Done Doing Dillys!

I just pulled 7 pints of dilly beans (dill pickled green beans) out of the canner. Yay! Now, if I want to, I can pull up all the rogue dill that's growing all over the garden.

I have glace' sour cherries drying in the dehydrator. After a 4 day sugaring process, they are sweet and taste like cherry pie raisins - totally yum, especially in breads! The other product you get from this is a jewel-red cherry flavored syrup. I'll be making some of that into cherry jelly, some will be canned as a syrup, and if there is any left I'm going to try my hand at making lollipops. Wouldn't that be cool? Nothing in there but sugar and the color and flavor extracted from the cherries.

The next thing on my 'fun' list is to make a sweet-hot pickled green beans. I'm totally addicted to a sweet-hot cucumber pickle that Vlasic makes, but my cucumbers are still teency little plants, and I'm doubtful that I'm going to get cukes.

The green beans are doing really well this year, so I'm moving forward with my plan to can in quarts instead of pints. Little Bit likes them, so a pint is a bit sparse for a meal - better to serve a quart at a time and have some extra for the next day. I still have some pints that I canned last year, so I think my goal is to put up 35 quarts this year, if the plants produce that many.

Zucchini is just getting started, and already I'm looking for new ways to cook it, eat it, and preserve it for later. Mostly we like it cooked with onion and corn meal, in zucchini bread and saute'd with herbs. If you have other zucchini recipes you like, leave me a comment, please.

In other garden news, we've been sneaking into the potatoes every so often - side digging a few for a dinner here and there. They are growing very nicely, and they taste delicious. The corn is starting to tassel, the watermelons are finally taking off, and the winter squashes are growing by leaps and bounds. We have green tomatoes, and eagerly await some ripe ones. Everything seems to be moving right along.

Comments

We've been pulling nearly 4 lbs oz zucchini every day, and I've been searching for new, creative ways to use some up, too!

Last night, I tried my hand at making some marmalade ~ it is absolutely out of this world...if you like marmalade, that is.

I got the recipe out of my Ball's Complete Book on Home Preserving; it's the Gingered Zucchini Marmalade, and it's fabulous! It calls for 5 cups of shredded zucchini.

While I was making it, I told Husbie I wasn't going to be making it again because it was a little tedious to prepare the citrus ~ but as soon as it was finished and I tasted it, I announced I will definitely be making more! Heehee!

Let me know if you don't have the book and want the recipe.

Now I'm off to find summer squash recipes... any suggestions?
Laura said…
Four pounds a day? You must have more than two hills! That, or I'm doing something wrong.

I don't have that book, Farmer J. I've gotten it from the library in the past, but right now, all copies are checked out. I would love that recipe, when you find a moment. Sounds like it might be really good to use as a glaze for pork!

Thanks, dearie!

Popular Posts