As you can read in previous posts, the garden has been a productive enterprise so far this year. I've had many salads and fresh veggies and have 8 meals of zucchini as well as 4 bags of diced stuff for stews and such, in the freezer. There are many blossoms and teeny tiny new ones on the plants so I expect more to come, which means next weekend I'll be forcing, uh giving, away the over abundance. I gave the whole garden a strong shot of Miracle Grow yesterday, I have a bad feeling about that. This is the first year in ages I've had peppers that have taken off. This is a warning and a reminder to myself: do not plant 4 jalapeno pepper plants. I have jalapenos everywhere, on the plants, in the refrigerator bin and now strung up in the kitchen window. There is just no reason to waste a single piece of good food so I "Googled" how to dry peppers. This method involved me stringing them up and putting them in a sunny window. Apparently it takes a longer time to dry them this way, but now I'm feeling positively Susie Homemakerish. I went out on a limb and strung up a bunch of banana peppers too. There are only 2 plants but again, they are full of veg. If all goes well and these peppers actually do dry out I'll be able to leave them whole or grind them up for use in soups, stews, sauces, etc.
I'm looking at tomatoes that if they all ripen at the same time will bury me alive. In particular the Romas. This is a good thing since they are the base for canning sauces and SALSA! I wish I could add little maraca sounds to this blog. Ole!
A bit ago I dried an oven full of herbs and had the chance to use both some of the basil and oregano today. I had a group of sad looking green tomatoes that would not ripen and were looking like they wanted to rot at any moment, so they are chopped up stewing now with onions and green peppers from the garden. I have no idea what the mixture will end up as before it is frozen, but it has my dried herbs in it. I'm thinking of calling it Green Tomato Sauce Base. At some point this winter when I actually give in and attempt to use it, I'll report back. I need another trip into Manchester tomorrow as I forgot an important ingredient, and tomorrow my plan is to do a little canning of what I'm calling "Wild Apple Jam". And I think I may have enough pickling cucs to take a run at some bread and butter pickles. Say a prayer to Julie Child.
I'm excited to report the appearance of several butternut squash as well--again, if they can get to the right size before this next weekend I'll be shoving them in a bag for my MN and WI friends. Hmm...I wonder if next year I could double my efforts and set myself up at dogs shows as a vendor...
Until next time...
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