Friday Favorites

Colorful potatoes from the garden make a great potato salad.

 Cherry pitters are kind of amazing. I pitted 2 quarts of cherries yesterday and it was a breeze!

How did I not have one of these before now?

Dinners at home this week have been straight from the garden- here's one from last night. 

Veggies, and sometimes tofu, cooked up in a bit of oil. Simple and delicious.

Ha- look at this cat. What a cute one.

What are you favorite things this Friday?

What's Up Wednesday

So many goodies are coming out of the garden these days. Lots of carrots, kale, awesome purple onions, potatoes, and great herbs- thyme, rosemary and oregano have been flavoring all our dishes recently.

Look at that harvest!

 I've started to cure the garlic as I harvest it- by hanging it up on the kitchen wall! 

Pretty fun, huh?

First cucumber- Yeah!!!!

 I just love these cucumber flowers 

 Every day I get about 30 ripe black raspberries- delish!

Woohoo!

What's up in your garden this week?

Preserving Fruit- Canning Raspberry Jam

I almost can't believe it, but this summer is my 4th year canning- whoa.

My knowledge on canning has definitely grown since that first summer canning in my sweltering kitchen in the apartment overlooking Michigan Ave in downtown Ypsi. Since then, I've got my own canning supplies, tried my hand at pressure canning, added freezing and dehydrating to my preservation "tool kit", and even taught a few canning classes!

There's several particularly satisfying things about canning; I enjoy the time spent during the process, working with the fruit or veggie or medium of choice. Canning allows me to really focus on that product and feel like I'm truly appreciating it.

Also, as I so articulately said it 3 years ago (ha ha- first blog post ever!), canning makes me feel like a "settler", or a pioneer of sorts. What I mean by that is the feeling of connection to the seasons, to the history of canning and preserving of those that canned before me in my family. Most would say that in 2012, we don't "need" to can at home in order to survive. While I think that's true to a point, canning helps me to live a more season-oriented lifestyle, and to save costs on food year round- not only through gardening in the summer.

The Farmers' Market was overwhelming today, in the best sense possible. There were lots of "new" things to the market this week- firsts for the season. Peaches, blueberries, potatoes, as well as more raspberries and strawberries. I couldn't even let myself look at the peaches- too tempting to buy 6 quarts and go to town canning them up.

I picked 3 pints of blueberries and freeze those. I also got 2 pints of raspberries, and I was going to freeze them, but upon getting them home realized that they were melting into a messy blob.  When you're faced with such a blob, you make jam.

I didn't realize how much I missed canning until I got my first taste of it for the season today! Only 1 pint and 1 half pint of jam done today, but that's ok- there will be more to come. Lots, lots more!


Have you canned yet this summer? If so, what did you make?

Friday Favorites

Today I'm thankful for a lot in the garden: some plants are just starting to come into their prime, and some are on their way out. I've been a lot more relaxed about harvesting and using all the goodies from my garden this year and it's really helped me to appreciate each type of veggie/fruit as it comes into season!

Here are some of my Friday Favorites:

Harvested the last of the garlic scapes this morning- I think I'll chop and freeze them.

Look at these amazing Mountain Rose potatoes- they're so pink!!

Pulled my first garlic of the season to see how they are progressing- woah!

First big harvest from the garden- carrots, onions, scapes, kale, and some basil!

Happy Friday, friends! What are your favorites this Friday?