Yes.....I have been whining around this week. My garden is at full peek, full capacity and over-flowing. I have done nothing the last 2 days but shell blackeyed peas. I just put up enough to eat on a few months during the winter.
Here is a BLACKEYED PEA TIP: I shell my peas and dump them all in a pillowcase and put them in the freezer. As you need them just scoop out what you need. DO NOT WASH them before you put them in the pillowcase, just wash before you cook. I used to put them all up in ziploc bags and they seemed to form ice and become freezer burned, and alot got thrown out. My hubbies dad is in his 80's and also still maintains his own large garden . He is the one who gave me this tip. I was a little unsure about this, so one summer I tried this with a small amount AND IT WORKED!! I've been doing this now for years. No ice formations or freezer burn. It's like they have been freeze-dried or something. Try a few this year and see what you think.
So....with all this said.....It seems I must go and earn my keep and get amoungst the okra!!
I think your garden sounds wonderful. The fresh food spells healthy. I have a friend who calls anything full of preservatives and additives "pretend food". By the way, I'm from the west and I don't think I've ever seen a black eyed pea out of the garden. Any pictures?
ReplyDeleteHow lovely you can grow such a scrumptious garden. I live in the Pacific Northwest - way up near Canada and near the ocean so we don't get warm enough summers for many things to grow to maturity - like corn and watermelons, cucumbers and tomatoes. Some yards have warmer micro-climates and get some of those - but never watermelons. Enjoy some for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Wow are you and hubby hard workers or what?
ReplyDeleteWe are zone 7 Northeast Oklahoma, so most of our gardening is fading into canning.
450 jars? What a summer in the hot kitchen that must have been.
We love canning and still always do too much.
How do you keep it down to a reasonable amount?
If you have any extras, you can send them to East TX. I'm always up for home grown veggies. I use to spend my summers shelling those peas for my Grandmother. She always had a lot of bushels of Purple Hull Peas (Took weeks to get the purple off my hands) What memories.
ReplyDeleteWow Belinda, you sound like a mighty busy girl.
ReplyDeleteWe live on the shores of Lake Huron and we are in a zone 6, a lot of the things you mentioned do grow in this area, but we only have a very tiny garden as we live right in town. This year so far we have had an abundance of raspberries and green and yellow beans. The cucumbers are doing well as is the lettuce. We are patiently waiting for the tomatoes to ripen and shock of shocks, the zuchinni plants are not producing. I don't understand this. We usualy have so many we can't give them away. Strange...
When the kids were home I use to do a lot of home canning, and yes, it is a lot of hard hot work in the heart of the summer. I use to wish I could bring the stove with the pressure cooker outdoors.
I don't do it any more. With just the two of us it just doesn't seem worth it. I still have the canner and all of the parafenalia that goes with it. I sold my jars, just kept a few.
I don't envy you the work, but the harvest does seem wonderful.
Don't kill yourself doing too much, because I look forward to seeing your new creations from the sewing room.
Smiles...:c)...Fran
Oh Belinda you and I have SO much in common, besides our age and quilting. My husband loves his garden too. And if he could swing it he'd quit his job and play in the yard full time. He has a little tractor that he works in the yard with. Right now our garden is beginning to explode. I feel the same as you. I hate winter because I can't go out and pick a tomato but I have all this to do so I have to balance my life better and put some sewing things aside. Last night he picked bushels of peaches - and they are quite small this year, we didn't thin them well I think. So . . . that will be what I will be doing some of the time in the next month. The garden is a hard task master. And my hubby looks to me to do something with his bounty after all his hard work, even if I don't want to!! So yeah, ditto to your post. Its all good, but its all a lot at once.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your thoughtful email. I appreciate it so much.
Wow what a varied harvest!
ReplyDeleteWe've not got to that point yet in the UK. Ours should happen in the next couple of weeks. Wheat is still in the fields and we've had a lot of rain. We have Harvest Festivals in Churches at the start of September when schools join in too.