harvesting and eating!

Tyler Ludens wrote:Yes, that is a major challenge - it seems so difficult to get more than a handful of things to be productive at the same time, so we end up having meals made of the same few things over and over.  This is called, I guess, "eating in season!"

Yes.

One can understand our ancestors passion for spices! To green bean a person could add slivered ginger, or black pepper, or red pepper,  or juniper berries (Used in corned beef), and enjoy more variety that ways. Of course back then only the rich could afford them, but, rich people would get tired of having green beans every day also!

A midsummer summation:

I planted 1 pound of onions and enjoyed them until June. If I had planted 3-4 pounds of onion sets I probably would have had enough onions to last the year. But, I am handicapped and labor wise I do not want to weed that many onion sets.  

Sugar snap  peas were very nice but the harvest season was mostly just 10 days. Some of the peas were started inside which extended the harvest by several days. Planting some later in the year might not have been of benefit, as heat Is hard on peas. IF* I had planted twice as many I would have ended up freezing the extra as shelled peas.

Kale was good this spring: we still have it but we are not eating very much of it at this time, as the garden is producing foods we like better. I can say the same about my one surviving broccoli plant: there is food we like better waiting to be picked.

I wish I  had protected my cabbage plants better this spring. 2 surviving cabbages are simply not enough: I might buy some cabbage later on. Hot weather like this makes me want things like cole slaw!

Eggs: the hens are keeping up a slow, steady trickle of eggs.

What is bearing now: cucumbers, string beans, bell peppers, and broccolli. All of these are just starting to bear. Also available are a few eggs a week, which I mostly bake with but we also eat deviled eggs.

Most of our calories are from the grocery store still, but, we are buying little produce this time of year. And, I am sending DH to work tomorrow with 5 excess cucumbers.

This morning I got a quart of blackberries from my berry patch, and 2 eggs.

So tonight for dessert I fixed a berry tart with a new sweetener called "Nevella". I had to guess at the amount to use, and it would have been better if it was sweeter, but the dish was bursting with fresh berry flavor and it was wonderful.

To make the tart I rolled out a circle of pie dough, heaped the sweetened berries in the middle, and folded the edges up and over the edges of the filling to keep the juices in. I had also dusted the berries with a bit of flour to make the juice less runny.

I like the Nevella: I think I shall try using it to make banana bread as there is a recipe on the package so I will know how much to use.

All month of May and most of June I managed to eat 'something from my garden' every day. Most of the time those were herbs and lettuce for salad. Now I still pick some herbs often, the lettuce is gone, but now the chards are ready for use. And the first pumpkin!

Last week and the week before there were plenty of raspberries and some red currants, which I picked and stored (except the ones I ate immediately) in the freezer. I think now the season for these fruits has ended, I think I'll make pie ...
To have a real meal all from my own garden ... no, not yet possible this year. I'm still learning

Pumpkins are so beautiful: I never cared that much for the taste, but I sometimes grow them for joy.

Terri Matthews wrote:Pumpkins are so beautiful: I never cared that much for the taste, but I sometimes grow them for joy.

I like the taste of these Japanese orange pumpkins. The taste is a little sweetish, goes well in a Caribbean soup:
cook 'carnisa' (cured beef) for 1 hour in a pressure cooker, cut  the meat in small cubes. Cut a large onion, some garlic cloves and a piece of hot pepper (Madame Jeannette). Wash and cut the pumpkin (keep the seeds for sowing next year), peel and cut a 'batata' (sweet potato) and (plantain) 'banana'. Stirr-fry the onion and garlic in oil with butter, add the pepper and the broth (the water you cooked the meat in). Add spices you like (f.e. bay leave, all-spice, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg). Taste, if necessary add some salt. When it's boiling add the pumpkin, batata and banana cubes, cook until they are soft but do not fall apart. Add the meat. Cool down the soup and keep it cool for at least some hours (or put it in the freezer for another day), the taste is better if you re-heat it. Serve with bread.

