Weekend Fun

Scenes from this weekend in my world.

1. collecting dill that the frost missed  2. making pumpkin puree  3. foofee cat napping  4. dottie girl headed to the garden  5. planting garlic - 72 cloves  6. while miss kitty watched  7. also planted green onions - 24 bulbs  8. my happy Mr. and pepper the hen

Friend or Foe

We are talking gardens here.  Friend or Foe? How do you know?

Well it's like this.  Our garden looks horrible right now.  It is full of weeds and tiny things blooming that should not be allowed to bloom there.  Things that will drop little seeds that will sprout after the garden has been turned which will hopefully be very soon.  But the truth is, it has just been too wet to till up the garden.  Never-the-less, it will be done this week.  At least the potato patch.

I am going to narrow this down to the one corner of our garden, to show you what is Friend and what is Foe.  I truly should be shot for letting weeds grow around my herbs.  If I had nothing else to do this wouldn't happen right?!?!

It is pretty basic.  If you have herbs in your garden, learn to identify them.  Learn which ones will live through a mild and hard winter.  We had a very mild winter this year in Tennessee, so lucky for me, a bunch of my herbs made it that would not have during a heavy winter.  If you are new to herb gardening then some of this will just be a long learning experience from season to season.

Having herbs is very handy, very healthy, very tasty and can be very rewarding.  Here is a rundown of  your basic garden herbs.  These are on the Friend list.

Basil

wonderful on tomatoes and in pasta sauces

does not make it past a hard freeze in fall

easy to start from seed and will reseed itself in the garden if allowed to bloom

freezes well in ice cubes, dries like a dream for later use

Oregano

 my oregano made it through the mild winter here but has not in previous years

good in tomato-based sauces and on pizza

dries very well for later use

Cilantro

made it through the winter

grows fast and will flower and reseed itself in various places

the seeds will be Coriander - and can themselves be ground and used in dishes

freezes ok, dries well, better used fresh

Thyme

this is the third season for my Thyme plant

I use Thyme in meat dishes, in soups, you name it

dries well and freezes well in cubes

Dill

Dill is easy to grow from seed and will reseed itself in the garden if the seeds are not collected

dries very well

seeds can be used in dishes as well as dried sprigs

Parsley

last year was the first time I had planted parsley in the garden

it made it through the winter just fine and is the thickest little thing

can be used in many dishes as well a garnishment

can be grown easily from seed

Rosemary

very good in dishes and on yeast rolls with butter and salt

this plant made it through the winter but my last one did not and you can tell this one suffered a bit even through the mild winter we had

I've not grown this one from seed, only bought plants

freezes in cubes well

There are many more varieties of herbs, these are just the ones I have experience with.  

Now here are pics of the Foes.  I don't know their names, just their faces.  And as they are pretty, as shown here, in their lovely blooming state, they can be vicious in the garden and must be removed.

So, basically, if it is in your garden and you didn't plant it.... get it out!

It's not a pretty little gift from the plant fairy.  Weeds will take over... kill them.

Well Pickle Me Spears!

Tuesday night while canning the fifth batch Shaun's favorite pickles he said to me "you don't have to just make the pickles that I like... why don't you make yourself some dill ones like you like". Besides from being sweet, I've been pondering on this question ever since. I made dill pickles last year from a packaged mix and wasn't happy with the results. For one I used a mix that could not be canned. Of course I used jars but I want a long storage time too and the taste just wasn't what I wanted either. So I decided to find a good recipe for Kosher Dill Pickles to make for myself cause if I'm gonna make em they're gonna be good!

I've decided to go ahead and used the Lime canning method to crisp up my pickles... I am going to make spears. If I were going to use smaller pickles I probably wouldn't do this. There's just something I like in this method because it also involves patience. When I use pickling lime it revolves around my daily routine of a working schedule. First I'll wash and cut my cucumbers in the evening. Then place them in my big pot to soak in 1 cup of lime to 2 gallons of water. This process almost pickles me... it makes my skin crack on my fingers. It goes away. I let this sit overnight then the next morning I rinse them 3 times and put them back in the pot alternating layers with ice. I cover the batch with water and place is in the fridge until I get home from work. This is where the fun begins. From this point I will drain the spears for my dills. (P.S. Using lime and cold bath soak will insure me that my spears will stay crispy like I like. I may loose a few seeds but that's OK.) Then I will pack them nicely into my quart jars inserting 1 teaspoon chopped garlic and dill heads into each jar. Not sure how many dill heads just yet since I'll be using what I've grown this year, I'll have to see how much I have.

On the stove in another pot I will bring 4 cups white vinegar, 12 cups water and 2/3 cup pickling salt to a rapid boil. This mixture will be poured into each jar covering the spears and leaving 1/4" head space. Then I'll put my hot lids on and process them in hot water for 15 minutes. The recipes I have looked at say to leave them alone for 5 to 8 weeks so it looks like dill pickles take even more patience. That seems to be a good ingredient to most recipes. :)

I've never felt like I was one to study or research but when I was looking up recipes for this I found myself deep in research looking through herb books and old canning books that I have. I guess it's all in what interests you. This is the research and studying that I've always thrown myself into and enjoyed... for the love of cooking!