From the table to the jelly jar

We finally had some time to make our first batch of Kiwi jam and it was very tasty. 
Sweet but with a little tartness like lime but it's kiwi. We picked close to 400 kiwi in the dark with a flashlight to beat the oncoming freezing weather!
I'll be bringing  a sample to taste this week.
Check out the process, from the table to the jars!!

 

Jelly time is in full swing but look at what we are picking!!

Check out what we picked  Thursday and Monday. Over 400 kiwis and turnips. Collards and mustard greens are ready too.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

 
 

It's almost jelly time!!!

I wanted to also give you a glimpse of what we are growing this Fall too.
Check out the collards, mustard greens, broccoli and turnip greens. All doing well and waiting for the cool weather.

 Collards

Mustard 

Broccoli

Turnip greens

Peppers are loving this weather

Today we picked an abundance of peppers, shishito, bell, sweet and hot banana, jalapenos, and lunch box peppers. We processed some of the hot peppers but had  homemade pizza with fresh peppers too.
Even though it's been in the low 90's for 2 straight weeks, peppers love this as opposed to the upper 90's. These peppers will produce til the first frost too,  so we have 6 more weeks of enjoying these beautiful peppers.
Also, we are in the process of putting together a list of what we will be selling this fall.
We have an abundance of most (Strawberry fig jam, pepper jelly) but there are a few items we sold last year that are in limited supply. ( garlic dill pickles, zucchini peach jam)
Also because of our awesome fig harvest, we created fig preserves and fig jelly which are delicious.
Look for this list on the blog later next week.

Pickle time

We finally  processed several cookings of pickles this week. The cucumber season has definitely been strange in that usually we finish with the cucumbers the latter part of July. 

This year the season was difficult to say the least with too much water then not enough water. In the end though, we made the garlic dill pickles that everyone loved last year.

Vegetables are still producing especially peppers

With the start of school upon us, the time spent in the backyard garden has decreased during the weekdays. However, the weekend is still a time to care, tend and pick the garden.
This weekend we canned fig and pepper jellies and jams. The figs are declining, after a month of picking, but we still pick 15-20 every other day. 
The peppers are going strong and will produce to the first frost. Hard to believe they'll still be producing until the cooler weather arrives. Right now in the thick of heat and humidity it's hard to believe it will ever be cooler.

Fig Cobbler

Here's another solution to our abundance of figs- Fig Cobbler. 
See the link in our recipe section for instructions.

Today we made another 20 jars of Strawberry Fig jam and another 5 jars of fig preserves. 
These beautiful figs are ready to become a delicious fig cobbler.

More figs, garlic dill pickles and pickled jalapenos

We love this time of year despite the hot and humid weather. 
We tend to the garden and the yard but usually are inside canning by noon. 
We also have areas that are open for planting such as our corn patch. The corn has been harvested, the bed has been cleared, we just need to decide what we can plant there that can tolerate the heat and a lack of steady care as we near the beginning of school.

Today was our third straight day of canning with  more to come tomorrow.
We pickled jalapenos, hot bananas and canned garlic dill pickles and of course strawberry fig jam. 

Figs, figs, figs and there's more to come

The figs are definitely approaching their peak season as you can see by the picture below. Yesterday we canned 42 jars of strawberry fig jam. Last year our total output of this jam was 51 jars! 
As I said, the figs are approaching their peak which means there are plenty more to pick so we'll process more jars tomorrow but probably only 8-10 jars thankfully. 
In fact we have just started to pick our oldest fig tree which produces the biggest figs. Definitely in Fig season though.

 These figs turned into 42 jars of strawberry fig jam.
                                                   

   

In the middle of peak harvest

Peak harvest has arrived and for the next two weeks we will pick an abundance of everything in the backyard garden. Today's picking led to canning strawberry fig jam 6 jars, seven jars of pepper jelly and another 10 jars of tomato jam.
After the entire afternoon of canning, this is what we still have to process or eat on the counter.

 Strawberry fig jam

What we have left after an afternoon of canning

The figs have arrived

The backyard gardens harvest is in full swing now with tomatoes, peppers, okra, and figs in abundance. This is peak season for most of our vegetables and fruits but the figs usually peak towards the end of July. The picture below is a two day harvest. Imagine how many we'll be picking by the end of the month. Figs are used to make our favorite strawberry fig jam and can be dried as well.

