HomeGrown Holidays and Giveaway

As each year passes I find myself growing, preserving and giving more Homegrown presents to family and friends and they Love them!  

The garlic harvest this year was excellent and gifts already have been given – fresh garlic, pickled scapes and garlic cloves … more garlic gifts will be given for Christmas.   I have only one more jar of the pickled garlic scapes left and those are mine … I really have enjoyed them and posted the recipe back when I discovered it.   In the Garden Online is the place I first learned about these wonderful garlic scapes and the blog writer, Colleen, also has a book out “Edible Gardening for the Midwest” which will be added to my Christmas wish list this year.

Since we are on the subject of Canning and books, I want to also mention “Canning & Preserving for Dummies”.   The author of this book, Amy, was actually the winner of the Garlic Giveaway I held not to long ago.   She hosts a blog over at The Farming Wife - check her out too!   I highly recommend both of these sources for your cooking and gardening interests!   Great gifts for others on your list too!

I made up labels to add to my canned goods this year in hopes of receiving the empty jars back.   Most people will forget (except my parents, they always return the jars) and if they see this little reminder on the bottom of the jar when the goods are all finished up, odds are they will return the jar to you!

It’s has been a while since the Garlic Giveaway and since this is the week of giving thanks……. time to show appreciation to my friendly readers, I worked on some gift tags as a new giveaway this weekend.

These are actually stickers which were hand stamped – so you can peel off the back and place on your gift!

It is rather difficult to see the detail on the tags …. the stamped images are heat embossed which gives them a raised glossy look – pretty neat!   So leave a comment and the winner will be announced next Tuesday after the holiday and in time for adding to your holiday gifts.   Also the newest Linky starts today!!   The theme is Stocking Stuffers so make sure to head on over and add your listing – also on the same page I added a Linky to add your facebook fanpage.

Wishing Everyone a Safe, Fun and Enjoyable Thanksgiving!   Thanks All!

Apple Ring Pie

Last year I canned up Apple Rings …

The recipe is from “Ball Blue Book of preserving” and the ingredients called for are 10 lbs. of apples (a variety of eating apples good for cooking to help maintain shape and texture), 4 cups sugar, 4 cups water and red food coloring (optional).   Core the apples, but do not peel.   Set apples to the side, treat to prevent darkening.    Combine sugar and water, add food coloring, if desired and bring to a boil.   Boil for 5 minutes.   Add apple rings and let stand 10 minutes.  Then bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat, simmer 30 minutes.   Remove apple rings while returning the syrup to a boil.   Pack apple rings into hot canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.   Ladle hot syrup over apples and process in boiling water canner – quarts 20 mins., pints 15 mins.   You can add a spice bag filled with cinnamon, whole cloves and other spices during the syrup prep., but remove before canning apple rings.

I made Apple Ring Pie last year and just recently made up another pie for the freezer to serve on Thanksgiving Day.    I used 2 store bought pie crusts, drained the apple rings from the syrup in the canning jar.

Then I just added the apple rings to the pie crust, sealed the dish with the second pie crust, slit vents so the steam could release and packed up for the freezer.   It is quite good and quite easy!

I came across this neat Apple Pie in a Jar recipe while visiting over at Mixing Bowl and I need to make this … little apple pies cooked in canning jars.    How cool is that!   I did make this Harvest Apple, Cheddar and Sage Bread which is also posted over there, as well as, in their latest magazine, their Baking Issue!

I brought in a nice harvest of Sage yesterday and will use some for the above recipe … I really enjoyed the Harvest Bread.   I did hang a bundle of the sage to dry since it can be used in dried flower arrangements very nicely and I can save dried sage for future recipes also.

I will be sending out a Newsletter in the near future so if you would like to receive a copy, please sign up from my facebook fan page (tab showing on top of the page that says Email Signup).   WordPress doesn’t allow javascript so until I learn more about this, the signup will be on the website and facebook.   I plan to highlight my blog posts from both blogs, discuss the workings of Garden Dish, craft talk and small business promotion ideas.   By using the newsletter I will be able to combine all my interests so everyone doesn’t have to click all over looking for something.

Dehydrating Garlic, Tomatoes and Apples

My precious Excalibur dehydrator has been working overtime these past few days and is doing a great job!   The garlic is still drying at the present and I plan to vacuum seal into small packages for winter use since I still have plenty of fresh garlic right now.

