Fresh Salsa ! ! ! !

 So on my kick of finding out how much better things from my garden taste I decided to try a two for one experiment.  I have a friend who created this awesome salsa recipe that we’ve been able to duplicate and with our salsa marker is a breeze to put together.  I have another friend though that doesn’t like actual onion, but likes the taste of onion (go figure).  So taking my fresh plum tomatoes, some fresh cherry tomatoes (with the different colors) and a green pepper from a friend’s garden, some green onions from my garden, and a jalapeno (from the garden) we tried to make it.  You would never guess how much of a difference it makes to have the real onion.  My friend loved it, but the rest of us thought it was missing something.  I will say though it was kinda cool to know that most of the ingredients came from the garden. 

So after that little experiment went pretty well I decided to try the hot version with some of my hot cherries (it’s normally made with a habanero).  The hot cherries seem to do well inside during the winter so in theory I would be able to get them, which is especially awesome because the habaneros are becoming harder and harder to find in our grocery stores.  I didn’t personally eat it as it is way too hot for me (hot just isn't my thing), but the reviews were great.  The idea of having fresh salsa in winter that could potentially come from our little three tier is pretty cool.  Guess I need to work on getting some plum tomatoes worked into the mix. 

We wanted to try to can some this year, but that didn’t happen.  So maybe next year when we’re done with the projects I’ll be able to try my hand at it. 

Consequences of the weather

Wow is all I can say about the weather that we’ve been having in New England.  Hurricane Irene knocked out southeastern CT for about a solid week.  This is turn resulted in all the tax return deadlines to be extended until the end of October.  Normally all deadlines are done by October 15^th.  Which usually gives me plenty of time to clean up and get things all set.  Oh and to get Halloween all set.  With the tax deadlines all getting extended this has been the most insane October I can ever remember. 

Then as if the month wasn’t bad enough as we’re decorating a hall for a Halloween party the rain that’s coming down decides to change over to snow.  This is snow which wasn’t even supposed to start until Midnight.  By the time we had finished we already had like an inch on the cars.  And while it’s only October we already had out first winter storm with a name.  Our area of the state didn’t get hit nearly as hard as other parts.  When you look at the outage map it’s almost as if the line from Irene stayed put and the state just reversed.  I feel bad for the people that are getting hit a second time, but not so bad for the people who were fine for Irene and are just now experiencing this.  So besides the crazy month I am now officially making being prepared a much bigger priority.  As soon as I down load some pictures I’m sure I’ll have some to post. 

Here’s hoping for a quiet November so we can all catch up.   

Kicking and Screaming

I’m personally a fan of the extremes.  I love Summer and I love Winter.  Fall I don’t particularly care for because I’m usually not ready for summer to be over, and as much as I should love spring because of the gardening aspect I’m afraid it’s just too muddy overall for me.  It’s chilly and frankly just teases you with the cold sun that looks like it should be a lot warmer.  So here we are again.  Somehow Summer has managed to race by and I’m not sure where it went.  Like it or not I know summer is coming to an end.  My morning glories are already getting burned by the cold nights, my tomatoes and cucumbers were never the same after the storm and have no chance of kicking into another round at this point.  And slowly the black eyed susans that bloom so brightly for the better half of the summer are finally winding down. 

In New England summer seems to come and go this time of year.  We got really cold where I actually broke out some sweaters already, and yet this past weekend I was wearing shorts again.  However there is no fooling the trees that surround me.  As I lay in bed what was once a view of lush green is beginning to become a blend of reds, yellows and oranges, a sure sign colder days are ahead.  Driving around you can see the fields sprinkled with orange globes as the pumpkin plants die back to leave the fruits of their labor behind to be picked.  Our pool is still open, the last holdout of summer.  Once we cave there I’ll be looking forward to the days of lounging in front of a warm fire while the world is blanketed in white.  (while dreaming and planning next year’s garden of course) In the meantime though I’ll head into fall kicking and screaming as I hold on to the last few days that feel like summer regardless of what the calendar says. 

Is that Butter? ? ? ? ? Now what?

It’s amazing how you can’t do something if you try, but you always manage to do it when you least expect it.  Last year when I started making bread I thought it would be cool to make my own butter to go with it.  I thought it was only fitting.  So I got some heavy cream, did some research and started whipping, and whipping, and whipping and of course nothing happened.  Imagine my surprise this past weekend. 

I was making a dessert that needed some whipped cream.  It only needed a little bit so I tried making it in a different container than I usually use.  My immersion blender has a whisk attachment, and when I turned it on it causes that cream to fill the whole container (think tall cup).  Well I thought I had whipped it enough, but when I went to pipe it onto my cupcakes it looked a little watery.  I still had some leftover so I decided to whip it some more so I could use it later.  Well it didn’t get thicker.  Instead it got more watery, so I whipped it some more.  Next thing I know I’ve got CLUMPS!

Then I got excited.  So I kept going and guess what.  I GOT BUTTER! ! ! ! Well that was what I was guessing it was anyway.  Turns out it was.  I kept going so the butter had completely separated out.  I put it in a container to take to work (a co worker I knew use to make butter) and asked now what.  Turns out you don’t really need to do anything else.  So we put it on some bagels and it was AWESOME! Turns out it tasted better with a little salt added for the bagel, but seriously how awesome is that.  Fresh butter that I actually managed to make.  Of course I couldn’t do it when I tried, but now I know what container to use to make butter (note to self not a good container to make whipped cream in).  Now where is some fresh home made bread?

