Jalapeño, sweet pepper, and basil jam

Today I attempted my very first preserving and canning.  Made five 8oz jars of yummy jam.   Wasn't that hard and so far all the lids are correct. Can't wait to spread a little on some crumpets that I recently discovered at the local HEB.  A coworker of mine from England used to have her relatives bring me a pack every Christmas because you just couldn't find them anywhere around here.  Was excited to gin them and they taste just as good.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

A little produce every few days

So this year the produce is ready every few days which is better than last year which nothing grew and previous years I had to much at one time.  So I pick about a handful of tomatoes and jalapeño peppers about three times a week.  Mosquitos are bad this year as they are thriving in the thick vegetation.  I can officially say now that the local nursery mislabeled their seedlings because instead of six cucumber plants I have cantaloupe vines growing everywhere.  Cantaloupes take longer to grow than cucumbers and less produce. Picked my first one a few days ago and letting it ripen a little more before cutting it open.

I planted some radish, watermelon, and cucumber seeds a two weeks ago and the shoots have already started.  Some wild basil is finally making an appearance too.   I cleaned out what was left of the lettuce stalks as it was all going to seed and I needed to clear the space for fall garden planting soon.  

With the tomatoes we have really enjoyed fresh salsa.  I used half of my jalapeños to make two jars of jalapeño jam.  I didn't go through all the preserving process as I am sure it will be gone within two to three  weeks (life expectancy for non preserving jams). 

 I didn't use any food coloring so it lacks the beautiful green color you might expect to see it in.  This is all naturalelle. 

Until next time.... Get dirty and keep gardening. 

Fried green tomatoes and jalapeño cheese poppers

It's a frying day at the homestead. Had over a dozen jalapeños from the garden. Filled half with string cheese and the other half with cream cheese. Cream cheese was the winner.  Wrapped the peppers in wanton wrappers to keep everything in.  Used leftover oil to fry up the tomatoes. Thanks to a recent episode of America's Test Kitchen, I saved a step and learned to combine the egg and flour together before dipping them in the cornmeal.  Absolutely yummy!

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Guess what's for lunch?

Another yummy salad thanks to the garden.  I had a salad for lunch and dinner yesterday, so I have to start getting creative to change it up. Yesterday I found one little apple in the fridge to add to it along with some grape tomatoes from the garden and today it's red grapes and sun- dried tomatoes. Toss in some feta, sunflower seeds, and a hard boiled egg from my neighbor's backyard chickens and I got a new salad.

Got lots of lettuce still in the garden so I am glad I love salads.  I also have harvested quite a few jalapeño peppers so it looks like some bacon wrapped poppers will be on the menu for this week or next. 

As of today, I have already done better than last summer's garden.  As long as we keep having this nice weather, things will continue to do well. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

My first Fall Garden

So this year was my first attempt of a fall garden.   Usually my summer garden does so well and last so long that by the time I harvest everything, its to late for fall planting.  Since this past summer was a bust, it allotted me the time and opportunity to give a fall garden a chance.   

I first built some new raised beds and moved some things around.  My old 4x4 beds that I have had for about 6 years were beginning to decompose.  I decided to build four 4x8 beds and lay them long ways facing the sun.  I left about 5 feet between the beds and the back fence where I transplanted my grape vines.  I then took some cuttings of oregano from the front yard and planted it between the grape vines. Since I had plenty of room, I left in two of my old 4x4 boxes on the far left side.

With my first attempt at a fall garden I started everything from seed.  I planted swiss chard, broccoli, spinach, bib lettuce, loose leaf lettuce, cilantro, radishes, and some black seeded simpson lettuce. 

swiss chard

cilantro

black seeded simpson

Everything is growing pretty well so far.  I have already harvested some of the simpson and swiss chard and enjoyed eating it in salads and pastas. 

left over spaghetti with swiss chard, onions, garlic, and goat cheese

swiss chard with the stem removed

                   

My bucket system I tried out this summer still has green plants but still not much produce from them.  I had to move them into the garage a few weeks ago when Austin got its first freeze for the winter.  I recently moved them back out to the side of the house for some sun.  I don't expect much from them but I just hate to let them die, so I will continue to water and hope for the best.  Not sure if I will do the self-watering bucket system again next year or not, but I do have a few ideas for the buckets if I don't.  

