Mid-August Garden 2022

 Today was a slightly overcast morning and it was perfect for taking you all on a garden tour with me. This time, we went down to the raised beds, in the yard, to take a look. I saw a snake and scraped my foot on the rocks trying to run away from it. I really hate those things. It was down by my bean bed.

In this pot, I have Tongues of Fire bush beans. They looked great until about 2 weeks or so ago. Now they look like this, but they are producing. We're thinking that they are a product of getting bad soil.

These are my Chinese Red Noodle beans. They aren't looking so hot.

Tanya's Pink Pod bush beans. Again, not my best year for beans.

Here's another look at that pot of beans. They looked just fine and then, all of a sudden, they looked like this. The nasturtiums are the same story as the beans.

These are a variety that I'm growing out for Russell Crow called Senate Navy Soup beans. They are a bush variety. I may have to give it another go next year.

After I saw the snake down here next to the bean bed, I handed my phone off to Bob and asked him to take pictures. These are all pole bean varieties and they are thick enough that we can't really see the tags.

I know that these are Blauhilde. I bought these seeds from Nikitovka in Ukraine.

These are a variety called Fortex. These are a super long bean. Depending on how they produce in a week or so, I may have Bob go down and pick some for fresh eating.

All sorts of bean varieties down there. We seeded out well over 20 types.

My cucumber plants are starting to pick up down there in the bed. Finally.

I wasn't sure if this zucchini would produce or not. This is the starter plant that I bought. Everything is running about a month behind right now.

Bob took these pictures. You can plainly see that this bush will be loaded with zucchini.

I can't wait to roast some zucchini that I grew myself. This is the first year I've ever grown them.

My cucumbers are producing, as well. Bob's been winding them up onto the trellis that we put down there for them.

I'm not sure what this is. It's growing in the rocks. It's pretty, so we'll leave it. Knowing my luck, it's a weed. LOL!

This is our fig tree that we've been growing out from a cutting. It's doing quite well.

This is a Casper eggplant. I'm not even going to pretend that these eggplants look okay. They don't. I'm just letting them grow to see what they will do.

This is a Black Beauty eggplant. This one, though, turned out to be an ugly duckling.

This is Castelfranco radicchio that I seeded in last March. It's finally growing.

This is my Ichiban eggplant. There's not one thing about these to be impressed about.

Our rhubarb plants, however, are doing fantastically in their permanent home!

We bought these 2 hanging baskets at Lowe's for like $12 each. They are really pretty. They are a tropical plant and I am not sure what they are exactly. I just like them and the hummingbirds do, too.

One of the great things about living here is that, if I'm not going anywhere, I don't usually even bother getting dressed. There's not one single person, up here, that I need to impress. Anyhow, this is the aftermath of the snake escapade.

Here are my two full pots of okra. Okra will always have a place in my garden from now on.

These have been producing for a while now. Next year, I'm going to concentrate on 4 different varieties: Jing Orange, Star of David, Joanie's and Clemson Spineless. I'm determined to grow an amount that lets me pickle them and bread and freeze them for later use in the winter.

I have an okra plant sharing a pot with a Luffa Gourd vine.

In the back, I have a Siamese Bitter Melon vine and in front, I have a Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe. It's not ideal for these to be sharing pots, but I had very limited space for them this year and I was curious as to if I would even be able to grow a melon in western Washington state.

The cantaloupe moved off of the cup I was using to prop it up on.

Here I have a baby Tigger melon. There's actually several on this vine.

Baby Tigger Melons. I hope that these will mature because I'd really love to taste one.

I have Tigger Melons and Kajari Melons in the same pot. Again, not the most ideal of circumstances, but I was pressed for room and I wasn't sure if a melon, that originates from India/Pakistan would even produce or grow in our moderate, rainy western Washington climate.

Here is my pot of Cucamelons. I have four plants in this pot.

This was a late arrival. When I seeded out all the curcubits, this was the Table Queen Acorn Squash. Anyhow, when we planted everything up, it was in one of the cups that didn't look as if it would grow. It started growing, so we put it in it's own pot and it's growing amazingly well! We gave it some hydroponic micro-nutrients. We must have given it the right mix!

Here's a view of that acorn squash. It's growing right along.

Here is a baby cucamelon growing. My goal is to pickle some of these guys.

Baby Kajari melons. I can sit in the greenhouse and look at these all day long!

My row of cucurbits and okra. I'm very impressed with how well they are growing in here.

