garden.
Sunday:
We went to the garden early and did a lot of weeding of the beds and paths, as well as hoeing of the non-planted area so we can plant winter plants there. We are considering how to make cold frames to protect the winter plants during freezes. We're thinking discarded glass doors and straw bales would make good cold frames that won't blow away or collapse under snow. I'm balking at the idea of having ugly discarded doors in the garden that I have to store somewhere during the summer, but I'm considering the possibility.
After gardening, we went to the farmer's market. I picked up some parsley and chives which I planted in the herb garden by the kitchen, and Rialian got some spearmint. We stopped at the antique shop and bought some bell jars so we can store assorted harvests.