The garlic and tomatoes did wonderful this year despite the extrememly hot weather and they are two of my favorite picks in the garden.

There are still quite a number of tomatoes still ripening up on the vine along with the bountiful harvest ready for salsa.   I did dehydrate a considerable amount also and I refer to them as my sun-dried tomatoes (even though they weren’t actually dried in the sun).   They are excellent in pasta recipes or even sprinkled in a salad!

Dehydrated Tomatoes

The tomato that I dehydrated is the Principe Borghese which states it is good for sun drying.   I found it quite small and full of seeds – the smaller romas which I also dehydrated were meatier and had very little seeds.   Next year we stick with the romas for drying.   Two other varieties that did well were -

Illini Star tomatoes

Cherokee Purple tomatoes

Before the kids left for college I was able to dry up a ton of apples for them to snack on – they really enjoy these … and so do I!

Here’s hoping they eat healthy!!!

Garlic For Sale and Pickled Recipe

The garlic has been cured for a month now and I spent several days cleaning it so I do have some which I will be listing in my store next week for sale!

There are 4 different varieties but the quantity will be limited since I am working on planting more each year so I need to save some for that and I am rethinking which varieties I will grow.   With the move down south in the future I have to consider the different climate elements…it appears the hardneck do much better than the softneck down south.

A while back I pickled up the garlic scapes and I really enjoy them so I decided to try canning up some actual garlic.   I found this simple recipe in Ball Blue Book of preserving and decided on 3 different varieties to try… Chet’s Italian, Inchelium Red and Chrysalis Purple – 2 softs and a hardneck.

The first step in this process was peeling all the garlic (keeping each type separate from the other). 

Then I blanched the garlic  in boiling water for 1 minute & drained.   The recipe yields 6 half pints using 6 cups of peeled cloves garlic, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon canning salt and 3 cups vinegar.  Combine the sugar, salt and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Pack the hot garlic in your canning jars and ladle the hot liquid over the garlic leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-piece canning lids and process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Someone suggested peeling some garlic and storing in a jar in the refrigerator for easy and quick access when cooking stating this would encourage more use of the garlic .   I agree but not so sure how long the garlic will keep this way and stay fresh – thinking it would need to be used within a short timeframe.   Any suggestions??

Garlic now listed for sale at my store

Artist drawing and pickling seeds – Nasturtium

Just returned from several weeks down south and the weather was HOT – heat indexes reached 110 on several days and it looks like the week ahead will be the same!   We were lucky enough to receive rain each week so the plants did survive!   I canned up some pickles and the tomatoes were ripening up quite nicely.   The Nasturtium on the deck in the big pot had several more blooms and my nephew who is quite the artist found it a wonderful image to draw …… he had no idea the plant was a member of the GROW project and drew a remarkable sketch one day!

I WAS impressed …….. beautiful job Josh!!!

The Nasturtium which were planted next to the pea plants are thriving  now among the Jacob’s Cattle bean which replaced the peas.

I came across a very interesting recipe using the seeds from the flower!!!

Pickled nasturtium seeds – used as a substitute for capers.  Pick the seeds on a dry day while they are still green.  Steep in brine made from 1/2 cup of salt to 1 quart of water for 24 hours.  Remove and dry the seeds, then pack into small jars.  Make a strong spiced vinegar to fill the jars, using white wine vinegar and salt and a selection from tarragon leaves, mace, nutmeg, shallots, garlic, peppercorns and horseradish slices.  Pour the hot vinegar into the jars, then seal and leave for about a month.  After opening the jar, use up the contents quickly!   Enjoy!!!

“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds.”

Berry Harvest and Garlic IS Ready!

Earlier this year I won the book Grocery Gardening by Jean Ann Van Krevelen and what a fantastic book it is!   Filled with great recipes and helpful tips especially this berry fact that unraveled a mystery in my gardens.    Early part of June a new patch of berries ripened up and I thought to myself – how odd, I thought blackberries ripened up early July; must be an early year.   I set out to freeze some and made up a couple pints of Jam.   As I was flipping through my new book checking out recipes I came across this fact on page 107 and sure enough it made perfect sense!   There are black raspberries and when you harvest them the core remains on the cane, unlike a blackberry where the whole fruit is harvested.   In other words, the hole that you see in a berry (core remains on cane) tells you that you are harvesting black raspberries and sure enough……..just recently, the patches of blackberries were ready to harvest.

 Blackberries

Recently harvested blackberries in the bowl and black raspberry jam I canned up earlier!   Thanks for the Great advice!!!

Down south the garlic was ready to harvest earlier than up north – I was hesitant since the bulbs were much smaller, but it was time.   So in rereading some of my garlic data I figured that the garlic needs to acclimate to the climate it is being grown in AND I definitely need to work on the clay soil!   I will keep the garlics separate and replant next season the appropriate cloves where they grew before.   It was very dry and hot down south and wet and rainy up north where I could have harvested the softnecks a week earlier.   I am lucky I came back when I did and I worked frantically to get them all out of the ground …. today I finally finished up harvesting the hardnecks.   Some pictures to share and recipes to follow ….. I have ALOT of garlic – close to 500 garlic bulbs …….Yep – 500!

Hardneck right before harvest – see the one scape I missed!   It was touchy work digging up the garlic since you have to be careful you don’t dig “into” the bulb and you have to guess where it is …… I definitely got the hang of it after soooooo many garlics!   Now the taste testing starts and the recipes to share!

Homemade Goodness

Homemade gifts are treasured gifts … gifts from the heart created with care and love.  The time taken to create these gifts cannot be measured in numbers and the goodness that flows from the gift cannot be measured in words.  There are many among us that have a natural talent and are able to create crafts with the whirl of a pen or the hum of a machine.  The gardeners in us are able to create homemade goodness fresh from the earth and as we plan ahead for the coming planting season we should think beyond our summer harvest and look to share the harvest with gifts of goodness that will no doubt be received without hesitation.  Canning our summer crops is an art taken and continued to this day from our ancestors and one that  carries a message of our hard work in the garden.  At times it truly is difficult to part with our canned goods but this act holds a true connection to the earth and the homemade goodness we pass along to those we care about as we give them a gift from ourselves.  Take some time to plan for those gifts now .  Grow extra tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers along with your normal plantings. 

Browse some preserving cookbooks and articles to find great combinations or create your own recipes that may become your next family favorite! 

Remember to include herbs which can be used fresh or dried for later use – these can even be used as a great gift …. dried herbs!  

Flowers need to be included in your garden plans as well.  Fresh flowers are gifts that  will brighten anyone’s day and a nice vase brimming with homemade goodness lightens up any room in the home.  Certain flowers dry well and can be used in dried flower arrangements and there are dozens of craft ideas you can create with them.  A few of my favorites are lavender, globe amaranth, baby’s breath, statice and strawflower. 

 

I did have my sewing machine humming along just recently making the new pup her own place to lounge.   Earlier in the year I spent some time creating this doggie bed for the bigger puppies and they seemed to have forgotten all about it until the new pup arrived.

Now they are very possessive SO I had to make the baby puppy one all her own!  It’s so funny – how she knew it was hers!  These doggie beds are homemade and the best part about them is I used old bed pillows and throw pillows to stuff them.  Took the old worn outer layer off and used the insides to make these.  I could have made new throw pillows but I am guessing the pups like their beds better!  Good way to recycle those worn out pillows –

Once I had them all put together I did pop them in the washer for a good cleaning using this Homemade Laundry Soap.  I have been using this soap for almost a year now and I love it!  I have posted these directions in the past and wanted to make sure to share it once again.  I was asked if it works good in a front loading machine. Yes, it does and that is one of the reasons I searched out this laundry soap recipe. Store bought laundry soap is ridiculously high priced and I wanted an alternative and it does a fantastic job!!!

Three simple ingredients – 1 bar castile soap, 3/4 cup “washing soda” and 3/4 cup borax

Probably the hardest part of all this is grating the bar of soap – I found this GREAT grater and it works perfect!  I did try freezing the bar of soap to make it easier, but it really grated the same (it’s a hard soap).

The finished laundry detergent seems soooo clean!  Use 1 tablespoon for light loads and 2 tablespoons for heavily soiled laundry.  For the most part I use 2 tablespoons and the results are wonderful.  I keep a copy of this recipe in the same drawer as the laundry soap so when I am running low I can make up another batch.

 Finished laundry soap