This is my deformed okra. LOL.

This is my Luffa Gourd vine. It hasn't flowered yet. I'm hoping it does. We plan on leaving this greenhouse up for as long as we can.

More baby cantaloupes. I have my fingers crossed. These are not a big melon, so maybe we'll get to taste one.

These are our grapes. 5 of these are Concord grapes that we started from cuttings. The other is supposed to be a green table grape that we bought off of Facebook Marketplace.

Now, onto the tomatoes. Holy tomatoes, Batman! If I can get all these to ripen, this will be my biggest harvest ever!

I have tomatoes of all shapes and sizes and colors. This is my very first year growing tomatoes from seed.

These are my Black Krims. They are probably my largest variety. They are my and Bob's favorite tasting tomato.

This is a Thorburn's Terra Cotta. I've never grown this one before. The tomatoes, when ripe, are supposed to be the color of a terra cotta pot.
I can't wait to try these.

This is our ...errr...volunteer tomato. We have no idea of when the seeds got put out there, but that sucker is growing up through some pretty skaggy looking wood chips. We decided to leave it there and see what it will do.
It's the little ...errr...volunteer tomato that could!

This is a variety called Russian Black. Our favorite tomato flavor profile are the black varieties.

Here are some Cascade Lava and a Dark Galaxy.

This is a Bulls Heart Red. The heart shaped tomatoes are really good for canning.

These are Prairie Fire, I believe. These are a plum shaped variety and are supposed to taste amazing. We'll see because I'm going to use these for canning.

These are more Prairie Fire. I have a couple of those plants out there in the tomato garden.

These are Red Dumplin Winner Pinks. I got the seeds for these from Tomato Jim Wyant.

These are pleasing to the eye. This is my perfect pair of Black Krims. I'm very proud of these.

This is a variety called Orange Jazz. I'm drawn to orange tomatoes for whatever reason. I ordered some seeds for an orange paste tomato from Baker Creek to grow next year.

These are called Julia Child. I can't wait to taste these.

These are Red Dumplin Winner Pink. I'm super curious about these. I bought the seeds from Tomato Jim Wyant like 2 years ago and I didn't do anything special, as far as storing them. They were my first to come up and were my most vigorous growers. Jim recommended these for canning.
I have 2 plants.

These are an unusual variety called Pink Fang. I got the seeds from Baker Creek. I'm going to see if they can well or not. They are supposed to sweet, so we'll see.

They tend to grow in clusters, which is pleasing to the eye.

These are a cluster of Prairie Fire.

This is a Dark Galaxy. I love the spots on it. I can't wait to see it ripe. This is one that I'm growing out for looks. If it tastes good, that will be an added bonus. If it's a good tomato for making sauce, I'll grow several next year.

This is a determinate variety called Cream Sausage. This is a paste tomato. It is white once it's ripe. I want to make a fresh white tomato sauce and try it on some pasta. I'm anxiously awaiting this one to get ripe. 

This is supposed to be a Jersey Giant. I don't think that's what they are at all. Jersey Giants are elongated paste tomatoes. These are round. Oh well. It's a tomato. That's all I care about. I won't save seeds from these because I don't know what they are.

These are Yamali Blue. I've been wanting to grow this variety since 2013. I received some seeds, from a gentleman in France, and I had little seedlings and I got up one morning to find that our old cat, KiKi, had laid on top of the dome and crushed all my tomatoes.
I ordered these seeds from Kim Lund and I have 2 plants.

This is the second Yamali Blue plant. These are one of those varieties that are strictly being grown out for looks. I'm not sure they will make a decent tasting sauce.

This is a pair of Opalkas. I have 5 plants of this variety. This is supposed to be one of the best for canning.

I have 4 tomatillo plants. I want to make green salsa this year.

Here's a close up of the Dark Galaxy. It's stunning even before it's ripe!

Seriously! Look at it!

More Prairie Fire. I hope these taste as good as Baker Creek claims.

This is a Cascade Lava.
I grew this solely because of the name.

This is supposed to be a Jersey Giant. I have my doubts.

I see one got zapped by a bug. I'll just cut that part out.

This is my tomato beauty this year. This is a Sart Roloise. Once it's ripe, it will be white and blue. It's stunning even when it's not ripe.

Another Sart Roloise.

Here is my most unusual tomato. This is called Reisetomate. That is just one tomato.

Here's an Opalka. These are a Polish variety with very few seeds. They are said to have originated around 1900. So that would make this particular variety almost 125 years old!

