Another use for our jams and jellies

It's the Christmas season and we are baking in the kitchen using our jams and jellies and snacking on our fresh kiwi.
We decided to make thumbprint cookies. Check out the pic below to view how we make them.

The red is Strawberry Fig jam . The green is mint jelly and the yellow is Lemon Marmalade.

Lemons and Peppers finish the season

Is it really the end of November and we're still picking vegetables and fruits? 
Take a look at the abundance of peppers and lemons we picked over Thanksgiving Break.
We froze most of the peppers but the lemons were turned into lemonade concentrate, perfect to freeze and use it this spring. We also stayed with the jelly and jam theme and made lemon marmalade.
This is our first time with lemon marmalade but the first batch is great.

 

Kiwis and Thanksgiving

Do you know what 50 kiwis look like?
Look below and you'll find out.
We picked these yesterday ahead of the frost we had last night.

Kiwis set fruit in their 4th year. These are the product of one four year old tree. Next year we will have 4 more four year old trees.

These are sweet as sugar and will complete the ripening process inside in a few days

Even in the winter, there's always activity in the Backyard Garden!

Zipper peas and Kiwis

Much to our surprise this weekend, we picked and processed 3 more quarts of zipper peas.
They've only had water and care on the weekends, nothing during the week because of our schedules. Looks like we'll be able to pick again this weekend too. 

Here's our first kiwi too. All of them should be ready in the next week. We should have 50 or so in our first year picking.
A side note: Kiwis are easy to grow and can survive the cold weather. Vines grow at a fast pace and start producing fruit in their 4th year of growth. We have 8 vines but only 2 of them are 4 years old. Next year the other six will be in their 4th year, so we're looking forward to a year from now and many more kiwis.

 

Tropical storm warning and the backyard garden

Here's a first. We are canning peppers for jelly, picking zipper peas for freezing and we end up with a tropical storm warning.  That's never happened before. We had wind and over 3 inches of rain in a day.
The backyard garden fared well, we actually needed some rain for the peppers and peas but there's a lot of small branches and debris to clean up. We are fortunate not to be affected like they were in Florida though.

Picking and canning in September

We had a great picking day yesterday especially with the first zipper peas of the season. Looks like vegetables for dinner tonight. We also picked our weekly amounts of sweet and hot peppers which we turned into pepper jelly, pickled jalapenos and hot bananas, mint jelly and pineapple jalapeno jelly.

Still picking vegetables!!

Even though we are approaching the end of August and have been picking and canning since mid June, the backyard garden is still producing vegetables. Check out the peppers, hot and sweet banana and jalapenos, plus throw in a few late arriving tomatoes and we have more vegetables to eat and process. 
All the vegetables are in the last stages of producing except the peppers obviously and the zipper peas we planted in July.  They are doing very well  and we should be picking peas for the first time ever in another week. 
That's exciting!!

August dog days

Even though we are in the midst of the dog days of August, we are still somewhat active in the backyard garden.
The tomatoes are finished producing except for a few plants that are hanging on despite the succession of 90+ degree days. It's that time of the summer where we have plenty of bed space to plant. It's tempting to get started again but we know it's best to wait a month or so before we begin the fall planting season when the weather cools a bit.
We did put up another 7 jars of pepper jelly though. Peppers should produce until the first frost and in the past they thrive in cooler weather like the 70's and low 80's.

Bringing the heat

No not the temperatures outside (although the dog days are here) but the pickled jalapenos and hot banana peppers. As you can see we harvested a good number of hot bananas and jalapenos this morning and turned them into 9 pints of pickled peppers. Just what we do, especially on weekends during this time of year.

More peppers and figs

Even though the season is quickly winding down and posts to this blog are less frequent,  we are still harvesting figs and bell peppers, banana peppers and jalapenos in great numbers. We made more of our delicious strawberry fig jam today and also added to our pepper jelly numbers as well, 14 more jars! The picture of the figs is what was left after we had already made 5 jars! Needless to say, we canned another 5 jars with these.