But I like the pumpkin even cut into pieces and cooked, a pinch of salt added ... just like that.

Delicious sugar-free blackberry ice cream recipe: it is WONDERFULL!!!

Squash some blackberries. Add milk, NutraSweet, and  little vanilla.

I put it in the half of the ice cream maker I still have, and stirred it with a spoon until it froze.

Heavenly.

I love free food.

Dinner tonight is a stir fry made with garden veggies (onion, bok choi, green beans, and bell pepper), and some leftover chicken. Dessert will be sugar-free home made blackberry pie, made from my blackberries

And I had home made blackberry ice cream for breakfast.

That is so great, congratulations!  

We feast tonight: that is Natures way! She feeds us best in the Summer and Fall!

I am marinating some pork from the leg of a wild boar we were given: I had thought we had eaten it all but I found another package.  I will marinate it in soy, ginger, and orange peel.

I will let DH eat most of the pork: I have my eyes set on two bluegill I caught some time back! I had forgotten about them!

We will also have sweet corn and a berry pie, courtesy of my back yard garden.
.............................................................
We are now buying very few vegetables. My backyard garden is producing less variety than what you see in the supermarket, but the quality of what I am putting on the able is so high that I have heard no complaints at all. Last night I over cooked the string beans and STILL nobody complained, as they were still tastier than ANYTHING the grocery store has!

I am still buying lettuce, as I like it and when I grow lettuce it is always bitter.

My husband--due to health issues--has had to go on the GAPS diet, which means a lot of soups and stews, especially at the beginning. This has been great for eating out of the garden! He asks for green things for his salad and I come back with herbs, lovage, parsley, beets, beet greens, broccoli leaves, nipplewort, chives, and daikon radish leaves and pods. These things aren't the best plain (especially to my pregnant appetite) but are great in soups/stews. So, we've been eating a lot from our garden due to diet change. He's also needed lot of clotting agents because of his surgery, so I've been making dandelion, nettle and parsely tea for him. I'm so happy to be able to put all these greens to good use!

Also, my toddler has been loving eating green onions wrapped in beet leaves. It's one of his favorite snacks when we're out in the garden.

The thimbleberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries are all ripening. They sadly haven't been harvested like I'd like, since it's so hot and I'm busy taking care of my husband. But, we're still munching on them when we're outside.

I intended to plant for a Fall garden, but I think I lack the time and the energy!

Dinner tonight will be green beans from my garden, a dish of (bought) potatos that I cut up and baked with butter, garlic salt, and pepper, and fried liver. Sweetened blackberries (from my yard) and cool whip will be dessert.

I have been meaning to use the kale that is in the fridge, and we have sweet corn waiting to be eaten, but there is only so much room in our stomachs for the produce we are raising! (both are from our garden)

Today I had a delicious omelet. The large green leaves you see here in the vase were in it (chopped), together with an onion, garlic, 2 eggs and a lot of cheese.  
In the other photo you see how this veggie grows in the garden. What's the name you call this vegetable?

green veggie in a vase (and mint behind it)

green veggie in the garden

What's the name you call this vegetable?

The leaves in the vase look like swiss chard to me.....
In the picture in the garden though, I can't really tell...nice lush foliage there

I agree the leaves look like swiss chard, but I seem to recall another vegetable that looks like this but I do not remember what.

Today I made this cake, using my berries and my eggs, and it is awesome. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/late-summer-berry-torte-recipe?go=EC160731_R3&trk_msg=MVJ85GC1BCPKL5BL8FU4EC06F0&trk_contact=3GQGQPVUO6CH3P2LLJNR8BT4OG&e=rote%40kc.rr.com&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.kingarthurflour.com%2fshop%2flanding.jsp%3fgo%3dEC160731_R3&utm_campaign=broadcast&utm_content=ec160731-fruit-cake-recipes

We are also having green beans and roast beef. I keep telling myself I will freeze the extra corn but I have simply not gotten around to it!!!

