Yet
again, this past Saturday saw a rainy Farmers’ Market. However, it did not stop the customers from
coming out to make their purchases. This
support is really encouraging to the vendors and reminds us why we work so hard
to bring you the freshest, best quality products each week.
Thank you, Pat Wheeler, who after
reading my article last week, made a special trip to Farmers’ Market to bring
me a rain gauge. I put up this new
gauge, which was courtesy of the Farm Bureau, right away and I’m sure it won’t
be long before we get another rain and I will know the actual total. Garden work has been such a joy this week with
these unusually cool temperatures. The
mornings feel more like September than the beginning of August.
As the amount of produce grows in
abundance each week, it is time to think about preserving some of the harvest. Canning and pickling has made such a
resurgence in the last couple of years.
People who have never before thought of canning are now trying their
hand at it. Talk to the farmers and ask
about buying produce in bulk quantity.
Even if they don’t have what have you need right away they may be taking
a list of names to call when that product is available. You must remember, though, that vegetables
don’t work around your schedule; you have to be ready to put in the time when
they are available.
Here is an example of the time it
takes to preserve food. My friend Andy
wanted to can a bushel of green beans and having never done it himself,
enlisted my help. So, on Sunday he came
over and picked a bushel of green beans.
This took him about an hour and a half.
Then, on Monday evening he came back, bringing along his girlfriend. Another friend showed up to help and the four
of us started snapping beans at 6:30pm.
While they snapped, I washed jars and got various other supplies
ready. After the beans were snapped and
rinsed we filled the jars, added salt and boiling water, and put on the
lids. I have the advantage of owning
several pressure canners and an outdoor gas stove on which I can use two
canners at once. The last canner load
was finished around 11:15 pm. We netted
20 quarts of green beans in just under five hours, not counting the time it
took to pick the beans. This was with a
pretty large crew and fairly efficient set up, so someone doing this alone in
their kitchen might expect to take longer.
A lot of newcomers to food preservation
are starting with pickles. These do not
require a pressure canner, or even a water bath canner, if you are making
refrigerator pickles. I have made many
different types of pickles over the years and my methods have ranged from the
easy Mrs. Wages pickle mixes, to more complicated pickles requiring fourteen days
brining in a pottery crock. Dill pickles
being my favorite, the following recipe, which I got from Ben Brannon, is one
of my “go to” recipes.
“Claussen”
Kosher Dill Pickles
·
2
Dill flowers
·
6
sprigs fresh dill
·
2
garlic cloves, peeled and halved
·
1
Tbsp. coarse Kosher salt
·
½
c. white vinegar
·
8-10
cucumbers
Put dill
flower and garlic in bottom of quart mason jar.
Add cucumbers; put sprigs of dill in center of cukes. Add salt, vinegar, and fill with water that
has been boiled and is now cool. Put on
seal and ring and shake to dissolve salt.
Sit upside down on counter away from sunlight and heat. Let sit 4-5 days flipping the jar each
day. Let sit upright 2 more days then
refrigerate. Lasts 6 months.
The push cultivator with a dewy morning cobweb. Scenes like this, plus the cool damp mornings, are what have made this week feel like fall.
Pressure canner full of beans--ten pounds pressure.
Our results--twenty quarts of green beans! Yum.
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