So what I have learned about fall gardening compared to summer gardening is that you use a lot less water in the fall.  You are limited on types of plants you can grow, and there is the hassle of covering and uncovering your beds due to Texas' weird temperatures.  The weather within a given week will  fluctuate from freezing to mid 80's.   Lettuces are easy to grow but it does take time and effort to wash it thoroughly before eating it.  One good thing is that I haven't seen any pests eating my plants in the fall, to cold for them I guess.  Even though there isn't much, I still love the smell of fresh herbs and vegetables picked straight from the earth.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Zucchini and Acorn Squash recipes

So with my 14" zucchini, I had to use it in a couple of recipes.  The first one was in zucchini, carrot, and onion fritters.  Just grate all the ingredients, add an egg and some garlic, drop a spoonful in a pan with some hot oil and that's it.  Serve it up with some sour cream and/or applesauce.  Delicious.



While I was cooking the fritters, I had used the rest of the zucchini to make some zucchini bread.  Instead of two loaf pans, I just used one bundt cake pan.  It came out a little on the dry side but still pretty tasty with some butter on it.



For some reason, I was really in the cooking mood that night so I also took 3 small acorn squash that grew in my garden and wanted to cook them up some way.  I found online a recipe for squash rings.  Simply cut them cross ways in rings, remove the seeds and center of each ring, baste with some melted butter, season with salt, pepper, and brown sugar.  Bake in oven at 350 for about 25 minutes flipping them over half way through.  Turned out good.  I skin was a little tough so we just ate it off like you would a watermelon.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Finally the Fruits of my Labor are beginning to appear

Just when I was about to give up on the garden... after the week of rain and then a vacation to Branson, MO, and getting the water bill for July, I decided to not waste any more water on the garden.  Then the other night I went outside to talk to my neighbor and I looked down and saw this beautiful baby.

A zucchini squash measuring an impressive 14" long.   Now I just have to think of a recipe to use it in.   I noticed a few other small ones beginning to grow as well so hopefully I will be seeing more in a week or two.  The funny thing is though, the squash bed is the only bed that the soaker hose isn't in.  These babies just grew from the little rain we have had in July.

My cucumber vines have all shriveled and dried up, about half the tomato plants are getting sparse with foliage, most of the salad greens have gone to seed (which I will be harvesting and using next year).

I harvested most of the swiss chard last night and sauteed for dinner with some chicken sausage, garlic, spinach, and a little red onion.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Getting 2013 summer garden up and running

Due to a late freeze this year, I finally got the garden started about two weeks after Spring Break.  Hopefully the late start won't hurt me to much this year.   So every year I try something new to experiment with in my garden.  This year its several things.  The first thing I am trying is companion planting.  I have been reading up on this in a few books and various websites and found it intriguing so I thought lets give it a go.  Another thing I decided to try this year is mulching over my soaker hoses to save on water loss.   Austin already has a stage 2 water restriction in place.  I know vegetable gardens are exempt from the restriction, but I figure if I can do my part in water conservation then that means it will just add on to the future of available water source.

The third thing I decided to experiment with I got from a friend of mine.  Its a self-watering gutter system using five gallon buckets.  After doing some quick research online, I found that this method was created by a guy named Larry Hall.  He has a few videos out explaining it and many people use this method for rooftop gardens in urban areas.  Since I already had a few plastic gutters laying around in the garage, I figured why not try it.  I found some food grade buckets on craigslist for $2 each, spent about $10 on some treated 2x4s at the home improvement store, and some netcups at a local nursery for about $5 for about 18 cups.  The only real money I spent was on the float valve to adjust the water level in the gutters.   I still have to find a barrel to hold the water in but I have guy who will hook me up.   Just need to call him.

So looking at what I started with this year is this
seedlings:
tomatoes- purchased 6 (variety of kinds), 16 that just popped up in the beds
zucchini- purchased 4, 3 that popped up on their own
cucumbers- purchased 6,
bell peppers- purchased 6
okra- purchased 3
grape- purchased 6 plants


from seed:
bib lettuce
spinach
mixed greens
bush beans
corn
radishes
cabbage
basil (not sure if I threw out some seed or it just magically appeared like last year)


 As of today, we have had several salads with the amount of lettuce and spinach I've grown.  I made some pickled radishes the other day, and have just started pulling off a few cherry tomatoes.

My one failure so far this year has been my "salad table" constructed with some leftover gutters and 2x4s from my garage.  The problem is that I drilled too many holes in the bottom of the gutters so all the water drains out and the shallow depth of the gutters dry out way to quick for anything to sustain growth.  The only way to keep things growing is to water 2x's a day and that's not good for me. 

 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

The HEAT is ON!!! Saying hello to triple digit temps.

So now that central Texas has officially hit the triple digits, I foresee my garden gradually dying.  With it positioned to get about 11 hours of sun a day, its already starting to show signs of distress and fatigue.     Even though we have already had a few triple digit days, I am still harvesting a little over 2lbs of tomatoes a week.   YEA!

My cucumber vines are done for for the season and it looks as of today, that I am down to one zucchini plant left.   Six of my pepper plants in the newest garden addition are shriveling up like and old man who's been in the pool to long.  This past week I found my little melon plant hiding in the potato stalks with his cord gone.   I took him inside and cut him open.  Tasty little fellow.   About the size of a softball, but nevertheless, it still counts.

 I found a recipe for quick pickling in the latest edition of Everyday Food, so I gave it a try with some of the many cucumbers that I have harvested in the past few weeks.  Haven't tried them yet, thought I would give them a few days to marinate.  The heat has also been a killer for my herbs, which are also exposed to the sun for a good 8 hours a day.  I still want to build a decorative fence in front of the herb bed to give it partial shade for later in the day.  I just have to call the gas company first before I start digging holes.   No new recipes lately, just enjoying the tomatoes via more gazpacho and CBLT (Canadian bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwiches).  Canadian bacon is healthier than regular bacon.

Running Total of  Summer 2012 Produce

Cucumbers: 26

Tomatoes: 392 oz = 24.5 lbs

Zucchini: 5

Peppers: 6

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

A much needed rain today after 2 weeks of heat

It didn't last long, maybe a good 15-20 minutes, but good ol' rain is always better than city of Austin water.   Since the last time I posted I haven't done much to the homestead.  I re-reused some old plastic gutters.  They were originally on the house but were taken down after some of them were damaged by the hail storm we had a few years back.  I then cut them into 3 ft length pieces and hung them in my classroom to use as bookshelves.  I took them down last year after my students kept leaning on them and ripping them out of the wall.  So now I linked them back together again, drilled some drain holes in the bottom, hung them on the fence and planted some lettuce and cilantro seeds in them.  Lettuce only needs a an inch or so of soil to grow in, so hopefully I will get a nice selection of salad leaves in the next few weeks.

What else is new,  Jennie and I made a batch of zucchini muffins to use up one of the zucchini's we still had and again, they were a huge hit at our church small group... its quite funny what kids will eat when they don't know what the ingredients are.    Last night we made a zucchini gratin and it was really good.  The recipe is from Food Network  (Ina Garten's recipe)

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping
• 1 pound yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large)
• 2 pounds zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup hot milk
• 3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup grated Gruyere

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) saute pan and cook theonions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.
Combine the bread crumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.

For lunch one day I decided to grill up some random fruit and veggies that were left over from other meals from earlier in the week.  As you can see, I grilled two ears of corn in the husk (I have found out that this is the best method for grilling corn, because the husk keep all the moisture inside, plus the smell of roasted corn always reminds me of fairgrounds and carnivals.)  I sliced a cucumber up long ways about 1/4 inch thick, threw on half a red onion, a few cherry tomatoes (from the garden) and some pineapple.  After grilling it all for about 10 minutes, I cut up everything but the corn, mixed it together, added some feta cheese, salt and pepper, and a little bit of olive oil. Not a bad way to use some leftovers.

The tomatoes are still going strong, as well as the zucchini.   The cucumbers though, I feel, are not fairing so well.  I did pull up some potatoes to see how they were doing and from one stalk, there was one medium-sized potato and about 5 fingerling sized ones.  I replanted them so that they would get a little bigger.  

