Mealy Bugs

http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/2014/07/what-is-the-white-fluffy-stuff-on-my-shrubs/

Beet Pickles

Pickled Beets

It took all morning, but 6 pint jars of beet pickles are in the hot water canner!

Refer to posts dated May 23, 2010 or June 10, 2011 for my Pickled Beets recipe. I've been using the same recipe for years (from the 2008 edition of the Ball Blue Book of Preserving), but the stories and the pictures are different!

This seems to be the latest I've harvested the beets. Since earlier days, I've switched from roasting the beets in the oven to cooking them in the pressure cooker prior to slicing and packing them into jars. Depending on the size of the roots,  15 - 20 minutes cooks them perfectly tender, compared to an hour of roasting in a hot oven.

Cucumber Infused Vodka

Well … we DO have a LOT of cucumbers!

PLUS I was inspired by Bonefish Grill's Cold Snap Cucumber Cosmo, served up in a frozen glass made of ice, no less! From their menu:  Reyka vodka, Solerno Blood Orange liqueur + fresh English cucumbers served on the rocks ... A refreshing fix to cool your senses this summer!

I'm thinking a cucumber infusion is just what we need to improve on this cool summer drink. Maybe I should have purchased a higher quality vodka, but this is an experiment! Here's a link to a web site that tells how to do it:  http://www.shutterbean.com/2011/cucumber-infused-vodka/

And here's the basic process:

What you’ll need:

Large glass jar (1 quart) or container with lid
Cucumbers
Vodka

What to do:

Peel, seed, and chop a cucumber.
Add it to the jar and fill to the brim with vodka.
Cover tightly and store at room temperature in a cool, dark place for at least 3-4 days and up to 2 weeks, giving it a shake every day or two.
Strain through a coffee filter and use.

That’s it! If you want a light cucumber flavor, strain after a few days or for something more intense, leave it for longer. This cucumber vodka is delicious served chilled on its own or mixed into your favorite summertime cocktail.

From: http://noshon.it/tips/diy-how-to-make-cucumber-infused-vodka/

The Morning After

We received 1-1/2 inches of much needed rain last night.
The garden is happy!

When to harvest the Savor (charentais type) melons

To determine ripeness, examine the smallish, long-stemmed leaf attached to the vine at the same point as the fruit. At ripeness, this leaf is pale, and the fruit has a slight yellow tinge. Orange fruit rind color indicates overripeness. Johnny's Selected Seeds 

Here's the melon and the leaf I'll be watching
None of the leaves I see are "smallish"

Charentais melons typically take 70-90 days to mature. Some companies that sell the plant recommend only allowing three melons to grow on each vine at one time to get the best fruit. Once you pick the mature fruit, the vines will produce more.

Most of the melons will only grow to the size of a softball, or about 2 pounds. Look at the color of the rind to determine if yours are ripe. They’ll take on a yellowish hue at maturity. (I threw my first ripe melon away, thinking it was rotten!) Also note that you need to remove Charentais melons from the vine – if you wait until they drop, the fruit will be overripe. Learn 2 Grow 

Creamy Cucumber Soup Recipe

Got cucumbers?

Maybe it's time for cucumber soup.

Many of the recipes out there are for cold cucumber soup ... basically raw cucumbers puréed with yogurt or sour cream, typically topped off with fresh dill. Those recipes are good. But check out THIS recipe: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/creamy_cucumber_soup.html

It requires sautéing the cucumbers with onions and garlic; adding broth of your choice, plus lemon juice, salt/pepper, and the all important cayenne; blending until smooth along with a nicely ripe avocado and fresh parsley; stirring in some plain yogurt at the end. You can serve it warm OR cold! Very tasty. And - BONUS - it uses up several cucumbers!

What exactly IS "one head of dill"?

The “head” of dill is the entire seed head of a dill plant. But this can vary with the vitality of the plant. Generally a head of dill is about three to four inches in diameter, having a bounty of green seeds. Stronger dill flavor is had by using the same size head, having dried seeds. If your plants have smaller heads, simply use more of them.

Abundant Summer Harvest

Picking the garden is a daily thing around here. Today's take ...

Beans, Cucumbers, Okra

Berries, Basil, Parsley

Basil Pesto
Basic: basil/garlic/salt & pepper/evoo for the freezer
Lush: plus pine nuts and fresh parmesan for a pesto pasta lunch

Why commercial eggs must be refrigerated in the US

http://www.kcet.org/living/food/the-nosh/why-do-we-refrigerate-eggs-in-the-united-states.html#.U7f6w0FEUPg.facebook

Halleluia! Rain!!

And the temperature has dropped below 80 degrees (76.8)

Bread & Butter Pickles

Fresh Pack, Bread and Butter Pickles
Yield: about 7 pints

4 pounds 4-6" pickling cucumbers, cut into 1/4" slices
2 pounds onions, thinly slices
1/3 cup canning salt
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon peppercorns
3 cups vinegar

Combine cucumber and onion slices in a large bowl, layering with salt; cover with ice cubes. Let stand 1-1/2 hours. Drain; rinse; drain again. Combine remaining ingredients in a large sauce pot; bring to a boil. Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Allow 4-6 weeks for fresh pack pickled foods to cure and develop a satisfactory flavor.
Recipe from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving

Plenty of Cucumbers in the Garden this Year

Counting out Cukes

Cucumbers and Onions, Ready for Brining

Cool as a Cucumber … Covered with Ice!

Turmeric Makes it All a Nice Yellow Color

When to pick the Edamame?

The edamame pods are beginning to fill out. When to harvest?
Here's a link that tells exactly what to look for:  http://homeguides.sfgate.com/edamame-ready-pick-76797.html

Date I planted the edamame:  May 7
Count forward 75 days: July 21 (Rouse the Spouse's birthday!)

From that date, watch for perfect ripeness …

• bright green color
• pods 2-3" long
• pods feel plump, seeds should take up 90% of pod space 

Harvest all pods within 5 days of determining ripeness, BEFORE pods begin to yellow.

Hurricane Arthur brings welcome rain

Arthur is a category 1 storm that may strengthen to category 2 before it's all over. Bad timing for the Outer Banks of NC. They will miss the 4th of July surge of tourists. But I'm grateful for the bands of rain it's bringing to central NC. The garden was getting a bit dry. Mother Nature does such a better job of watering than I could ever do!

Summertime ... and you must pick, and process, and eat the garden!

Yesterday was definitely a garden workday. It started early, while the garden was still in shade and the heat of the day had not yet had a chance to build up. I spent a little time tying up zinnias and tomatoes, putting cages around pepper plants, securing viny cucumber plants to their trellis, knocking Japanese beetles into their soapy, watery grave. The Japanese beetles are showing a preference for the edamame. I haven't seen them on any other plants.

You know the heat of summertime has settled in when the okra starts taking off! The plants are still short, but pods are forming. One pod was covered in aphids. I removed it and fed it to the chickens.

The beets are ready to harvest. I pulled the largest roots.

When dealing with beets I start the whole process by getting rid of excess dirt right there in the garden. I fill up a bucket with water and swish the roots.

Then I haul them all to a shady spot where I separate the roots from the leaves, remove the stems and discard buggy, old, tough, or otherwise ugly leaves.

Into the kitchen I go, where I wash the leaves and roots in ernest, sort the roots by size, and cook them under pressure.

In the pressure cooker the 2" diameter roots take 15 minutes, the 3" roots 20 minutes, to reach perfect tenderness. After that, they're ready to make pickles or harvard beets or … last night buttered beet greens and roots were on the menu, finished off with a blood orange infused olive oil.

After I finished the beets it was time to deal with the abundance of cucumbers. I had relish on my mind. Now THAT requires a LOT of chopping! Refer back to post dated July 7, 2013 for the recipe and directions for making Sweet Pickle Relish.

Stevia Extract, continued ...

It's been two days since I stashed the jar of vodka immersed stevia leaves into the back of the pantry. (Refer back to my previous blog post dated June 30 to read about the first part of this process.) Time for the next steps.

I drained the liquid off the steeped leaves. Since I was using fresh leaves this step was easily accomplished with a wire mesh strainer, although one might choose to use some other fine-meshed material such as coffee filter or cheesecloth. Look at the liquid. It's brownish-green, and clear.

I placed the liquid in a heavy pot over low heat, bringing it to a simmer and taking care NOT to boil it. Apparently, boiling will ruin the extract. I simmered the stuff for 30 minutes in order to cook off the alcohol and concentrate the extract a bit.

The liquid became darker and looked as if something solid had precipitated out of it.

I strained the liquid through a coffee filter (you could use cheesecloth or some other fine-meshed material).

The extract may be stored for up to three months in opaque bottles in the refrigerator. I ordered 2-ounce tincture bottles with eye-dropper tops from Greenals via Amazon. (BTW … It pays to look around. I was able to order a dozen bottles with free shipping.) The small bottles will be convenient to store and the eye dropper will dispense just the right amount of the concentrated extract.

Why an opaque bottle? I declare it must be because this stuff is so visually unappetizing! It looks like the rinse water that's left behind after some kids have had fun painting with water colors … muddy green.

Actually, an opaque container is important because light exposure causes the quality of the extract to deteriorate rapidly.

Despite the questionable looks, it works! I added a couple of drops to my iced tea this afternoon. Sweet success!

3-Bean-Medley

The green beans are coming in strong. Look at how beautiful the first bunches of Rattlesnake pole beans are! They are long and green with purple streaks.

Our plates are full with three different varieties of green beans: Rattlesnake pole beans ~ Garden of Eden Italian flat beans ~ Jade bush beans. Each is delicious in its own way. Last summer we had a big family dinner and had a little taste test with these three varieties. Which do you think would be YOUR favorite? It's difficult to choose one … I like growing all three!

Blueberries

July -- Blueberry season in North Carolina. I've been watching these blueberries mature, waiting for just the right amount amount of "blue-ness". Today, the first of July, was the day! This is our best crop ever. Plump, sweet, prolific … I picked a bucket full and there's plenty more where THAT came from!