A First Time For: Pickling!

More garlic scapes!
Remember that garlic scape pesto that was so good? Well even that didn't use all the scapes.

So I decided to try my hand at pickling for the very first time.

Have you ever had Dilly Beans? They are pickled green beans usually with dill, garlic, and sometimes a bit of red pepper flakes. They are salty and sour with some crunch and a bit of heat.

Well believe it or not, there is such a thing as Dilly Scapes!
It was my first time ever trying to pickle something, and I've only ever tasted Dilly Scapes once. Because of this, I made three slightly different versions to test out which one people like best. 

Pickling Solution:
- 2  1/2 cups water 

- 2  1/2 cups vinegar (or apple cider) 

- 1/4 cup pickling salt 

Jars (1/2 pint each):
- 1 sprig dill
- 1 pepper corn
- 1/8 tsp celery seed
- 10 (ish) granules Pickle Crisp (optional)

- Garlic scapes cut to length

Variations:

* 1 sprig oregano (only to 6)* (in the future, make this a 1/2 sprig)

*1 Tbs sugar in brine (only on second batch)*

*I didn't try adding anything spicy, but 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes would spice things up!*

Directions:
- As always with canning things, make sure all the jars and lids are boiled and sterilized.
- Working a couple hot jars at a time, place the dill, pepper corns, celery seed, and (optional) Pickle Crisp in the bottom of each.
- Pack in the garlic scapes tightly in the jars, making sure there is 1/2 inch of headspace (space between the food and the lid)
- Pour in the hot pickling solution over the scapes leaving
- Pack in a few more scapes if they will fit
- Seal jars as usual, and process in boiling water for 10 minutes
(Here is a great tutorial for Dilly Beans which is almost exactly the same as Dilly Scapes)


Fyi, this is usually what the kitchen looks like whenever I am canning things: a creative disaster!

The only problem? You then have to wait 6 whole weeks for the flavors to infuse before you can sample the scapes.

Well it just so happens that Grandma's 90th birthday party was almost exactly six weeks later.

At the party, I nervously pried open three jars, one of each flavor. I had to taste each one to make sure I didn't serve anyone ruined or rancid food. To my pleasant surprise they all turned out!

There wasn't a huge difference between the three flavors (original, oregano, and pinch-o-sugar) unless you were comparing them in one tasting.


The general consensus seemed to be that the oregano dilly scapes edged out the other two variations. I think in future batches I will use a little less oregano and a little less celery seed.

The funniest part was that even the young kids on Dear Husband's (DH) side of the family LOVED them... but my parents didn't care for them. I guess you really have to love sour, pickled things!

2016 Garlic: Pesto

This year's garlic harvest was the biggest yet.
Last year I had planted 2/3 of a garden bed.

Because I know that all the garlic will get eaten, and it is the lowest maintenance crops I have, I decided to go for it and planted an entire garden bed full of it.
(The garlic is in the front bed... the back one is all asparagus which didn't produce as well this year as I had hoped.)


What happens when you plant that much garlic? You get tons of garlic scapes! (Yay!)

I don't know what it is about garlic scapes, but I think they are beautiful. Something about the color, with the shape makes them feel so graceful. It helps that they smell amazing too.

You may remember that a few years ago I tried to make garlic scape pesto, but that only turned out so-so. This year I tried a different recipe and it was soooooo good! (I know I'm bias but even my foodie friend said so.)

I started with this garlic scape pesto recipe from "In the Kitchen & On the Road with Dorie Greenspan." The flavor was spot on, but it was STRONG!
I love garlic way more than the next person, but MAN! If you want to taste (and smell like) nothing but garlic for at least 12 hours, that is your recipe. Whew!

Instead of a thicker paste type pesto, I made mine into a much thinner bread-dip style pesto.

GARLIC SCAPE AND ALMOND PESTO

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

1/3 cup slivered almonds (you could toast them lightly, if you'd like)

1+ cup olive oil (add more to dilute if desired)

1 tsp Sea salt

- Toast the almonds and throw them in a food processor (or blender) 
- Add the scapes, salt, and about half the olive oil
- Blend until smooth
- Add the Parmesan and the remaining olive oil
- Add more olive oil and salt to achieve the desired taste and consistency.

Dear Husband said that every time he eats crusty bread with the dip, he feels like he is in a fancy restaurant.

Above is the full recipe but because I had so many scapes, I cut the olive oil in half and froze it in an ice cube tray. That way I can let a cube thaw and add more olive oil for dip anytime.




We were also able to harvest a few other things from the garden including carrots and sugar snap peas, along with beets for the first time!
The beets were so sweet and tender, I will definitely have to plant more of those next year.

