What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

Planted 4 varieties of peas. Picked the sunniest spots available. Very hot and dry today. In for a cool break- iced coffee for the win at the moment.

CARROTS: any suggestions for canning or freezing? I don’t mind cooked carrots, but my family aren’t fans of just cooked carrots. So, I’ve already canned “dilled carrots” per the Ball canning book - since they aren’t soft cooked, but instead pickled, they are accepted. I can shred for carrot cake (my recipe uses 7C shredded) which will work for some. But, not kidding -I have ALOT of carrots in the garden -a good problem to have. My husband eats them all the time at work, so that’s good too. But, any suggestions beyond what I’ve mentioned, or amazing canning or baking recipes? I’m not in a rush to use them all, bc they can stay in the ground, but the earliest planted should probably get picked soon so they don’t all split.


Cowpeas/field peas (black eyed peas are one kind of field peas): we planted 3 varieties. It was a learning curve to learn when to pick to easily shell fresh. One variety was difficult no matter what, the other two were decently easy to figure out. About 32 Cups of shelled and washed field peas are frozen now, plus another 6-8 C we already cooked and ate. I ripped out the plants bc we didn’t need anymore. We did find that the classic southern recipe was what we liked: simmer a smoked ham hock in water for 1.5-2 hours. Sauté onion and garlic in pan -we used bacon grease. Add fresh shelled field peas (can also add chopped up immature pods too), then the cooked ham hock and enough of the ham hock cooking water to cover the peas. Cook for about 45 min-1 hour. Pretty tasty. I’m glad bc I never ever like black eyed peas growing up …always canned. Maybe the canned variety starts with dried peas, maybe the drying changes the texture and flavor. We will see if freezing changes them to be less tasty.

I mince carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, ginger, celery root and/or whatever I have on hand, add some salt and put in jars, water bath all. I don't have to chop those every time I cook, I just use a tbs or more. once open must be refrigerated.

I wander if sun dried carrots would taste good.

 

[Minanora]

Darn it.... Why.... Just why.... Coffee that is unfiltered can affect your cholesterol... I mean come on... I don't use a plastic coffee machine. We have a stainless percolator with a glass top. Guess we're switching to pour over. *rolls eyes*

 

[chicken opey]

We finally got some rain yesterday. The tomatoes are still alive but not one bloom and all I can think is they hate the blazing heat too.
Got 1 cucumber off new vines!
Trying to pickle some eggs we got and I realized you can’t shell boiled fresh eggs wo them coming apart.
I decided to let the vinegar do work of dissolving shell and now I don’t want to put lid on bc of all bubbles/pressure build up!

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

Hot peppers are finally turning red.

 

[igorsMistress]

Rain coming but when? No one agrees. Dw is much better, and I am lagging behind. She is well enough to start telling me what needs to be done. Not today. Several rounds of rain in the next days.

Rest is best if you’re still feeling blah. Whatever needs doing will still need doing when you get around to it. My dad was always a stickler about no weeds in the yard and he told me a few times I had a few out there. So that’s what I told him, they’ll still be there when I get around to it Pops.

 

[igorsMistress]

I mince carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, ginger, celery root and/or whatever I have on hand, add some salt and put in jars, water bath all. I don't have to chop those every time I cook, I just use a tbs or more. once open must be refrigerated.

I wander if sun dried carrots would taste good.

They don’t lol.

 

[igorsMistress]

Darn it.... Why.... Just why.... Coffee that is unfiltered can affect your cholesterol... I mean come on... I don't use a plastic coffee machine. We have a stainless percolator with a glass top. Guess we're switching to pour over. *rolls eyes*

What? Why does a filter make a difference?

I use a French press, no plastic here either.

 

[Sally PB]

I was terrified at taking out the old soaker tub in our master bath. Luckily all I had to do was cap the lines coming up through the floor and patch the subfloor, and clean up the trash left by the builders 20 years ago.

The house was built in 1979, so it's copper plumbing coming up from the basement into the tub. Hubby still hasn't said whether we're calling a plumber for the hook up or if he is going to do it himself.

It's our only shower, so we'll be doing sponge baths for as long as it's non-functional. Which is why he wanted to do it in the summer, but now it's going to be into September before it's done. We have the shower on order; it should be at Menard's next week.

 

[WthrLady]

The house was built in 1979, so it's copper plumbing coming up from the basement into the tub. Hubby still hasn't said whether we're calling a plumber for the hook up or if he is going to do it himself.

It's our only shower, so we'll be doing sponge baths for as long as it's non-functional. Which is why he wanted to do it in the summer, but now it's going to be into September before it's done. We have the shower on order; it should be at Menard's next week.

I hired a plumber for the pressured hookups. Mine guarantee their work and are bonded for damage. I'm not. Lol.
The drained,capped line I didn't mind doing myself.
The new cartridge trim sets for bath and shower are fiddle, and copper can be too. PEX isn't so bad though.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Can carrots in pieces; then when you're making spaghetti sauce, drain the carrots, puree them and add them to the sauce. Addes sweetness, fiber, and thickness. I do this with butternut squash, carrots, and pumpkin. Great way to get more nutrition into the sauce.

Great idea & sounds delicious . I've done that with zucchini but carrots would be great.