Category Archives: Gardening

Picture Perfect

Posted on August 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

That was dinner tonight.

char dinner 017

A trio of food. One from my garden. One from my CSA. And one from Friends and Farms.

My pineapple tomatoes are finally kicking in there and producing. The heirloom carrots from last week’s CSA were oven roasted. The arctic char from this week’s Friends and Farms basket was quick baked at 400 degrees with some honey mustard and lemon pepper on top.

Here’s the rest of the Friends and Farms basket. I need to get creative with some of the items.

aug 21 csa and FF 028

Cilantro. Lettuce. Eggplant. Blueberries. Nectarines. An onion. Elephant garlic. Poblanos. Jalapenos. Red Beans.

As for protein.

aug 21 csa and FF 024

One dozen eggs. Ground beef. That lovely Arctic char.

And, a loaf of bread. Not pictured.

Thoughts for dinner. Tacos. This basket screams TACOS.

Well, after tomorrow’s Food Preserving program, there will be lots of goodies to eat, or freeze. And, I am seriously considering a major pickled pepper frenzy. Plus, a couple of hot pepper jellies.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Home Grown and Home Made

Posted on August 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

With the upcoming Putting Food Away program on the 23rd at the Conservancy Mt Pleasant site, where I am showcasing some of my recipes, my techniques, my lessons learned, and even giving a few things away (I promise, no zucchini), I have been a cooking, cleaning, freezing, drying and pickling fool.

processing again 016

Did you know you could pickle chard stems? They are pretty interesting. Would make great swizzle sticks for Bloody Marys. I also just pickled zucchini chips. Who needs to spend the $8 or $9 a pound for that Mediterranean bar at the store when you can put out a good antipasto platter right from your fridge.

My other big accomplishment today, besides the zucchini fritters to freeze, was using my first eggplants I ever grew, and two of my red peppers and some of my garlic to make my own flatbread spread.

processing again 008

They may not be the cutest eggplants out there, but I grew them. I took the eggplants and the peppers and roasted them. Mixed them with some vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and three cloves of roasted garlic. To be served on flatbread for dinner tomorrow. No pictures, as they kind of remind you of baby food, but really taste wonderful.

I also roasted three large CSA eggplants today. Scraped them out. Added two cans of chickpeas. Four cloves of garlic. Lemon juice. Olive oil. Garam masala. Salt. Pepper. Amazing hummus. And, yes, you can freeze hummus. Not that this batch will last that long. It will be going to a picnic with us this weekend.

Come check out these and other recipes at my program. And, next week, there will be recipes and pictures up on my Food Preservation page. Can’t put everything there in advance, or no one will come see my program.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Locavore, Volunteering and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

The Value of a Garden

Posted on August 17, 2014 by AnnieRie

Sometimes when it is hot and humid, and it seems the weeds are winning, I question my sanity in expanding my garden. But then, I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor and it makes it all worthwhile.

processing again 006

Like when the heirloom tomato plants start producing. And when I get my first white eggplants.

This week I met a major milestone. Four ounces shy of 100 pounds of tomatoes harvested.

processing again 003

Yellow plums are one of the latest mass producers. But, I have harvested 36 pounds of heirloom tomatoes. All told, if I were buying tomatoes at markets and organic food stores, I would have spent way more than the investment in this garden plot.

Yes, my labor counts for something. But I rationalize it as a substitute for paying for a gym membership. Weeding, watering, weeding, harvesting, weeding (did I mention weeding?), all contribute to feeling like I just came home from a workout. Particularly after crawling around on the ground wrestling with crab grass.

Today I put up another four pints of sauce for the freezer. Tomorrow roasting the 90 yellow plums still on the counter.

Add to that, the work I am doing to get ready for my Conservancy event next Saturday. Things like making herb butters. And, preserving mint.

processing again 013

Ice cube trays. One of my favorite techniques to put away the right sized portions to use in future recipes.

The garden was definitely worth the time and effort. Now, I would just like it to slow down a bit.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Volunteering and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

In The Box

Posted on August 14, 2014 by AnnieRie

The view from above.

aug 14 csa and blackberry cubes 018

This is what you see when you open a half share Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA box in the middle of August.

The new one in the box is the bunch of Malabar spinach. I do grow this in my garden, but mine is nowhere near as large as these are. There are nine ears of corn in there. Because I swapped three zucchini for the corn. There is a bag of green beans. A bag of rainbow carrots. An eggplant. And, hidden below those two heirloom tomatoes.

aug 14 csa and blackberry cubes 019

A bag of roma tomatoes, suitable for making sauce. As for the fruit share.

aug 14 csa and blackberry cubes 015

It must be a banner year for peaches, as we have another six in the fruit box. Last and certainly the largest. The watermelon, a red seedless variety.

