Will it just rain, already???

It has been very dry here in central Indiana this summer, since the beginning of July.  Oh, sure, I griped about too much in May and June when we cut the grass twice a week.  I mowed Friday, it took me all of about 10 minutes, and that was just to knock off the tops of seeded grass and some hardy weeds.   I looked like a speed demon on the big Grasshopper ZTR (zero turn radius) mower.  When we first brought that sucker into town to mow our very big lot, the neighbors all came out to watch me, they all have postage stamp lots.   It was great having an audience until I killed it on a sneaky stump.  And looked ridiculous going to get Bill to help me get it started again.  So much for looking cool on a mower.

My tomatoes are starting to look pathetic, so I put out a "fan" sprinkler, you know the kind. I can't think of the real name.  I moved it around to hit all the parts of the garden.  The ground was still damp a day later, that hasn't happened for a while.   What little rain we have had just seems to soak back up into the atmosphere.  I have picked blackberries (we have determined they are NOT black raspberries) about a half cup at a time.  I cut back hard last year and must have cut back some canes that were needed this year.  They fruit on last year's new canes, so I have to be careful where I trim.  I should have a bumper crop next year,  I have lots of new canes this year. 

We put out the Hav-a-Heart cage for the danged groundhog, and he then decided that he could find better places to eat and left, haven't seen him since.  Bill believes that maybe he did get caught but the fall-down gate didn't latch all the way and he finally got himself out, and was probably spooked by it.  We did, however, catch an opossum.  One of my VA riders (I drive vets to the hospital in Indy) told me they are good eatin'.  Not sure I want to know.  There used to be an old lady at "Beautiful Bud's" hunting/fishing store here in town that would crockpot up some good eatin' and tell you what it was after you ate it.  She was famous for roadkill stew.  I'm sure she turned the stomach of many a tough, macho man hunter in Crawfordsville. 

Down in Parke County is the Rockville Produce Auction, run by a group of Amish businessmen,  a great place to pick up some produce at a very cheap price if you know what you are doing.  I set out yesterday early, got there, no one was there, didn't remember that they pick produce early on Mondays, not late on Sundays, so the auctions start at 1, not 9.    So called my friend who invited me when I got home and put in an order for canner tomatoes, she told me they were going for 25 cents a large box last week.  I have a message to go pick up some this morning from her.   Last year I canned about 100 jars of juice, soup mix, so we could still live on those, but if I can get them really cheaply, I'll make more.  Last year I bought half bushels of green, red, yellow peppers for about $6.  Gave some away, not sure Presbytera Maria REALLY appreciated me handing her a big box of peppers.....One year I bought 3-- 25 lb. bags of potatoes for $10, sold two before I got them off the pallet.  Sometimes people will hover and wait until someone else buys a large quantity and then they will sidle up to you and ask for a small quantity.  It's all part of the game of the auction.  The best auctions I have been to have been in Sept. when the chrysanthemums are going cheap and going in great quantities.  The buggies and wagons from the Amish farms show up early and arrange their mums by color, size, number all around the edge of the parking lot, it's a lovely sight.  You buy in batches of 25, 50, 75.  They go for anywhere from $1 each to $15 for HUGE pot mums.  Sounds great until you figure out the kids have to sit on top of the van to get the 25 mums in.  I had to laugh once when some ladies from Indy came out and bought about 100 and had to call someone to come with another truck to take them back. I think I got some beauties from them for $2/each.

I drove home on gravel roads and here are some of the sights..Have you ever seen so many huge punkins in one place before?? Their porch was full of larger-than -bushel-basket white pumpkins.

Then I drove down the road and had to share right-of-way with these ladies....

They are either female turkeys or guinea hens. I'm not sure. 

I wanted to show you something I "jury rigged" in my tomato patch.  I had planted cantaloupe alongside the toms, and they found their way up the climbing fence.  They may eventually fall off the vine because of their weight, so I found some old panty hose and rigged up a sling.

