Fiesta Salsa

The tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are really coming in now ... Perfect time to make salsa!

I went to the home canning bible, the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, to find this gem of a recipe, Fiesta Salsa.

Fiesta Salsa

7 cups chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes
2 cups chopped, seeded, peeled cucumbers
2 cups chopped and seeded banana peppers (I used 1 cup hot banana peppers and 1 cup mixed green and red bell peppers)
1 cup sliced green onion
1/2 cup chopped, seeded jalapeño peppers
1/2 cup chopped, peeled, roasted Anaheim peppers (I couldn't find any locally. I cheated and used roast red bell peppers out of the jar)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice

Get out your cutting board and settle in. Chop, chop, chop; then combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust 2-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Note: When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves. Do not touch your mouth or eyes! Do not inhale deeply!

This recipe says it yields 4 pints. I got five. Plus, there was about a half cup of juice left in the pan. I poured it into a jar and chilled it in the 'fridge. Oh my gosh, it made an awesome vegetable cocktail - no alcohol required - although I'm thinking it would make the perfect bloody Mary! Just the right spicy-ness. Naturally sweet. Can't wait to break open a jar to compliment our next Mexican feast - or bag of corn chips!

Let it Rain, Let it Rain, Let it Rain!

It poured buckets all day today.  Chatham County was under a flash flood warning.  I was driving around town during some of the heaviest downpours.  Many Pittsboro streets were overwhelmed by the runoff.  Don't know the official count, but we had several inches.

The garden is happy.

Hot

We're stuck in a heat wave ... a week of 100 degree days!

Yesterday, the heat index was 115 degrees.  Unbelievable.  And unbearable.  We haven't had rain in 10 days.  I watered the entire garden last night at 9:00pm as the near full moon peeked out from behind the tree branches.  This morning I spread mulch over three beds, then gave more water to all of my beans ... the long beans, the bush beans, the pole beans, the black beans, the edamame.  The weather's supposed to break tomorrow ... expecting a high in the upper 80's.  We shall see.

Where There's Poop, There're Caterpillars!

The droppings always give them away.  The large leaves of the butternut squash plants - running underneath the blueberry bushes - collected these piles of caterpillar castings. One must always be on the lookout for sign of worms and bugs doing damage in the garden!

A quick glance up revealed very hungry caterpillars working overtime to defoliate the before-mentioned bushes.  Using our trusty "Caterpillars of Eastern North America" book, I identified these creatures as datana drexelii, a.k.a. Drexel's Datana.  They are known to feed on blueberry, and metamorph into a fairly nondescript moth.

Long Beans

Last year, my hairdresser, Lek, gave me seeds for these Asian Long Beans. I gave them a try and was impressed. I saved my own seeds, and this year, planted two full rows. They have been prolific! And they are definitely LONG.  Lately, they've appeared on our dinner table regularly.  Today, I used them to make four pints of dilled green bean pickles.

The ants are permanent residents.  There are always several at the stem end of the bean pairs.  I think they're working to keep the aphids under control.  I have to take care when picking the beans ... the ants bite!

Lovely blossoms herald the coming of delicious beans.  These tasty legumes are a definite "do-again-er"!

Fresh Fig Chutney is Heavenly!

I canned four 1/2-pint jars of this rich, flavorful condiment.  I served the little bit leftover in the pan as an appetizer ...  a dab of it on top of Celebrity Dairy's soft goat cheese with a cracker underneath.  Wow!  What an explosion of flavors!  Can't wait to try it on some grilled pork or chicken.  And maybe as a "secret" addition to a pot of beans.  I'll be making this again!

Fresh Fig Chutney

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups red wine vinegar (I used half-'n-half red wine and apple cider vinegars)
1/2 pound brown sugar, packed
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1/4 lemon, zested
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 pounds, firm, slightly underripe, fresh figs, rinsed, stems removed and halved

Directions:
In a large saucepan combine the vinegar, sugar, onion, ginger, mustard seeds, lemon zest, cinnamon stick, salt, allspice, and cloves; bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer; cook until mixture is thickened and reduced by 2/3, forming a thick syrup. 

Add the figs; cook gently until the figs are very soft and beginning to fall apart and most of the liquid they've given off has evaporated, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the chutney to a non-reactive container; allow to come to room temperature before serving.  The chutney may be made up to 3 weeks in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

 Alternately, hot chutney may be ladled into hot sterilized canning jars and processed in a hot-water bath according to manufacturer's directions.

Layer Tomatoes to Extend Season

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Propagate-Tomatoes

"By July your tomatoes are in full production swing. But all good things must come to an end - or not. You can propagate your favorite tomato plants with a process called serpentine layering. Layering is a simple method of propagation that can produce several new plants from one stem. You will have tomatoes ready to move into the greenhouse and keep growing throughout the fall and winter much faster than planting seeds.

How to Layer Tomatoes

1. Several weeks before the recommended fall planting date, select a healthy, disease-free, supple or pliable branch from your favorite tomato plant. Pull it toward the soil without breaking it. Make sure it is long enough to lay out over the soil without springing back toward the plant.
   
   
2. Cover a small section of the branch with soil. Water and feed the parent plant, and keep the soil moist around the layered branch. To start several new plants, cover it with soil at different points. Each section that is covered will take root.
   
   
3. Cut the connection to the parent plant once the layered sections have rooted. Cut the vines between the new plants to separate them.
   
