I really worked my garden this year and learned more about canning and preserving. I consider it important to know how to do those things before the economy/ supply chain/global warming gets the better of us.
I started working outside the home this fall, picking up 20 hours a week to buy groceries and keep my sanity in yet another homeschooling year. It is amazing what a few consistent hours away from the constant demands for Mommyhood will do.
And the weather has allowed my garden to continue to give for an additional 6 weeks, which really helped this year because the summer was so hot and dry that even with constant watering nothing wanted to bloom.
So finally, this week with a serious threat of frost, I harvested and tucked it all in for a good winter's rest. That was 12 hours of work, after homeschooling and work hours every day. It was also a great way to get out in the beautiful fall weather and exercise in a most useful way.
I planned to start some serious canning this year when my mother and her friend, an old experienced canner, ordered us a bunch of peaches to put up for the winter. Then she explained that she couldn't do the work anymore, so I volunteered to. So I bought my supplies early ( canning supplies have been a little harder to find since covid), and started studying up on it. The 4 dozen + peaches I canned are awesome, totally worth the work.
Then some tomatoes, pickled stuffed peppers, and just this week 12 pounds of red spiced cabbage. I have also been drying things like herbs and dried leeks (highly recommend) and trying out some jams. I do recommend the ground cherry jam. Ground cherries are easy to grow, are prodigious producers, and are quite tasty. I enjoyed harvesting some flowers and making bouquets, and drying some types for teas.
I still have Brussels sprouts out in the garden, then are pretty hardy and like frost, and a dozen pumpkins. I will probably end up canning pumpkins. I love cooking with the sweet, healthy veggie. I also still want to plant more tulips for spring.
Pumpkin Biscuits
2 cups pumpkin (More or less 1 can)
6 cups whole wheat flour
1/4-1/2 cup baking powder
milk to consistency
salt- optional
Mix flour with baking powder. Add pumpkin and blend with hands (kinda like one does with regular fat in a biscuit), then add milk to desired constancy. If you make the dough soft, the biscuit will be soft. Pat into biscuits, bake on oiled cookie tray.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until center is done.
