After several attempts to transfer the photo’s I took of the garden on my camera (Nikon D300) to the hard drive on my computer, I’ve decided to let that rest until I can figure which piece of technology has corrupted itself. Hopefully it’s just a matter of reloading a driver (or two). I shall continue to post with bloodied brow and photos from the webs (vice my own) until the gods shine their light on my technology.
The garden is kicking ass and I’ve been busy putting thinks up. I really need to keep on top of the ‘plucking’, once the tomatoes begin to ripen I’ll need all of my time to get those canned.
The last couple of days have been mostly peppers picking and jelly makin’. I’ve made batches of: Habanero-Aprocot, Apple-Cayenne-Bell, Cayenne-Bell-Banana Pepper, and Jalapeno-Cayenne. I’ve found that the green cayenne peppers are completely sweet and mild for the bottom half of the pepper. No seed means no heat, so to make up for the slow start of my bell peppers (California Wonder) I’ve been supplementing with the green cayenne. The cayenne are called ‘cayenne thick’ and grow 9-10 inches long and perhaps 3/4 inches wide so it doesn’t take all that many to get a few cups worth.
The Habanero-Apricot really has some heat to it. This recipe is a little different that others I’ve used in that you start by soaking dehydrated apricots in vinegar for 4 hours before you begin. I used a dozen peppers instead of the 10 called for and I removed about half of the seeds; not sure that made a difference given the fire that Habanero’s bring. The apricots proved a great balance.
Likewise, the Apple-Cayenne (actually the recipe was for an Apple-Jalapeno mix) called for Granny Smith apples cooked down and then strained. I bought a strainer/mill earlier this year (lesson learned from last year’s tomatoes) and decided to try it on the apples. It’s a wonderful tool!
I pulled about two cups of jalapenos this morning and still have 5 cups of blueberries from yesterday’s haul. I’m pretty sure this is the last of the blueberries so I’ll be mixing them together for my next run of pepper jelly. With this run I’ll have 50 or so half pints put up. Don’t think that’s going to be enough given that my daughter and son-in-law have discovered them.
Managed to get some more pesto put up; my 10 basil plants produce about 8 cups of leaves every 5-7days and this, when mixed with garlic, parmesan cheese, walnuts and oil produce 4 half pints. I’m thinking the basil will be a little more productive once it gets taller/broader, and I can get more stored before season end. At the current rate of production/consumption I’ll not be able to store any!
Zucchini is ramping up. This is the garden’s sneakiest plant; I can check the plants twice a day every day and pull everything I see and then one day find a zuc the size of my forearm lying in plain sight. I’ve got some sliced thin and seasoned with oil and paprika in the dehydrator right now. I’m thinking I can get several months dried and jarred before the plants give out. There are so many different recipes for zuc chips that many varieties will grace the shelves of my pantry soon!