~And So it Begins~

 Written by Sue, Friday, May 29, 2020 .... rain, rain, rain, very warm, humid,  HIGH 80'S

Most of you know that we grow and preserve our veggies/ herbs  here at the farm.
This week was the beginning of my food preserving, the methods I use to preserve are, canning, freezing, and dehydrating.

Anticipation begins long before any seeds are planted, winter is when we plan for the next growing season, and prepare the soil! From the time the seeds and plants are planted into the soil, countdown begins,  seeing plants come forth and begin to grow is so rewarding, once the plants are established there is weeding, fertilizing, and watering, some might think a lot of work, yes, there is labor involved, but so rewarding when you can walk out to the garden, pick a vegetable, bring it into your kitchen, wash and cook it. or preserve it for later use, such was the case Tuesday.

The first vegetable I gathered from the garden was broccoli,

washed, air drying on counter.

 I use my Foodsaver for freezing fruits/vegetables, and nuts, I bagged 10 bags of broccoli , anything that is packaged in a Foodsaver last twice as long as regular bags, one of my most used appliances is the Foodsaver.. We enjoy broccoli, so I leave a little more stem on the florets.

Some of the cabbage are ready, the carrots are almost there, they were so pretty I couldn't resist,  I pulled a few to have with a roast, aren't they cute! Small for now so I will let them grow a bit. The flavor was so yummy.

Making Jam/jellies is another of my favorite things to do, yesterday I made strawberry jam,
 once picked, they are washed, and capped. Did someone say, "Luscious?"

  Using another one of my  favorite appliances, my food processor, I chop them a bit, (I have had this processor for about 40+ yrs.)

I then add the sugar, lemon juice, mix thoroughly, let the mixture macerate a couple of hours, this causes the berries to soak the sugar and become juicy, by using this method I don't use as much sugar. Lemon juice added to jams makes for a better flavor, actually lemon juice is great in most foods!

I then cook until thick, there are several ways to tell when the jam is ready, use a temp. gage, watching the jam run in a sheet off of a spoon, place a plate in refrigerator, to cool, pour jam on plate,

run finger straight through the jam on plate, if it doesn't run together it is ready, this is  almost ready but  not quite.

 Fill sterilized jars with jam, wipe the rim with a clean wet cloth, cap with sterilized lids and caps.Process in boiling water bath  for 15 minutes.

 Voila' homemade jam made with lots of love! I must say this was quite tasty.

Thank you for visiting, I have no legitimate excuse as to why I have been so lax in blogging, I could say I have so busy, (true), maybe it's laziness, hmmm, not true, maybe it's old age, that's it, I am getting old!😱😱😙.

Love from me to you

Sue