Another Reisetomate.

A pair of Sart Roloise. These are so pretty. I put them at the end of the row so I can sit at my window and look at them.

These greenhouse photos were taken yesterday. It amazes me how quickly these little melons grow.

This is a Minnesota Midget cantaloupe.

This is a baby cucamelon. It looks like I may actually be able to harvest more than 4 of these!

Pretty melons all in a row!

More baby cantaloupes. I'm not pruning this vine or anything. I want to see what it will do. I'll learn to prune next year when I have more than just one vine.

That Kajari melon is growing up the side of the greenhouse, which is just fine with me.
We put a thermometer in there and it's routinely 90+ degrees in there. All these melons and the okra love it!
We bought a 20 foot greenhouse just like this smaller 12 foot one. I'll be growing enough of these melons, gourds, cucamelons and okra next year to have a harvest to rave about.

My Siamese bitter melon decided to set blooms.
I'm hoping I can grow a few of them. That would be amazing!

Okra have the most beautiful blooms on them. They pop out with these and then the blooms roll up and become okra.

I took these photos in the morning and, by that afternoon, they were rolled up and becoming okra pods.

Thank you for taking the garden tour with me. Until next time, go out and take a look at nature. It's very peaceful!

Making Peach Jam #EveryBitCountsChallenge

 It's that time of year that I start preserving different things for wintertime use. This is the first thing I've canned this year. I tend to follow the insert that comes in the box of Sure Jell pectin when it comes to canning. Those recipes are tried, true and they never fail. They are tested for safety. They take the guesswork out of it.

I will tweak things slightly, like seasonings, herbs, etc., but I leave the main components alone.

I digress.

I'm getting in on the Every Bit Counts Challenge. I'm a bit late to the party, but better late than never. This challenge is that every day in August, you make something to put up for the winter. It doesn't matter if it is canned, dehydrated, freeze-dried, frozen or you are simply making seed starter pots out of toilet paper rolls. It all counts. The past few days, I was working my way through 20 pounds of fresh peaches. The majority went into the freezer except the one that I ate and the ones I used to make this batch of jam.

So, without further ado, here's how I make Peach Jam.

I love looking at these golden jars of peach perfection!

This recipe starts out with 4 cups of chopped/smashed peaches. Make sure to measure carefully. 

 
In a separate bowl, measure out 5-1/2 cups of granulated sugar. When I'm canning, I make sure that I buy pure cane sugar. I don't want to use sugar that is made from beets. I'm going to attempt to grow out sugar beets next year and make my own sugar, so stay tuned for that...but for this recipe, it's pure cane sugar all the way!

I had Bob get out my big pot. Unless I'm canning quart jars, I like to use this pot to can in. It's just easier to handle for me.

I mixed the chopped peaches with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and a box of Sure Jell pectin. This is a case where I deviate from the recipe. I don't use fresh lemons. I use bottled lemon juice. Every single time that I've ever bought fresh lemons to use, something has come up and they turn on me. I find that if I just buy bottles of lime and lemon juice, they can last in the fridge almost indefinitely. I may go through a bottle of each per year.

This gets combined in a large pan. I used my enameled cast iron Dutch oven. It is the perfect size to make a batch of jam in.

You cook the peaches, pectin and lemon juice with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of butter until it comes to a full, rolling boil. What that means is when you stir it hard, you can't stir the bubbles down.

After the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil, you add in all the sugar at once. Just dump it in. The sugar actually becomes a liquid. That's why you measure out the sugar before you start and put it in a bowl. That way, it's just ready to go.

You bring that mixture back up to a full, rolling boil and boil it for exactly one minute. I have a clock that has a second hand on it so I can be uber precise with the timing.

Before I got started cooking, I got out what I would need. I put some white vinegar into a dish. I got a couple of paper towels. I use the paper towels dipped into the vinegar to clean the rims of the jars.

I filled the jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. You can eyeball it. You don't have to measure. They do sell a gadget that will measure for you, if you're more comfortable doing it that way.

This is the homemade rack that Bob made for me. He used floral wire to connect the lids together. It works perfectly.
If you don't have this stuff, you can put a kitchen towel in the bottom. You just need something to keep the bottoms of the jars off of the bottom of the pan.

I put my lids into a pan of simmering water. Some people don't do this. I do this.
I don't see how it will hurt anything, to be honest.

