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Tuesday, July 12, 2022

The kitchen

72 and cloudy this morning. A day of mixed sun, clouds, thunder and a few sprinkles of rain. Still muggy this evening.

More garden work this morning, getting limas, dill, and sunflowers planted. We pulled the multiplier onions and will replant the little sets that grow on top of them. I am still learning about these onions, but I so like having onions to harvest all winter.



I pulled the Lutz beets that had wintered over and gone to seed. I am saving the seed to replant. Last year I planted them in August and got some small beets and great greens in the fall, then come spring we still had beets to eat. I have never had that happen before.  



But I was going to write about what I have been doing in the kitchen. The gardens keep us occupied in the mornings, and again in the afternoon, in the kitchen. Yesterday I made the 5 squash casseroles; we ate one immediately, gave one to our son Derek, and froze 3. It will be so good to have them in winter. I cooked double the amount of brown rice called for in one recipe, and froze the extra. 

Since one of the squash recipes called for chives, I picked a good bit extra and dried it. 



I made vegetable soup today, using mostly veggies from the garden: cabbage, potatoes, celery, onions, garlic, carrots, and added green beans and tomatoes canned last year as ours have not come in yet. This I pureed in the food processor and put in the freezer. The yield was 5 large, vacuum-sealed bags. Again, good food for days we need something quick.

I also made granola for the first time in quite a while. It's so simple, I don't know why I don't do it more often. 


And again, something I have not done in years: made yogurt. It's another of those things that are easy to do, and inexpensive too. I simply mixed milk with some plain yogurt, heated it a little, and put it in the oven where the pilot light provided just enough heat for the culture to work.

Soon I will be canning like crazy. The kitchen will be littered with jars, baskets, pots and all the paraphernalia of the canning season. But not yet. Still, there are things to be put up. What a blessing it is to live where we have such plenty.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

10 comments:

  1. You are blessed, but you have also put in a lot of hard work in your gardens and harvests. I'm glad you can enjoy "the fruits of your labor."

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    1. Judy, I thank our parents every day for bringing us up to appreciate gardens and gardening. As a child I was sure I hated it because all the hand weeding! But it didn't take long for me to realize what a gift they gave us.

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  2. What a bountiful garden you have! It's great to read all about it. I have some things to do in my kitchen now...

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    1. I love how we inspire each other through our blogs. I'll read what someone else is doing and think, I should get busy!

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  3. I make my own yogurt and granola, I love both and so much cheaper than buying. I have loads of chives here, what do you use dried chives for, do you keep it as a herb to put in things in the winter when there are no chives growing?

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    1. I agree, it's a lot less expensive, and so simple. I don't know why I stopped, really--probably time though. As for the chives, I use them when I'm in a hurry or it's too cold/snow-covered to get out to the ones in the garden. Sometimes they die right back too, depending on our winter. I also give them as gifts at Christmas to non-gardening friends.

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  4. Oh yes, canning days are coming! Squash casseroles sound delicious but I didn't plant any this year. Next year, though - for sure! I used to love to make granola and haven't done so in a while. YOu may have just given me the inspiration to do so!

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    1. That's what I love about blogs, we inspire each other. Do give the squash casserole a try sometime. It's really delicious, hot or cold.

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  5. This is an odd gardening year for me. I planned ahead (!) and bought an expensive (by my standards) seed-starting box to plant with many carefully-chosen vegetable seeds. Had slow and ultimately terrible germination! So instead of getting a 6-week jump on the short growing season, I pretty much set everything back 6 weeks instead, and ended up with empty spaces in the veg garden. If I'd been on the ball, I would have direct-planted "just in case" doubles of everything, but it's been a good while since I've been on the ball. Oh well. The pole beans are growing - and the zinnias - and there's much joy to be found puttering in the gardens no matter what, isn't there? :)

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  6. Isn't it funny how that can happen, Quinn? I've had similar experiences. Last year many seeds germinated poorly, for no reason I can figure except bad seed. I ordered from Totally Tomatoes; a friend did too and had similar bad luck last year with some varieties. This year I tried them again and everything was fine. But the carrot seed I bought in town, and the seed leftover from last year, germinated very poorly. Go figure. We did some re-planting this year--squash and cukes--because of the chipmunks. Little devils dug up our seeds. It's always a challenge!

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