Here are some potatoes as they are being dug up.  I think this is one of the fun things to do at the end of the season, digging up "taters."   You will never eat anything fresher tasting than newly dug potatoes.  You have to wait until the vines are dying and falling over, you can even leave them in the ground and dig as you please until about frost time.  Just remember where you planted, because the dried vine can sometimes break off from the ground, and then you're not quite sure where the tubers are.  Boil up with some mint and peas,  yum....
The sweet potatoes won't be ready yet for maybe another month, so I just keep watering them, hoping something is growing down there.

Something else very special has appeared in my "Mommy garden."   I didn't even know I had planted it.   That's number 44,  the new kicker/punter on the JV football team, Robert Combs.   He plays JV soccer, and tried out for football kicker.  I'm not sure he even knows what football is all about besides getting the ball down the field.  He was getting fitted for his uniform and the coach was dressing him, as Bill was shoving food in his mouth after soccer practice last night.  So now I gotta go to two or three soccer matches a week, along with at least one or two football games, so if I disappear from here, I have grown to the bleachers at CHS.  We are all very proud of him.  We DID see something funny before the game yesterday, he was practicing a punt, didn't step it off well, and kicked the center in the butt......

Sent Bailey, the oldest, off to Wabash College on Saturday.  It's about 10 blocks from our house, so we are saving the housing fee ($8100, choke) by having him stay at home, and he enjoys the walk.  Maybe not in February, but right now he's okay with it.  I started my kids out young with lots of long walks, they aren't bothered by it now.   I think he will thrive there, it's a liberal arts college, with about 850 young men, no women.  Let's see how it works. 
 
I am still supplying church flowers from my garden, the  hydrangeas and "cut and come again" zinnias have been a Godsend in this heat, when the perennials are sneaking back into dormancy. 

Dianne, dirt, sweat, and watering can in hand....

Rosemary-Chevre Soup: Another Recipe

The basil is overflowing, the heirloom tomatoes just beginning to turn out all over. Tomorrow, I plan to serve some "Greek" dishes to friends. I tried this variant idea on Lemon Rice Soup for my family.

1/2 C canned white beans such as butter beans or cannellini
1/2 C. quinoa
2 garlic cloves, minced or 2T garlic juice
2T Extra virgin, unfiltered olive oil
3-4 oz herbed chevre
2T dried rosemary or 1/4c fresh and snipped rosemary
1c whole wheat shells
2 cubes of vegetarian boullion +8 cups water
or 8 cups vegetable stock
1 T lemon extract or the juice of two lemons

Saute quinoa and garlic in olive oil (add garlic juice after quinoa has turned light brown).
Stir in water, bouillon, or stock, shells and lemon juice or extract, and beans.  Bring to light boil until pasta is al dente. Turn off the heat and stir in chevre until melted through.

Enjoy with sides of crusty bread, kalamata olives, Fatoush, melon or watermelon feta salad and falafel with minted greek yogurt.

PS-

My melon recipe is a variation on this one, but I use 1/4 c dry red wine and 1/4 kalamata brine with the balsamic. I skip the olive oil and change out red onions. I prefer shallots.

GROUNDHOG is taking a vacation

Because we're gonna catch him, and send him on his way!!!  We're borrowing a live trap from a friend who also gardens, catching the little muncher and giving him a new place to live, far, far away!

 Well, dang it,   we just had the driest and hottest July on record.  Period.  Yesterday the county north of us got 1" of rain, we got nothin'. The ground feels like concrete, I haven't mowed in three weeks, and my potted flowers look sick, even though I have watered sometimes twice daily.  Don't ask about the green peppers, they are not amused.   They have shriveled up and gotten spots on them. 

