The things I done did.

I got to can in the daylight! Talk about bliss. There is something to the saying about taking things for granted. . . 

I digress, last night I harvest a decent amount of cucumbers, crookneck squash and summer squash.

I am running dangerously low on canning jars. An added stress in my life. Wait, I promised not to get whinny about things. Let us move on. One solution to lack of jars;

A bit of airing out and sun drying. 

I decided to use some of the crooknecked squash in a relish. Sunshine is always needed in the darkest of winter.

Sunshine relish

4 lbs shredded crookneck squash 

2 large onions, minced

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons canning salt

4 cups sugar

3 cups cider vinegar

1 tablespoon each celery seed,  and ground turmeric

1 tablespoon whole seed mustard

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cracked peppercorn

Directions

In a large pot combine the sugar, vinegar , salt and seasonings. Bring to

a boil. Add squash, onion and bell pepper then return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer

for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Ladle hot mixture into six hot pint jars, leaving 1/2-in.

headspace. Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Process

for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. 

I went ahead and canned a few jars of straight squash. Just sliced summer squash in water. A bit of salt if you'd like. You really should pressure can these at 10 lbs for 30 mins. I hot water bathed for over 90 mins.

And finally some sweet pickles. I have the mixture premade so that I don't have to have a plethora of cucumbers to start canning. Just reheat the mixture if you have leftover.

2-1/2 pounds 3-inch pickling cucumbers, well-scrubbed and quartered into spears (about 12 cups spears)

4 cups cider vinegar

4 cups sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

3/4 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

6 heads dill

2 medium sweet white onions, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 12 1/2inch-thick slices (I actually minced them this time)

7 whole cloves, crushed

In a large saucepan, stir together vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, celery seeds, cloves and pepper. Bring to a boil over a high heat, stir to dissolve sugar.

Put dill and 1 slice of onion (or the minced onion) at the bottom of each of your sterile jars.

Pack spears into sterile quart (pints for me) jars. ladle vinegar mix over cucumbers in the jar, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process in hot water bath for 5, 10, 15 minutes depending on how high you are from sea level.

The above picture was taken just as I removed the jars from the canner. The pickles will stop floating in 24 hours. I know that freaks some of you out. -wry grin-

Why, I think my Pickle's gone soft!

It happens every time. You're in the mood, and bam! The pickle is soft. What's a girl to do?

Stop cooking them! Stop getting your cucumbers hot.

All the recipes out there, have you pouring hot liquid on your raw packed cucumbers. But there really isn't a need to do so, unless you plan on canning and storing them in your pantry. But if you have the room in your refrigerator, stop cooking them.

I love crunchy pickles, like the ones you buy in your refrigerated section. You know, the one where Groucho Marx dresses up like a stork? But what is their secret?

As soon as you pick your cucumbers, put them in the fridge, get them nice and cold. Make sure you process them that same day however. While they are chillin', heat up your pickle mix and sterilize your jars. Then allow them all to cool back down. Stick the liquid into the fridge, allow it to get cold. Next you will need to cut up your cucumbers.


Cut the blossom end off, then cut into halves or spears. Then plunge them into cold ice water as soon as they are cut. Repeat the process with all your cucumbers. When your liquid is cold, raw pack your future pickles into your jar and pour the liquid over them and seal, place back into the fridge. Don't allow them to sit out or get warm at all! Cold pack one jar at a time, and get it back into the cold before you pack the next.

Allow to sit in fridge for 6 weeks. and Crunch. Now when your in the mood your pickle will not be soft.

Sweet Pickeled Cucumbers

Am I boring you yet with all this food preserving talk?

2-1/2 pounds 3-inch pickling cucumbers, well-scrubbed and quartered into spears (about 12 cups spears)
4 cups cider vinegar
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 heads dill
2 medium sweet white onions, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 12 1/2inch-thick slices
7 whole cloves

Place cucumbers in a large bowl.

In a large saucepan, stir together vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, celery seeds, cloves and pepper. Bring to a boil over a high heat, stir to dissolve sugar. Pour hot vinegar mix over sliced cucumbers. Allow to sit until cool enough to touch.

Put dill and 1 slice of onion at the bottom of each of your sterile jars.

Pack into sterile quart jars. ladle vinegar mix over cucumbers in the jar, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process in hot water bath for 5, 10, 15 minutes depending on how high you are from sea level.

Got leftover juice? Pickle sweet peppers the same way, or make sweet cucumber relish.

Onto other things. I was finally able to milk Eddie, our most recent cow mom. I pulled a quart, and allowed the calf, Urth, to have the remainder.

harvesting onions, pickling cucumbers and Farm Aid

I had three very large cucumbers to deal with yesterday, and discovered that I was out of vinegar. I have mentioned before that I am nowhere close to a store, and there was no point in wasting gas just to get vinegar. I thought about making cucumber soup, but then my husband is the only one that would eat that.

I rifled through my fridge and found that I had saved the pickle juice for store bought and homemade pickles. BINGO! I cut up the cucumbers in slices and stuffed them into the jars, bread and butter pickles, sweet pickles and dill. I also went and shredded some cucumber up into relish. {Though personally I think it looks more like shredded zucchini. We will see in a few months how well these quicky refrigerator pickles come out.


After the heat exposure yesterday, I had no plans on going outside. But my animals needed fresh water, the sprinkler in the garden needed to be moved, green beans needed picked and onions needed to be set out to dry.

I was too thrilled about being outside, even in the early morning the temperature was in the 90's f. {The high was 108f}

I laid out the onions on a torn bed sheet in the middle of my driveway. We have several types of onions, large, small, sweet and "normal", red, white and yellow. I only lost 6 from rot.
I planted more than 400 bulbs, some are still in the ground. From past experience, I only expected half to survive. But we planted them as soon as the ground was workable, still winter. Almost all of them thrived. Wonderful! {Don't know yet if that is sarcasm}


Here they are laid out on the sheet, think we have enough to make it to next harvest?















I want to thank those of you that have already sponsored me in the Blogathon. Those of you that haven't, it isn't too late. On July 29th bloggers from around the world will stay up and blog for 24 hours, raising money for the charity of their choice {I had a dream last night that I missed the blogathon} I have chosen Farm Aid as my charity.

From the Farm aid website;

About Farm Aid
Working to keep family farmers on their land, Farm Aid brings together family farmers and citizens to guarantee fresh local food is available to you. Together we can restore family farm-centered agriculture that ensures safe, healthful food, protects natural resources, and strenthens local economies. Farm Aid exceeds the 65 percent standard for program expenditures set by the Better Business Bureau and other charity watchdog groups that monitor non-profit performance. Eighty cents of every Farm Aid dollar goes to programs supporting family farmers, including grants to organizations that help keep farmers on their land.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every donation helps. To help tempt you into donating, I thought about having a drawing. For every $5USD you donate your name will go into the hat {$10USD will get your name in twice and so forth}
The prize is a book called

"Extraordinary Chickens"

This is a bookcrossed book, but as the winner you are under no obligation to BookCross it.

Sponsor Me!