Waiting… & eating

February 18, 2017 In the Kitchen, Other recipes, Weekly Updates

Despite the recent wintery weather, it’s in the 60s today and we’re actually just a month out from the start of spring planting! By mid-March, it’s possible to get crops like onions, potatoes, and even peas, kale, and carrots into the ground. Still, early spring planting is always a complete gamble depending on the weather. I’ve had weather in March fluctuate between the 80s and heavy snow, so it’s always a guess when planning an early start to the season as to whether that will actually take place! Regardless of what the weather throws our way next month, Valentine’s Day always marks a mental turning point for me. It means that we’re through the...

Shelling beans

November 23, 2016 In the Kitchen, Other recipes

In the true homesteading spirit, I made sure to harvest every last bean off of the plants when I pulled the string beans a few weeks ago. I had mainly left the plants in the garden that long in order to allow the beans to grow big enough to produce seed for next year’s garden. However, not all of the beans on the plant had become viable seed by the time frost hit and the plants had to be pulled, so I was able to set aside a giant bag to use as soup beans instead. Whereas string beans are harvested when the pods are nearly flat and the beans inside have...

Sweet potato greens

September 29, 2016 Garden techniques, In the Kitchen, Other recipes, Tips & Tools

In a small garden space, I always aim to grow as many crops as possible that allow me to plant the bed space more than once a season. However, there are certain veggies we love enough that it’s worth growing them even if they do take a while. Sweet potatoes are one of those crops that take up bed space for a long time, from mid-May until at least mid-September. The upside is that you usually get quite a hefty harvest of tubers at the end of this time. And, even better, sweet potato plants actually offer a second harvest option that many people don’t know about- the greens. All you...

Oven-dried cherry tomatoes

August 15, 2016 Freezing, In the Kitchen, Other recipes

Several years ago, while working at a farmers market, I learned from a customer about her method for drying Roma tomatoes in the oven and freezing them to use over the winter. Ever since, I’ve been dying to do the same, but never got around to it until this summer. Since we use most of our Roma tomatoes for canning and really needed another outlet for the cherry tomatoes (besides our mouths!), we decided to oven dry cherry tomatoes instead. The result was exceptional! This is a perfect technique to preserve cherry tomatoes for eating in the near future or for freezing to use in the winter. Even better, you can substitute these for...

A week away

July 31, 2016 In the Kitchen, Other recipes, Tips & Tools, Weekly Updates

Caleb and I took a short break this week, heading down to D.C. to visit my parents. Mike stayed home, so was able to take care of the garden, although with a week of successive heavy rain and thunderstorms, keeping things watered wasn’t much of an issue! At this point in the season, gardens become somewhat like pets, unable to be left alone for long without someone to take care of them. Most summer crops require harvesting multiple times a week to enable the plant to continue producing successfully, as opposed to concentrating its energy on going to seed. In terms of how often to harvest, here are the general guidelines I follow for...