Garden Report 2021 - Part 4 - August - week 4
It's looking a little sparser in there, isn't it? A few more bare spots. A little more yellow. (Please ignore the very rude tree in the background that is almost all yellow.)
We pulled the last of the beets at the end of the month. We had 3 lbs left. We gave half to a friend, and I kept half to roast. I'm hoping to dehydrated a couple to throw into stews or soups over the winter. We're only talking about enough for a 125mL jar to try it. There are half a dozen onions left. Still most of the carrots. We picked every last ear of corn. Our squash started suffering from powdery mildew, so we picked the remaining spaghetti squashes and brought them inside to finish ripening. And we thinned the rhubarb one last time for the year.
The cucumbers are still producing (take a break, buddies, please!) We picked 13 lbs of cucumbers on a Friday night. We are all pickled out (out of jars, out of shelf space, out of energy) but we gave them to a friend. On Saturday afternoon in the daylight, we found another 3 that would have taken it up to 15 lbs. Plus we have a ton of field cucumbers left. The tomatoes are very generous and are giving us about 5 lbs every two to three days. Ross hilled the second crop of potatoes again. I'm hoping to see flowers on them this week. We've already used a lot of our onions, so we'll definitely be planting more of those next year!
We went to the farmer's market on the last weekend of August. We were surprised at the lack of variety and volume from the local farmers. They must have had a bad year with the drought. We went specifically to buy apples for jelly. All we have left to can (that we're planning on) is apple jelly and tomato sauce. Anything else will be a bonus.
Running canning total:
June
4 half-pint jars of stewed rhubarb
spice bottle of dried chive blossoms
July
6 half-pints + 2 - 125ml jars of strawberry rhubarb jam
11 half-pint and 4 - 125ml jars of strawberry jam
6 half-pint + 2 - 125ml jars of raspberry jam
3 quarts Pops’ Dills (overprocessed, we’ll have to see if they’re still edible)
3 quarts Pops’ Dills
3 quarts + 1 pint Joyce’s Dills
2 quarts + 1 pint Christine’s Dills
12 cups frozen strawberries
6 cups frozen spinach
2 cups frozen celery
550 g potatoes
Dried herbs
August (to Aug 31)
10 servings of borscht (frozen)
Dehydrated peppers (they all fit in a 125 mL jar so far.)
12 cups frozen beans
4 quarts Dilly Cukes (another dill pickle recipe we are testing)
1 quart Bread and Butter Pickles
2.2 kg potatoes
2 kg onions
7 pints pickled beets
7 spaghetti squashes totalling 36 lbs (gave away 2 squashes/ 10 lbs)
10 cups frozen rhubarb
12 cups of shredded zucchini (donated)
Dehydrated zucchini (enough to fill a half-pint jar.)
4 half pints + 4 125mL jars of hot pepper jelly
5 pints salsa
3 pints dilly beans
8 more spaghetti squashes totalling 27.5 lbs (gave away 2 squashes/ 7.5 lbs)
6 cups frozen rhubarb
1 - 4L pail of fresh herbs, dried (rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano)
6 cups frozen corn kernels
3 pints tomato sauce