Thanksgiving

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."

* Psalm 9:1-2 *

Veteran's Day

Let us honor today all of those brave men and women who have served our great nation in the name of Freedom. Army. Navy. Air Force. Marines. Coast Guard.

And may God bless America.

"It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it." (Thomas Jefferson)

It's Here !!

Today, in our mailbox,
we discovered our first
seed catalog had been delivered.

We plan to start our seeds in
December this year, just after
Christmas.

So -- we'll begin at once
making lists, gathering supplies,
and of course DREAMING
of next year's gardens.

An Article About Canning

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal.

Putting Up Produce: Yes, You Can

By: Ana Campoy

"Pots are boiling on every burner and the kitchen counters are covered with a jumble of bowls, measuring cups and jars. Steam fills the house with the scent of vinegar and caramelizing sugar.

We're canning.

This two-century-old technique of preserving food—or "putting up," in canning-speak—is making a big comeback.

The worst recession in decades and a trend toward healthier eating are inspiring many Americans to grow their own food. Now the harvest season is turning many of these gardeners into canners looking to stretch the bounty of the garden into the winter.

Canning 101: Preserving Food in a Pickle

View Slideshow

Canning statistics are hard to come by, but Elizabeth Andress, project director of the National Center for Home Food Preservation, a government-funded program that advises consumers on how to safely preserve food, says requests for canning classes are flooding in at a rate not seen in many years.

Hundreds of cooks gathered at the end of August in simultaneous countrywide canning fests organized by Canning Across America, a new Web site for canning devotees (www.canningacrossamerica.com). At Jarden Corp.'s Jarden Home Brands—the maker of Kerr and Ball brand jars—sales of canning equipment are up 30% this year through mid-September, over the same period in 2008. And canning classes from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Boise, Idaho, report seeing skyrocketing enrollments this year.

Canning has been around since the dawn of the 19th century, when, at Napoleon's behest, a Frenchman developed a method of sealing food in bottles to prevent spoilage on long military campaigns. The process was later adapted to factory-sealed metal cans, but at home, "canning" is still practiced in thick glass jars.

Dill Pickles

Recipe adapted by Kelly Ingram from "Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook."

Ingredients:

4 lbs. pickling cucumbers

1/2 cup dill seed

One small bag whole peppercorns

2 cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)

4 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup pickling salt

Wash, slice and pack cucumbers into eight heated pint jars.

Add 1 tablespoon dill seed and peppercorns to taste to each jar.

Combine vinegar, water and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.

Pour over cucumbers, filling to 1/4-inch of jar top. Wipe rims and fasten lids.

Submerge filled jars in boiling water for 10 minutes; start counting when water returns to a boil.

Remove jars and allow to cool.

Yield: Makes eight pint jars.

Lately, canning has found new appeal as a healthier alternative to the chemicals and preservatives found in many prepared foods, says Brenda Schmidt, brand manager at Jarden. By preserving their own fruits and vegetables, people can also customize the amount of sugar or salt used. Canned foods will keep for varying lengths of time, depending on the recipe, but the National Center for Home Food Preservation says that you should can only what you plan to eat within a year.

In the weak economy, others are turning to it as a money saver. A few seeds planted in the spring can yield enough canned produce to last a year. But Ms. Andress, of the canning education program, warns that canning food isn't always cheaper than buying it from the grocery store.

I decided to take a class to find out for myself. I found a teacher through Slow Food Dallas, a chapter of an international organization that promotes traditional ingredients and food. I signed up for a private class with one other student, then bought supplies at my local farmer's market in Dallas, where I paid $8 for four pounds of fresh, firm cucumbers grown in Lipan, Texas, west of Fort Worth.

I bought vinegar, pickling salt, dill seeds and peppercorns at the supermarket and canning jars at the hardware store—all for $25.42. The canning teacher brought a big pot with a rack, which would have set me back another $25. My classmate showed up with $10 worth of peaches, some lemons and a bag of sugar. We were all set for our canning initiation.

