Rain, Rain Go Away!!!

The rain has just been relentless! Yesterday we had more then 3"!!! Most of that was from one horrible storm! We probably got another inch of rain today!

Tuesday, I finally cleaned out most of the summer veggies in the cold frame beds and sowed some seeds.

This is the Left Cold Frame Bed

If you look closely, you can see what the rain did to the soil. I will most likely have to re-sow the seeds. There are a couple of carrots that managed to survive the horrible heat, some leeks in the back, a huge pepper plant that I couldn't bear to pull out and one of the celery transplants from the plots in the right back corner. 

This is the Right Cold Frame Bed

The soil in this bed is a mess from the rain too. There are two little celery transplants (they are doing well!) in the left back corner a couple of carrots, a basil plant and one lone onion. It's a good thing that I am behind in my fall planting...or everything would have been ruined! I put netting over the beds in order to keep the Darn Squirrels out! They have been horrible the past couple of weeks, digging in everything!!

Look at my Sage Bush!!

The Thyme is not doing so well either!

These brown sticks used to be Rosemary :(

Boy, we certainly have had the most horrible weather this year!

What's Canning..............Pickles, Pickles, Pickles

Due to my cucumber shortage this year, I didn't think that I would get to make all the pickles that I had planned to. I managed to make two batches of Cucumber Relish (2 different recipes) and 1/2 of a batch of Bread & Butter Pickles from our garden cucumbers.

This past Saturday, I went to the farmer's market to get some meat from our favorite butchers. Low & behold, when I walked in the door a local farmer had pickling cucumbers! I bought all that he had, 10 lbs! Yippee....boy "The Italian" was going to be happy! Ever since our visit with Jody, Belle & the boys at Spring Garden Acre, he has been hooked on those wonderful Cold Packed Dills that Belle made and so graciously gifted us with.

The first pickles that I made on Saturday were Bread & Butter Pickles, recipe from Ball Blue Book of Preserving.

Aren't they pretty??

Then I started another batch of Italian Farmhouse Pickled Green Tomatoes.

These were finished on Sunday, since they need to sit overnight.

I also started a quarter batch of Sweet Gherkin Pickles. These babies take several days to make. As always, they shrivled up...so, I didn't take a picture of them. They look horrible. This always seems to happen...but, they do improve after they are in storage for awhile and taste wonderful! If any of you really experienced canners have a secret as to why they do this or a good recipe.....Please do share!!

Monday, I made the much desired Cold Packed Dills for "The Italian". Here's a link to Belle's recipe.

Yep, the big One Gallon jar is "The Italian's"!!

So, that's what's been canning around here! What are you putting up??

Help Save Landreth Seed Company

Many of you may be aware of what is going on with the Landreth Seed Company. I had no idea until I read this post by Todd at Big Blog of Gardening on Sunday.

America's oldest seedhouse, Landreth is being threatened with shutdown by their creditors. Buy a 2012 seed catalog to help.

Landreth Seed Company is America’s oldest seed house. It has been around since 1784 and is the most historically important small business that is still operating! It is the only American company, still operating daily, that existed when this country became a nation.

Its founders were honorable men who helped establish and guide the agricultural and horticultural industries of this country in the 1700s, the 1800s and the 1900s. Landreth exemplifies American business and the ethics and integrity that built this nation

On Wednesday, August 31, 2011, the Company’s accounts were frozen by a garnishment order initiated by a Baltimore law firm. If this garnishment order is not satisfied within the next 30 days, Landreth will cease to exist and a part of America’s history will be lost forever. I need to sell 1 million 2012 catalogs to satisfy this garnishment and the cascade of other indebtedness which this order has now initiated.

If you want to help save this piece of America, if you love gardening and heirloom seeds, if you care about righting the injustices of a legal system badly in need of repair, then please help Landreth. Please purchase a Landreth catalog, and if you can afford it, purchase several for your friends. Please send this link to everyone you know, www.landrethseeds.com. One million catalogs is a big number, but with the internet it is achievable.

Please help us to save Landreth.

Reprinted from the Landreth Seed Company website


I know that times are tough. But, there are several ways you can help save this historical company. You can go to their website and purchase a catalog, place an order or click on the widget below and make a donation. "The Italian" and I made a small donation and ordered a catalog and some seeds.

You can also visit their Facebook page to get updates on what is going on.

Harvest Monday..........09/26/2011

I can't believe that this is the first fall Harvest Monday and the last one of September! As of yesterday morning, I thought that my harvests for the week would consist only of the last Spaghetti Squash and 5 tomatoes. Well, I was wrong! I went to the plots late in the morning on Sunday and once again came home with a great harvest!

Look at this container of sunshine!

There are still tons of peppers at the plots. I'm letting them ripen and will not pick any green ones until we have a threat of frost. The Rosa Bianca eggplant are still doing great and the other three varieties are still small. I even found a ripe Kellogg's Breakfast tomato on a dead vine! Jose, a great gardener at the plots, gave me some Yard Long Beans which are pictured here. We had them for dinner last night and I think that I may just plant a few next year.

I picked this big zucchini at the plots on Sunday. To my surprise, there are two small fruits on the plant that should be ready by the end of this week. The Spaghetti Squash is the last one of the season. We now have 8 nice squash to store for use over the winter!

To my disappointment, most of the Leeks had to be pulled. The outer layer was getting soft from all of the rain. I will slice and freeze them for use over the winter. It really doesn't look like we will have any left in the ground for over-wintering.

I also pulled the remaining bush dry beans at the plots on Sunday. There are still some dry pole beans over there that are not ready to be picked. I couldn't leave the bush beans in the ground any longer or they would just mold and rot from all this rain. I have a lot of the dry beans hanging on the back porch to finish drying. Due to all of the rain and humidity, they are not drying very well. I think that I will move them to the attic later today.

That's about it in the harvest department, with the exception of herbs. For some reason, I haven't weighed a single herb this year. There's been a lot of other things going on that I will post on during the week.

Total weighed harvests for the week - 15.625 lbs.

Beans, Purple Pole - 6 oz

Celery - 3 oz.

Eggplant - 2.75 lbs (44 oz)

Leeks - 35 oz

Peppers:

   Bell - 33 oz

   Hot & Spice - 39 oz

Spaghetti Squash - 2 lbs 7 oz. (39 oz)

Tomatoes - 20 oz

Zucchini - 31 oz

Hop on over to Daphne's Dandelions, our host of Harvest Monday to see what's going on in Veggie Gardens and Kitchens around the globe!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Last Sunday when I was at the plots "Whitie" a fellow gardener gave me 6.2 lbs of fresh dug sweet potatoes! He is also the great guy who gave us several dozen of his delicious sweet corn on a couple of occasions this year! Thanks Whitie, for your wonderful veggies!

Look at these lovely sweet spuds!!

I decided to make some sweet potato fries. After looking for a good recipe, I came up with this. The seasonings that I have listed is what I used. Be creative and use what you think would taste good. I think that the Paprika & Cumin are a must though.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

• About 2 lbs. of Sweet Potato wedges
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Cayenne Pepper (use just a dash if you don't like it hot)
• 1/2 tsp. Cumin
• 1/4 tsp. Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Place potato wedges in a large zip-lock bag or a container with a lid
3. Mix Olive Oil and choice of Seasonings in a small bowl
4. Pour Oil & Seasoning Mix over potato wedges and shake to cover them
5. Place seasoned potato wedges on a baking sheet or in a baking dish
6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until done

This is what they looked like before baking. I totally forgot to take a picture of them after baking!

I hope that you enjoy these nutritious and low-fat baked sweet potato fries!