Planting Peas & Other Fall Crops
I’ve been trying to sneak in time to plant a bunch of crops for a fall harvest. I started cabbage and other things a few weeks ago. Last week I planted the rest of my peas. Peas and beans don’t last week in storage, they seem to have lower germination, so I decided to plant them all and order fresh seeds in the spring.
I’m hoping I can protect these little peas from the deer that gobbled up my spring planting. I don’t have any peas in the freezer because the deer ate them all. I planted them a week ago and I have had about 85% germination so far so I’d better get out there and put up a fence.
Do you have anything you’re trying to get in this fall growing season that didn’t work out in the spring?
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Harvesting Beans
Remember those pole beans I planted in June? I’m harvesting them now. The Dragon Tongue beans are quite lovely and the Kentucky Wonder Pole beans are quite tasty.
In the winter I like my green beans with bacon, onions, and garlic cooked till their soft, but in the summer fresh beans need only a little steaming and a drizzle of olive oil.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy green beans?
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Canning Tomato Soup
My tomato harvests have been ramping up now that the warm weather is here. On Sunday I harvested over 28 pounds of tomatoes. With this many tomatoes it’s time to start canning. The recipe I’m starting with is tomato soup. I made this last year it was by far our favorite canned item. We finished off all of the jars earlier this spring, so this year I need to can more than I did last year (31 pints).
I’m particularly excited about this soup because this year I grew my own celery. I also started a lot of onions, but onions are one of those things that don’t do all that well in my garden, so I’ve been buying them at the farmer’s market.
TOMATO SOUP
6 onions, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
8 quarts fresh tomatoes (or 5-6 quarts of juice) *I coarsely chop mine in quarters leaving the stems on them since I’m putting them through a food mill.
1 cup sugar (I find this is too much and I use less usually 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup salt (I usually add 2 T and then taste before I add more)
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
Directions
1. Chop onion& celery. Place in large kettle w/ just enough water to keep them from burning. While this simmers, cut tomatoes (remove stems if not using strainer).
2. Add tomatoes to kettle & cook until tender.
3. When tender put through Victorio or Squeezo (or similar food mill) strainer. (reserve 2 cups for mixing with butter/flour)
4. Return to kettle, add lemon juice, sugar & salt.
5. Cream butter and flour together& mix thoroughly with two cups of reserved juice (chill so it’s cold), until dissolved (or blend together in a blender), to avoid lumps of flour in the juice. Add butter/flour mixture to warmed tomato juice. (Add before it’s hot, to avoid lumps of flour!). Stir well.
6. Heat just until hot. (If it gets to a boil, it can make the flour lumpy). Just prior to boiling, turn off the burner. (It will continue to thicken as it cools.).
7. Ladle into hot jars with 1/4 headspace, close securely with lids.
8. Put in canner & process 30 minutes (start timing when it’s at a ‘rolling’ boil).
9. Remove from canner & allow to set until sealed (approx. 12 hours)
To serve, mix equal parts tomato concentrate to milk (or water or chicken stock), and add 1/2 t. of baking soda per pint as it cooks (1 t. per quart) if using milk, this keeps the milk from curdling. I actually prefer to add chicken stock to mine instead of milk, I also omit the baking soda when using stock or water. I serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated romano cheese, a sprinkle of cayenne and a little freshly ground black pepper.
**Some people say this isn’t long enough in a canner, some people say you should only pressure can this recipe. I’m happy with it and am quite comfortable making it and processing it in this way. If you’re uncomfortable with this method use whatever canning method you’re comfortable with.
What’s your favorite home-preserved garden food?
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Homegrown Celery
This year I decided to grow celery. My sole reason for growing it was for my tomato soup (our favorite canned item by far). I bought some ‘Tendercrip’ celery seeds from Baker Creek this spring and I started the seeds in February. They took a while to germinate, but when they did, every single one germinated. I ended up with 24 celery plants. I gave some to my mom and planted 12-14 in my gardens.
I’ve been waiting for my tomato harvest to pick up so I have enough for a batch of soup, and I was hoping my celery would be ready in time. I was pleasantly surpised when I went out to harvest a celery plant yesterday and I found this lovely one, weighing in at 1 lb 10 oz – WOW.
I didn’t blanch them, I happen to like the green celery. Those leaves will come in handy as well, they will add excellent flavor to my soup and to chicken stock and soups this winter. Another plus in my garden is that nothing eats celery. Since I have deer, rabbits, chipmunks and groundhogs that eat a lot of other things, anytime I can find a plant that will do well in the back without animal threats I’m one happy gardener.
Have you ever grown celery?
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Wild Ground Cherries
One day while reading Skippy’s Garden Blog I came across her post about wild tomatillos. I immediately recognized that I have these growing in my garden. At first I thought they were a weed, but when I saw this post I knew this is what they were. I knew they were members of the nightshade family (like a few other weeds in my gardens).
I’ve had them growing in my garden for quite a few years, but I’ve never eaten them. I always thought they looked like the ground cherries we grew when I was young. I guess I’ll have to let them mature and see what they are for sure, but I think they’re wild ground cherries.
I only have one or two plants so I don’t think they’ll produce that much fruit. I found this article on Mother Earth News about them. Looks like some jam may be in my future.
Do you have any wild edibles growing in you gardens?
