It's that time already!
Huh, this is the first year I've ever started harvesting and freezing veg before we've had a ripe tomato. The plants are huge, hanging heavy with toms and every single one of them is still green. I am not amused. We usually have cherries ripening way before now and a few weeks ahead of any other variety, but not this year. It's ok though. It just means I won't have to be making gallons of spaghetti sauce to freeze in the middle of trying to harvest everything else!
Anyway, I've frozen a gallon of green beans (and we've already eaten at least that many) with another gallons worth in the fridge and Lord knows how many gallons left to pick out there. We'll get to 'em.
5 heads of cabbage in the freezer.
A gallon of cauliflower.
No broccoli in the freezer. :( They ate it all! lol.
8 loaves of zucchini bread in the freezer, many more to bake. (My grateful thanks to Kim for sending me the seeds, that Black Beauty zucchini is awesome!!)
I've yet to get to the onions or peppers. They can wait a while and I'm still picking lots for cooking daily.
The corn is slowly getting there. A friend stopped up that I haven't seen in a while and asked, "Just what are you going to do with all that corn?" With the way she asked it, I'm not sure if she was just asking for the asking or was curious if we'd have any extra to give her, thus asking for some without really asking for it outright. lol.
When I told her it was going in the freezer right on the cob, she wanted to know how we were going to cram all those zip-lock bags in there.
Interesting. I've never, ever frozen my corn in bags. My grandparents never did either. It was always prepared by picking, peeling back the tops of the husks, cutting off the top and removing as much silk as you could (cause if you don't see any silk worms, more than likely there are eggs in there), replacing the husks tightly, sealing the top of the husks with a rubber band (tie with yarn was the old way) , throwing in the freezer and walking away. All done as quickly as possible from field to freezer. No husking, no blanching, no cutting off or freezing on cookie sheets.
And never have I had a bad ear of corn this way. The flavor has always been 'just picked' and the kernels wonderfully sweet and juicy. Sometimes I worry about not blanching, but I'm more in the 'don't fix what ain't broke' camp.
I'd forgotten how much work there is come harvest...but with a big old smile on my face.
3 comments:
Wow, it sounds like you have a great vegetable garden! Good job! Harvest is always a lot of work but its the kind of work I like! It sure beats weeding and watering doesn't it?
Enjoy your bounty!
I'm so glad you loved those 'Black Beauty'--I adore them and didn't get a chance to start any this year, sadly enough. That sounds like a great harvest all around, especially the green beans. Have you ever tried pickling the green beans? A friend of mine does that and it's wonderful.
Hi marc! Thanks for stopping by.
Just about anything beats weeding and watering. lol. And yes, I'm enjoying. There's something primeval about a harvest.
Hiya Kim!
I'm sorry you didn't start and black beauty. They are absolutely grand!
My step-mom used to make me eat pickled beans when I was a kid...and I hated them! Needless to say, I won't be pickling! I know lots of people like them, but I just about want to horf when I think of 'em. Ick! lol.
Post a Comment