I put the lids and rings on each jar and screwed them on until they are just finger-tight. You don't want to crank them down super tight. Just barely finger-tight is enough. I put these into the pot so that they weren't touching.

I put the lid on, turned the heat on and brought it up to a boil. Once it came to a full boil, I set a timer for 10 minutes. Once that was done, I turned off the flame and set another timer for 5 minutes. That's when I removed the jars to set on a towel lined baking tray. I put my jars on baking trays because it's easier for us to move them around that way. I covered them with another towel and within 30 minutes, I heard that sound that is music to a canner's ears...the ping of a lid sealing...6 times, one for each jar of peach jam.

I don't really use peach jam on toast or sandwiches. I use peach jam as a base for other things, like BBQ sauce, Asian sauces, etc. I'll make an odd piece of toast here and there, but I made this for other things.

Here you have these peachy jars of perfection!

If you want to view the full recipe, look at the insert that comes in a box of Sure Jell pectin.

#EveryBitCountsChallenge

My Weekly Grocery Haul

 I thought I would switch up a bit and share one of my grocery hauls with you all. I do not like to pay full price for anything. If there's a coupon to use, I'm going to use it. I like to get the most bang for my buck, especially now, with how grocery prices are running.

In today's haul, I bought 3 different brands of yogurt.

I've also been cooking for the crew at Cloud 9 Nine farms. The consensus is that they like it. I bought 3 cake mixes and 3 frostings that will work perfectly for desserts when I make lunch.

I bought a lot of zucchini. I plan on making zucchini relish to can up in the next few days. My plant is not producing yet and I'm not sure if it actually will or not.

This watermelon weighs in at over 15-1/2 pounds. This goes to Cloud 9 tomorrow for everyone to enjoy.

This is a 10 pound bag of juicing carrots. We're not going to juice them, however. These get set out for the deer and the rabbits.

Here are the cake mixes that coincide with the frostings.
I will take a bit of help from a boxed mix from time to time.

We eat a lot of chicken. I find that getting boneless skinless chicken breasts from the meat counter and having them package them up in pairs works out great for a quick dinner.

Sorry for the blur. Bob wanted some chocolate chip cookies, so he grabbed Chips Ahoy.

These are a new flavor of Chobani that I'm curious to try. They are raspberry-lemonade. We picked up some deli potato salad to go with our burgers tonight and I got my weekly ration of bananas. I eat one a day. The potassium helps with leg cramps. I don't like bananas at all. I love the flavor, but the texture is not my favorite.

Here's the run down of what I bought:

3 boxes Betty Crocker cake mix. These were 99 cents each if you bought 5 or more.

3 containers Betty Crocker frosting. These were part of the 99 cents deal along with the cake mixes. We're not sure if we could only get 5 at this price or if we got one of the frostings that wasn't part of the deal, but one of them cost $1.99.

Chips Ahoy cookies. These were 2/$7. It's overpriced junk, but Bob likes them, so whatever.

8 Yoplait yogurts. I downloaded a digital coupon onto my loyalty card. These were 27 cents each, with a limit of 8. I limited out on them.

2 Chobani yogurts. These were $1.49 each. If I would have bought a few more, I could have gotten for like 79 cents each, but I don't want that many yogurts hanging around. They have a tendency to get overlooked and go bad.

2 Icelandic skyr yogurts. These were on sale for $1.29 each. I had a coupon for $1 off of 2. That made these 79 cents each.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. These were $3.99 per pound at the meat counter. I prefer to buy them there because I've been stung too many times by that woody chicken breast stuff when I buy them in the value sized packages.

1.63 pounds of bananas. These are 65 cents per pound.

3.57 pounds of zucchini. These are 1.49 per pound.

10 pound bag of juicing carrots. The tag on the shelf said that these were $7.99. They rang up for $5.99.

15.69 pound watermelon. I downloaded a digital coupon onto my loyalty card. Any watermelon but the personal sized ones were 19 cents per pound. There was a limit of 1.

Deli deviled egg potato salad. I think this was like $3.69 per pound. We paid $4.65 for it.

I had a $1 off 2 Icelandic skyr yogurt coupon
I had a $3 off a purchase of $3 or more coupon
I had a $10 off $10 worth of produce coupon

My grand total walking out the door was $31.46. This is enough groceries to get the 2 of us through the week and I was able to stock up on some frivolous sweet items for future use.

That is how I shop for my household.
What about you? Do you have a budget? Do you shop weekly, every 2 weeks or monthly? Let me know in the comments below.