Late October Apples, Pears, Quinces, and Walnuts

You Can Can. But Why Bother?

Canning was all the rage, and in fact necessary for most people, in the not too-distant past. I found this 1940s-era photo in a local photo history book; I really love body language shown by the girl 2nd from right ;)

*This takes a long time.
*There are a lot better things I could be doing right now.
*Ugh, I am hot and my legs hurt.
*It's so beautiful outside, and I'm stuck slaving over this big canning pot...and...oh geez, am I supposed to get those air bubbles out of the applesauce? Why is there applesauce coming out of the tops of those cooling jars? Great, now what am I supposed to do? ...guess I will google later to see if the sauce is still safe despite overflowing.
*Ya know, wow...this actually, kinda sorta, sucks.

Olive Garden Minestrone Soup

A good friend shared this 'copycat' recipe with me a few years ago. The ingredient list looks daunting, but keep in mind there are a lot of spices listed there too! The recipe calls for only 1/2 c. zucchini, but I always add a TON more, especially during the peak garden months. :) This is a wonderful, flavorful, and filling soup.

Olive Garden Minestrone

Ingredients

3 T. olive oil

1 c. minced white onion

1/2 c. chopped zucchini

1/2 c. frozen cut Italian green beans

1/4 c. minced celery (about half a stalk)

4 t. minced garlic (4 cloves)

4 cups vegetable broth (do not use chicken or beef...only vegetable)

2 (15 oz) cans red kidney beans, drained

2 (15 oz) cans small white or great northern beans, drained

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 c. carrot, julienned or shredded

2 T. minced fresh parsley (can sub dried)

1 1/2 t. dried oregano

1 1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground black pepper

1/2 t. dried basil

1/4 t. dried thyme

3 c. hot water

4 c. fresh baby spinach

1/2 c. small shell pasta

Heat three T. olive oil over medium heat in large soup pot.

Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.

Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.

Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.

Showing the Love for our Puny Potatoes

Check it out! We harvested our potatoes!

Craig saw the above picture before he saw the actual potatoes. When he saw them in person, he started laughing. "Wow, those are some tiny potatoes. In the pictures they looked bigger, like...real potatoes." I beg to differ, Mr.!

Yellow Does Not Become You

I'm talking to you, cucumbers.

Pretty, but....

Yellow may look wonderful on our sunflowers and our pear tomatoes, and even on our yellow peppers. We always wanted to try yellow 'green' beans and are planning to try those next year. But yellow cucumbers are not a delicacy! Unless, of course, the variety of cucumber is supposed to be yellow, like this one or this one. However, in our case, we did not have one of those special varieties, we had planted regular old green garden cucumbers.

We noticed they were looking yellow, and because I am still new to gardening, I assumed they were supposed to be yellow. I picked one, brought it in, sliced it...it all looked quite delicious. Until the first bite. Bitter, dry, and disgusting! Granted, harvest time is late. I should have picked the cucumbers when they were still green; most cucumber plants are long finished by now.

Not tasty!

So, first and foremost in avoiding yellow, bitter (although admittedly pretty) cucumbers, PICK THEM!

Leaving the cucumber on the plant too long is not the only reason that cucumbers can turn yellow. I found the following information in a gardening question/answer page, and will keep it in mind for next year. Hopefully I'll only ever have to deal with making sure I harvest the cucumbers on time, but these answers will be good to know if needed!

• My cucumbers do not turn green; they are yellow and bitter. This is the second year this has happened, the fruit is large, the plants have many flowers, and are producing, but this yellow cucumber is all we get.What can I do to correct this, or do I just give up?

This happened to me when I planted squash plants near my cucumbers. They cross-pollinated and the results were off-color and not tasty.

• I have planted pickling cukes and they are turning yellow and they are almost shaped like a ball, round. Can you tell me why they are yellow?

Rounded cucumbers especially pickling cucumbers, mean that your soil is missing key nutrients, also poor irrigation can cause this problem. I learned this the hard way "by it happening to me!' My suggestion is to get a soil testing kit to find out what nutrients you are lacking. Also if your soil is hard and poor quality it can cause the water and fertilizer you put on not to soak enough into the roots. make sure to soak them deeply and often if your soil is hard. I would suggest next year to put in some soil ammendments, like some top soil, natures helper soil conditioner, garden lime and maybe even a little sand, to raise the ph and loosen it up a bit.

