Giveaway Day is here!

It's Giveaway Day!! Let's do the fun part first and then the nitty gritty details...my theme is "Kitchen Garden".

Pictured below is a jute bag with a cotton liner. It would be great for collecting fresh veggies or flowers from the garden.

Second is a half apron. It is a cafe-style-wrap-around apron. The apron is a beige fabric with light blue trimming.There is a towel loop attached at the waist of the apron.Canned gala apples...yum!A jar of my summer-fruit chutney...And copies of a few of my favorite recipes for Cinnamon Rolls... ...and French Bread!

And a bonus-yet-to-be-decided item related to kitchen gardens.

So...if you'd like to receive my giveaway here are the important details:

• I won't ship internationally, US addresses only.
  
• The giveaway will stay open until May 31st.


• To win you must post a comment answering this question: What things would be important in your ideal kitchen garden?


• I will pick a winner by June 1st, contact that person to get a mailing address, and ship the giveaway by June 3rd.

Memorial Day Chutney Making, Etc.

Memorial Day was quite relaxing. We laid low, spent time relaxing at home, during work in the yard and garden outside, watched all of the animals and pets at our nearest neighbor's house, let the chickens free range for the first time, had a couple of movie nights, had homemade calzones for dinner, and I even took a nap on the deck (that may have been my favorite thing!) I got to enjoy the outdoor speakers that the husband recently installed while I was working, playing and relaxing outside, very nice!

One of the last things I did was make and can what I decided to call "Summer Fruit Chutney" - I sampled a bit this afternoon and it is delicous.

The recipe:

2 mangos cut into 1/2 inch cubes

6-8 pears skinned and cut into small pieces

6-8 apricots pitted and cut into small pieces

2 cups golden raisins

1 lemon, seeds removed, flesh cut into small pieces

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

2 tbsp pickling spices in cheesecloth ball

6 cloves also in cheesecloth ball

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water or orange juice

3/4 cup shredded coconut

3/4 tspn salt

After everything is chopped, cook until boiling for 20 minutes.

Ladel the chutney into sterilized canning jars. I use a canning funnel to avoid sticky messes.

Put the lids and rings on the jars and lower into boiling water of your water bath canner. Cover and boil for 25 minutes (depending on your altitude you may need to boil longer)

When you take the jars out of the water you should hear the jars "pop" as they seal.

The tools above are some of the tools I use for canning that I couldn't do without...I tried to and it just wasn't a good time. On the left is my pair of jar tongs, perfect for lifting the jars in and out of boiling water. Before I had the tongs I burned myself a few times. The stick-looking-thing in the middle is a lid magnet, used to lift lids out of boiling water. Lids have to be boiled to be sure they are sterile, jars and lids must be sterile to insure that bacteria is not trapped in canned food. On the right is my peeler - I didn't use it this time, pears are too soft for this peeler. But, the peeler is excellent to use with apples, I saved tons of time using it last summer.

Since I taught myself to can fruit last summer, I've been impressed with how easy and useful it is. I'm hoping that our fruit orchard gives us a large harvest this summer so I can put up lots of fruit. Even if we don't get much from the orchard we will buy fruit in bulk when we head over to eastern Washington this summer...that was where we picked up the yummiest nectarines last summer!

Can't wait until summer is officially here - only a few weeks!

Want to try this...

Barefoot Contessa's Marshmallow Recipe

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes.

Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

With a sieve, generously dust an 8 x 12-inch non-metal baking dish with confectioners' sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top and dust with more confectioners' sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.

Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares. dust them with more confectioners' sugar.

Yield: 20 to 40 marshmallows, depending on cut size

Recipe from: Barefoot Contessa Family-Style by Ina Garten (Clarkson N. Potter)

Progress Measured

Raised Beds

Still in construction - sometime shortly after Valentine's Day...

Put into place in the garden after they had received their final coat of weather sealing paint, just in time for a few inches of snow... The snow melted and the husband brought in the weed liner, vegetable-specific-dirt and gravel to cover the pathways.
Then starts were planted in the beds.
Rain, Sun, Water, Sun...repeated over and over...and here it is today.I like seeing how it has come along. I also now have more lettuce than we are currently consuming. I need to start getting into some really creative salad making just to keep things interesting.

Chickens

The chickens were treated to a salad and fruit bar today as well as another dirt bath.
They were a bit shy with their interest in the fruit...the watermelon ended up being a hit while the strawberries not-so-much.

Tomatoes

My tomatoes continue to grow and grow. I have a tendency to go overboard at different times in my life when I am excited about something...I have another tendency to find it difficult to admit I've gone overboard. Right now I am not ready to admit that I've filled my tomato house a bit too full. If I was ready to admit that I'd tell you that the plants have already all grown much bigger than I expected. I would be admitting that I'm wondering how it's all going to be fitting in a few weeks since it's getting pretty tight now. Since I'm not admitting anything today, I will instead share the pictures I snapped of my beloved (and perhaps crowded) tomatoes.

Tomato Starts

After this I promise not to talk about tomatoes anymore (in this post anyway). The starts below are an heirloom variety and a roma. I started them in the wardian in my kitchen window a few weeks ago. I moved them out to the greenhouse today. They obviously won't be planted in the tomato house, instead I'll try to keep them in the greenhouse so I can have tomatoes into the fall.

Asparagus Tips (Finally!)

