First pickings

June 1, 2011

Good morning!!!  thought i would share with you some of the first pickings from our garden.  We have been picking squash for several weeks now,  and our favorite is having it grilled on the pit, sliced up, wrapped in foil with butter and onions. With the first few pickings, we eat it up as fast as it comes off the plant.  Last week i had a surplus and the kids said " Mom!!!! not squash again...." so i was able to blanch some and put some up in the freezer for later use.

Putting up squash is pretty simple, i just wash them really good, and slice them up, dump them into a pot of boiling water and blanch them for 3-4 minutes.  I then remove them and cool them down under cold water and drain well. 

I have a "Food Saver" vacuum sealer that i use to freeze my food.  I find that i have to make sure the squash is well drained and spread them out onto big trays and flash freeze them before bagging them up.  Squash has a lot of water content which makes it a little difficult for the bags to seal using the Food Saver. I seem to have this problem only when i blanch my vegtables.   I have no problems with the bags sealing if im putting up meats or other dry goods.  Has anyone had this experience using the vacuum method of putting up vegtables?  If you have a different method i would love hearing from you.  Leave me a comment or you can e-mail me with your technique.  I love this gaget for putting up meats and other dry goods. 

Total of five bags in the freezer thus far, if we dont get some rain anytime soon our surplus will be limited......

I picked my first dish of pole green beans this week.  Im pleased with the way the pole beans took off and grew well thus far in this new garden spot.  Remember.... this area was our in-ground pool site that we turned into a victory garden type area, with vegtables and some flowers mixed in.

This is my pole beans that we planted in a circular bed with bamboo poles for the beans to climb.  I planted some Mammoth sunflowers in the center of the beans.  The package states they grow 7ft-12ft tall.  Can't wait to see how tall they will tower over my beans with big yellow flowers smiling down on us.

I use the same method that i used with the squash to put up my green beans; Wash, snap, blanch, cool and drain, flash freeze, and seal. Haven't cooked these yet, thought i would save them and cook my first batch when hubby gets home from work.  His mouth has been watering for some fresh cooked snap beans with fresh dug potatoes to go with it.  How's that for a welcome home meal.........

Look at the size of this tomato i picked this week!!!!!!!!! We have four "celebrity" tomato plants this year that has some really nice size fruit on them.  I don't think we ever grew some this pretty ever........I will credit the aged manure and compost we added to this area, not to mention the daily care it gets, now that the garden spot is closer to the backyard where we spend alot of time hanging out.

I also picked a small batch of blueberries this week.  Not as many berries this year due to the lack of rain.  Last week i had to put the water hose to the bushes and that helped plump up some of them.  They were looking pretty sad and wilted.  I know you folks up in the northern states have been getting your share of rain and record snows this year.  We are getting some of it from you all via the mississippi river.  Too bad we can't pump it out the river and dump it on areas that need it.......

Our favorites are blueberry pancakes and pie.  I make a cream cheese pie and top it with blueberries that have been cooked down with a little sugar. Yummmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!

That sounds like a wonderful homecooked, homegrown meal for hubby when he gets home after having a long rough work week.  Fresh snapbeans and potatoes, salad with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, deer roast and a pie to top it off with.  He works hard to provide all of this for us and we are so grateful.  We love you honey.........xxxooo

       Live simple.......................................................Sheryl