What's Canning.......Italian Farmhouse Pickled Green Tomatoes

I made these pickled green tomatoes for the first time last year.....and boy they are good!

First, find yourself about 4 lbs of green tomatoes. Wash them and then chop into about 1" cubes.

Place in non-reactive bowl, sprinkle with 2 Tbsp salt, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

The next day, gather some fresh basil, mint, garlic, a hot pepper or two (if desired) and some sun dried tomatoes. Re-hydrate tomatoes in warm water. Do NOT use tomatoes packed in oil.

Rinse salted tomatoes with cold water and drain.

Chop, garlic, mint, basil and peppers. Toss the drained tomatoes with these ingredients.

Pack hot jars with seasoned tomato mix layering in the sun dried tomatoes. Cover tomatoes with White Wine Vinegar, top off with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, seal and refrigerate.

The tomatoes need to age awhile before using. "The Italian" didn't discover them for a few months in the frig. But, I think a week may be OK. You may be able to process them in a pressure canner. I'm not sure though.

ENJOY!

Harvest Monday..............09/12/2011

This past week was not a nice week weather wise, here in our parts. It rained all week. The days are getting shorter, we don't have any more news on the garden move.....so, I have not been a happy camper and have not felt like blogging one bit. I have been getting some canning done which will make for some good posts at a later date.

The only harvest from the home garden that I weighed and took a picture of are two more Spaghetti Squash.

These fine babies were harvested on Tuesday or Wednesday. The green striped one was on the same vine as a few of the others I have harvested. It is now changing to a nice golden color.

The Moon & Stars watermelon from last weeks harvest was ripe...but, could have been left on the vine a bit longer. It was OK and I'm sure that it would have been sweeter if I had left it on the vine.

Sunday, I finally made it to the plots and harvested the last Moon & Stars Watermelon, a White Fortna Pumpkin, 4 Leeks and some small ears of Popcorn. The popcorn will be dried and weighed at a later date. I don't know what is with my leeks this year. They are so early and the outer layer of these four were starting to get mushy so I had to pull them. I really like to leave them in the garden and harvest them during the cold days of fall and winter.

I also harvested three Eggplant a hand full of Purple Pole beans and lots of peppers at the plots. The bean tepee fell down again from all the rain and wind this week. Unfortunately they are done for the year. I think that I will get some more eggplant and definitely  a lot more peppers from the plants at the plots.

These beautiful Habanero peppers some Serrano peppers and Pepperoncinis were also harvested from the plots yesterday. I'm working on making different types of hot sauce.....so, we will see how they turn out.

Here they are....the last salvagable tomatoes from the plots. The green tomatoes will be made into something that will be canned and posted about at a later date. The red tomatoes will be made in to some more tomato puree. There are also a couple of Trail of Tears dry beans in between the tomatoes. They are just starting to get ready. I think it will be a couple of weeks before most of them are ready though.

Total weighed harvests this week - 26.5 lbs.

Eggplant - 24 oz.
Leeks - 18 oz.
Peppers:
   Bell - 22 oz.
   Hot & Spice - 33 oz.
Pumpkin White Fortna - 34 oz.
Spaghetti Squash - 92 oz.
Tomatoes:
   Green - 67 oz.
   Red - 86 oz.
Watermelon - 48 oz.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions our host of Harvest Monday to see what's happening in Veggie Gardens and Kitchens around the globe!!

Happy Harvest Labor Day.........09/05/2011

The summer is definitely coming to an end. The nights are cooler, days shorter and the harvests are dwindling.

Here are a few pictures of some of what was harvested from the gardens this week.

The first harvest from the plots after the hurricane.

I was going to pull the celery at the plots awhile back and then decided not to. I'm happy that I didn't. These plants turned around and gave us a decent harvest. They aren't nearly as nice as the celery from the home garden....but, I am happy with them. I also separated three small plants from these bunches and planted them at the home garden. We shall see if they take root and grow.

One of the two remaining Moon & Stars watermelons from the plots. As you can see, there is a little nibble mark from a few weeks ago when the groundhog was using the gardens as a buffet. It's just a surface mark and did not hurt the melon. We haven't sliced it open yet. We will do that later today. If it isn't edible, I will remove the weight from my totals.

Part of the harvest from the plots yesterday. I thought that I would be pulling the tomato plants. But, they are still managing to produce some ripe tomatoes. I did harvest some green tomatoes this week which have been used in hot sauce and pickled green tomatoes.

Also harvested this past week but not photographed were two more leeks from the home garden. With the four that have been harvested so far this season, I made a wonderful Leek & Potato soup! There was another nice Spaghetti Squash harvested and a couple more on the vine. I have started to shell some of the dry beans and will weigh and take pictures of them at a later date.

