The Cucumber Saga Continues...

I’m trying something new today… salt ‘n’ vinegar cucumber chips. Someone posted this on a recent #EveryBitCountsChallenge, and I had to try it.

So I took out the mandoline, sliced up four cucumbers, tossed them with 2 tablespoons each of extra-virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of fine sea salt. Laid 'em on the racks, and here we are.

As you can see here, I got them started with a little passive solar drying on this absolutely glorious day, and now they’re in the dehydrator at 350°F for 10 to 12 hours.

I’m really looking forward to tasting these. ::nods::

🕊🥒🌞🥒🕊

Peace

Cucumber Harvest

“I don’t have enough cucumbers to make a half gallon of half sours,” she said.

“I’ll just run out to the garden, there must be a few ready to harvest out there to add to this batch, “she said.

And there was. And then some. Nine pounds to add to the 1.5 pounds will be plenty to get those half sours started. And then some. 😁

🕊🥒🌞🥒🕊

Peace

 

Quite the Zucchini Year

 

I’ve said it already, and I’ll say it again: This is quite the zucchini year!

This morning I processed about 10 pounds of zucchini. A little for the freezer and a lot (more) for the dehydrator. Then it was beans… and back to the gardens for more harvesting.

And I count my blessings.

🕊🌱☀️🌱🕊

Peace

Garden Sage

 

For a number of reasons I’m keeping things simple today. Aside from the necessary garden harvests, and the preparation‘s for a birthday dinner this evening for my spouse, I’m just trimming a few branches of garden sage - lovely Salvia officinalis - to hang for drying.

🕊☀️🕊

Peace

Zucchini Relish

Today’s preserves from yesterday’s harvest.

Sweet zucchini relish was today’s main project. It started last night with the chopping of the zucchini and the onions so they could sit in their salt bath overnight, and so I was able to get this work done early in the day today.

And once this was done, and cleaned up, I did some zucchini prep for supper, and made some zucchini fritters for lunch served with the first of our garden tomatoes, and tomatillos too.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, this has been quite the zucchini year!

And we are grateful.

Day 9 of #EveryBitCountsChallenge - join us!

🕊☀️🕊

Peace

Making Room for This Year's Tomatoes

We’ll be harvesting the first of our ripe tomatoes today, or tomorrow. So begins my annual ritual of checking the stores of last year‘s tomato harvests. Aside from canned jars of purée, sauce, and other tomato creations, we have several jars of dried tomatoes that we’ve not yet used.

So, to make space on our pantry shelves for this year’s harvests, I’m creating oil packed dried tomatoes. You know, the kind that are easy to pluck out of the jar to eat with some bread, add to some pasta, pizza, a main or side dish, and so on and so forth. ::swoon::

I thought I’d share the process I use to make these. It’s simple, and can be modified for the flavor profiles delight you, or simply what you have on hand...

In a pan, cover the dried tomatoes (I had a quart's worth) with water, a little salt if desired, and about a half a cup of vinegar.

I bring this to a boil, then simmer for five minutes or so, strain, lay out on a rack (or lint free cloth) and let them air dry for a couple/few hours.

Pack them in jars with whatever herbs and spices please you. I used garlic, bay leaf, and clove in this batch. And once the tomatoes 'n' botanicals are packed in the jar, cover the top with a nice layer of extra-virgin olive oil. This creates the seal that prevents oxygen from getting in and compromising your beautiful creation, creating a shelf stable delight that requires no refrigeration, yet that appreciates a cool spot, out of sunlight (I use my north room).

I let this sit at least 2-3 weeks before using it. And in 2-3 weeks I’ll be making another batch with a different profile, likely featuring oregano, mint and - of course - garlic.

If you have dried tomatoes left from last year, I hope you’ll try this. You won’t be disappointed.

Peace. 🕊

Jarring the Wooly Mint

Today is for stripping the leaves off the dried herbs that have been hanging in our little north room. They’ll be jarred up and labeled to be enjoyed as food and Medicine in the months ahead. This is really what so much of August (September in October too!) is about: Preparing for our winter months.

And I’m starting with this - our wonderful Mentha suaveolens, often referred to as apple mint, but before I knew which mint it was I called it woolly meant, and others do too.

Peace. 🕊

And suddenly, August.

Of the summer months, August is the summer-est. It's the final full month of the solar season, and it's the start of my 4Q (fourth quarter of the year). It feels fitting that this month start with drizzle and the potential of rain, as Nona Gaia needs it here in my corner of the world, and the latest plantings will most certainly appreciate it. Anyhoo... If you've been following me for a while, you know that my "new year" begins at Samhain, as October moves to November, so that means August kicks off the quarter of preparing for deep autumn and the coming of winter. This is obvious in the gardens, as every day there's harvests to gather and preserve for food and Medicine, and I'm still getting the summer seeds in for autumn and winter harvests. It also means wrapping up some of the elements of the past year, and putting in place aspects to support me in moving as smoothly as possible into the next - in the gardens and out.

As I plan for my new year, I look ahead to some major life shifts, including ::drumroll, please:: retiring my business of some 30+ years at the end of this calendar year. Yeah. That's big. And yet it's not. You see, I'll continue doing what I do, which is rooted in sharing my experiences and occasional tangible creations with others, I'll just be doing it as a hobby and not a business. And that prospect feels good and right. 

Now, I could go on here about leveraging the transformational heat of the August sun, yet sometimes a conveyance is best left to its purest 'n' simplest guise. Besides, so much is shifting in the seasonal climate expressions that the transformational heat of the August sun is an increasingly complex concept and reality.

In any event, I shall do my best to keep cool as summer heats up this month. I shall continue to spar with our collective broiling addiction to fossil fuels in my own small ways, and in other ways. I invite you to do the same. That said, if you're in the (increasingly rare) position to divest from that industry, and haven't already, I invite you to do so. And to my way of thinking, divesting is more than striping a 401K or other financial investments of all things fossil fuel. If you're wondering what I mean, ask. And while I'm taunting you may I add that if you're in a position to help out someone in need, please do so. Oh, how I could ramble on. But...

As August arrives, the pace of the season shifts, the verve fires up, and with it my sense of urgency quickens. I hope yours does too. For this month. This year. This life. For our collective future. May you hear the call of Gaia's urgency. 

Lammas blessings.

Peace. 🕊