A few weeks later, over the Fourth of July, Mom helped me harvest the garlic bulbs from the garden. They now need to dry out and cure for a few weeks before trimming off the roots and leaves. A very rough estimate gives us around 100 heads of garlic.

I think I am going to be searching for some new recipes to use a lot of this and gift a lot more!


I'm thinking some roasted garlic....

A Harvest and a Beautiful Wedding

Fall is upon us and as the lower temperatures creep in, it is time to make sure the garden is put to bed for the winter.

We didn't have a huge tomato harvest this year, because I hadn't consistently trellised and harvested the plants as they grew. I don't know where the Summer went and I didn't get nearly as much time in the garden as I usually like. This is ok with the tomatoes though because last year was such a huge harvest, I still have bags of frozen tomatoes stocked in the freezer. 

This was the first year I had tried growing both carrots and beets. I neglected the beets too long, so they turned tough and woody. No good. The same thing happened with a couple of the carrots, but with the majority turning out ok I ended up getting a whole bucketful!

 Yeah, the center of these giant carrots were pretty tough and woody. They were a bit bitter too. Lesson learned for next time!

Of course the carrots look better when scrubbed clean...

Then I cut them to about the same size and blanched them for 3 min. 

"Blanching (scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short time) is a must for almost all vegetables to be frozen. It stops enzyme actions which can cause loss of flavor, color and texture." - National Center for Home Food Preservation

After blanching, I vacuum sealed them in smaller bunches. While probably not the best for straight eating, I think they will be good in stews and soups. 

Another thing we did recently was go to a beautiful wedding. I did a TERRIBLE job of remembering to take pictures. All I got was the amazing cake (which was super tasty too) and the head table where you can kind of see the beautiful grounds outside.
The reception took place in a huge open structure but had enough rustic looking trusses to still be warm and welcoming. I love the simple but bold colors and decorations they used. They really let the location and the couple shine while maintaining a level of elegance.

Revived Landscaping

Goodness it has been a long time since I posted!
Most of that is due to the sheer magnitude of the project we just finished up.

It all started when I had our trusted contractor come out to take a look at the siding and see how soon it needed to be painted.
The good news is that it can wait a year, maybe two, but the bad news is that our soil level had to be dealt with first.

See how the mulch comes up above the siding? Yeah, that's bad. The siding should end, then there should be 4-8 inches of concrete foundation, and THEN below that the soil level.

Because the dirt is above the siding, things like bugs and moisture can get under the siding causing damage and rot. Not good.

See above, how the wall juts out? That is our front window. As the landscaper was digging the soil down, he discovered there was no foundation under it. That is normal for a bay window but you do NOT want dirt packed underneath which is what we had. This rotted out the sub floor and could have caused structural issues had we discovered it too late.

So just dig the dirt down around the house, right? Nope. If you do that, when it rains all the water will drain toward the house and down along the foundation. This has the potential for causing erosion or flooding.

So instead you have to lower the level of the soil, AND make sure it slopes away from the house.

Since we moved in we have been battling the overgrown weeds, but since we knew we would be having everything scraped away, we didn't even bother to try and keep up with them... so here's the before and after's!

Before:                                                                        











After:

Of course it looks a little sparse now, but I'm hoping the plants will fill in after a year or two.

We had them move the too-big hydrangeas and had them plant ones that would stay smaller. We also had them put in some holly bushes, a couple knock-out roses (they are low maintenance), and a couple other things. We also decreased the size of the bed a bit so it would be less to maintain.

Before:










After:

This one is a big difference... that overgrown tree-bush is some sort of weed left over from when we had the busted plum tree removed. We had them remove all the prickly bushes, but kept the rhododendron.




Before:

After:

Before, this was just a mess of weeds. I think there was maybe one or two plants that were good ones.
We had them plant a bunch of low maintenance plants. That tree on the corner is a red-bud tree that won't get very big, and will have pretty flowers all spring.



Such a huge difference! This was a much more intensive project than we anticipated. SOOO glad we hired someone to do a majority of the work. It took about 2 months from start to finish.
Now our front bay window has room to breathe underneath free of moisture and rot!


Over this time it was also my birthday and let me tell you, I am such a lucky girl. My Dear Husband (DH) knows the way to my heart is through power tools! Lol! He got me just what I wanted: a more powerful corded drill! The wimpy battery one I had is good for hanging pictures and that kind of thing, but not for more construction-like projects. Yay! I was thrilled when I opened it.

After opening my present, we headed right up to Wisconsin for labor day to visit our new niece! She is absolutely precious! But since I know NOTHING about babies, I volunteered to help out the new mom by cooking and cleaning.

I cleaned the bathroom, made two chicken pot pies, two meals worth of chicken tetrazzini, hung a shelf in the nursery, and helped take 1-month photos. (It was the least I could do, since I can't change a diaper to save my life!)

New mom, SisD, is doing a fantastic job with the new one. To the right is DH with Maddy. She is a month here.


To the left, she is with me is a few weeks later when we went up for her baptism. Look how much she grew already!

She makes some of the best faces. So many expressions!








Don't worry, Eva is going to be my only baby for a while yet!

(She sleeps in with me, AND there are no diapers to change!)

Wreath Refresh

Up until a week ago, I still had up our Easter decoration on the front door.

In all fairness it did say "Welcome"... but also eluded to painted eggs and the Easter bunny. Definitely time for a change. 

First, I gathered supplies:

- Burlap - I cut 4" strips from leftover fabric, but you can easily find burlap ribbon

- Wire wreath form

- Faux flowers of choice - I'm usually not a fan, but used sparingly they can be effective

- Letter of choice - I found one with metal and wood go give an rustic/industrial flair

- Wire - thin gauge that is easily bent

- Wire cutters

Attaching the burlap to the form with the wire, I started wrapping the fabric around the wreath, making sure to overlap the fabric. At the end, I attached it to the frame again with the wire.

It was still missing something so I took some strands of burlap, and tying them end to end made a long string and wrapped it the opposite way of the fabric to add a bit more visual interest.  

Then I added the flowers. Less is more with fake flowers! I cut and bent the stems, securing them to the back of the wreath with the wire. This took the most patience of the project.

Clearly Eva did not have enough patience, and ended up sacking out on the burlap... always the helpful assistant!

Attach the letter also with the wire, and make a loop on the back of the wreath so you can hang it. 

If you look close, the wreath hangs crooked because the letter made the left side too heavy. But I won't tell if you don't, and not THAT many people would notice!

I also made strawberry rhubarb jam again this year. I made a triple batch thanks to some home grown rhubarb from a family member! It tastes just as good as I remembered, but I didn't let it boil long enough because it is rather thin... like a strawberry rhubarb sauce or syrup. Ah well, it is only my second time making it, and I will try to remember for next year. 

One last thing... I have NEVER taken a picture of my dinner to post online, but this one is different. I grew this spinach all by myself! It is my first time growing spinach, and we have already gotten a few salads out of it! Some of the leaves are huge, but they aren't bitter yet. I just planted the lettuce seeds, so we will see if those are just as successful!

Goodnight Garden

GOODNIGHT GARDEN
The garden has been tucked away for Winter in it's beds,
straw as a blanket and with compost, it's been fed.

Garlic and asparagus sound asleep underground
and tools wait patient while cold silence resounds.

Wrapped and snuggled for the long winters night
the Hydrangeas hibernate, impatient for Spring light.


Ok, that's enough of that terrible nonsense! In reality we have been working hard to get everything prepared for Winter. I got my garlic in the ground just in time. The soil was just a little icy from the frost but warm enough to dig around in.
With those in the ground, we were able to add compost and straw on top. I didn't bother mixing the compost in, because the nutrients will naturally trickle down with the rain and melting snow. The 6-8" of straw prevents snow from compacting the soil, and helps keep an even temperature for the garlic and asparagus underground. (Too many freeze-thaw cycles can heave the plants toward the surface.)

While I was back there, I tried my best at a quick organization for the shed. I didn't have time to clean all the tools or oil them like I should, but sometimes there is only so much you can do. We need to fit our bikes in there for the winter so that there is room for a new snowblower in the garage!

We also wrapped the hydrangeas in burlap and filled them with leaves and straw. We didn't get many blooms last summer because the previous winter was so bitterly cold. (I'm just glad the plants themselves survived.) So in a test to see if we get more blooms next year, we have wrapped and insulated them. I have seen this done on a smaller scale with normal sized hydrangeas, but ours are giant so we will have to see how well it works.



Eva had to stay inside after she was naughty and ran after a neighbor!




The other project I just finished up was fences for the raised beds. I had started these fences in Spring, and it has taken FOREVER to finish them. I would do a whole post on them, but honestly I am kind of sick of them right now. They have been the elephant in the garage for over 6 months. Uh!
Here is where I got the inspiration from, but I replaced the wooden dowels with more PVC.









I finished them off just in time to get them out of the garage and into the shed for the Winter. At least they are out of view and off my "To Do" list!

On top of all this, Eva celebrated her 2nd birthday! She's not a big fan of wearing things on her head, so she found a different way to wear the tiara. Just look at that pose!