I quickly discovered that preserving requires more rigor than my usual haphazard cooking method of tossing vegetables around in a sauté pan.

Our teacher devised an assembly line to process our two products, pickles and peach jam, to make the most of our limited counter space.

Strict Procedures

Canners must follow strict procedures, sticking to food safety guidelines issued by the U.S. Agriculture Department. The main threat is a microorganism called Clostridium botulinum, found on the surface of most produce. In a low-acid environment with no air, such as a food-filled jar, these bacteria can produce toxins that cause botulism, a deadly form of food poisoning.

One way to prevent that is by using a pressure cooker to heat food to a high temperature. The other is by adding vinegar or lemon juice to the food during canning. We used the latter technique, stuffing our fruit and vegetables into jars and then boiling them in a big pot of water.

First we washed our containers—pint and half-pint Ball brand glass jars, which have been made since 1884—in the dishwasher. Then we made the brine—a mixture of salt, water and vinegar for the pickles—and heated it on the stove. The peaches were blanched and peeled.

Peach Jam

Recipe adapted by Kelly Ingram from "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving," referencing Old-Fashioned Apricot Jam.

Ingredients:

8 cups peaches, pitted, peeled & chopped

6 cups sugar

4 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and bring to boil over medium heat until mixture thickens to desired consistency. (Check thickness in a chilled saucer.)

Submerge nine clean half-pint jars in a water-filled pot. Bring to a simmer and keep the jars hot until ready to use. (The jars can also be heated in the dishwasher.)

Ladle mixture into hot jars, filling to 1/4" of jar top. Wipe rims and fasten lids.

Submerge filled jars in boiling water for 10 minutes; start counting when water returns to a boil.

Remove jars and allow to cool.

Yield: Makes nine half-pint jars.

At my station, I chopped a mound of cucumbers as best I could. I had already cut my finger by the second or third cucumber, and the slices ranged from fat to skinny. Although their irregularity was not intentional, I liked to think it gave them an artisanal quality.

Meanwhile, my classmate stirred a mixture of sugar and peaches over the stove. Recent heavy rains had forced the grower to pull them early from the tree, so they were as hard as tennis balls and refused to disintegrate. Instead of jam, we decided, we would make chunky peach preserves.

The next stop was the packing station. We squeezed as many cucumbers as we could into the jars, which were piping hot from the dishwasher. (Heating the jars prevents them from shattering when you pour in hot brine and preserves.)

Once the jars were full, we placed round metallic lids on them and held them in place with a separate ring that was screwed on over them. Then we submerged the jars in boiling water in order to destroy any microorganisms and remove oxygen. Slowly, the counter filled with jars that emitted a satisfying popping sound as the lids sealed, ensuring the food will keep without spoiling.

The Verdict: Delicious

Before the last batch was done, we were spooning peach preserves onto pieces of a baguette. The verdict: delicious, sweet, tangy and rich, despite the unripe peaches. The dill pickles had a sharp, full flavor that made store-bought versions seem overly sweet and dull.

In about four hours we produced eight one-pint jars of pickles at a cost of $2.14 each, and seven $2.60 half-pint jars of preserves. Those figures do not include our teacher's $100 fee nor the energy, water and labor we expended, but they do include all our ingredients and the jars. That's less than the $2.43 I paid for dill pickles at the supermarket, and the $3.12 I paid for store-bought preserves.

Although home-canned goods are not exactly a bargain, their taste is dramatically better and, in my view, well worth the labor. I'm not motivated enough to tackle a canning session on my own, but I'm definitely interested in team canning, which was as much fun as a dinner party and more productive.

My next canning project is already in the works. I have a bountiful crop of gypsy peppers and a good recipe for pickled peppers. All I need now are a few fellow canners to put them up."

Fencing 101

Garden Update

Yep .... it's raining .... again. This is the wettest late-summer / early-fall that I can remember. We are to get 1-2" today ... then it is supposed to be clear tomorrow ... rain Wednesday .... clear Thursday ... rain Friday. Hummmmmmmmm.

After several drought years .... the rain is a blessing .... so we are trying to see the mud and the "cabin fever" as blessings too. HA !

We did manage to get the new garden spot cleared before "the wet" arrived ... again. It was 5-6ft high in heavy Pokeberry plants and a thick blanket of Bindweed. Throw in some Thistles, Pigweed, Goldenrod, and Pecan Tree sprouts -- it was quite a weedy patch, indeed ! Cherub 4 and Cherub 6 armed themselves with long sticks, and just beat and beat and beat the weeds down. They completed this huge task in a matter of a few days. (Beating down giant weeds with sticks = fun for boys !) Then we gathered all of weeds into a pile, moved the pile to the campfire ring (to be safe) and burned it all. Cherub 6 said "all gone" as the last of the weeds turned to ash and smoke.

At least now the garden spot is cleared, and we can get it tilled (if the soil ever dries out !) before we start adding in the leaves (when the leaves fall) and compost (thanks to our trusty lawnmower, horses, and our chickens !).

This new house is in Zone 6B, right at the beginning of the "higher elevation" line (according to USDA and other government maps). And the average first frost date is October 23, so it won't be long now before the leaves start dropping. The mulching bagging (push) mower is all set up, and our rakes are standing at the ready. Now, if we could just prepare our arms in advance for the heavy raking -- ha !

Oh - and once we get a frost or two, the Pecans and Chestnuts will finally be ripe too. We love gathering nuts for cracking on chilly cold winter evenings, and for added crunch to desserts.

We are all so excited .... next year is going to be a fantastic garden year !! We are already leafing through the seed catalogs, making notes and lists. There are BIG plans !!

We plan to start our seeds just after Christmas this year; a bit earlier than last year. We also plan to grow Heirlooms, and to save seeds at the end of the season. Without the commercial farm surrounding us (the farm grows Monsanto's crops - argg !!), Heirloom seed saving is possible. And without the chemical use around us (dictated by Monsanto and practiced by the farm) we should have a better balance with bugs (squash bugs -- arggg !!) and be able to deal with things organically.

We are going to use the garden spot (roughly 25x25) as the soil is fantastic (and stands to get even better as we add to it mulched leaves and compost this winter !), and to that we will add several raised beds filled with good soil, mushroom compost, compost, and mulched leaves.

And we have grapes -- did I mention that ? There are grapes and muscadines growing on a nice trellis. We have learn how to care for them properly -- pruning, feeding, tending. So, in the mean while, we are just dreaming of fresh grapes, jellies, and preserves. Yummy !!

Are you working on your fall garden chores ?
Have you any grand plans for next year to share ?

A Real Dolly !

SunnySocks (we call her Sunny) is such a dolly.
Born June 9th, she has grown really fast.
She lovesssss her human family.
She also comes when her name is called,
walks beautifully on a lead rope,
stands while being brushed,
and in general is far more docile than
most baby horses, so we hear.

DadToCherubs seems to have
a special place in his heart for
a certain baby horse ...
named Sunny.

Aren't they adorable ?!?!

A Celebration !

We are finished moving !
*
What better way to celebrate -
hotdogs and s'mores over a campfire
at the new house ?

Pop over to see --
Time To Share The Big News

Big News

We have taken a brief
break from blogging
due to some chaos.
*
Be sure to stay tuned for
(the end of the chaos)
BIG NEWS !!

Adventures In The Pasture

Cherub 3 riding Estrella; Cherub 1 leading.
Sunny following Momma.

Cherub 4 and Cherub 5 loving Sunny.
She has grown soooo much !

DadToCherubs riding Estrella; Cherub 1 leading.
Sunny wondering "what's going on ?"

Sunny doing what baby horses love --
running and playing.

Time For Salsa

Tomatoes, and peppers, and jalapenos, OH MY !

Cooking the salsa.
Canning the salsa.

We put up 25 quarts of Salsa on Monday. We'll probably put up 25+ more quarts before the season is over. We love to eat it for lunch on busy school days, with tortilla chips. Yummy !