I have a plant marker near the trench where I planted five asparagus starts that I wrote the date which they were planted: April 14th. It has been over a month since that planting day. In the time since I planted the asparagus, I have regularly checked for any sign of growth on the starts. Not seeing any change, I have even done some research online to find out if I planted the starts properly (it is kind of confusing if you've never done it before, or maybe just if you're me!) I didn't come across any information that made me believe I'd done something the wrong way, so I have been considering the possibility that maybe it was the starts, they could be "defective". Then finally today I saw the tiniest asparagus tips beginning to emerge from the starts. A happy day in the asparagus realm of my world! (Does anyone really read this and take me seriously? How is it that asparagus can make me so happy? I guess everyone has their thing!)

Radishes

After pulling some radishes out of the ground today to go with my lunch, I decided to plant more...the turn around time for radishes has been about 4-5 weeks. I probably should have started some more a couple of weeks ago, but better late than never.

The radish above didn't even make it inside for eating, I rinsed it with hose water and ate it in the garden. It had a nice kick, yum!

Figaro Napping

He loves to tuck into a corner of the greenhouse for a nap. Today his nap didn't last too long, it was pretty hot in there.

Yummy (Local) Treat

We made a trip to the farm supply to pick up some feed for our neighbor's chickens. On the way out there I had a craving for a rootbeer float. That lead to a trip to the grocery store and I ended up coming home with this yummy treat. It is made by a local company. Yes, lavendar flavored icecream is unusual, but as I found out, delicous!

50th Post! Dirt Bath Thursday and Other Random Bits

I made it to my 50th post! Definately a cool accomplishment. I have looked forward to blogging, I like how it makes me think about what I've accomplished and what I still want to do. For today though I don't have any one specific subject to write about, instead here are a few random photos to share...

Lately Figaro has been especially happy in the garden. Now with the fence and gate up, he doesn't have to worry about Bambino or the neighbor dog, Otter, coming in anymore. He's been following me around and being very cute. We are house-sitting for our neighbor for a few days, taking care of their animals. This is their tom turkey...he loves to puff up and do his gobble noise.I put some zucchini starts into the ground today. I started them in the greenhouse about two weeks ago.

The patch of ground below was the location of a burn pile last winter. I put a layer of topsoil over the ash and planted sunflowers here...as you can see they are coming in nicely. My hope is to have my own little version of Tuscany later this summer.

I transfered my three pepper plants into larger containers. As they get bigger I'll give them cages for support.

I've noticed that lately the chicks have been scratching in their run pretty aggressivly, trying to get past the grass to the dirt.

So I thought I'd help them out a bit. I put a couple shovels of dirt into their run. There were some ants and worms in the dirt, so the ladies went nuts almost right away when they saw the dirt, pecking to get the little treats.Next came the dirt baths...that pile of dirt was like a hot tub in a ski lodge at the end of a long day...packed out! The ladies were all rolling and wiggling in the dirt. I think they like to get it under their feathers because they all puffed up as they shimmied in the dust. It was hard to take a picture because they were all kicking and flapping so quickly - almost every picture came out blurry...I like this little hen, she's in the reclined position.

The last thing today is that I've finished my giveaway day items...all ready for next Wednesday the 27th! I'm actually considering doing a second giveaway...we'll see if I get around to it this weekend. Hope your week is ending well and that you're looking forward to the holiday weekend as much as I am! Here's to another 50 posts!

My garden is becoming my grocery store...

It's has been a gorgeous weekend so far...temperatures in the 60's and 70's - definately a treat for me!

I noticed this little tomato on one of my Roma plants yesterday when I was out watering the garden. It's the first one I have so of course I'm thrilled. I tried to grow tomatoes last year without any luck whatsoever. This year I've started a few plants from seed - they are all very small still, but I also have picked up started plants over the past month. I think my success so far is due in part to going with the starts and also because of the tomato dome they are planted in - it is consistently warm and humid in it, the plants are loving it! If I get a decent tomato harvest this summer, my plan is to of course eat plenty of them, make salsa with some, and use some to can my own marinara sauce. Funny how exciting this is to me!I put a hundred Walla-Walla onion starts in the ground about a month ago. They too are coming along nicely. Also fun was finding that the radishes I planted are getting ready to pick. Remember that I tried salt as a solution to the worms that like to get into the radishes - my radishes last year were inedible because of the tiny worms that got to them before I could. Well, the salt trick works, here's a picture of when I planted the radishes:And here is one of those radishes in the ground yesterday...gorgeous and worm free! They are beautiful! I can't say I've ever enjoyed radishes as much as these.

The strawberries are also coming along nicely. We should have some ripe and ready to pick in about a month. When we transplanted them to a raised bed, the husband nailed down a strip of copper tape around the rim of that bed to keep slugs out. They won't cross the copper because it reacts with their skin...a nice organic way to keep out those strawberry munchers!

In the green house things are going well...below are the two pepper plants I picked up a week ago. They like the heat in there. I am considering transplanting them to larger containers but leaving them in the green house. I have a few extra tomato cages I can use to support them, and if I move a few things around in the greenhouse I'll have plenty of space...at least until July this should keep the peppers warm enough. Although it is nice outside today, what I remember of June last year was that it was cold, rainy, and even snowed one day...not good weather for peppers that need a warm climate to do well.A couple of weeks ago I burnt the starts I had going in the greenhouse. Included in the casualties were mostly zucchini, cucumbers, and butternut squash. Since then I have re-started some seedlings. Things are going well, I'll wait another few days, maybe a week, and then transplant what I can outside.Now that the chicks are hanging outside all of the time in their run, I have been feeling kind of nostalgic about them. They grew so quickly in the month or so since I brought them home...it's hard to believe how tiny they started off!
They're obviously so much bigger now, but they still like bunching up together in a corner.This flower popped up this morning in the window bed in the front of the house...I am not sure what it is, probably something I planted a year ago that didn't come up last summer because I got it into the ground too late - that happened in a few places, but I like it whatever it is.