Mother Nature Keeps on Ticking

I’m happy to say that some of the garden has survived, and besides the complete jungle out there you can’t really tell there was any damage on the surface.  It’s been an absolutely insane month since the storm.  Thankfully all our deadlines (tax) got extended so that has helped.  However, I still couldn’t tell you what I’ve been doing for the last month.  Or even how a month has even gone by. 

The flowers have straightened themselves out and are as tall as ever. Guess there’s no beating mother nature down.   Luckily Irene didn’t destroy my cotton plants which are still going.  I’ve gotten multiple blooms off them this year which really aren’t that exciting.  The seed pods though are getting bigger by the day so I can’t wait until they finally burst open.  I bet it’s going to look very cool with this little cotton ball in the garden.  I will say I have definitely forgotten just how tall Cosmos can get when they are happy.  I think some rearranging is in order for next year. 

The tomatoes which my girl friend forgot to mention were the TALL ones have just about flopped over everything.  Unfortunately they have not fared well even after the storm.  BUT . . . . . I was finally able to get enough to try this pasta dish that started the whole journey into the world of multi colored tomatoes and let me tell you completely fantastic and totally worth it.  Maybe next year I’ll figure out how to can and be able to keep some of it for the winter months.  Our corn is still going and managed to stay completely upright.  I even have a few ears of popcorn growing.  I’m crossing my fingers that they get big enough to actually get something.  Ahhhh so many goals & wishes but simply not enough time to get them all done. 

Next on our list is our new veggie garden.  We just got the wood delivered so hoping we can get that is pretty shortly and have it ready to go for next spring. 

Irene August of 2011

WOW can a little tropical storm do a lot of damage.  I’ll be honest I never thought it would really hit us, and even if it did I didn’t think it would hit us that hard.  So I picked up made sure everything that could get picked up by wind was taken care of.  Brought all my plants inside, and actually filled some containers with water, filled the bath tubs and at the last minute filled a bucket for the dogs. 

We lost a tree and it seems that my garden has seen better days since the storm.  Trees were down all over our town and for once we actually lost all power and cell service for about 6 days in my area.  Work had power so that made it a little easier to get cold water on a daily basis.  We also had the pool in the backyard which also made it easy and a little fun to actually bathe out there.  At least we were clearn. 

Even things that looked like they made it are not very happy right now.  The cherry tomatoes are rotting on the bushes and my watermelon is just dying back.  Looks like I’ll have to wait until next year for some real results.  I did however find a watermelon out front which I think is the orange glow that seems to be growing quite well.  Can’t wait to see if it grows and I get anything. 

Flowers seem to be hanging in there.  Some of my cosmos split straight down the middle, but are still going.  If I thought my front was a jungle before the storm it’s deep jungle now.  I did finally found a spot that the cotton seems to be enjoying and that has made it through the storm just fine.  I can’t wait to see if I actually get a cotton ball with new seeds in it from the plant.

Crossing my fingers.!

Some of the fun from IRENE

two trees at the top of our street.  One tree fell onto the other, but at least it was stopped befoe it actually landed on the power box.  Both trees were quickly removed. 

This is the tree we lost.  It was actually struck by lightning a few years ago, and was doing fine, but it was no match for IRENE.  This is right after it fell before the town came.  It was blocking about 3/4 of the rd which is about 4 cars wide. 

The town came by prett quick to get it out of the rd.  they cut off the branches that were along one side and used a snow plow to puch it back into our yard.  Thankfully they didn't puch it into our baby cherry tree. 

The garden in front of the deck.  It's amazing how straight everything was until the storm.  Thankfully even the flowers that were split are still hanging on and haven't started to dye back. Hopefully they'll make it through the season.  it's a total jungle now without question. 

My Full Basket ! ! ! ! !

When I jumped back into real gardening (not just containers on my balcony which was right outside my door) I quickly realized that I needed a way to get the stuff back to the house without making a million trips.  SO I found a garden hood which is a great sturdy basket with a wire bottom so you can rinse your picks and it will drain right out. 

Well Like most times once I got it I didn’t really need it.  Even though I totally needed something before.  But this year I was finally able to really use it.  I can’t tell you how awesome it was to just go and pick stuff and have a place to put it.  Usually I was putting them in my shirt, my skirt, my hands or once in a while a container that I grabbed (ex raspberries). 

Turns out it actually holds a lot.  I wanted to pick as much as I could before it all blew away or got broken and ended up with the following: tomatoes, cayenne peppers, jalapenos, lettuce, cucumbers (big and small), basil, and even a couple of egg plants.  It actually ended up being a pretty hefty load.  YEAH!  At last! Now if only the rest of the tomatoes would ripen.  I want some fresh sauce. 

Now I get to add some mystery peppers, tomatoes (that were supposed to be plum) and lots of black and white cherries.  Looks like my orange and red cherries are just rotting right now.  I've been able to get tons of basil, greens and egg plants this year.  Funny how my staples aren't doing as well, but things I've never had any luck with at all are doing fantastic this year.  Funny are mother nature works that way.