Preserving from the Garden

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Green Beans

First, I wash my beans. I then shake them dry or dry them on a paper towel. I cut both ends off my green beans, then cutting the beans into two or three pieces. I transfer those pieces into a gallon freezer bag, use the water displacement method to remove extra air, then I label with item month and year, then I freeze. I have already done two large harvests this month and was able to fill this bag in just 2 weeks. I planted 12 green bean vines.

To do the water displacement method, fill a large bowl or pot with water. Seal your bag 3/4 of the way and remember the edge that is open. Begin submerging the bag into the water. Leave out the edge that is open, and once most air is removed, seal the rest of the bag. You can then flatten out the contents of the bag for easy storage.

Onions

When I harvested all my onions, I first had to let them dry out. So, I stored them in this container on my kitchen windowsill. The windowsill gets pretty warm but it doesn’t get much sun, just a bit when it’s setting, and it’s not very strong that time of day. Once the tops all browned, I began preserving. If you have a root cellar, you can chop off the tops just above the stem, and clean off the roots, then they can immediately go into storage. If you don’t have a dry space under ground like me, then you can simply dice them and place them in the freezer for future use. I got two full sandwich bags, and I have used them heavily before processing the last of them. I once again used water displacement method to remove air.

Carrots

Carrots can lose nutrients if you pick them and leave the tops on in hot weather. So, our harvest was in two batches. We emptied a bin, took the carrots inside. Cut the tops from the carrots. then repeated with the second batch. Once all the carrots were harvested, I scrubbed them to remove dirt and the roots. Once all were processed, I cut off the tops and the end of the root, then I sliced then and transferred them to gallon freezer bag. I then used water displacement to remove the air, labeled them, then added them to my freezer.

Tomatoes

My tomatoes were starting to go bad, and since I haven’t had any more to harvest lately, I figured one small canner of tomatoes was better than nothing for now. You aren’t supposed to use rotting or damaged tomatoes, however that is how my family has done it for generations. First, cut off any bad spots deep into the tomato. Sanitize your knife and the spots. Then treat them like normal tomatoes. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water, boil for 1-2 minutes, then transfer into an ice bath. After a minute or so, the skin will loosen from the fruit. Remove a tomato and place on a cutting board. Cut off the top stem then peel off the skin. Dice your tomatoes then add to a preheated jar. (I just soak them in very hot water.) Fill your canner 1/2 way with water and bring to a boil. Also bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, then add the needed number of lids and remove from heat. Push down on the tomatoes and add any extra juice from your dicing. Once near to the top, you need to add Lemon juice and salt. For a Quart add 2 Tbsp lemon and 2 tsp salt, and for a pint, add 1 Tbsp lemon and 1 tsp salt. Add more tomatoes/some very hot water to get to 1/2 inch from the upper lip of the jar. You will then need to stick a butter knife down the edges of the jar to remove air pockets. Then you can wipe the rim clean, add the lid and ring, finger tight, then once all are ready, add them to your water bath, add additional water to cover the jars, bring that to a boil, the process for 85 minutes. Once they are done, carefully remove hot jars and place on several towels on the counter, and let cool to room temperature. Check the tops to see if they sealed, remove the rings, wipe down the jars and label, then store in a dark and cool location for the most available storage time.

August 18, 2020 0

Refrigerator Pickles

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Original recipe can be found here. I used Dried Dill instead of fresh, though the original recipe used fresh dill. I also forgot to add onion, so that also changed the flavor.

I made this recipe a week and a half ago. This weekend I was making picnic food, and I thought these pickles would pair very nicely. These pickles are very good. They aren’t as sour as store bought pickles, but they had the right flavor and tasted great! I used 9 tsp dried dill, 2 garlic cloves, and I forgot the onion. Despite this these pickles were very good and still had a fresh flavor about them. If you still have as many cucumbers as I do, this would be a great recipe to make!

Refrigerator Pickles Recipe Card Download

What You Will Need

4 qts Cucumbers, with ends cut off and quartered if large
9-12 tsp dried dill
2-4 garlic cloves
1 small onion
7 1/2 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/3-1/2 cup salt

Directions

In a large pot, bring water, vinegar, and salt to a boil. Turn off burner and remove from heat.
In a gallon container, add dill, garlic and onion, then top with cut cucumbers.
Cover with warm brine, place a plate on top to hold cucumbers under the brine, then add lid and transfer the fridge.
Pickles are ready after 5 days, and are good for 9-12 months.

August 17, 2020 0

Pork Over Buttered Noodles

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This is a recipe I made in order to use up some extra pulled pork in my fridge. It is a very straight forward recipe. I didn’t add any seasoning to it, because the pork had more than enough on it’s own, however, if you are gonna make this from pork butt, or unseasoned pork, you can play with some fun french herbs like thyme, rosemary, marjoram, or basil. This also tasted great over noodles! This recipe made 4 adult sized meals.

Pork Over Buttered Noodles Recipe Card Download

What You Will Need

2 Cups Shredded Pork
2 Garlic Cloves, diced
3 Shallots, sliced
2 Medium Carrots, slices
1 Tomato, quartered
1 Tbsp Butter
3 Cups Water
2 Beef Bouillon Cubes
A Dutch oven and spoon
A cutting board and knife
3-4 cups cooked egg noodles with butter for serving

Directions

In a dutch oven, add butter, carrots, garlic, and onion. Cook over medium heat until soft and have added color.
Add tomato, water, and bouillon, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add pork. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
Remove from heat then serve over noodles.

August 14, 2020 0

Carrot Top Salad

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What You Will Need

3 cups Carrot Tops, cut stems and cleaned
1 small Tomato
2 shallots
1 medium carrot
1 medium cucumber
Preferred dressing
Cutting board and knife
Serving bowl

Instructions

Slice and dice ingredients listed above to you desired form.
You will want to remove as much of the empty carrot top stem as possible, since it is stiffer and less enjoyable than the rest of the carrot top. Carrot tops are also bitter, so you’ll want to add a pinch of salt to your personal plate, and you’ll want to pick a dressing that compliments or covers the flavor. I used ranch and Italian dressing.
The other ingredients are optional, and you can feel free to substitute in whatever you see fit.

August 12, 2020 0

July Garden Update 2020

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July has been very busy for the garden. I harvested radishes the end of June, and July I just pulled my onions. I started the month with several tomatoes set, but before long, there was a period of no setting fruit, and they stopped growing entirely. My cucumbers however had a great start of the month. I got lots of big and beautiful, as well as gourd-like and misshapen cucumbers. I was able to can pickles, and just last week I was able to make a gallon of fridge dill pickles that last up to a year! By the end of the month, I had gotten a tomato from each plant, and had begun finding green beans. The carrots were almost ready to harvest, and the seedpods on the radishes had begun to turn red. The last thing that happened this month, was the loss of a tomato plant. I planted 2 big beef, and 3 better boy, and one of my big beef plants must have been hit with fusarium, a fungus. I treated the roots with a mixture of peroxide and water, I heard it sizzling, showing it was a fungus, but the plant got hit hard and fast, so it couldn’t recover, and I had to pull it.

My second bed also went crazy this month. It grew so fast, that I had quite the mess there. Besides that, My marigolds had begun growing, and one day, there was a big hole in the bed, and the netting had several holes. I found, several weeks later, that it was in fact a bunny who found my raised bed, and had 4 little bunnies under my marigold. We also decided at that point, we’ll splurge next year and buy chicken wire for the beds next year. better safe than sorry. Despite that, only a few onions got toppled, and nothing was eaten, just a couple frightened bunnies when I’d come for my daily cucumber haul.