Harvest Refrigerator Pickles

Yesterday, I decided to do a bit of harvesting out of the garden. I wanted to make some room to grow some more beets for a fall crop. Now, I grow beets exclusively in a black tote. It's 2x4 feet, but it's deep. I do not put any sort of filler in the bottom. I use it for root vegetables. Upon looking at my beets, I saw that I had taken them about as far as I could and it was time to pull most of them. I grew three different types this year: Golden and Chioggia, both of which, I bought the seeds from Baker Creek. I also grew a new variety, which I obtained in a seed trade called Yellow Mangel. They are the longer yellow ones. I also thinned out some of the Longue Rouge Sang carrots (Baker Creek) and some of the bigger onions.

Golden beets from Baker Creek. These are always a favorite and a huge hit with us.

 

Chioggia beets from Baker Creek. This was a new variety for me this year as I tend to stick with the Golden variety exclusively. I am sure glad that I branched out! These have a really cool white bullseye pattern inside. They are pretty stunning to look at.

I opted to boil the beets to loosen the skins. The thing when cooking beets is that, yes, you want to rinse the majority of the dirt off of them, but you want to leave an inch or two of the greens and the long roots on them, otherwise they will bleed the color onto everything.

I managed to fit them all into one pot, thankfully!

I knew I wasn't going to have quite enough veggies to fill my half-gallon Mason pickle jar, so I peeled up 3 carrots that I had in the fridge.

The carrots and onions are packed raw into the jar. I do not cook them first. If I did that, the texture would be gross. I did not peel the Longue Rouge Sang carrots, either. I just scrubbed them well.

When the beets were fork tender, I drained them and then let them soak in cold water in the sink to cool enough to be able to comfortably handle them.

Then I started slicing the beets up and layering everything into the jar.

It's quite pretty to look at. Behind the jar are 2 dozen farm eggs that were a bonus for Bob helping out one of the old volunteers from Fences For Fido. That is a great organization that puts up fences for dogs for people who qualify.

You bring the brine up to a boil.

Those are pink peppercorns. Pink peppercorns are interesting. They are not a member of the pepper family. They are actually a member of the cashew family. They impart a delicate taste and it's hard to describe it. You'll have to try them...try them on a bit of vanilla ice cream. I'm not even kidding!

All set! I use a wooden chopstick and poke it down in several spots to make sure there are no air bubbles and to work the peppercorns and mustard seed down to the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Harvest Refrigerator Pickles

Enough veggies to fill a half-gallon container (I used beets, carrots and onions. If you use beets, make sure to peel them first before slicing)
1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
4-5 whole cloves
1-1/2 teaspoons pink peppercorns

Pack veggies into the jar.
Meanwhile, bring all the ingredients, except for the pink peppercorns, to a boil and stir until sugar and salt have dissolved.
Add pink peppercorns to the top of the jar on the veggies.
Pour hot brine over the veggies and use a wooden chopstick to make sure there are there are no air bubbles and to disperse the peppercorns and mustard seeds to the bottom of the jar.
Let cool.
Seal and refrigerate.
This will last up to 4 weeks in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Harvesting and Preserving Peas

 We just came through the hottest temperatures ever recorded in western Washington state. The rare heat dome actually effected the entire Pacific Northwest. I thought my peas were goners, for sure. I was wrong. Not only did they pull through, mostly unscathed, they are still blooming! For whatever reason, I've always been able to grow amazing pea and bean crops...or such that they are in containers and raised beds.

This was just one bucket of peas. I believe this was the Oregon Sugar Pod variety. Next year, I plan on planting triple to quadruple the amount that I planted this year. We like our frozen peas, for sure. I also use the immature pods in stir fries, which I missed out on because of my dogs fighting and resulting in me getting bit.

I started out with a full strainer of peas that I had picked. 

That's the thing about peas. It takes a lot of them to get anywhere. I don't grow these to save money, that's for sure. I can buy a big bag of frozen peas for around a buck at any supermarket. I grow these because I like to grow my own food...as meager portioned as it is.

Get a pan, fill it with water and give it a few shakes of sea salt. I know that a lot of people swear by kosher salt. I have kosher salt, but I prefer pink or grey sea salt. 

I can also see that I need to desperately clean my stove. Bob has been doing the cooking these past few weeks.

 Bring the pot of water to a rolling boil. 

In the meantime, mark your freezer container/bag with the contents and date. 

Once the water is at a rolling boil and the salt has dissolved...

add in the peas. Bring the water back up to a boil and blanch the peas for 2 minutes. 

You'll read all sorts of recipes and guidelines that tell you to drain the peas and plunge into ice water. That's too much rigamaroll to go through. Just drain them in a strainer and run them under cold water. It's fine. You don't need to dirty another bowl. That's ridiculous. 

Viola! You just started your journey into growing and preserving your own food. Seriously, though, preparing any vegetable for the freezer is the easiest way to get your feet wet in the preserving world. Use this same method for green beans, carrots, celery (yes, frozen celery is fantastic!), corn, tomatoes, etc.
All those peas that I picked? Well, after shelling them, I got about a cup or so of peas. I'll be picking them again in a few days. Pretty soon, they will be kicking the bucket and we will be pulling them up to make the buckets ready for fall/winter greens.
Oh, before I forget!! I found a gem of a YouTube channel. Bob and I have sat and watched this person for hours during our heatwave. I hope you enjoy her as much as we have. We, especially, love her dog. Her channel is called Dianxi Xiaoge.
Enjoy!