Total harvest for the week: 41.1875 lbs

Beans - Purple Pole - 16 oz.

    Slicing - 11 oz.

    Burr - 6 oz.

Celery - 4 lbs.

Eggplant - 13 oz.

Leeks - 6 oz.

Peppers:

    Bell - 60 oz.

    Hot & Spice - 75 oz.

Tomatoes:

    Green - 47 oz.

    Red - 190 oz. (11.875 lbs)

Spaghetti Squash - 60 oz. (3 lbs. 12 oz.)

Sweet Dumpling Squash - 12 oz.

Watermelon - 5 lbs.

Zucchini - 19 oz.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's happening in gardens and garden kitchens around the globe!

Community Gardens move Update....Pictures Added

I received the following e-mail from the garden program administrator this morning:

Hi Robin,

This is what I know as of now.  More details will follow.
·         You will be able to finish out the season at the current location. Plots at the new site will be available early next spring.
·         The quality of this soil is excellent and should be great for growing vegetables.  Jeff and I were at the new site earlier this week to check the soil again. Bob turned over a small patch of grass so we could see the soil.  It really is the best soil you could get.  He left this small patch of soil exposed so if you want to see it for yourself, it’s in the section that is closest to the road and across from Cedarview Apartments.
·         Glenn Solt, Director of General Services has said: the plans have been under way for a new building that will house the Cetronia Ambulance Corps, the Lehigh County coroner and county emergency services. Glenn also said the county hopes to erect the new building next year. The Cetronia Ambulance Corps has sought some state funding to augment its own fundraising efforts for the new building. The new structure would help the ambulance corps bring its services under one roof.
·         The strip of trees/bushes down the middle of the site will be removed (this will become a road) and also some tall trees at the far end will be removed. I hope this helps!

Regards, Kathy

There was an article this morning in the local on-line paper. Which you can view here.

I am planning to go to the new site later today and hopefully take some pictures and check out the soil.

There will also be a meeting with the gardeners once the county has given Farmland Preservation more details on the move.

I went down to the new site this evening and took some pictures. I was told that the county will start working on the site this month.

This is the front of the site. The trees will be removed.

These trees are in the center and will be removed for a road.

This is an area behind the trees. As you can see if you enlarge the picture....the bunnies are there and waiting!

Pending change & Plots clean-up

I have been in a blue funk since receiving the mail on Monday. I received a letter from Farmland Preservation, the county department in charge of the Community Gardens. Subject: "THE CEDARBROOK GARDEN PLOTS - MOVING TO A NEW LOCATION!". What????

It seems that someone in the county has made a decision to move the gardens. For what reason?? They are not sure. But, it seems that the county wants to use that land for something else. The gardens have been there for quite some time (20 years + or -). They used to be in another location until the county sold that land Dorney Park.

Needless to say, I was very upset. I sent an e-mail to the woman who is responsible for the gardens on Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning I received a response and talked to her on the phone. Her department had no idea that the county had planned to move the gardens and at that point had no details on the dates. Typical goverment!!

Yesterday, I finally went over there to get things cleaned up from Irene. While I was there I talked to some gardeners who have been there since the beginning and went through the last move. Rumor has it, that it will be some time until the gardens are moved.....maybe as late as fall of 2012 or spring of 2013. Who knows at this point!!!

That being said....here's what the plots look like after several hours of tidying up and weed wacking.

The bean tepee is standing once again. I put it upright, added some supports and tied it to the fence. None of the plants were uprooted.

I put a metal stake in the ground and tied the corn and beans to it in the "Three Sisters" planting in Bed #2. The leaning posts and trellis for the Sweet Dumpling squash was removed and so were the plants. I did find one more squash.

 

I left the leaning tomato plants alone in Tomato Alley. The plants are almost dead and why bother to try to make them upright at this point. I harvested some ripe tomatoes and a handful of green ones that were on the ground. The plants will most likely be removed, if I have the time over the long holiday weekend.

Asparagus beds look great!

The corn & beans in other "Three Sisters" planting were staked  and tied up too. There are a few small white pumpkins on the vines in this bed. We shall see how big they get before the vines die off. As you can see, powdery mildew is setting in

The hot & spice peppers and celery in this bed are thriving. The eggplants are doing OK too!

Burr Gherkin cucumbers still growing like crazy!

The bell peppers did really well. I only found two broken branches and only had to harvest two green peppers. The one plant is nearly 4' high at this point! Hopefully we will have enough warmer weather to allow the peppers to turn in color.

That's about it for now. I will post any news about the pending garden move as soon as I receive it.