No pictures of the frozen chicken in my chicken share. There were two large boneless skinless chicken breasts. And, two whole legs of chicken.

Moving over to the Friends and Farms bags. Just a small amount, except for that cantaloupe.

aug 14 csa and blackberry cubes 011

An individual share. Two tomatoes. Two peaches (I have no idea where they are, they aren’t in the picture). One zucchini, I am happy to report. Two ears of corn. Three humongous leeks. Hydroponic lettuce. And that okra. I need to go look for something new to do with okra.

Protein.

aug 14 csa and blackberry cubes 009

Fresh kielbasa. Bacon. Eggs. A new supplier of chicken. Breasts this week. They were already the main item at dinner tonight. Baked in olive oil with a coating of mixed herbs.

Plans for tomorrow. Make tomato sauce. Find a recipe for a curry using the Malabar spinach. Make peach jam. It’s summer craziness when everything starts ripening at once.

1 Comment

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, LFFC and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

That New Page in My Book

Posted on August 12, 2014 by AnnieRie

My Preservation Page.

The work in progress as I get ready for my August 23rd event at the Howard County Conservancy.

It makes me pay attention to how haphazard my blog posts are. How I can’t just focus on one item or one recipe. Trying to show people what I have done to preserve foods. While feeling like I am herding cats.

Yes, I mostly freeze foods. But, I also dry them. And roast them. And slow cook them. And occasionally when I am feeling feisty, I actually can things. Like that awesome jelly.

habanero jelly 414

Pineapple habanero, as a matter of fact. This year, the habaneros aren’t producing so there will be some jalapeno pineapple jelly made later this week.

In the mean time, I am doing nothing but processing tomatoes and peppers. Since I really am drowning in them.

garden processing 034

Yes, I believe most horizontal surfaces in this kitchen are covered in some sort of tomato. Tomorrow, there will be oven roasted yellow plums. And sauce from Early Girl and Big Boy. And, tabouleh from the thousands (has to be that many) of the Supersweet 100s and the Sun Gold tomatoes in the big bowl on the counter.

The processing frenzy continues. I will be happy in February. Now, I am just frazzled.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Real Food and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

My Out of Control Garden

Posted on August 11, 2014 by AnnieRie

To go along with the out of control kitchen. I should have known. Doubling the size of my garden, and doubling the amount of sunlight daily would result in a quadrupling of the amount of tomatoes we harvest.

garden processing 011

The ten pounds of tomatoes harvested yesterday. To join that ten pounds from Friday. All told, more than 76 pounds of tomatoes so far this year.

The zucchinis are still producing. So are the cucumbers.

garden processing 020

And I really should have entered that big one in the fair. At 1 3/4 pounds I think it would have gotten second place. The winner, I believe, was 1.9 pounds.

We have tomatoes for at least two meals a day. The oven roasting, oven drying, tomato sauce, salad making, gifts, etc. are hardly making a dent in it. I had more plants last year with less than half this harvest.

Note to self. Do NOT plant this many tomatoes next year.

I have been busy. Pickling. Canning. Cooking. I even slow cooked a dozen onions to make caramelized onions to freeze.

Since I am doing the event at the Howard County Conservancy next week, I am creating a page to use as my “handout”, for participants to use for referral after coming to the event.

The page, which you can see above the posts, will include recipes and technique posts. The focus of my blog posts for the next ten days will be the advice I am providing relative to the “Putting Food Away” event.

After all, when your garden goes nuts, you need to find something to do with all this food.

2 Comments

Posted in Food, Gardening, Howard County, Volunteering and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Anniversary Weekend

Posted on August 9, 2014 by AnnieRie

Yes, 34 years have passed since that Saturday, in stifling heat and humidity, not conducive to wearing wedding finery, when we got married. No, I am not posting pictures of the wedding.

I will post at least about the celebration dinner we had this evening.

anniversary dinner and cooking 048

I slow cooked two tuna filets covered in my latest home made tomato sauce. It happily sat in the oven while I made all sorts of other goodies. Like this one.

anniversary dinner and cooking 041

My first ajvar (Serbian roasted red pepper, eggplant and garlic spread) of the season. This was served with crostini as an appetizer. There are also two jars of it. One will be going to an amateur radio club picnic later this month. The other one. On a day trip picnic to some new winery we haven’t visited yet.

For the wine.

anniversary dinner and cooking 045

We pulled out a Turley 2004 Petite Syrah from the stash in the basement. Absolutely lovely with the tuna.

