garden notes :: 10.16.15

I said farewell to most of my garden this past weekend. We still haven't had a hard frost in Minneapolis (however, tonight could be the night!), but the tomatoes and peppers had reached a point of making very little progress in growing and ripening.  Also, as it's already mid-October, I've been feeling a strong urge to wrap up the outside work and prepare the house for the long winter months ahead.  So, away went the tomatoes, peppers, tomatillo, and eggplant.  Some carrots still remain and the beans will stay until the vines die back from the frost.  The basil was covered last night and will be turned into pesto and some will be hung up to dry this evening.  

Before pulling out the tomatillo and tomatoes, my sister-in-law helped me gather all of the fruit that was still covering the vines.  We gathered another 2.5 lbs of tomatillos and a large bowl of tomatoes.  Sunday was then spent in the kitchen busily canning another couple jars of salsa verde and 8 pints of pickled green tomatoes.  I'm was excited to put all of those green tomatoes to use! Hopefully the pickles will be a great winter treat!

View fullsize

While it may seem like the garden is done for the season, there is still quite a bit more to do.  I'd love to cut back my herbs for another round of drying and there's a fresh batch of compost waiting to be dumped into garden to prepare the soil for spring.  Then there is garlic to be planted!  I had such a good time growing garlic this summer and so I'm going at it again and quadrupling the amount!  I have 4 heads to get into the ground in the next few weeks!  This year I'm planning to mark those heads so I know where to find them in the spring and so I can take notes on the different varieties I'm trying.  If you are wanting to grow garlic next year, now's the time to plant!  You can pick up bulbs at local garden shops, but make sure you get types that are good for your climate.  What's sold in the grocery store is generally not cold-hardy enough for these harsh Minnesota winters.  

After the unruliness of the summer garden, I do love the quiet, tidy, and restful fall garden bed.  It's calming to prepare it for winter where it will be able to rest, recoup, and rebuild before next summer comes around...that garden bed is a bit like us, I think, needing the quiet and rest that winter brings...I must say, I'm getting ready.  How about you? 

when life is too busy to pick the beans...

...the beans get really big.

It's been a week of really big beans around here.  With a busy holiday weekend spent with the best of friends and the start of the fall semester, there has hardly been time to sit down, let alone pick the beans!  And because of that, I just washed and froze a quart of rather large beans.  They won't taste the best and the texture may be a bit strange, but they will still nourish our bodies in the middle of winter and that's what's really important.  

So, with the summer behind us and the fall in full swing, I wish you all the best as you find yourself with maybe a little less time than you had a week or two ago.  There is something about fall that brings more regular commitments to the table, which can be lovely and bring such a good rhythm to our lives, but it can also mean that some things, like the beans, get a bit overlooked in the hustle and bustle.  So, as you fill your days with things, I hope you are still able to find ways to nourish your bodies and souls, even if it's with slightly overgrown and less than perfect beans.  

Cheers to fall!  And cheers to you, my dear readers.  

tomato soup

I've said it before, but soup is one of my favorite things to can.  There is nothing quite like grabbing a jar of soup from the basement on a cold winter's night and having a homemade dinner ready in a matter of minutes.  Throw a crusty grilled cheese in there and you've got a perfect comfort food!  If you are looking for a tomato soup recipe, here is the one that I came up with this year.  I'm rather excited about!  I made a double batch and ended up with 6 quarts.  However, I probably could have let it cook down a bit more so that it was a little thicker.  I think the little bit of sugar helps soften the acidity of the tomatoes and wine.  Add more or less to taste.  Enjoy!!

---

Tomato Soup

12 cups of peeled, cored, and chopped tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup dry wine (I used a chardonnay, but a red would probably add an even better flavor)

2-4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

ground pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large stock pot.  Cook onions in the butter until translucent.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30-40 minutes.  Turn off heat and let cool for a few minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth (or blend in a regular blender in small batches until smooth).  Add wine, sugar, salt, pepper, and basil.  Simmer until reduced to desired consistency.  

Pour into clean jars.  Either freeze or can.  Pressure canning is the preferred canning method for soups.  Process the jars at 11 pounds for 25 minutes.  

When ready to serve, add a bit of half and half or heavy cream to thicken and make it creamy.  Yum!

Yield: 2-3 quarts

from the garden, from the market, to the shelf

My days over the past few weeks (when not traveling, that is) have been filled with food preservation.  The shelves are slowly, but steadily filling with jars of tomatoes, corn, pickles, and soup.  And the freezer has been filling with green beans and cherry tomatoes.  It feels so great to make so much progress in putting up the food that will nourish us throughout the coming year.  It's so very satisfying.  A lot of what I preserve I buy at the farmer's market.  While our garden produces quite a bit of food for fresh eating, as of now it doesn't produce quite enough for much preserving.  The few things that I do preserve from our own plot of land are tomato sauce from my six sauce tomato plants, cherry tomatoes when we can't keep up eating them (I roast them in the oven with herbs and olive oil for a bit and then freeze them), green beans (which I freeze as they come in to the kitchen), fermented jalapeños, and a couple jars of pickled mixed veggies to be used in Bloody Mary's (yum!).  Everything else is from the farmer's market such as the quartered tomatoes, the dill pickles (both vinegar-based and fermented), the corn, and the tomato soup (recipe to follow soon!).  I am hoping to make carrot tomato soup in the next few weeks with ingredients from my garden, but we'll see if the warm temps hold out long enough to get me a good amount of tomatoes in a relatively short amount of time...we'll see...fall has definitely been in the air off and on over the past couple weeks in these parts.  

With all of the farmer's market buying that I've been doing, I've learned a few tips.  First, get to know the people who run the different stands.  I've found some who will happily throw in extra of this and that if you buy a bunch of something from them, and I've found others who won't.  Second, it's a lot easier to barter if you are buying more than one item, if you are down to your last couple dollars, or if you are buying a large quantity of something.  Don't be afraid to ask!  I'm amazed at how often I can buy something for less just because I ask!  Third, there are certain vegetables that don't have to look perfect for preserving.  For example, cucumbers should all be firm and freshly picked if you are going to pickle them.  However, tomatoes can have many imperfections and still make great soups, sauces, and even diced/quartered tomatoes.  Just cut off the bad parts and keep the good!  

I do so love the task of preserving and all that goes into it.  Even though it makes for very long days in a warm kitchen, I find the gathering of produce and the filling of shelves so very satisfying in the end.  

How about you??  What delicious things from summer have you been tucking away for winter??

for crisp mornings

The end of my summer vacation will soon be coming to a close and over the past week I've started to feel the pull of routine calling my name.  During the school year, I love drinking chai tea in the mornings.  Whether I drink it in my living room chair or during an early morning class, I love starting my days with it's spicy sweetness.  In preparation for the fall semester, which starts for me in just over a week, last week I made a batch of my loose leaf chai tea.  When I mixed up this batch the weather was hot and humid and rather unpleasant, but yesterday and today we've been graced with a bit of cool crispness.  As the rain fell this morning I was able to sit in my living room chair and sip a warm cup of chai with a bit of yarn in my hands for a bit before getting my day started.  It was delightful.  

---

Cinnamon Ginger Chai Tea

1 pt cinnamon sticks, broken into small pieces

1/2 pt darjeeling tea

1/2 pt ginger root, chopped & dried

1/2 pt cardamom pods, slightly broken to release the oils

1/4 pt shatavari root (optional, it's a fabulous root that supports the female reproductive system)

1/8 pt coriander seeds

1/8 pt whole cloves

1/8 pt orange peel, chopped & dried

1/16 pt black pepper corns, slightly crushed

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.  Store in an airtight container.  Use about a teaspoon for an 8 ounce drink.  Steep for 5-10 minutes.  The roots in the tea usually require a longer steeping time to really release their flavor.  Add a bit of honey and cream to taste.  Sip and enjoy! 

---

I love this recipe because it's so easy to tweak depending on the flavors you love (or those you don't).  I also like that you can add as much tea as you want, meaning you can control the caffeine, which I love.  I get all of my loose herbs and the darjeeling for this recipe (besides the shatavari root) at our local food co-op.  You can also order them all from Mountain Rose Herbs if you are unable to find them locally for a good price.  The cost of this tea should be about the same as if you were to buy an equal number of high quality chai tea bags.  So, if you are finding that the herbs at your grocery store are too expensive, look elsewhere.  Herbs, in general, should not cost $4-5 for a tiny little container! 

As for drying the orange and ginger, if your kitchen is dry and not humid, they will probably dry just fine if you leave them out on the counter overnight.  You can also dry them in a low temperature oven for 20-30 minutes, or until they are fragrant and feel dry to touch.  

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!  It's getting me excited for fall, which will be here before we know it!