• My cucumbers are blooming and producing cucumbers but when they become about an inch long the bloom falls off and the cucumber turns yellow and dries up. What is going wrong?

Most likely they have worms inside. Cut one open and make sure that they are not being eaten from the inside out.

• We have healthy looking plants, but the cucumbers turn yellow and fall off. Why?

I had this same issue this year and read that it could be the lack of calcium! I had a small bag of gypsum from last year and spread it around the plants and now they are starting to take off! You can also clean your used egg shells, let them dry and crumble around the base of the plants!

Picking Sugar Pears

Lingering Promises

Summer is winding down and many of our plants are closing up shop. Frost will be right around the corner. We miss our green beans; they stopped producing a couple of weeks ago. Most of our herbs are looking very bad, or are completely wilted away. Some of our plants, however, are thriving, and promise to deliver, soon! They keep the excitement of the warm summer alive for us!

Soon we will be looking for ways to extend our harvest into the colder weather. Stay tuned! ;)

Will we finally have peas, after 2 previous failed attempts?

Tigger Melon gets bigger each day

Of course, we still have some beautiful red tomatoes

Yellow pear tomatoes, which grew entirely on their own this year (love those little surprises!)

Beautiful eggplant!

There's another little one peeking out behind

Our potatoes in a pot; we have no idea if anything has grown 'underground'...stay tuned for the harvest!

Sugar Pickles

Otherwise known as Cucumber Salad!

If you have a big cucumber glut like we do, this is a really tasty recipe to use some up. The flavor screams summer.

Awesome Recipe for the Last Green Beans--Greek Potato Salad

There's a big kid in the garden! Even my almost 15-year-old gets involved with the garden, and though he finds it a bit uncool to get excited about anything, I think Patrick secretly likes the fact that we try to grow food. I've overheard him telling the neighbor kids "You should see all the stuff we have growing on the side of the house, it's crazy." I'll take that as genuine interest. ;)

I Dare You Not to Smile

When you come face-to-face with a sunflower!

  

You've got to click The Strange History of the Sunflower for some absolutely stunning pictures of sunflowers. They are just so incredibly photogenic!

Below I posted some info I found at ProFlowers.com, along with some pics of OUR very own sunflowers. They've been bursting open with such dramatic color the past few weeks, filling us with renewed wonder. I could spend hours just sitting among those flowers and staring at them!

Primary Significance: Gifts of radiant warmth, sunflowers are the happiest of flowers, and their meanings include loyalty and longevity. They are unique in their ability to provide energy in the form of nourishment and vibrance, an attribute which mirrors the sun and the energy provided by its heat and light.

No flower can lift spirits quite like sunflowers can. Bright and cheery, bold yet comfortable, the sunflower is a warm and caring gift. With brilliant yellow petals that surround the flower's center, sunflowers have an unmistakable sun-like appearance that has made them a passionate flower choice for many. Sunflowers come in a number of varieties, ranging from small to large and from daylight yellows to sunset reds.

Sunflowers originated in the Americas in 1000 B.C., where for centuries they were cultivated as a valuable food source. The use of sunflower images as religious symbols has also been documented in some native societies. With the European exploration of the New World, the sunflower was brought to new areas, and the flower's popularity eventually spread as the rest of the world began to appreciate its beauty and sustenance. Artists throughout history have appreciated the sunflower's unique splendor, and those of the Impressionist era were especially fixated on the flower . Today, sunflowers continue to provide a resource for commonly used seeds and oil, but they have also become recognized as a floral symbol of great significance.

This one is from our visit to Erin and Kenney's!

Future Farming in the background. :)

Much of the meaning of sunflowers stems from its namesake, the sun itself. Wild sunflowers are often photographed with their tall stalks and bright petals stretched towards the sun. This unique behavior, known as phototropism, is a motif that has appeared in many ancient myths and is viewed as a symbol of loyalty and constancy. Their physical resemblance to the sun has also influenced their meanings. The sunflower's petals have been likened to bright yellow rays of sunshine, which evoke feelings of warmth and happiness. In addition, the sunflower is often associated with adoration and longevity.

For a flower which reflects so many of the sun's positive characteristics, it is little surprise that people enjoy basking in the sunflower's warming glow. With the sense of brightness and warmth that sunflowers naturally impart, they have become an ideal choice for sending sentiments of cheerfulness and sunny get well thoughts.