July 26, 2017
Life in July. Life in July in Alabama. Well, I could say typical July but this year has been anything but typical in every aspect. But as far as July in Alabama goes its hot and humid and my favorite time of the year.
What is going on around the homestead?
The okra, what survived the wet months, has began to produce more and I am now getting a couple meals each week, that is small meals for two people.
I have one nice eggplant and the plant is blooming, I will pick this one today.
The tomatoes that was set out a couple weeks ago are now blooming as well as the new bell pepper plants. As for the older bell pepper plants I picked all of them so that they would bloom again and they are.
The few cucumber vines that I have are doing great. I am beginning to get more each day but I am not home canning them this year, I am eating them, in many cold dishes so not to have to cook each meal.
The sunflowers are small, except a few so I am not so sure about getting any seeds this year, but its a beginning to learning about how to grow them and care for them.
The may pops (passion flowers) I dug up and put into flower pots on the porch are blooming! I love the flowers but if I get to grow my own in pots means I can harvest the seed pods on time and not have to out to the woods to check them.
It is time to start harvesting more sage, I try to do a massive picking once a month. By doing it once a month it has time to grow more leaves and to get some size on them.
The basil is slow growing and I cannot understand, I need to learn more about basil.
The Stockpile
About the only thing, from my garden, I have been able to put away for later has been the bell peppers, I will chop them and freeze but I did home can a few jars, (four) of pepper steak using many of the bell peppers.
Yesterday I made Jalapeno jelly, I have wanted to make this for years so I finally did but most of the jalapenos were store bought. However, they were not costly and I do have what I have been wanting. It made eight half pints.
Last week I did manage to buy mushroom for .69 per container so I home canned seven pints.
For More about Mushroom click here : How to Home can mushrooms
For More about Mushroom click here : How to Home can mushrooms
I also took count of how much food I have in stock and I counted 789 jars with 140 being just veggies. I added to that by 15 jars this week for a total of 804 fruits, vegetables, meats, soups etc. and jams/jellies/pickles and relishes.
What is happening on your homestead?
By Andria Perry
Photos By Andria Perry
You should try jalapeno-blackberry jelly. It is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteIt has finally cooled down here in Montana to the mid 90's, after over a week of triple digits. (Well, today topped 100, but we have a slight cooling trend.) Our garden loves it...we have cucumbers coming on and lots of tomatoes (if I can keep the deer away), hot peppers of several kinds, I harvested a big zucchini this morning and there are a dozen more on the vines that aren't quite ready yet. I may have some cantaloupes on the vine, too.
Ye we are expecting to have cooler temps, in the upper 80`s. I hope your garden thrives and you are blessed ith more than enough.
DeleteAs always, great tips, thanks for sharing and good luck finding more cool bargains for canning!
ReplyDeleteThank you Scott
DeleteI thought I had commented on this post already...what a tally of canning..just wow...That jalapeno jelly looks amazing ..Can I have the recipe please :)
ReplyDeleteYes you can have that recipe!
DeleteHome-grown okra? Cheers! The orchard is pretty much dormant until September, when pawpaws and persimmons start here. This was not a great year. (Lots of fruits grow here, but great years for any of them are few...)
ReplyDeleteYes I always grow my okra! This year was a bad year for fruits due to the mild winter, the bugs had a buffet.
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