Running Total of  Summer 2012 Produce

cucumbers: 22

Tomatoes: 309.17 oz = 19.32 lbs

Zucchini: 5

Peppers: 3

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Garden fresh Grilled Zucchini Rolls and Gazpacho

Last night we had some yummy and easy to make grilled zucchini rolls and gazpacho, with all but one of the ingredients coming directly from our gardens.

Grilled Zucchini Rolls
one zucchini cut thin on a mandolin lengthwise
1 package of goat cheese
basil
mint

Grill the thin slices of zucchini for just a few minutes (until you get some nice grill marks on both sides)
chop the basil and mint and mix with the goat cheese
Put a teaspoon of the goat cheese mixture on the zucchini slice and roll it up.  I doubled the zucchini layers for each roll, because the mandolin sliced them really thin.  There not pretty but they are tasty.  It's that easy.

Gazpacho
add to a blender the following ingredients:
1/2 blender of tomatoes
2 small cucumbers
zucchini (what was leftover from the rolls)
jalapeno pepper (seeded)
2 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl red wine vinegar
salt
pepper

Blend it all together and serve.. I am not a Gazpacho fan, but I loved this one.. ate 2 bowls of it!

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Zucchini Pizzas and Fried Green Tomatoes

So the other night I was a little too ambitious with my dinner plans.  I grilled sliced zucchini from my garden and charred some tomatoes.  I then mashed the tomatoes and placed the zucchini slices on a cookie sheet and covered them with the mashed tomatoes and some mozzarella and put it in the oven at a low temp to melt the cheese.  When it was ready, we sprinkled some chopped basil (from the garden) on top.

While that was in the oven, I was roasting some cabbage and bacon on the grill and frying up some green tomato slices in the kitchen.  After and hour and half of cooking, we finally were able to sit down and eat it all.  

Yesterday, I gave a pint size baskets of tomatoes to my neighbors along with a good size cucumber.  Afterwards, I checked the garden and harvested some more tomatoes (after throwing about a dozen of them in the compost pile... thanks to the stinking aphids), 2 peppers, and another large zucchini.  My backyard gardening neighbor gave us some "hot" jalapeno peppers, so I am thinking maybe now I should start learning how to pickle things and make some jalapeno jelly too.  

Running Total of  Summer 2012 Produce

cucumbers: 20

Tomatoes: 187.36 oz = 11.71 lbs

Zucchini: 4

Peppers:  2

Beans: handful of Lima bean pods

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Zucchini bread

Our first recipe using some of our garden grown zucchini is some yummy zucchini bread.  We used a Paula Dean recipe.  It was enough to make one large bread (which we took to our small group last night and we left with just an empty plate).  Even the kids at it up... little did they probably know though that it had zucchini in it... all they saw where the chocolate chips.  Besides the large bread, we also had enough to make 5 mini loaves to eat our selves and share with family and friends.

Here's the recipe we used.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread by Paula Dean  ( but there's not a single pat of butter in it!!!)
3 cups all-purpose four
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease 2 9x5" loaf pans
Sift together four, baking powder, salt, spices, and baking soda
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating until well blended.
Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, pecans, chocolate chips.
Stir in sifted ingredients.
Pour into loaf pans.
Bake for 50 minutes.  Mini loaf pans for 25 minutes.  Check with toothpick.. comes out clean.. its ready.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Fresh Garden Salsa Recipe

I have taken and modified my brother Jeff's hot sauce recipe over the years.

3 cans Rotel tomatoes (reserve some juice)
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/3 cup fresh chopped onion
1 1/2 - 2 tbs. chopped garlic
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (gives it the heat)
3 dashes of chili powder
1/4 generous tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt (for taste, I use a little less)
1/2 tbs. lime juice
1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce
splash of white wine vinegar

Pour all into a blender and blend (time will depend on your thickness preference) If its too thick and chunky for your liking, add some of the reserved tomato juice to thin it out.
Will make about a pint of salsa and will last about a week in the fridge.

So over the years I have made this salsa and don't use the recipe as it is.  I tend to add and taste the ingredients as I go, not really using actual measuring spoons.   What I plan on doing this time is using the tomatoes, cilantro, and onion from my garden.   I will throw the big ones on the grill and char them up to give the salsa a more smoky flavor.

Made a pint of the salsa in the Magic Bullet yesterday and Jennie and I polished it off in one sitting.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!