July 18th-- Cherry Butter

I got some cherries the other day. 3 lbs of them. Beautiful ripe Rainiers. Then I realized that we shouldn't eat 3 pounds just like that. There are consequences to eating that many cherries... At any rate I have never really liked preserved cherries in any form so I've been debating what to do with these. Most cherry recipes are for Bing or some other type of dark or tart cherry, not the sweet, white, Rainiers. I did finally find a couple of cherry jam recipes that sounded worth a try, but they call for pectin. I don't have any in the pantry and I'm not going to the store while Bear is napping.

So on to the decision to make butter. I've made apple and plum butter, but not cherry. The pectin was the final decision maker, but as I was slicing to pit the cherries I realized another benefit to butter. You don't have to be super careful with the fruit. Bruised imperfect cherries can go in, unlike all the other recipes for preserving cherries that call for perfect fruits. Whew. I'm not good at being that careful. Yet another benefit: I can use my crock pot to cook the cherries. A plus for sure when it is supposed to be in the 90s again today.

If everything goes well, I will post pictures and more of a step-by-step of canning the butter etc. We'll see if the taste is even worth putting up. Starting this next month is when I really wish I was a stay-at-home mom. The harvest of the garden starts to really get going and I sure could use the time at home. Maybe I'll be able to save some vacation next year and take a week in the fall to put up canned goods. Right now I just have weekends. One way to help this out is to freeze things until I can get to it on the weekend.

Speaking of freezing things...I'd better get going on the big batch of blueberries that I got with the cherries. And next month the huckleberries ought to be ready! Mmmm...I love the glut of summer fruits and berries.

July 17th Carrots and Beets

They are out, washed, and sitting in the sink. Now I have to decide what to do with them. Do I turn them into baby food? Maybe pickle the beets? Stew the carrots? Hmmm... This is the bad part of the garden. Deciding which is going to be the best way to enjoy the bounty. Fresh carrots are a completely different animal from those at the store. Beets I like, but in small amounts, and no one else in the family likes them. I put them in the garden because they are easy to grow.

The peas are getting past their prime. That is an easy decision. Shell them and put 'em in the freezer. That is if I can get them past a little boy. For as much as he doesn't like the carrots or beets he LOVES peas from the garden. In the pod or out, but generally not cooked. Come to think of it though I haven't tried cooking the ones from the garden. They never made it that far.

I've pulled most of my lettuce and did pull all the spinach. So my first bed is almost done. A few carrots left along with the peas and green onions. Once the peas and bachelor buttons are done that bed is going to get cleaned up and I'm thinking I'll mulch over it with my compost pile. This bed has a lot of clay to it. Originally I was thinking of planting something else, but I just don't think it is going to happen this year. I'm not all that ambitous.

Besides, I'm going to soon have onions, beans, tomatoes, and corn to deal with. I'm not sure what is going on with my red potatoes. I think some sort of bug has gotten to them. They never flowered and they are yellowing and wilting. Either that or a disease.

My main bug of blame this year (and last) has been slugs! I have a veritable slug farm. Anyone need slugs? Maybe someone wants to rent a garden area to feed their ducks or chickens? I could keep some birds pretty darn happy for quite some time.

Well, I think I'm off to try to put some dinner together and make a decision about my beets and carrots. Maybe.

July 10th beginning to harvest

Peas, and beets. I just got done freezing a batch of peas. I have one jar of pickled beets in the fridge (they haven't been processed), and I've got some strawberries and currants in the freezer as well. I want to do jams etc with the strawberries and currants, but haven't gotten enough at one time. So I'm freezing them and then I'll go back and make jams, jellies, syrups etc later. Maybe even this winter.

I have some rogue pumpkins growing and I have an insane number of slugs. I need a duck or something to get rid of them. The slugs that is. At least I'm getting a harvest. It won't be long and I'll need to do some major garden clean up. Spinach and lettuce are pretty well done. The beets should be coming out soon too. Even the carrots are right there on the cusp of ready.

I need to figure out some baby food recipes using these things. Then they will be put to good use.