Cantaloupes

Check out the cantaloupe we grew in our backyard garden. Planted in May from seeds, we were happy to harvest a few considering they were something of an after thought. ( We have some extra space over here where I don't think anything will grow,  what can we plant? Let's try cantaloupes.) 

It's that time of the season

It's that time of the season where the garden has produced most of what will be picked. It's time to start cleaning out the beds which just weeks ago were green and growing. We are picking peppers, figs, and a few tomatoes. The zipper peas we planted in the bean patch are very healthy and will be fun to watch and hopefully pick in a couple of weeks. The peppers will produce till the first frost so we have several more months of picking them. It will be a great year for pepper jelly too.

Thought the tomatoes were slowing down but........

The tomatoes have slowed down a good bit since their peak two weeks ago but look below what we still have on the table. 
The main difference is the size and frequency we pick. We see fewer of what I call "big" tomatoes and many more smaller ones. still great tasting though. We also pick every other day now instead of every day.
Of course other vegetables like figs are just reaching their peak so there's still plenty of picking going on.

Picking figs and peppers and ........

Even though we've been picking since the 3rd week of June, the backyard garden is still producing vegetables and fruit. Today we picked over 60 figs, peppers, cucumbers- the latest in the season we have ever picked cucumbers- and of course tomatoes. 
Tomorrow we'll make mint jelly, fig jam and more of that delicious tomato jam!

 

Still picking and canning vegetables

Even though the garden has slowed down due to the hot weather and end of season stress, we are still picking and canning into the last week of July. Today we picked tomatoes, okra, peppers, cucumbers and figs. We made our first strawberry fig jam of the season with more figs on the way for sure. 
Click Here to see the video.

We also made more tomato jam (quickly becoming our Favorite tasting dish!), mint jelly and pickles. 

Figs and deja vu

Picked about 25 figs today for the first time this season. They are right on schedule and if last year can be used as a guide we'll pick for the next 2 weeks. Strawberry fig jelly time.

We also processed more tomatoes but as you can see from the picture below, there's still a table full of tomatoes. It's like deja vu but that's why we plant and work the soil in the spring to enjoy the harvest now.

Some days are.....

Some days are picking days, some days are canning days, some days it's both. Yesterday was a picking and canning day to the extreme.
We canned pickles using our cucumbers and our dill and garlic. 
We canned pickled jalapenos with our fresh picked jalapenos.
We canned hot dog relish using our fresh picked cucumbers and peppers.
We also experimented with a new item called tomato jam. We've been looking for something else to do with tomatoes besides salsa and whole tomatoes and I think we found it. Using our tomatoes and herbs, we canned 8 pints of tomato jam. It was sweet tasting and more like a barbecue sauce than a jam. Can't wait to try it as a marinade for chicken or on a cracker with cream cheese or even as a topping for grilled cheese sandwiches. 
We still have a table full of tomatoes too so this recipe will occur again very soon.

Heirloom tomatoes

Most of the tomatoes we grow are of the Big Boy, Better Boy hybrid variety, fast growing fast producing. These hybrids usually produce fruit at 72 days from planting in the ground. We started growing a few heirloom tomatoes several years ago and now we have a whole raised bed dedicated to them.  We grow the Brandywine variety of heirloom tomato. The difference between the hybrids and the heirloom? The maturation date is longer, around 82 days instead of 72. The color is more of a reddish purple instead of bright red. Lastly, the Brandywine are the largest and best tasting of all the ones we grow.
Check out the picture. This could be 5 sandwiches from one tomato but will probably be 2 very, very juicy ones instead. 

More salsa

Lots of tomatoes the last several days. I processed what was ripe from the table yet this is what's left to ripen and process in the coming days. Peppers will also be picked this weekend!

The beginning of salsa time

Salsa time is here! Processed 8 pints today of medium heat salsa and it looks as if I'll process more tomatoes tomorrow. The table is still pretty much full. It usually takes 2 days of processing to be ready for salsa. We try not to waste any vegetables.(actually I think tomatoes are a fruit.)

Just another picking day

Picked a dozen or so okra for the first time this morning. Okra needs warm soil to grow and produce so we always plant it later than everything else. Right now it's 3 feet high but it will double in size in the next month.
Also picked tomatoes and cucumbers. Salsa time tomorrow!

Salsa time

We are officially in tomato time which means it's salsa time too. We use salsa in a number of ways, with chips and tacos but also in casseroles that need the flavor kicked up a notch.
The salsa also includes our  jalapenos which provide just the right amount of heat.
You can see below what was on the table today before processing them into salsa tomorrow.
I'll pick more in the morning too!!
Tomato time. 

Tomatoes are back :)

The tomatoes are back and seem to be right on track for a BIG picking week to come. Over the last 10 years, next week is the average big picking time so we are right on schedule.
Sounds like salsa time!
This what's left after we processed several quarts this morning.

Also, as soon as I posted our favorite rosemary recipes in our last post, we thought of another- Rosemary Bread in the crock pot. Check out the recipe in the sidebar tab but here are some pictures.

This is after 2 1/2 hours in the crockpot 

After 4 minutes under the broiler

Planting something new in July

Here's something you rarely see in our backyard garden in July.
An open area of dark dirt, freshly tilled and ready to be planted.

This area is about 40% of our fenced garden, we utilize the fenced garden for raised beds and for vegetables we want to keep away from the deer and rabbits. 
This was the bean patch that produced 50 quarts of beans. Usually the beans would flower and put on another smaller crop of beans but 50 quarts was enough for us. We tilled it up and tomorrow we'll plant zipper peas for the first time.

This was our harvest for the day- cucumbers, sweet ant hot banana peppers, tomatoes, jalapenos and our first okra pods.

Herbs

Rosemary is one of our favorite herbs that we take from the backyard garden to table.

FACTS
Rosemary- perennial, likes full sun.  Planted today, you can be picking branches in 3-4 months and in a year you'll be wondering how it grew so fast. 

Excellent sources of vitamin A and C and also iron.
Used to flavor salads, soups, olive oil, baked vegetables, butter and meat dishes.

Our favorite use for rosemary? 
We have many but two stand out. 
Both are super easy for even novice cooks.

Click on the links for the recipes.

Rosemary crock pot chicken salad

Rosemary skewered kabobs

Another summer picking day

Just another summer picking day in our backyard garden.
Cucumbers which lead to pickles and peppers which lead to jelly are abundant at this time.
Tomatoes- half the table ready to make salsa and tomato sauce, the other half in line to be processed in a day or two.

Kitchen Herbs

Corn Chowder, with our fresh corn, is on the menu tonight along with fresh salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. 

We decided to add some rosemary to the chowder for flavoring. Where do we find rosemary?Not a problem, we go to our kitchen herbs and  it's literally one step from the back door.

Check out how close and how much rosemary we have in our backyard garden.

More on the herbs we grow and use later in the summer.

Corncob jelly

We tried an old time favorite this weekend and it turned out great! Corncob jelly has been around for a long time, no you don't leave the corncob in the jelly jar, although I've heard of people doing that. It's made with the stock from corncobs though. Just another way to utilize everything from the vegetable or animal for that matter. How many of you make stock from Thanksgiving turkey carcass or make shrimp stock from the heads and shells? We do and it certainly adds a ton of flavor for future dishes.

We put a dozen of our corncobs in a pot, added water and then brought it to a boil. After 30 minutes we had the stock for the jelly, then we added sugar, pectin and put them in the canner for 10 minutes. The taste is sweet with a hint of corn and we made 17 jars.

The tomatoes have slowed down, although we still have 20 on the table, too much rain with too few consecutive sunny days. On average, for the last 10 years the second week in July is usually the time where we are inundated with tomatoes. 
Until then,the tomato sandwiches and salads filled with cucumbers and cherry tomatoes sure taste good!! 

Jelly Time

Today we were up early trying to beat the rain. We picked numerous banana peppers, hot and sweet, Bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, the last of the green beans and eggplant.

These vegetables were processed into 18 jars of pepper jelly and 3 jars of pickled Jalapenos.

Yesterday we canned 5 quarts of whole tomatoes. We love fresh tomatoes in pasta, stews and other dishes all throughout the year.

Pickle time tomorrow! It's a great time of the year!