More peas to pick

July 4th and of course we are in the garden picking.
We actually picked twice the amount of heirloom peas than we did two days ago and that's only the beginning of the harvest. We always thought you needed acreage to plant peas. However, last year we planted zipper peas and this year we tried these heirlooms and we are certainly enjoying a multitude of peas from our backyard garden .
We also picked peppers, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. We'll can tomato jam and more jelly tomorrow too.

Best harvest yet

We picked a good amount of vegetables today, in fact it was our best day so far this season. We also realize it is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, There's still an abundance of vegetables yet to come but it's good to see the bell peppers and corn and even the peas getting close to being picked.
Check out the pic of what we have on the counter and check out the video too.

Colorful

Had a very colorful harvest this morning as you can see from the picture below. We picked purple- eggplant, yellow-banana pepper and squash, green- cucumber and jalapenos and red- cherry tomatoes.
The corn and bell peppers will be ready next week and the tomatoes and peas are following close behind. It's definitely our favorite time of the year in our backyard garden.

Zucchini peach jam

We are picking jalapeno peppers, sweet banana peppers, shishito peppers, eggplant, squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and a few larger tomatoes too. The corn is growing fast and if we can keep the squirrels away, we'll be picking that in the next ten days or so also. The fig trees are full of fruit and are due the latter part of July.
Yesterday was a canning day as we processed nine jars of  pineapple jalapeno jelly and 9 jars of another of our favorites, zucchini peach jam.
Cucumbers are beginning to produce and we'll be making pickles very soon too.

The first jelly/ jam of the season!

As you can see, there was a good harvest today with an assortment of vegetables. shisito peppers, sweet banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, zucchini. squash, cucumbers and yes some small tomatoes.

We also started the jelly making process with one of our favorites pineapple jalapeno jelly. If you'd like some, just email me.

On the schedule for tomorrow, canning zucchini peach jam and turning our cucumbers into dill pickles.

Let the harvest begin!

The weather has finally improved over the past week and the vegetables are responding as are the herbs, especially the mint.
As you can see below, we picked squash, eggplant, zucchini and an assortment of banana, shishito and jalapeno peppers. 

Rain, rain and it's time to pick vegetables

This growing season has been unusual to say the least. First we had an abnormally chilly April then it warmed up but three weeks ago it started raining. Vegetables like water and we've enjoyed not watering the garden every other day but vegetables like sunshine and consistency too. The excess of rain has interfered with their growth but hopefully sunny days are ahead.
We have started the picking( and eating) process though. 
Check out the squash, zucchini and eggplant that we turned into a delicious ratatouille.

   

 

Before and after

Picture comparison time.

Check out the before and after pictures. 

The first pictures are from the beginning of the season 6 weeks ago.

The ones on the right were taken today.

     

    

The last picture is the kiwi and our new patio.

Planting time

It was good to have two days of the weekend with perfect gardening weather. Rainy Sundays had become commonplace and we were anxious for a change. We were able to plant all of our vegetables with the exception of several plants that we are holding back waiting for that perfect spot.
Every year we emphasize certain vegetables based on what we need.  Decisions, decisions. For instance, green beans were in abundance in our garden last year but this year we're cutting back mainly due to the amount we still have on hand in the freezer.
Last year we also focused on cucumbers because we had depleted our supply of homemade pickles. We increased the number of plants to 18 and had a great harvest. This year we increased it again to 30 plants. We also started some indoors from seed. Cucumbers can be finicky to grow especially with the type of weather we had in April but we are hoping for another great harvest in our backyard garden.

Mint and more Mint

Planting season has arrived and the abundance of mint is impressive in the backyard garden. 

Using Solo cups, I transplanted several mint plants to share with you. They are in the teacher's lounge waiting for you.

Take one, two or all of them and let me know if you need more. 

If you are hesitant about growing and have a black thumb instead of a green one, here's what you need to do:

1. Find a pot(the bigger the better) and fill it with dirt or potting soil.

2. Dig out an area at least as big as the cup.

3. Remove the plant from the cup and place in the hole. Cover with dirt.

4. Water but don't flood and set the pot in a sunny area. Check it periodically to make sure it doesn't get too dry but seriously this is a low maintenance plant.

Now sit back and watch it grow!

You'll be able to pick leaves for flavoring teas and other drinks within weeks.

The calm before the storm

Not that there is a storm on the horizon but simply another way of saying the way this plot looks now is nothing like it will look in a month, two months or even three months. It's inspiring to watch the transformation.
This is a time where we plan, consistently check temperatures and potential rainfall. Starting early in April, we are officially in one of our favorite times of the year- planting mode.