Preserving Your Harvest

[Iluveggers]

Got the other half of my garlic cloves into the ground today! I think I planted about 100…a bit less than last year but I now know how much we use on a yearly basis after giving some to family. 2 bulbs per week up until about June when the scapes start to make an appearance. It doesn’t last much longer in my storage here past June anyways.

 

[Sueby]

Got the other half of my garlic cloves into the ground today! I think I planted about 100…a bit less than last year but I now know how much we use on a yearly basis after giving some to family. 2 bulbs per week up until about June when the scapes start to make an appearance. It doesn’t last much longer in my storage here past June anyways.

Where do you store yours? Mine doesn't last too long, I have no good place to store it (no basement). Last year when I saw them starting to sprout I peeled them all & froze them. It worked really well! I hate to waste anything, lol. I stopped growing hardneck so I don't get scapes anymore, the softneck was lasting longer in storage so that's all I grow now.

I like to make braids & give them as gifts, my sister loves them. Sometimes I add onions to the braid too.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Looks like a picture from a magazine @Sueby ! Gorgeous braid! what type of soil do they grow on?

Yesterday I made quince compote. Very easy recipe (quince, some water, cinnamon and star anise). Since processing quinces is always a time consuming thing to do, I made the task even longer with my very first very amateur video of the proces.

The kitchen smelled delicious!

 

[Sueby]

Looks like a picture from a magazine @Sueby ! Gorgeous braid! what type of soil do they grow on?

Thank you. . I have raised beds with a mix of half soil, half compost from a local nursery. I do no till gardening & add compost in the fall & straw as a mulch. I have never had a quince!

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Thank you. . I have raised beds with a mix of half soil, half compost from a local nursery. I do no till gardening & add compost in the fall & straw as a mulch. I have never had a quince!

They look wonderful! No wonder when you pay so much attention to the soil! quite a job too!

 

[Iluveggers]

Where do you store yours? Mine doesn't last too long, I have no good place to store it (no basement). Last year when I saw them starting to sprout I peeled them all & froze them. It worked really well! I hate to waste anything, lol. I stopped growing hardneck so I don't get scapes anymore, the softneck was lasting longer in storage so that's all I grow now.

I like to make braids & give them as gifts, my sister loves them. Sometimes I add onions to the braid too.
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Absolutely gorgeous braid! I only grow hard neck as that’s what I’ve heard is best for my area, so I use string to make little bouquet-like structures, and hang them in a cabinet in my insulated garage. It usually stays between 40-55 degrees until it gets warm in the spring, so the garlic, onions & squash last pretty well in the cabinets out there. Once we get our leaky basement fixed, I want to try to have it function more as a root cellar. Waiting on the estimate…very anxious to get the water to stop creeping in after it rains.

 

[saysfaa]

...Today, I bought a half bushel each of Ambrosia and Northern Spy to try next. And another bushel of ugly ducklings. I'll know how they are in a day or two....

We like the Ambrosia for eating fresh but it has a note of something when dehydrated. It isn't bad, exactly, but we like almost every other apple we've tried so far better.

Edit to add. i think many people would like that taste in the dried Ambrosia.

I tried them as applesause. That was ok; it didn't have that objectionable (to us) note but was quite bland. I'll probably leave out as many as I think we can eat fresh and make applesauce with the rest. I'll just mix some northern spy into it and/or try adding cinnamon and nutmeg.

The Northern Spy did not dry well. The tasted good -not as great as they did in applesauce. They browned much, much, much more than all the other varieties, and were kind of crumbly? The rest of them are going into applesauce.

If I had no other options of varieties to dry and/or ways to use the Northern Spy then I might try treating them with lemon juice as I sliced them. Or maybe not. I don't really mind them brown, even that brown.

I'm nearly done with the first half bushel of the ugly ducklings. All of them that I sampled were pretty good dehydrated. This time, I don't know what variety any of them are.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I made some Cocktail Sauce (Shrimp Sauce) the other day. I haven't tried it, so I have no idea if the recipe is a good one or not. I'm glad to have it done though.

 

[Sally PB]

I baked 3 sweet potatoes. I ate the small one (done first), and while I think it could be sweeter, I'm pleased! This is my second time growing them, but the the first time I've actually gotten any.

 

[Iluveggers]

Opened a can of green beans for dinner tonight. Such a nice change from the winter veggies we’ve been eating!

The pickeled onions tried canning this year came out amazing as well. So glad to have a shelf full of canned goods to help out this winter!