Author Archives: Sandy

Pretty as a pepper

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Sandy

Even though I’ve had a hard time with tomatoes this year due to the cool weather, I’ve had good luck with peppers. For the last couple of years I’ve been growing peppers in the greenhouse in hanging planters and have … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged | 8 Comments

Grapes, sauce, and my sunny weekend to do list

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Sandy

As I mentioned in my last post, animal activity can be a good indicator that a crop needs to be harvested – and fast. After harvesting our favorite apple tree last weekend, I went to check on the grapes. Sure … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Critters are smarter than I am

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Sandy

   Animals know when fruit is ripe. Have you ever waited patiently for a tree full of cherries to ripen to perfection only to walk out one day and find every last cherry on the tree gone? This has happened … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Pears are a pain in the ass

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Sandy

I’ve done a bunch of canning this summer. I’ve canned jam, tomato sauce and soup, peaches, applesauce, and more. This was my first time canning pears. Compared to everything else, the pears were difficult. I bought a box of pears … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

The canning continues . . .

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Sandy

Today I got out Big Bertha, my All American pressure canner.  I don’t always use a pressure canner when canning tomato sauces, but the tomato soup recipe I was canning today had a few ingredients that aren’t on my usual … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Photo album: Garden in September

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Sandy

Here are some pictures from around the garden at the beginning of September: Happy gardening! Sandy

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Red peppers and canned bruschetta

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Sandy

The last few warm days certainly helped the tomatoes in the greenhouse redden up, but only some of them. I still have more green tomatoes than red. That said, I did have enough to make a small batch of canned … Continue reading →

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Tomatoes, tomatillos, bruschetta, and peppers

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Sandy

In spite of the cool weather, my warm weather crops are ripening in the greenhouse. I’m not getting huge volumes, but enough to make a few dishes here and there. Recently, I harvested some tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers. I used a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Canning and late summer harvests

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Sandy

Even with the wimpy and slow-to-produce summer we’ve had, August is a busy time in the garden and the kitchen. It’s pretty common during this month for me to have multiple projects going on at the same time, as the picture … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A few of my favorite kitchen things

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Sandy

Food preservation and storage season means spending a good amount of time in the kitchen. Many cooking and preservation tasks are made much easier with the right set of tools. I thought I share with you a few of my favorite … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments