Kelli's 2014 Garden Journal - Page 4

BucksCountyGirl · July 10, 2014

Thank You, MissS, for the kind words and of course I can post recipes if anyone wants them!

Just a quick one today of my first tomato harvest

Left to right: BIG Lime Green Salad, Two Rosella Purples, a bunch of Sungolds and one Sweet Linda

Looking forward to a taste test soon!

BucksCountyGirl · July 14, 2014

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We were busy in the garden trying to battle some of the grey mold this humid weather is bringing. On the plus side we got our first real "haul" of the summer.

The Siberian Giant Pink we picked came in at 1 pound on the button!

Can't wait to taste it.

We tried our first Blush tomato and I think we finally have a variety that knocked the mighty Sungold out of first place for tasty cherries! Plus they are gorgeous to boot.

We had our first BLTs of the season. They were made with Rosella Purples who are definitely getting the invite back to the garden next year.

I started my second batch of fermented Kosher Dills because the first batch seems to have disappeared already! Definitely recommend the Mini White Cukes for this.

And finally, last night, we got to try out our Kamo eggplant. I made them with a miso glaze over Japanese rice with grilled peppers (Shi★★★★o & Jimmy Nardello). VERY delish!

Cheers!

Fiishergurl · July 14, 2014

Gorgeous and looks yummy. Are your shi★★★★os bitter at all? I wonder if im picking some of mine too small.

Ginny

BucksCountyGirl · July 14, 2014

Hey Ginny! Mine have not been bitter overall, but I find if I cook them too long (to where they start to lose their bright green color) they start to get a bit bitter. We have found them to be the most tasty when grilled briefly over high heat. Best of luck to you!

peppero · July 15, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alpinejs

What am I doing wrong with onions? I buy the sets and the nursery says they should be
baseball sized. This is my 3rd attempt and all I get is golf ball sized onions. The current
batch have been in the ground for five months. I'll be in the ground before they are ever
baseball sized!!

I resemble this quote very much and hope that someday I will lurch uncontrolably into the solution as I have tried many times to be a successful onion grower with poor to pitiful results.

jon

BucksCountyGirl · July 21, 2014

While enjoying the nice weather this weekend (and treating several tomato aliments) I managed to pick this nice haul of garden goodness.

The Lime Green Salad has been a real winner for me this year. It will definitely be a re-grown for 2015.

We also started our 2014 batch of fermented hot sauce. There is a little bit a my water kefir in there as a starter and as the peppers come in we will just buzz them up with some more garlic and a little sea salt and add them to the mix.

Tania · July 21, 2014

Kelli, these are so delicious! You must be very busy picking, cooking and preserving

Love this time of the summer, when everything is ripening.

Tatiana

newatthiskat · July 21, 2014

I have never made fermented anything. I might need to try my hand at it

BucksCountyGirl · July 25, 2014

Thanks, Tania!

Kat, you definitely should. It is easy and inexpensive to start. I would check out Alton Brown's recipe for fermented pickles That was the first one I tried my hand at and it worked really well!

Some how I managed to come down with walking pneumonia last week so I have been slacking in the garden department for a few days. Every time I walked through my kitchen, the slowly over ripening tomatoes would bother me, so i finally mustered up enough energy to deal with some of them.

I took some Sweet Linda and Blush cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. I dipped them in a mixture of red wine vinegar, fresh garlic, fresh oregano and sea salt and threw them in my dehydrator.

About 10 hours later they were dried out nicely. My husband announced they tasted amazingly like pizza, so I guess I will be making more before the season is out

BucksCountyGirl · July 28, 2014

The Cherries have been kicking into high gear. I am currently fermenting a bunch to make some bloody mary mix. Once they ferment a bit and I strain them out, I will add lovage, some aji lemon peppers and a bit of chives to complete. Will add pics when I get around to it

In other exciting garden news, my pit Mac decided to knock over one of my German Butterball buckets in a tennis ball frenzy. Since most of the plants got snapped off, the hubs and I decided to dig in and see what we could find. We were pleasantly surprised when we found these beauties!

We had planted .75 pounds of seed in this container and got 4.1 pounds (not including the strainer) in return for about a 5 1/2 times yield! We are pretty happy with that as a first try (that got prematurely "harvested" by our canine)!

The hubs declared them the "best potatoes ever" and is looking for more old trashcans so we can expand next year

Can wait to see how the other containers turn out!

BucksCountyGirl · July 29, 2014

As promised, here is a picture of the tomatoes I am fermenting for bloody mary mix. I will run them through my food mill and use the solids (minus seeds and skins) for paste.

I also just had to share our dinner from last night. I took some more of those beautiful German Butterballs we harvested on Sunday and mashed them with a touch of black truffle butter. Then I served them with grilled lamb chops, gremolata and grilled shi★★★★o peppers. The hubs was VERY happy

Tania · July 29, 2014

Yummy! That's a great inspiration Kelli, thank you!
Tatiana

BucksCountyGirl · August 1, 2014

Thanks, Tania!

So the hubs and I took the tomatoes we were fermenting and ran them through my food mill. We poured the resulting (skin and seed free) goop through a cheese cloth and seasoned the liquid with some lovage, green onions and a fish pepper. We will let this mixture continue to ferment for our final bloody mary mix. The solids left over in the cheese cloth will be mixed with 1/4 it's weight in salt when fully drained and will be a nice alternative to tomato paste.

Last night for dinner, I picked our first Zolotistyi pepper (the big gold one), a few Jimmy Nardellos, a Big Beef, a couple of Sweet Sues and some green onions. I am very impressed with the Sweet Sues. They are super productive for a dwarf and we just love the taste. It starts out with big tomato flavor then finishes with a solid sweetness.

With all that I made some Cajun chicken rice. Both peppers were delicious in this and will definitely be returning to the garden next year!

Tania · August 1, 2014

Kelli, you are a master chef! I wish I could try some of your food masterpieces

Cheers,
Tatiana

RobinB · August 1, 2014

Wow, I have heard of fermented pickles, but hot sauce? Tell me more! Sounds intriguing! Do you blend it up somehow, or strain out the solids, or use it as is?

July 10, 2014	#46
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	Thank You, MissS, for the kind words and of course I can post recipes if anyone wants them! Just a quick one today of my first tomato harvest Left to right: BIG Lime Green Salad, Two Rosella Purples, a bunch of Sungolds and one Sweet Linda Looking forward to a taste test soon! __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

July 14, 2014	#47
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	I hope everyone had a great weekend. We were busy in the garden trying to battle some of the grey mold this humid weather is bringing. On the plus side we got our first real "haul" of the summer. The Siberian Giant Pink we picked came in at 1 pound on the button! Can't wait to taste it. We tried our first Blush tomato and I think we finally have a variety that knocked the mighty Sungold out of first place for tasty cherries! Plus they are gorgeous to boot. We had our first BLTs of the season. They were made with Rosella Purples who are definitely getting the invite back to the garden next year. I started my second batch of fermented Kosher Dills because the first batch seems to have disappeared already! Definitely recommend the Mini White Cukes for this. And finally, last night, we got to try out our Kamo eggplant. I made them with a miso glaze over Japanese rice with grilled peppers (Shi★★★★o & Jimmy Nardello). VERY delish! Cheers! __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

July 14, 2014	#49
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	Hey Ginny! Mine have not been bitter overall, but I find if I cook them too long (to where they start to lose their bright green color) they start to get a bit bitter. We have found them to be the most tasty when grilled briefly over high heat. Best of luck to you! __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

July 21, 2014	#51
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	While enjoying the nice weather this weekend (and treating several tomato aliments) I managed to pick this nice haul of garden goodness. The Lime Green Salad has been a real winner for me this year. It will definitely be a re-grown for 2015. We also started our 2014 batch of fermented hot sauce. There is a little bit a my water kefir in there as a starter and as the peppers come in we will just buzz them up with some more garlic and a little sea salt and add them to the mix. __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

July 21, 2014	#52
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Kelli, these are so delicious! You must be very busy picking, cooking and preserving Love this time of the summer, when everything is ripening. Tatiana __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

July 14, 2014	#48
Fiishergurl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Oak Hill, Florida Posts: 1,781	Gorgeous and looks yummy. Are your shi★★★★os bitter at all? I wonder if im picking some of mine too small. Ginny

July 21, 2014	#53
newatthiskat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: texas Posts: 1,451	I have never made fermented anything. I might need to try my hand at it

July 25, 2014	#54
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	Thanks, Tania! Kat, you definitely should. It is easy and inexpensive to start. I would check out Alton Brown's recipe for fermented pickles That was the first one I tried my hand at and it worked really well! Some how I managed to come down with walking pneumonia last week so I have been slacking in the garden department for a few days. Every time I walked through my kitchen, the slowly over ripening tomatoes would bother me, so i finally mustered up enough energy to deal with some of them. I took some Sweet Linda and Blush cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. I dipped them in a mixture of red wine vinegar, fresh garlic, fresh oregano and sea salt and threw them in my dehydrator. About 10 hours later they were dried out nicely. My husband announced they tasted amazingly like pizza, so I guess I will be making more before the season is out __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic Last edited by BucksCountyGirl; July 25, 2014 at 09:48 AM.

July 28, 2014	#55
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	The Cherries have been kicking into high gear. I am currently fermenting a bunch to make some bloody mary mix. Once they ferment a bit and I strain them out, I will add lovage, some aji lemon peppers and a bit of chives to complete. Will add pics when I get around to it In other exciting garden news, my pit Mac decided to knock over one of my German Butterball buckets in a tennis ball frenzy. Since most of the plants got snapped off, the hubs and I decided to dig in and see what we could find. We were pleasantly surprised when we found these beauties! We had planted .75 pounds of seed in this container and got 4.1 pounds (not including the strainer) in return for about a 5 1/2 times yield! We are pretty happy with that as a first try (that got prematurely "harvested" by our canine)! The hubs declared them the "best potatoes ever" and is looking for more old trashcans so we can expand next year Can wait to see how the other containers turn out! __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic Last edited by BucksCountyGirl; July 28, 2014 at 10:23 AM.

July 29, 2014	#56
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	As promised, here is a picture of the tomatoes I am fermenting for bloody mary mix. I will run them through my food mill and use the solids (minus seeds and skins) for paste. I also just had to share our dinner from last night. I took some more of those beautiful German Butterballs we harvested on Sunday and mashed them with a touch of black truffle butter. Then I served them with grilled lamb chops, gremolata and grilled shi★★★★o peppers. The hubs was VERY happy __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

August 1, 2014	#58
BucksCountyGirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Holland, PA/Zone 7A Posts: 692	Thanks, Tania! So the hubs and I took the tomatoes we were fermenting and ran them through my food mill. We poured the resulting (skin and seed free) goop through a cheese cloth and seasoned the liquid with some lovage, green onions and a fish pepper. We will let this mixture continue to ferment for our final bloody mary mix. The solids left over in the cheese cloth will be mixed with 1/4 it's weight in salt when fully drained and will be a nice alternative to tomato paste. Last night for dinner, I picked our first Zolotistyi pepper (the big gold one), a few Jimmy Nardellos, a Big Beef, a couple of Sweet Sues and some green onions. I am very impressed with the Sweet Sues. They are super productive for a dwarf and we just love the taste. It starts out with big tomato flavor then finishes with a solid sweetness. With all that I made some Cajun chicken rice. Both peppers were delicious in this and will definitely be returning to the garden next year! __________________ - Kelli Life's a climb...but the view is fantastic

August 1, 2014	#60
RobinB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Near Reno, NV Posts: 1,621	Wow, I have heard of fermented pickles, but hot sauce? Tell me more! Sounds intriguing! Do you blend it up somehow, or strain out the solids, or use it as is?