The leaves looks like my beet leaves. I've never grown chard, but when I was growing beets I was told it looked like chard...

Easy way to tell is to see if there's a beet at the base of the plant. Mine are pushing their way out of the ground right now, and the beets are never far from the surface of the soil so it should be easy to spot .

Nicole Alderman wrote:The leaves looks like my beet leaves. ...

In Dutch (my language) a beet (beetroot) is called 'biet' (pronounced just as 'beet'), and Swiss chard is called 'snij-biet', meaning: 'beet to cut'. So it is the same plant, but one to use the root, the other to cut the leaves.
There is another vegetable looking somewhat alike, but with larger leaves. In Dutch that one is called 'groenlof'. Those leaves are always only green. The chard exists also with red, orange and yellow stems (called 'rainbow').

I didn't know that they were pretty much the same plant. Fascinating! I was reading about beet greens on http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=151, and I guess they are closely related to spinach (and quinoa), too. Maybe what you've got there are some big spinach leaves?

I came across a reference recently to something called spinach beet.  I'd never heard of it before but apparently it's another relative of both chard and beets.  Maybe this is what you have?

http://www.seedaholic.com/leaf-beet-perpetual-spinach.html

There seem to be many leafy green veggies in the world! On our community permaculture garden we have at least two such greens. They differ only a little bit in shape and shade of green. The most important is: edible, good taste, both raw and cooked.

These last two days, we've been enjoying omelets. We use our ducks' eggs as well as: beet leaves, broccoli leaves, daikon radish leaves, dandelion leaves, cucumber leaves, nasturtium flowers, chives and green onions. They're delicious, and I love that they come entirely from our garden!

We also ate blueberries, blackberries and the few green beans that are ripe.

Oh, that omelet sounds spectacular! I have always enjoyed the artistic side of cooking of a pinch here and a pinch there.

We have been busy: my youngest got a job and will need help with the transportation for a few days, one of our 2 cars broke down last night, there is a heat wave so the garden needs attention or it will die,  and on the good side the mower is now fixed so that I can mow: it is more than a foot tall in our back yard. Fortunately I got the front yard cut just BEFORE the thing broke.

I have not been able to pick berries for a week. With this heat the last of them are PROBBLY dropping over ripe from the bushes. Well getting a quart of berries every 3 days or so was spectacular, but I only have one set of hands!

So, last nights dinner was courtesy of Sonic. We DID have a homegrown cantaloupe as a late night snack, but this heat ripened the other melon on the vine  earlier than I expected so I gave it to the chickens.

I am getting a good idea now why the kids were drafted to help out on farms: this time of year everything happens at once and I can only be at one place at a time! So, instead of caring for the garden yesterday I took my youngest shopping for the non-skid shoes and such he is required to have. And instead of caring for the garden today we need to schedule the one working car so that everything gets done that needs to be done: today I will be driving a lot.  

I have been kind of throwing water at the garden from time to time: it is not enough but so far nothing has died. Quite.

Ick.

I rather overdid it last week, and the MS reared up and decided to bite me. Hard. I SHOULD have notified the doctor but I was not smart enough for that: instead I did the next best thing and went to bed. I had a commitment to drive my son to a job interview and I could not, so my husband took off work to cover for me. These things happen when a person has Multiple Sclerosis, I am afraid. You never know when you will have a flare.

I felt a bit better but I was not as steady on my feet as I usually am, so I took an "All-natural fish oil capsule". I used to take them but quit, even though it is a general anti-inflammatory. Alas, NOW I remember why I quit: it upset my stomach and I still do not feel right. And, I am walking better today so I really ought to take another one!

Maybe I will squeeze half of the fish oil out first so I am taking a lower dose. I am better by perhaps 1/3: I would be foolish not to take another fish oil capsule because the improvement might be from the rest but it might be from the fish oil.

We are eating cantelope right now: we ate 2 this week and there is a nice one still in the garden that is not quite ripe. Ripe ones do not have to be picked: if you lift the melon up gravity will make the stem fall off. And, as soon as we run low on bought carrots I will take out the shovel and see what is in my carrot patch. I might have left it too long: a few of the carrots are going to seed.  

I have been digging the carrots, and I have  few meals worth in there. As usual, my carrots are small and the flavor is a bit hot, but the heat goes away when I cook them.

I am still harvesting green beans, which is very good. Usually my bush beans bear for a short time and then die back, but while they look battered they are still cranking out beans.

I THINK the cucumbers are done but I am not sure: some of the plants are alive but barely so.

Still not yet ready are the watermelons, and if I give them protection I might have a bit of cabbage and kale to feed us this Fall. I did harvest them this spring but between the bugs and the heat they look a bit sorry right now, and the flavor of the kale is not very good when it is hot out. The tomatoes are not ready either, though they have a good amount of green ones!

And, I am eating the grapes on the neighbors fence with her blessings- I finished my grapes- and I got 3 eggs this week from my hens. I am going to try to hatch the eggs: my hens are getting very old. My last rooster was sterile but I have a replacement rooster that is about a year old, and so I am hoping for chicks. Alas, the Buff Orpington hen did not go broody this year, so I will have to hatch them inside. I hate that. They get a bit smelly before they are large enough to go outside. Small chicks are too easily chilled.

And, I went fishing last week so I ate blue gill for lunch. I also caught a 14 inch catfish which was fun, but the limit is 16 inches so I put him back.

Tonight we had a stir fry

Stir frys are essential for small gardens.

Not enough snow peas, beans, etc. etc to make a full course.
But, with a wok, you can add just a taste of many things, and make a complete meal out of it.
A few bits of leftover meat from last night, and you have a full blown meal.

I usually do a large portion.
Then all of the leftovers get mixed into the leftover rice.
Tomorrow's dinner will feature a better 'fried rice' than any Asian restaurant in town makes.

I froze the last picking of string beans: they looked delicious but they will taste better when the snow is on the ground: I decided I was tired of string beans.

There are still carrots to be dug: perhaps I will work on those tomorrow. As it is raining today the ground should be soft! And, it is time to start the fall salad greens.

The circle of life played out in my backyard hobby arm last night: an old hen laid down and died. I have no idea how old she was as I bought her at auction. She showed no symptoms, other than laying down and refusing to get up. On the same day that she died I set 6 eggs in the incubator to give me some young hens next year. So, in 21 days I should have chicks

I used to cull the old hens, as I was trying to start up a real farm, but I never enjoyed it. Now that I know the farm will never produce much of an income I have given myself permission to enjoy it more and to not work so hard: I no longer cull my old hens, but I no longer do. They just kick back, and when egg production drops too far I set more eggs to hatch.

I have been eating the grapes at the park, and they are delicious! They grow on the fence of the neighboring house, and what grows on the park side of the fence is for the kids and what grows on the private property side belongs to the homeowner.

Lastly, I got 2 peaches from my front yard. They are not the best peaches I have had but they are as good as the supermarket peaches, I am pleased to say! When a tree grows up from the root stock as this one did one is never too sure what one will get. Passerbyers got 5 of the peaches, but that cannot be helped. And, this is the first year the peach tree has grown fruit: with fortune It will bear well in the future.

I shall have to prune it this fall.

This week my goal is to start the Fall salad greens and dig up the carrots. Also to eat more grapes. YUM!

Mmmm . . . grapes. We have some delicious ones. I'm quite thrilled about them.

I've been enjoying following along on your food journey. I also enjoy eating from my garden, and am fortunate to live in a climate where I will be able to grow quite a bit in the garden through the winter. A novelty for me, as are the grapes! I'm very much looking forward to my first 'winter' garden!

I am curious about your comment: "Now that I know the farm will never produce much of an income I have given myself permission to enjoy it more and to not work so hard."

I don't know much about your set up, or about you but I am wondering why you think it will never produce an income. Is it because you decided that you're not interested in 'farming'? Or are there other factors I'm not aware of? I just don't like to see someone give up on a dream - if it is indeed a dream - and would be happy to help if I can. Or at least give some Rah! Rah! Go Team! kind of support. I'm an excellent cheerer.

Anyway, enjoy your grapes!

Cheers
Tracy

I am no longer well.

I have learned easier ways to do things, because I love working outside, but I do not see how I could raise anything in the quantity I would need to sell. Because, every time I learn an easier way to do something I get just a bit sicker and so I STILL cannot raise more than my family can consume!

Worse, my memory is not what it was even last year, so there will be mental impairment as well. That would be a problem if I tried to hire help.

So, on dry days I can ride my scooter chair outside, and on wet days I walk.  I sit down and use hand tools to garden and I use a cane when I tend my bees. And, I have a long handled grabber to gather eggs. And, n the one year in two that I raise more than we can use I simply give it to the food pantry, as sitting in the heat at the farmer's market is no longer a great idea. HEat washes me out, and that makes driving harder.

The land is fine and the farm is fine, but I am not fine.

Know what? I might have figured out  little thing I might be able to do: spring seedlings. They could be started inside and hardened off on the back deck, and then sold before it gets hot out. I do not believe I would make a profit, but I think it would bring me joy. So, I am starting to look at seed lists.

Well. That sucks. I'm sorry to hear it - but happy to see that you haven't given up entirely! That is inspiring in itself.

Seedlings could be a great way to make a little extra cash. Especially if you can market them as 'Permaculture plants' - or something else clever and different - and get people to eventually come to you, instead of having to sit at the market all day to sell them.

Good luck in your health and garden ventures, Terri. I wish you all the best.

Last week I ate carrots, green beans, tomatos, an egg, and some  bluegill from a local lake. What a huge DIFFERENCE from spring, where I had the same vegetable over and over again!

And, softie that I am, I have a half grown kitten. DD set me up with it: her friend was trying to fin a home for a kitten shed rescued and my daughter told her*I* would probably take it! Well se talked me into it.

Lucas is about 5 months old, dripping with pesticide-resistant fleas, and is really quite charming.

I had to get special stuff from the vet for the fleas, and a dose for my old cat as well. It cost $20 a dose. It appears to have killed 80% of his fleas: hopefully it will kill the others soon! There is NO SUCH THING as a free cat!!!

And now I must arrange for vaccinations and neutering.

At any rate,the garden wil be finished any day now, when the first frost hits. I have a few cabbage family plants that will yield for a bit longer, but I would say that is it for the year.
It has been a busy summer! First the planting, then starting to harvest, then storms damaging the roof and shed and getting that fixed -Safeco insurance paid very promptly I am pleased to say- and then th usual gardening, repair work, and such.

I am looking forward to cutting back this winter!  Or, at least until it is time to start seedlings for the Farmer's Market!

We grew potatoes for the first time this year! We dug up 3 of our 30 plants two days ago, and got about 8 pounds of potatoes. It's so freakin' exciting!

Today for lunch, I made hash browns made with potatoes from our garden and an egg from our ducks. It was so delicious and satisfying, both to my taste buds as well as to my soul!

I've also been cooking a lot of kale, nasturtiums, and chives together. And, we're still eating nettle about once/week. Every other day, I go out and pick berries for our smoothies. I also make some tea for my husband every day with thistle, dandelion, mint, and lemonbalm. I hope to get a tea tree this year so I can source everything for his tea from our garden!

We're also still snacking on the few snap peas that have survived, as well as sungold tomatoes and green beans.

I LOVE that we are able to grow our own food!

Hi Terri,

You can go to microgreens as well. They are easy to harvest and can be grown in very less time. Along with rich of nutrients, they are delicious too and can reduce the risk of deadly diseases. It simply comes with harvesting and eating concept. Moreover, a wide variety of microgreens kits are available in the market nowadays which have detailed instructions for harvesting given.

Thanks