Freezing Corn

Whew, as you no doubt are, I have been up to my elbows in corn. Years ago I tried to can it and while it was good, it could not touch the flavor you get by freezing it. Very easy to freeze ladies...just husk, wash off, blanch for 5-7 minutes, cool down rapidly, cut off husk and put into your zipper freezer bags.

Fried Squash

We enjoy squash cooked, but did you ever fry them. Very simple and very good...just peel your squash and slice thin. Dip in a beaten egg and then coat in flour...fry in a bit of canola oil until browned and crispy. Yummy, just like eating candy! WE all love them!

Zucchini Bread~A Tutorial

Measure 4 eggs, 2 cups of sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla and 1 cup of oil in a bowl
Grate 2 cups of zucchini and add 1 small can of crushed pineapple

Mix all wet ingredients together

In another bowl, mix 3 and 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 3/4 tsp. baking powder and 1 and 1/2 tsp of baking soda...mix all together and pour into lightly greased and floured bread pans. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees

Pressure Canning Green Beans~A Tutorial

Pick, gather and snip your beans

Pack your quart jars, add water until almost full...leave an inch of headspace

Put on your lid and ring and then tighten...not overly though

Put quart jars into your pressure canner, add 3 quarts of water

Put on lid correctly, bring to high heat, let vent for 7-10 minutes...THEN place on vent cover

Bring to 11 pounds of pressure and THEN set timer to 25 minutes

When timer goes off, allow canner to cool naturally until this small air vent is down. You can see it is up in this photos

Remove from canner and allow to cool and listen to the seals...canning without fear, but good old-fashioned common sense. YOU CAN DO IT!!

Let The Harvest Begin~Winter Onions

Look what my man brought into me last night! We think they are the best we've ever grown!
This is the beginning of the end...we move from here to green beans...let the harvest begin!

Pressure Cooking Green Beans~A Tutorial

Here...I have all that is needed to pressure cook green beans. I am using my smaller pressure cooker. I will place my base plate in first, my beans and then place my lid on with my dial turned and set onto 15 lbs. of pressure. The markings are on the dial.

BEFORE I put the lid on though I will put about an inch of water in.

I sit it on my stove and place it on high heat UNTIL it begins to rattle and then turn it down. I do this slowly as I hear the rattling subside. It should rattle, rattle, rattle....hiss, hiss, hiss....rattle, rattle, rattle...hiss, hiss, hiss....not rattle constantly. You need to stay with it if you are a beginner user and not be side-tracked. Usually to get the correct sound on my electric stove, my lowest setting is between low and medium. After you get the hang of it, you will be at ease and know the correct sound.

After my beans are cooked...around 15-20 minutes, I remove from the heat and sit the pan in my sink. Sometimes if I am in a rush, I will run some cool water to hurry the process. I will then use a fork to remove my dial and turn my lid off. This is ONLY because I have done this many years ladies. You will want to just wait it out before using any short cuts if you are a beginner. Use common sense!!

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE YOUR LID UNTIL ALL YOUR PRESSURE OR STEAM IS DOWN. IF YOU DO SO, YOU COULD GET BURNED BY THE RUSH OF STEAM!


My beans are done...tender, full of flavor and with the little beans inside popping out...yummy!

I add a bit of butter and serve...

A Stroll In The Morning Light

In the foreground... rows of beans, then cucumbers, tomatoes and red cabbage

Isn't this little guy just so cute...tiny yellow squash...which are sooo good

Cucumbers climbing their trellis...I simply love sun and shadows and thought this picture was so nice.

Looks like FINALLY we shall have an abundance of seedless grapes!! Beauties for real!

Things are just lov'n the wet summer...Thank you Lord for you truely know just what we need when we need it...if I didn't already know that.

Raspberry Jam

I have been making more jam, but this time with raspberries. Raspberries are so easy to grow, BUT so very expensive to buy. So if you LOVE raspberries, get some beginners and watch them grow! They grow and bend down transplanting themselves. It is so cool to watch their "canes" begin another row.

Saturday Simplicities

everything looks so pretty in the morning light

a new row waiting for the corn...growing the corn alongside of the winter onions will allow for more items to be planted this year...as things come out, others will go in

my man beginning work early on the goats' pen. It is attached to the chicken house

we have decided to add two full rows of sweet corn this year...I marvel at the tiny dried piece of corn that will yield along with it's counterparts a delicious butter running down your arm treat

my girls are really growing...they are in a bigger pen...see that silly one trying her wings off the water feeder.

washing more jars...getting ready

taking a wooden spoon inside the jars to clean them

I left my little man cool his feet in my canning sink...actually I could give him a bath in there, it is nice and deep.

Bean Rows

Boy, the bean rows are really looking nice. If you look to the left you can see one of the cucumber fences we put up last night. My dear Amish raised husband is sooooo....can I say soooo resourceful when it comes to taking nothing and making something. He cut the strips and brought the in-the-scrap-barrel at work string cones home...we created a spider type of webbing from the top to the bottom about 5-6 inches apart where the cucumbers will attach themselves.

By summer's end you will not even see the string because it will be covered with cucumbers!! I love walking those rows with my basket in hand finding tiny treasures to snap between my teeth...oh, the rest will put into jars for dill pickles! I will share more pictures as we go......ah, grow!

A Strawberry Frame Of Mind

I have been up to my elbows this week with strawberry goodness! Strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, strawberries on ice cream, strawberry slushies...well, you get the picture.

Ladies, you must try the freezer jam recipe on the box of the Sure Jell. It is so easy and if you have some some extra space in your freezer it is so worth it!

Welcome To My Garden!

Join my Hannie girl as she welcomes you through my garden gate...


your first stop is the tomato plant rows where we have 15 large varieties, 1 Roma and 2 Cherry

one low row of turnip for summer eating

6 red cabbage plants

6 green and 6 hungarian wax pepper plants

beautiful bed of lettuce

horseradish (wonderful grilled burgers)

9 cauliflower plants

9 broccili plants

4 rows yellow wax beans

asparagus going to seed for next year's picking
and not shown are 2 rows of cucumber seeds just sprouting