A Garden and Crop Update

The rain that we got last week did wonders for my garden.  I actually started getting zucchini again.

It finally made my okra bloom and start producing pods.

such pretty blossoms

I’ve pretty much finished with my tomato canning.

The spoon really does stand up in my sauce.

I did dig the potatoes.  That’s the one thing the rain could hurt.  With all that rain this late, it leads to rotting potatoes.  I didn’t get a lot, but hopefully, it will make me a batch of potato soup starter to can.

I also started picking sweet corn.  I had to share with a raccoon family, but I still have enough to freeze for me.

The kittens also found the sweet corn entertaining (but everything is entertaining to them).

Five and Three in front; Thing in back

My soybeans are looking better.

For a while, I wasn’t sure I was going to have a crop.

I’m still not sure how great it will be, but hopefully, the rain came in time to at least give me something for a harvest.

The Land of Milk and Tomatoes

I really hoped to get caught up with the three day weekend.  But I am absolutely drowning in milk and tomatoes.

Astra waiting to go in and be milked

Over the weekend, I made two batches of Mozzarella cheese.

I made two batches of feta (which uses some of the buttermilk I made overnight Friday into Saturday).

I finally gave up and just froze a couple of gallons for next year’s kids, and I still have more in the fridge.  I still have soap and mozzarella sticks to make.

Of course, Aurora has to peek in the milk room and see whether or not she’s going to get a treat.

Aurora

I roasted tomatoes Thursday and Friday evening.  I canned them and roasted more on Saturday.  In total, I canned 20 1/2 pints of roasted tomato sauce over the weekend.

I also canned 20 pints of cold packed tomatoes.

Then I decided to go pick the garden on Monday.  I figured I might have some to ripen throughout the week.  It takes two pictures to show you what all I have sitting around waiting to be canned yet.

Holy never-ending tomatoes! You can’t even tell I’ve picked any tomatoes yet.  They are still completely loaded.

I washed, cored, and froze three and a half gallon bags that I will turn into juice at the end of the canning season.

Up next will be salsa, more sauce, and more cold pack tomatoes.  I’m pretty sure my family and I will have enough tomatoes to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Friday’s Hunt v2.9

Welcome back to Friday’s Hunt.  I want to thank everyone who joined in last week.  I had a lot of fun visiting everyone who linked up.  It’s very simple.  Anyone can participate.  The link opens at 7pm Central time and will close Sunday at 7pm, so you have plenty of time to enter. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to visit some of the other entries.

If you didn’t participate this week but would like to next week, the topics will be:  Starts with J, Week’s Favorite, and surprise.  I will always keep a list of the items for the coming week in my sidebar at the top. I am crazy busy on the farm right now, but I will make sure to visit all participants.  Without further ado, here’s my interpretations for the week.

Starts with I:  Instructions for roasted tomato sauce.  I was asked for more instructions on how to do the roasted tomatoes.  I have to give credit to Claire because she was kind enough to tell me how to do it.  I did make a minor adjustment or so, but it’s Claire who deserves credit.

Wash, core and remove any bad spots from the tomatoes.  Then coarsely chunk them into glass baking dishes.  Because it heats the whole house, I prefer to do as many as I can at one time.  I personally add onion, green pepper, and garlic.  You can add whatever you want.  Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and put them in a 400*F oven.  Bake it for three hours.  You will have to make sure to carefully stir them to keep the tops from burning.

Then you just put them through the colander.  If you don’t mind the seeds and skins staying in there, you can just put it through a blender.  Then I add seasoning to taste.  For me, it’s some oregano, basil and more garlic.

Then it’s ready to freeze or can.  I can mine for space reasons, so I add 1/4 tsp. citric acid (1/2 tsp./quart) and process them in a water bath for 35 minutes for pints (40 minutes for quarts).

Week’s Favorite:  I want to thank everyone who has inquired about Cutie.  She’s doing quite well!  The swelling is down and the infection is gone.  The knee still doesn’t bend well, but I’m sure it will take a lot of work to get it back in shape and build muscles.

Cutie Pie Goodberry

She’s even managed to get in the patio chair for a nap!

Pink: Going back to work has really taken time away from the farm.  I am going back to more butterfly pictures from earlier in the month for pink.  They just love those pink flowers! It better be close enough to pink because that’s all I’ve got.

Monarch

Thanks so much!

Now it’s your turn: