Wine

Finally bottled my white zinfindle wine!  I bottled 19 750 ml ez-cap bottles!

I drank a half a glass and its good!  Even got a bit tipsy!

I figured it would cost me about $43  but making out from a kit cost me $68!  But, next time I don't need a kit! 

Furloughed and canning

Well the furlough kicked in Thursday (yesterday) and I have been trying to keep busy around the house.

Yesterday l prepped and canned the last of the green beans I picked last weekend.  I put them in point jars this time. I got 8 pints!

I used 6 cups of the green beans in vegetable soup (ball recipe) along with 6 cups of cubed potatoes and 8 cups tomatoes (all from our garden!).  I canned the soup in pint jars too.  Got a total of 16 pints from the recipe (8 quart).  It is delicious!

Today, I finally got the nerve up to open up the fermented pickles.  They actually fermented ok, but there was significant mold on a section of the top that got exposed above the water level.  I think they are ok.  I skimmed the mold off and the pickles taste ok.  They are not slimy.  So I went ahead and canned them.  I got 7 x 1.5 pint jars and 2 quart jars canned.  The brine is cloudy, even though I ran it through paper towel filter.   I canned them in water bath for 15 minutes, so they will not be crispy - but with the mold on top I really wanted to make sure they were safe.  They still have kind of a yeast flavor.

Additional pickled beets and carrots

Add to the list four 1.5 pint jars of pickled beets and five pints of pickled carrots.  Sliced, breaded, baked, and froze the rest of the eggplant.  No produce left in house in Silver Spring except some squash and pumpkins.  Nine pounds of string beans picked from farm and brought back for processing.

Tore out remaining plants in paw paw patch and patch in front of house.  Tilled, manured, and put in cover crops.

Wild Ginseng in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Ginseng Law and Regulations

Green Tomato Relish

Started with about 70 pounds of green tomatoes.  Lost some due to damage.  Here's a picture of the ground tomatoes, peppers, and onions:

26 pints of finished relish with a dab left over.

Green tomato relish recipes

Here are some links to recipes that looked interesting to me:

national center for home food preservation recipe for green tomato relish

interesting "no sugar" recipe - uses tart apples!

no sugar recipe again, as above but slightly different

One for chow-chow - without quite as much bell peppers or sugar!

Quick note - update from end of last weekend & backhoe delivery arranged

Busy with work, but I wanted to get this note in before I forgot the details!

Katherine canned 13 cups (half-pints - lol) of thick tomato sauce Saturday (?) and I added another 7 pints (plus 1 C - half-pint)  a day later.  Tomatoes are going bad fast - most are going bad without ripening! :(

Katherine has some ideas for tomato pickles and tomato relish.  I hope we have time before too many are lost to spoilage!

I texted Seth Fenby yesterday and arranged for the backhoe to be delivered this week.  I got a call from the hauler yesterday who got directions to our farm.  He said he hoped to get it delivered today (Wednesday!)  I was hoping to be there for delivery, but this will do - I just hope its in good shape and there aren't any delivery issues!  I am considering going up tonight and working from the farm tomorrow!  Very excited!