   
4. Carefully remove the new plants, being careful not to disturb or damage the tender new roots. Transplant the new tomato plants into containers filled with new, sterile, potting soil. Keep the soil moist and make sure the new tomato plants receive at least 8 hours of sun each day. In the fall and winter it may be necessary to provide some additional, artificial light.

Serpentine layering can be used to propagate several types of plants with soft, pliable vines that run along the ground. It can also be used to propagate raspberries, blackberries, grapes and even strawberries."

Edamame!

What is edamame?
According to this website:  http://www.edamame.com/

"Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the "hardening" time. The word Edamame means "Beans on Branches," and it grows in clusters on bushy branches. To retain the freshness and its natural flavor, it is parboiled and quick-frozen. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from the pods into the mouth with the fingers."

The cool thing about edamame?  All the beans on any given plant mature at the same time.  When the beans are done, the entire plant is done.  We harvested just over 3 pounds of beans from our two 10-foot rows.


And my definition of edamame?  Delicious!

Giant Zucchini Uncovered

I don't care how carefully I search, there's always the rogue zucchini that gets overlooked!  This one was hiding under a mass of stems from its mother plant.  By the time I noticed it, it was a whopping 4 pounds!

I halfed it, removed the seeds, and cooked it in the microwave.  Then, I carefully removed the soft flesh, chopped it up, and made a fabulous vegetarian stuffing (with sauteed onions, beans, TVP, fresh tomatoes, leftover corn, cooked rice, basil pesto, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, etc, etc) which I used to refill the zucchini shells.  I topped it all with freshly grated parmesan cheese and baked it in the oven until heated through.  What a meal!

R. I. P. Eggplants

I've tried eggplant in the garden for the last time.  They simply do not thrive here.  The flea beetles work their magic, converting leaves to lace. Then, this year, the potato bug larvae decided to move in.  Fat and disgusting creatures, they finished off the eggplant.  Andrew captured these appetizing pictures while we were away.  Notice the flea beetle on the leaf in the upper left hand corner of the first picture.  Bye bye eggplant!

The Wall of Tomatoes

Look at these lush, healthy tomato plants!  Andrew had to reinforce the support structure while we were away.  Fruits are getting ripe.  I've already enjoyed a couple of these home-grown beauties, their taste being one of the main reasons I go to the trouble of making a garden.

The "Long Toms" are especially impressive with multiple large clusters of solid, long fruits.  They're sort of like Romas, on steroids!  I haven't eaten one yet, but I'm looking forward to a nice zesty pot of tomato sauce, their specialty.

Fig Jam

We've got a good fig crop coming in this year.  Andrew picked many figs while we were away, cleaned them, and froze them, saving up for me to come home and make fig preserves.  That's exactly what I did today.  Now, two batches of fig jam - 16 jars in all - are sittin' pretty on the counter, and the kitchen smells heavenly!

Here's the recipe:


Figgy Jam
4 cups prepared figs (washed, stemmed, cut into 1/8ths - no need to peel)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
7 cups sugar, measured into a separate bowl
1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine
1 pouch liquid fruit pectin (Certo)

Have 8 half-pint jars, lids, and bands ready.

Measure prepared fruit into a large, heavy saucepot.  Add lemon juice and water; stir until well blended.

Stir sugar into prepared fruit in pot.  Add butter to reduce foaming.

Bring mixture to full rolling boil (one that can not be stirred down) over hight heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in pectin.  Return to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.  Skim off any foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of the top.  Wipe jar rims and threads.  Cover with two-piece lids.  Screw bands tightly.  Turn upside down for 5 minutes.  Turn upright and allow to cool completely.  (Or process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes, then allow to cool.)

After cooling, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger.  If the lid springs back it's not sealed and must be refrigerated.

We Dig Potatoes

We've been eating new potatoes since the end of May, but the potato plants have nearly all shriveled up and died in the last two weeks.   Today's the day we dig for buried treasure!


Andrew and Rouse helped.  First, we pulled up the potato plants, harvesting the tubers that were still connected to the roots.  Then, using our gloved hands, we pulled back the thick layer of leaf mulch, searching.  Many potatoes - growing between the dirt and the leaves - were revealed, just as expected in a "lazy bed".  Next, I used a leaf rake to totally rake away the mulch and scratch up the dirt a bit.  More potatoes came to the surface.  Finally, Andrew used a turning fork to delve deeper into the soil, turning up more tasty tubers.  Very little damage was done in the digging.  We have 52 pounds of 'taters to show for our efforts. (30# Purple Vikings, 10# Red Pontiacs, 12# Yukon Golds)  Guess what's for supper tonight?!

Back from our European Vacation, and Back in the Garden!

I left the garden in good hands.  It looks better now than the day we left two weeks ago!

Andrew has been holding down the fort - taking care of the dog, the chickens, the house and, of course, the garden.  Everything has been weeded.  The paths between the beds have been covered in a layer of new mulch.  The tomatoes have grown like crazy, and Andrew had to reinforce their support structure.  He planted more edamame and a few hills of patty pan squash.  He kept everything picked ... squash, green beans, beets.  He picked blackberries, blueberries, and figs - made cobblers with some and put some in the freezer.  To top it off, he prepared supper for us tonight ... a delicious meal straight out of the garden - steamed beets, green beans, and squash, plus, sliced tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Then he cleaned up the kitchen.  Welcome home!