I have been processing tomatoes every three days, just enough to fill some gallon bags, to put into the freezer.  I put them into a big pot of boiling water, and cook until the skins start to shed, then immediately dump into cold water in the sink.  That should make skinning them quite easy. Not hot water bathing yet, it's just too hot to heat up the house.  Hot water bath is a big, open-topped canner with water over the tops of the jars, and boiling for a specified length of time.  I heard somone the other day tell me that she was going to process green beans with hot jars, hot vinegar, and hot water bath.  I asked her if she intended to kill her family.   There are NO veggies besides tomatoes that are correct to hot water bath.     It works with tomatoes because they have lots of acid, that kill the botulism  bacteria.   Green beans do NOT, and must be pressure canned. If you add anything to the tomatoes to make a salsa, or soup mix, there is only a small amount you can add before it lowers the acid level enough to use pressure.   Botulism is not necessarily evident to your eyes, nose, or tongue when present, so don't attempt changing times, pressures, or skimping on cleanliness.
http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8072.pdf  This is from U. of California, (I'm too lazy to find the Purdue stuff) that talks about botulism.  I would only trust canning instructions from a university, a canning jar company, or a reputable book.  I found some online stuff that was not quite accurate.

When using a canner, you need to do some maintenance. 

This doesn't look exactly like mine, but they all work the same way.  If you look on the back of the lid, you see a red dot.  This is very important.  This is a red rubber membrane that aids in gaining a vacuum inside the canner.  I had an old one once that never let the lid seal, and it took over an hour to get pressure, which is ridiculous, it should only take about 10-15 minutes.  I went to Ace Hardware and found the canning section, bought a new one, and it works great.  Inside the lid is a big rubber ring, this also helps with the vacuum.  They age, and need replacing every few years.  Doing these two things will eliminate a lot of frustration in your canning day.  Take yours with you, or your manual, to get the right size.
 

Here are some proper tools for canning.  The long 'knife' in front is for running around inside the glass to eliminate air bubbles in the product, which can spoil food.  Timer is important, use whatever you have, and don't get distracted.  The next thing is the jar lid tightener. I don't use it so much, but you can to keep from burning your hands.  Read directions for tightness needed.  The tongs are used to fill jars, or move hot tomatoes to cold water.  The last item is the jar lifter, VERY necessary.  Once the hot bath timer is done, you must get the jars out of the water, to hasten the sealing.  You REALLY don't want to be distracted or bothered when taking jars out of the canner, or boiling bath, because if you drop it, everyone gets badly burned. Put jars on counter, cover with a towel, and listen for the "Ping!" of the sealing lids. If you have a jar that doesn't ping, DON'T force the center of the lid down.  Just put the jar in the fridge and eat whatever was in there this week  The green cup thingie is for loading jars.  Quite handy.
I can hear you now--"But , Dianne, oh Goddess of the Garden, I don't HAVE these wonderful items with which to can all the lovelies from my garden, or whatever I happen to steal from the neighbor's, what shall I do?"  I highly suggest posting a notice at work or church, and telling people that you will gladly relieve them of that big pile of jars in their, or their mother's basement, garage, shed.  You can come over this week and get them.  Many older ladies, with no kids at home, quit canning , but don't get rid of their stuff.  They would be glad to have someone come and get them.  If they seem hesitant, or want money, offer to mow their lawn, or rake some leaves or something.  Jars cost money and you will need lots.  Canners can be over $50 new.  Buying jars from the market is prohibitive if you plan on being self sufficient. Offer to share some of your stuff with her.  Check freecycle (an online free recycling site for local things), or Craig's list.  Maria does all that, she finds all kids of stuff on there.  She recently found big, plastic food grade 55 gallon drums for rain barrels.  Several people pitched in and they got a deal. 

I have been gathering black raspberries the last couple weeks, from my backyard patch.  I'm freezing small bags, waiting to get enough to make some jam.  It has been so dry that the berries are really full, but tart, so I think jam is a better use for them.  My grapes ought to be sour enough this year to make some great wine, anyone up for that??? I've never done it.  We just love jelly.   I process grapes to juice, and then freeze it, to make jelly on an open window day in October.  

Remember earlier in the spring when I talked about testing my soil, and adding nutrients?? Well, I can tell you that this has been one of the healthiest tomato crops I have ever had.  No blossom end rot, (from low calcium), lots of leaves ( I upped nitrogen), and everything else looks great. 

Canning is a great way to preserve the summer sunshine from your garden,  just be CLEAN, be ACCURATE, be SMART with what you're preserving.

Dianne, dirty feet, and all