My Gardening and Preserving Adventures

So, it's been quite a while since the last post.  I've been pretty busy during this gardening and canning season.  What I thought might not be such a great year for our garden, turned out to be one of the most productive ever!   We've had rain at almost perfect timing all summer long so we haven't had to water at all.  It's kind of bitter-sweet seeing it start to wind down.  I haven't had a whole lot of waste and the things I did have to toss won't be wasted, it's going into my new compost bin!! ;)

My lil' buddy was such a big helper with everything from harvest, to prep, to just being satisfied playing on his own while I worked.  He absolutely loved picking berries, beans, cukes, corn, and peppers.  He even made his own "iceberry" jelly as I was doing the blackberry. ;)  I hope he is always as excited and curious about growing and preserving his own foods!

This year I tried so many new recipes and have yet to be disappointed by one!!  It helps when you can get opinions from others who have tried the recipes before.  I'm part of a wonderful canning group, you can get help from 'seasoned' canners almost immediately and it's a great place to share recipes and experiences.  It's also nice to know that I'm not the only one "addicted" to canning!

Here are a few pictures of my canned goods...

 Thai Sweet-HOT chili dipping sauce

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some dill pickles

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green beans

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Zucchini Relish

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Stewed Tomatoes...funny how when I do pints I don't lose liquid but with quarts I do!

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Tangy Dill Relish (a new fave!)

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Mexican Corn Relish

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diced, red-ripened green bell peppers

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Sweet-n-Sour Beans

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pickled hot green chili pepper rings (I actually ate a whole pint myself in 2 days!!)

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pickled red hot chili pepper rings

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seedless blackberry jam

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& Candied Jalapenos (like "Cowboy Candy") 

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and I did a few pints of picante sauce for the hubs but haven't got a pic of those to share.

So, that's the most of it for now.  I'm sure there will be more in the near future!  Maybe I'll get more organized and can share the recipes for these on here someday.  Have a great week y'all! :)

(Im)Patiently Waiting!!!!

Well, it has just been raining like crazy here...rain almost every day!  It has REALLY helped our garden grow fast.  Aside from the peppers that we lost recently from being over-fertilized, ( aa-hemm...NOT by ME)  everything seems to be doing really good!  I'm SO looking forward to harvesting and canning that I can barely contain myself! LOL!  The blackberry bushes are loaded down too and just barely beginning to turn red, I saw only two black ones and ate the only one I could reach, it was little, usually they're really big berries!  I'm planning on making blackberry jelly for the first time this year.  Y'all wish me luck!  Although I watched my parents make it year after year, I've never helped with it nor attempted making it on my own.  Maybe I can call Daddy if I get stuck or have problems!  We have been out of sweet refrigerator pickles for a couple of months now and almost out of relish from last summer, so I'm ready whenever the garden is...

This is the difference in our "front" garden within 12 days...you can barely see the corn in the "back" garden...but it has grown ALOT too!

I've seen a bunch of rabbits hanging out in our backyard.  They really are cute but I DON'T like them hanging out in my garden for too long!!!  Also, a deer has been spotted crossing the road by both my hubby and I.. hmmmphh!  I'd love to watch deer from our porch, but only when I dont have any gardens in the backyard!  Then there's the family of squirrels STILL hanging out!  I saw a rabbit and a squirrel making conversation out in the driveway last week...LOL!  Wish I had a picture of it to share with you!

Instead, I have some cute pictures of my favorite little buddy...

...catching fireflies...

...and making faces :P...

Have a great weekend everybody!!!