For dessert.

anniversary dinner and cooking 034

Berry peachy frozen yogurt. The pops aren’t ready yet, but we did have two little containers that were a perfect size for dessert while finishing the wine. This mixture was made with the final package of last year’s frozen peaches, blended with three or four cubes of blackberry simple syrup. A cup of vanilla yogurt. Using up what was left in the freezer from Larriland picking in 2013.

Not a bad way to celebrate over a third of a century together. A leisurely meal on the patio. Savored after another big Orioles win. Now, while I type, I am slow roasting peppers to freeze. Up tomorrow night. Slow cooked caramelized onions.

Harvest, the fair, and our anniversary. All in the same week. I need a vacation.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Real Food, Wine and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Food Processing Friday …

Posted on August 8, 2014 by AnnieRie

… and Saturday and Sunday.

food processing friday 007

As shown we are drowning in tomatoes. And, other things. Which are “pickle-able”.

food processing friday 021

I pickled shallots, cucumbers and peppers today. Did Peter Pecker pick those peppers? No, and neither did I. They were in the CSA share this week.

I made a simple pickling spice mix. Added it to a mix of four to one, vinegar to water. Got it boiling. Blanched the veggies first. Sterilized the lids and seals. Came up with a few jars of “refrigerator’ pickles. These are easy to do. No canning techniques necessary. Just consume them in a week or two.

As for tomatoes. I did two pints of sauce today.

food processing friday 031

This is a chunky tomato sauce. A number of blanched tomatoes stood by while I sweated onions, carrots, minced garlic, basil, thyme and oregano. Oh yeah. Salt and pepper.

I ended up with two pints ready to go into the freezer, to make those cold winter nights remind me of summer.

More tomorrow, when I blanch and fill green peppers with a sausage mixture. A feast that makes Stouffer’s look pathetic.

The freezer is filling up. That’s for sure.

5 Comments

Posted in Farms, Food, Gardening, Locavore, Real Food and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Putting Food Away

Posted on August 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

As in “What Do I Do With All These Tomatoes?”

food bank volunteers and gardens 033

My preserving food program is under construction. Due to be presented at the Howard County Conservancy Mt Pleasant, on August 23rd. Details here.

I have been dealing with excess CSA veggies and fruit for a number of years. Plus, I do a number of pick your own excursions, looking for those staples, like tomatoes, berries, apples. I do many techniques, other than canning, that are simple to use to prolong the local goodness well into the winter.

I have been creating a new page for my site. It will be the go-to page for recipes and tips and places to find affordable fruits, veggies and herbs to put away for the winter.

All this is taking time. Time I have being retired. But, simple techniques like ice cube trays used to make individual fruit or pesto portions, or maybe my blanch and freeze technique for tomatoes and peaches, will inspire people to keep a few special favorites on hand. To make peach pops in the winter. Or add strawberry ice cubes to a glass of wine to make sangria. Or defrost a pesto cube to make summer tasting pasta.

Keep checking here to see when my new page goes live. And, come see what fun we can have with the fruits of our labor (for all us gardeners out there). August 23rd, 10AM at the Conservancy Mt Pleasant. Free program.

pickling 016

Leave a comment

Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening, Real Food and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Blue Ribbon Herbs

Posted on August 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

My second blue ribbon ever.

fair ribbons 044

Again for my herbs.

I have lots more from the fair, but this year again my herbs were the star of my entries. Again, my heirlooms fell short, but I did get three more fourth place ribbons and a fifth place ribbon.

My favorite:

fair ribbons 034

Fifth place for my ornamental vegetable display. This is the first time I did an ornamental display. I am learning from the other participants how to arrange what I submit. I was pleased to get the ribbon though.

As for the fourth places, they included:

fair ribbons 040

My yellow plum tomatoes.

fair ribbons 037

My yellow onions.

fair ribbons 035

And for most unusual vegetable. My cardoons.

I’m happy. I did twelve entries and won five ribbons. Not a bad return on investment, so to speak.

I love participating in the county fair. It’s small enough to not be intimidating, but large enough to have some serious competition. The people are really nice and help us newer entrants.

If I could only get my heirloom tomatoes to ripen in time, I would be ecstatic.

We will be at the fair at least four days, maybe five. We love to watch the 4-H’ers show their animals.

We visited our friends in the barn, and checked out some of their daughter’s animals. Like her lambs.

fair ribbons 014

All decked out to keep nice and clean before they are shown.

fair ribbons 017

And, some of their goats.

Tomorrow we will go and visit, seeing how their pigs are doing. They weren’t there yet, yesterday. I am so impressed with the dedication of the 4-H’ers to their animals.

To us. the fair isn’t about the midway and the rides, it’s about the community.

2 Comments

Posted in Commentary, Community, Farms, Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, West HoCo and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →