Freezing Green Peppers

Here's  is what I am doing today... I picked 26 this morning! I think I am going to chop them and freeze them in sandwich bags for pizza, fajitas, curry, and soups in the winter!

Plus this is what Mike came home with last night after a bike ride. As if I need ANY MORE (although it was a nice gesture from a neighbor).

In other news, our first watermelon was ready yesterday! It's safe to say we have produce coming out our ears!

Keepin' Up!

Is it really the end of summer already?

I am in that stage of gardening when I feel like I just can't keep up! Everything is in full swing and the harvest is plentiful! (I recently told my sister and friends I was excited for harvest time, and they laughed at me and called me "Farmer Lauren".) It's a rewarding time, but I also feel overwhelmed. A gardening neighbor of mine agreed, sometimes you just get tired!

Ty ate a whole tomato yesterday and I celebrated! My girls don't eat them very well. I picked six yesterday, and then 21 today!

My second planting of green beans is in full production. It was nice to have two crops this year (I planted a second row in July after my spinach died). We usually have some every couple of nights with dinner, but this yield called for desperate measures!

My favorite way to prepare green beans is simple--just butter and salt. I get a pot of water to a rolling boil, then dump them in and boil uncovered for about 10 minutes.

Last night, however, I broke out a recipe that's a Thanksgiving staple in our house. It's green bean casserole like you've never had it before.... especially if you have fresh herbs. It was to die for!

Herbed Green Bean Casserole

2 (14 oz) cans green beans, drained (or a colander full of fresh beans!)
3/4 cup breadcrumbs, divided (I often put fresh bread in my food processor and pulse it into crumbs)
2 teaspoons dried basil (or a handful of fresh)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 9I tried to cloves of fresh garlic last night and loved it!)
1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 350.

2.  Drain the beans and place in a bowl.

3.  Mix all of the dry ingredients and the oil into the green beans, reserving 2 tablespoons of crumb mixture.

4.  Place in a baking dish and sprinkle reserved breadcrumb/herb mixture over the top.

5.  Bake 30 minutes or until the top is golden and crispy.

Another quick recipe... My neighbor just gave me a bunch of kale and recommended I try kale chips, and I was not sorry! In fact, they were so good I ate them for a bedtime snack (which is usually more like ice cream... a treat I can get away with after the kids are in bed!). It was so easy and so yummy.

1 bunch kale, rinsed and dried well
2 Tbsp olive oil
Fresh Parmesan
salt

Simply tear the kale into bite size pieces, coat pan and kale with oil, and sprinkle with cheese and salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until crunchy. Enjoy!

92 Ears of Corn

Yesterday was corn pickin' day.

It was high time to get it done. In fact, I almost missed the window due to ignorance. This is the first time I have grown corn, and I didn't know there is only a short window of about 10 days when the corn is perfect for picking!

On August 7th we picked our first six ears and it seemed a little immature so we waited a little longer. Then on August 17th we picked some and a few of them seemed almost chewy, which means they had dried out! The best rule of thumb I have found it to pick corn when the silk on top is still green and fresh, and not to wait too long after it turns brown.

So yesterday I rallied the troops and we went out to the garden and picked every ear we could find.... all 69 of them! Combined with earlier pickings our yield was a whopping 92 ears! This amazes me, not only because of the large quantity, but because Mike made a spreadsheet with yield calculations when we planned our garden, and we thought we'd get about 90 ears of corn. Pretty close, eh?

 

My little helping hands...

All loaded up!

I spent the afternoon shucking on the front porch, which was actually very enjoyable now that the temps are not quite so hot and I have pretty plants to look at.

After a four minute dip in boiling water (called blanching to destroy the enzymes before freezing), the cobs were ready for cutting.
 

I read about this awesome idea for cutting corn off the cob--use a bundt pan! It worked beautifully! I just used a sharp knife and spun the pan as I went. 

It seems crazy that 69 ears of corn only filled up 5 gallon bags, but it also filled up two large trash bags with husks and cobs!

I am excited to have fresh sweet corn for the winter and I'm already salivating over recipes like corn chowder and chicken barley chili (with corn). Luckily I saved a few cobs in the fridge to enjoy one last time for dinner... there's nothing like fresh corn on the cob!

Two Cantaloupes!

Our first two cantaloupes ripened, and these two kids were pretty excited about it. We went through them in about a day!

YUM!

Ripe and Ready

My Relief Society president called me on Monday and asked if I wanted fresh blackberries.... well of course I did! She gave us a huge tub and I was thinking we would have to freeze some for later, but we've gone through almost all of them!

We eat them for breakfast....

Lunch....

Dinner... and snacks in between! We used them in smoothies too, and if I have enough left tomorrow I might make a crumble or pie. Ty would eat ALL of them if I let him, he loves them so much!

Another fun thing that's ready to eat is our corn! It's so plump and sweet that I ate one right off stalk, without even taking it inside.

 My girls like to help me "peel" it to get ready for dinner.

Mmmmmm.... nothing like fresh, sweet corn.

We have a lot and of course it's all coming on at the same time so I am thinking of freezing some next week.

Speaking of a lot, I think I have about 50 jalapenos!!! I am using some in salsa but then I might chop and freeze the rest. I know some people can them or make jelly... any other ideas?

Working on canning salsa today! YUM!

Finally, I try to be vigilant about picking my zucchini every day, but this lurker really got away from me!

Planted Some Plants

We broke down and bought a few perennials and shrubs for our flowers beds! It became a family affair to plant them over the weekend. 

We bought everything pretty small (cheaper) and tried to give them room to fill in over time. One of my pet peeves it when people plant things way too close together--it may look good at first, but in a few years things get overgrown!

In the shade we added three laurels and three purple heuchera, and in the sun we planted grasses, salvia, daylilies, a mini Colorado blue spruce, phlox, rudebeckia, and a purple sand cherry.

We love these grasses! We want to go buy a bunch more and spread them throughout the landscape.

Oh, and I also got this lime green hydrangea! I absolutely love it and hope it adapts well to our soil... they prefer acidity, which we do not have in Utah!

It kind of looks like we're getting somewhere. I'll refrain from listing everything we still need to do to finish the yard...

Homemade Pickles

You know it is time for action when you have seven cucumbers on your counter and your family is already getting cucumber fatigue.

I looked up a pickle recipe online and tried it out. It's a little too sweet for me so next time I'll probably cut back on the sugar.

Refrigerator Pickles

2 large cucumbers
1 small onion
2 stalks celery
1 green pepper
1 clove garlic
Dill 

Boil:
1 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. salt (or less)
1 1/2 c. water

Slice vegetables thin. Put in plastic or glass container along with dill and garlic. Boil brine mixture and let cool. Pour over sliced pickles and refrigerate. Ready to eat in 2-3 days and keeps well.

(Recipe adapted from cooks.com)