I have, however, been eating last year's harvested foods, as well as stuff from the Arizona garden. I've also given more than a dozen jars of canned goods to the kids.
I've eaten strawberry jam on my toast, pickles and sweet relish on my hamburger, AZ green onions on my pork and noodles, AZ spinach and lettuce in my tossed salads, 2 pints of tomato sauce, frozen red & green peppers and AZ green onions in a casserole, a lot of red sweet peppers in my chicken fajitas, and cooked the last of the AZ spinach for the two of us. It was so good, Mr. Granny asked for seconds, but alas, there was no more.
Daughter Amy went home with jars of dill pickles, strawberry jam, hot pepper jelly, salsa and apple butter, while son Scott took both strawberry and peach jams, salsa, bread-and-butter pickles and pickled beets. I still have so many jars of food that need to be used up before it's time to start canning again! I should have canned more diced tomatoes, and not so much sauce and juice. Definitely, an inventory of canned foods will have to be taken before the 2011 canning season starts.
I discovered by tipping the lemon tree forward just a bit I could put the bottom shelf back in the plant window. It gives me just barely enough room to hang a light and use two flats (with domes) for starting a few seeds. It's too bad I don't have some half-length shelves and a couple more of these 24" shop lights. I'm going to buy a rope light today, to provide some bottom heat for starting seeds. I filled the flats with 1/2 commercial potting mix and 1/2 vermiculite, so they're all ready for planting lettuce seeds in a week or so. Now, if I can only remember where I put the 18" shop light..........
I'm doing a canning/pantry inventory later today. I have to start clearing out some of this stuff so I can get ready for the new season harvest...I gave my daughter and daughter-in-law a bunch of things...just begged them to bring my jars back. I bought some lids yesterday while doing my shopping. I don't even have the tomatoes planted and I'm already taking *stock* of what I need to do with the darlings when and if they ever produce fruit!
ReplyDeleteYou are eating well from the garden - or should I say "gardens" since some of that produce came from the winter homestead. I was just thinking I need to go harvest some carrots from the overwintered patch (been ignoring them lately for some reason) and then you post about your overwintered plants too. I guess it is a sign that I really do need to pull some of them up and enjoy them. :D
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to fit your lemon tree back into the kitchen window again.
I can see you're really enjoying being home. Have fun planting!
ReplyDeleteGranny!!! I have missed reading your posts. I am so far behind... life has been a little crazy for me since September. Hopefully, it will be settling soon. All your canned goods sound so delicious. I hope to can some things this year. Everything from my garden was either eaten fresh or frozen.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see that Leona is sharing the sunlight. Geez if you just lived a little closer, I have a bunch of extra shop lights. My neighbors gave me so many. Do you think that they want me to share some veggies with them??
ReplyDeleteBefore you change what you can - remember you'll spend more time there next year. You may need more juices and jellies!
ReplyDeleteLynda, I'm trying to find room for all my empty jars. Last summer, I didn't have any empty jars, so I guess we've eaten quite a bit already! My kids have been good to return their empties, too....they have to, or they don't get any more.
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Kitsap, I have my coat on and the sun is shining...I'm going out to look at those carrots right now!
OK, I did it. They are of edible size, sweet flavored but kind of dry and crumbly in texture. At least the one I bit into was. They aren't table quality, but will be fine for feeding the rabbit.
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The Mom, I'll be getting into full swing in another week! I bought rope lights for bottom heat today, and I can hardly wait to start planting the lettuce.
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Debiclegg, I'm so happy to see you! I hope you are feeling better now. I see you've blogged (finally!), so I'll be over to check it out.
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Robin, I have a lot of shop lights, but they are 48" long and my window is 42"! I bought that 2' light to use inside, and I have another shorter one out in the shed....I think. They work well in the plant window. I'm hoping to get the others set up in the mini-greenhouse by next week,when I begin to plant the lettuce.
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Barbie, you're right. I didn't take nearly enough canned goods with me, and none of the frozen stuff. We'll be eating lots of it before it's time to can again.
Sounds like you are eating like royalty, we are making quesadillas tonight and will be using our own beans, onions, and canned salsa on them...I had better go help roll them out before I get yelled at.:)
ReplyDeleteMr. Meyer looks very happy in his new location...or is it Mrs. Meyer?
Mr. H., that would be Mrs. Leona Meyer Lemon.
ReplyDeleteMy salsa is soooo hot! I will probably have to buy mild salsa to mix with it, or maybe plain diced tomatoes. I can stand quite a bit of heat, but this stuff is too powerful!
That's an impressive amount of canned foods! It's a lot of work to can enough to last through the spring. That's great that you can grow a garden during the winter when you're in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteI love being able to eat from preserved harvests. We've been eating lots of jams. yum.
ReplyDeleteI didn't can any tomatoes or diced tomatoes and I really have regretted that. I need to can just a few cans of those for me. My husband only eats sauce so he won't eat any of them. But for stews and soups for me they are better than the tomato sauce.
ReplyDeleteMaui (may I call you Maui?), I grow very little in AZ, as we're there for just a short time. Now we have sold that property, so I'll be spending my winters here in eastern WA, dust dreaming about my spring planting!
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Meems, I'm trying to eat lots of pickles....my, I made too many pickles! I've found the super hot salsa makes delicious taco soup, in the crockpot with lots of veggies and some black beans. I'm going to make a pot of that today, it's supposed to snow and a big bowl of spicy soup will taste good while watching the snowflakes fall!
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Daphne, luckily Mr. Granny does like sauces, so I've had some pretty good meals from the tomato sauce. But gosh, there sure is a lot of it for two people to consume!
Funny how we think we eat more of some things, and less of others, only to find out otherwise. I have lots of tomato stuff that I canned last summer, and I really need to start using more of it up. Lots of juice, enchilada sauce, pasta sauce, and a few (runny) salsa. Ah well, I love just looking at it!
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Lori, I've been straining the excess juice from my salsa, which also turned out a bit too runny this year. I just pour it into a bowl and let it sit for a while, then pour off the juice. My pizza sauce was a bit watery, too. I pour it into a coffee filter to strain it, then it's perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'm making taco soup today, using one of my many jars of salsa. We'd have eaten more of it if I hadn't got it so fiery hot! Last year it turned out perfect, and we ran out too soon.