Pickled Tomatoes

 The green tomatoes i pickled about 2 weeks ago are good and done. And interesting tasting! They're good and crunchy, have good sour pickle flavor, and should go well in tuna salad sandwiches. I would never have thought of pickling tomatoes (only green ones will pickle) until i read Wild Fermentation. They turned out great - so keep that in mind if you find yourself with a boat load of green tomatoes needing harvest before a frost.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Well, well. Fried food we meet again. I used to badly malign my step daddy for frying up catfish in a cast iron pan and shredded wheat scraps (really delicious, by the way) preferring my usual methods for fat free cooking. Lately, however, i've been delving into this new world of food preparation, and think i like it a little too much.

I was intimidated to try fried green tomatoes, having had so many disgusting versions in various restaurants. But i really had the advantage: fresh eggs, and fresh tomatoes. These tomatoes came from my big Japanese Black Trifele tomato and held up great throughout the process. I cut them about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and soaked them in some briney (salty) water while i prepared the rest of the ingredients, and tasty they were indeed! Plenty of flavor, in both the fruit and the coating, not greasy feeling, and well paired with the sauces i whipped up and some turkey bacon wrapped serrano peppers stuffed with garlic cloves. Yum.

For the batter:

• One bowl with 2 eggs beaten with a splash of milk and garlic puree (the stuff you buy in a jar)
• One bowl masa
• One plate with crumbs (combine ingredients in a coffee mill or blender to get a very fine mix):
• Polenta/Grits/Corn meal, blended finely with:
• 1 piece wheat toast
• Salt
• Pepper
• Smoked paprika
• Dried kaffir lime leaf
• Chilly powder

For the sauces:
Green sauce

• Spoonful mayonaise
• Homemade hot sauce
• Vinegar
• Serranos
• Seasonings (Sssh, it's a secret)
• Sauteed onions

Red sauce

• Spoonful mayonaise
• Homemade ketchup

Yeah, this was not a healthy meal, but it was tasty! I fried up some tilapia to round out the protein portion and supped from a plate full of steaming fried deliciousness! The tomatoes and fish were prepared in the same fashion:

• Dip tomato slice in flour to coat both sides, tap excess off
• Dip slice in egg batter to coat both sides
• Place eggy slice onto plate of crumbs and coat both sides and edges
• Heat oil in a pan until test droplet of batter sizzles when dropped in. I used olive oil thinly coating my pan: you really didn't need much
• Cook one side until browned and flip. You may need to reduce the heat as you go along.
• Repeat in batches, setting the finished tomatoes aside in a warming oven on a plate lined with paper towels. A lot of the oil will drain off and the tomatoes will continue to soften just a touch in the warm oven

Give your 'maters plenty of room so that they don't touch and watch how brown they get. My first few were much lighter than the last, but all were tasty. I think i preferred the lighter done ones just a bit.  The sauces really hit the spot, but were almost unnecessary. The key for super delicious FGTs is in seasoning the crumb mixture and not overcooking the tomatoes. I think pan frying these in a very thin layer of oil helped prevent the over sogging that deep frying would be prone to.

Cold weather encouraged me to harvest all my green tomatoes, so i may just have to make these again. Perhaps i'll invite guests over to help with the consumption, though.
This post can also be seen at YardFarmAustin.com

Black Friday: Pretty as Pansies

Happy "black Friday" the day that hoardes of people raid stores at 5 am in search of deals.
I'll be staying at home, happy to harvest some sweet deals out of my own garden.
These pansies will reseed themselves to keep me 'in the black' for years to come

and this broccoli started out a $1 transplant and will put off several more small heads after this one, plus the leaves are edible. Now THAT'S a good deal. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm enjoying a deliciously prepared (thanks, Ross and Deb!) turkey and all the fixin's with my husband's family. I hope you're enjoying this holiday, or ignoring it as i've been known to do. Either way - i hope your meals are delicious and your families loved and your weather pleasant. I prefer not to think of the first Thanksgiving, as i have more than a few problems with the politics surrounding that event and its historical depiction, but i do like to pause and think of what i'm thankful for:

• My husband
• My art
• My garden
• My loving pup
• My health
• My optimism
• The planet and all its wealth, just waiting to be tapped into

What are you thankful for this year?

Wholesome Wednesdays: Cranberries *DELAYED*

So sorry for skipping today's Wholesome Wednesdays post, everyone. I will post about cranberries next wednesday. Of course, the two days i'll be out of town the temps are supposed to plunge. Things most likely won't freeze to the point of ruined, but i'd rather hedge my bets. So, i harvested over 30 pounds of blushing and totally unripe tomatoes. Sigh. I sure hope at least some of those greenies ripen, as i really don't want to make 30 pounds worth of green tomato pie, fried green tomatoes, or any other green tomato anything (though i might try a chutney?)

I also picked the cayennes on the vine, all the jalapenos, and potted up my productive tabasco bush to have through the Winter. I'll be freezing most of those peppers anyway, so i don't mind picking them early: they're just as good green.

i'll be leaving these veggies out for a while and upon our return from Thanksgiving will give them some ripening banana friends to encourage ripening.

Do you have any tricks to get green tomatoes to ripen? Any good recipe ideas?

Quick Turkey Roasting Ideas

Roasted turkey is pretty delicious on its own, but there are a few tricks i like to use to make it even more delicious. I tried roasting my Christmas turkey on a bed of roasted vegetables last year. Fail. One should not expect a turkey to cook at the same time and temp as  normal when also being roasted with a pound or so of potatoes and carrots. We had some raw turkey center to contend with. That being said, you can roast on top of veggies (and you'll get some delicious veggies covered in delicious juices as a result) just don't crowd the pan full of them. The oven has its limits.

My favorite tips for roasted poultry:

• With your fingers, weasel between the skin and meat of the breasts and thighs. Rub some butter or olive oil along with fresh herbs into this space: the herbs will penetrate all the way into the meat.
• Salt the inside of the bird and stuff with fresh herbs
• Splash some apple cider in your stuffing mix for really moist stuffing
• Stuff with root veggies and lots of garlic and fresh herbs (increase cooking time)

That's about it really. The key to a Miranda-delicious bird is mashing fresh herbs (sage and rosemary and maybe some chille pequins) with olive oil or butter and slathering that gap between skin and meat. You can really work your way far along the skin, you'd be surprised.

Enjoy your feast!

Baked Butternut with Gravy

I must admit, i've been craving and eating some naughtier than usual foods. I made fried green tomatoes last night (recipe to follow in a few days) and elaborated on this recipe the next night be making a big pot of gravy to be sopped up with some leftover whey biscuits. Ridiculous. I have no idea of the health content in this meal, i don't WANT to know. I will continue to go about my day pretending i haven't gained a few pounds before the holidays have even started.......

• 1  butternut, halved and deseeded
• Buddy's Chicken Sausage, chopped
• Handful of serrano peppers, chopped
• Several cloves garlic
• Pinch dried rosemary and basil
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Flour
• Corn starch
• Milk
• Chicken stock

Bake the squash face down and covered with foil on 350 - 400 for as long as it takes to cook. This squash was pretty huge and took closer to an hour than 30 minutes. In the meantime, sautee the garlic and olive oil with the spices and then the sausage. Add a few pinches of flour to this greasy goodness (i really add so little olive oil - mostly for the flavor as this particular brand of olive oil is super delicious - so it's really not all THAT greasy as the sausage is very low fat) and stir well. I added 3 ice cubes of chicken stock and the peppers and covered the pot, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat. I let this simmer a while and then added the milk and the corn starch (pre-mixed with cold water) about 10 minutes before serving. Simmer the milk well, but try not to bring it to a proper boil.

Serve the squash bowl side up with a side of green veggie and slather with delicious gravy! You'd think i lived somewhere cold vs the 80 degrees currently in the forecast...

Have you been indulging in comfort food lately?

BBQ SAUCE WINNER!

Congratulations to Marigold for winning Cousin Leroy's BBQ Sauce gift basket. I'm sure Huck and Milo will love dipping bananas, angel food cake, hot wings, stuffing, pumpkin pie or anything else they can think of into these finely crafted sauces. I'll be in touch soon.

On Second Thought....

Glad i did cover those tomatoes, because i noticed some substantial 'crunch' in the grass as i left the house this morning. My rooftop was dusted with frost and the broccoli plants were shimmering. I heard '34' as the morning temp on the radio - so i definitely need to figure out what to do with the ole' lemon tree as 40 is it's preferred lowest temp.

Nature keeps me guessing!

Baby It's Cold Outide!

 Not quite COLD, but brisk enough to consider bringing in the lemon tree...   What DOES one do with a lemon tree that has been potted up to a state of hugeness when one lives in a tiny, sunless house???? Advice welcome!

Looks like we bottomed out at 38 degrees last night - not sure what that means for this suburban lot, but i generally get a bit more frost than some and a bit less than others.... boy that's a profound statement. Anyway, we did drape some sheets over one of my massive tomatoes and just crossed our fingers for the rest of the produce.  Upon morning inspection, all appear fine and dandy. Frost hasn't touched us yet, but November 28 marks Austin's average first frost, so get ready for it. Floating row cover, light bulbs, sheets, mulch, pre-frost watering: all can help extend the life of your fall crop. If frost rears its ugly head sooner than expected, you can also pick a lot of the produce and hope that it ripens in the house. I've found even the greenest of tomatoes will eventually ripen, especially if cozied up to a ripening banana in a sunny window. I'm holding out for another batch of ripe tomatoes on the vine, so i'll keep pushing my luck. Knowing my luck, it will freeze while we're out of town on Thanksgiving and i'll come home to a bush covered in mush. (Let's hope not).

I'll taste my pickled green tomatoes early next week and report on the success or weirdness, and i'd love to try a fried green tomato recipe with the rest of the tomatoes i've harvested green.

Call for recipes! Please submit your favorite fried green tomato recipe for me to try by email or in the comment form below. I'll publish the one i end up using and send you a little 'thank you gift' in the mail.

Canned Tomatoes FINALLY

When i first moved into my homestead and built my gardens, dreams of large harvests of tomatoes processed into tidy jarss gleaned in my head. Until now, that's never really happened. Indeterminate tomatoes put on fruit successively all season: great for eating fresh, not so great for canning a large bunch. Hornworms and leaf footed bugs damaged the fruits rendering them unsuitable for processing. Or, it was just easier to freeze or dry small batches and call it at that.

Not so this Autumn! You should see my remaining four plants (Porter Improved (small grape type), Japanese Black Trifele (small to huge purplish), Homestead (perfect tomato shaped), and Viva Italia (Roma style, fleshy). The Japanese and Homestead are going crazy with huge fruits dripping off of themselves and hiding in the grass. The Viva Italia is sad and small (planted in a crappy pot) but bearing large, fleshy fruits. The Porter never took a break all summer and is still going crazy. Needless to say i've got plenty of fruit to choose from! (and will definitely be choosing to plant these varieties again)

A few of the tomatoes gettin' washed.

With great care i cleaned and picked through the 3 pounds of tomatoes i had - choosing only blemish- free fruits. I chopped  and cooked them until the darned water would come to a boil in my pressure canner (being used as a water bath canner). I swear it took that thing over 45 minutes to come to a boil.

*This brings to me a matter of water waste: in the future, i  should plan ahead to utilize the hot water necessary for canning for several batches of canned goods, not just the 5 little pints of tomatoes i ended up with. It took a lot of gas to get that cooker cooking, and water isn't an endless resource. I have started one habit that i should have long ago: saving the water from the sink. When cleaning my tomatoes i washed them over a large bowl which i emptied into a large bucket. I used this water to moisten my compost heaps and in the future will use it to water the garden. Folks like Susy over at Chiot's Run take that one step further and keep a bucket in the shower to capture wasted water, and have a nicely fitted tub in the sink to do the same. I've tried the bucket in the shower but couldn't figure out how not to trip over it and kill myself. Eventually I'd like to install a grey water system that catches all the safe water from the house and diverts it to the gardens or a holding tank for irrigation.

Anyhoo - I processed these 5 pints according to the directions for whole tomatoes, vs tomato sauce as i simmered them only 30 minutes or so. I wanted to be overly cautious than risky so i packed each pint with a quarter tsp citric acid and processed 35 minutes in a boiling water bath. I'm looking forward to using these tomatoes in the depths of winter (which i think it already is in other places) and hope to can another batch of roasted tomatoes from what's left on my vines if i can harvest them before the first freeze.

Do you can your tomatoes? Do you have a waste water catching system in place?

This post can also be found at Simple Lives Thursday.

Wholesome Wednesdays: Yogurt (yoghurt)

I'm pretty easy going when it comes to breakfast. I like both sweet and savory with favorites being egg sandwiches, peanut butter toast, or warm porridge. Or bacon, or shredded wheat, or crumpets....... you get the idea. Lately though, i've had increased energy, decreased waistline, and overall better attitude, and what have i been eating for breakfast? YOGURT!

I'm sure many of you (who live in America at least) have seen plenty of commercials and advertising touting the benefits of probiotics in our diet. They're good for the immune system, digestion, and are found in lactofermented goodies- especially yogurt. Lactobacillus acidophilus (those good bacterias found in yogurt) can help children and adults alike beat allergies - another reason i'm loving my new breakfast routine: Miranda's gots some baaad allergies. Here are some imformative bullet points from HealthCastle.com:

Health Benefits of Probiotics

• Studies have found that probiotics may improve nutrient bioavailability, for B vitamins, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium and phosphorus, among others.
• Pediatric studies have found that certain strains (such as Lactobacillus GG, found in Culturelle capsules) may aid in significantly decreasing the rate of acute diarrhea and rotavirus shedding. Parents also reported a 25% decrease in diaper rash among babies drinking formula containing probiotics.
• Probiotics and active bacteria culture may improve lactose intolerance. The bacterial strain commonly used in yogurt can produce lactase enzymes. Therefore, people with lactose intolerance and children suffering from intestinal infection can usually tolerate yogurt with an active culture.
• Some studies have shown that by regulating intestinal transit time, probiotics improve constipation among the elderly.
• Other studies have shown that probiotics, especially acidophilus, promote the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon and reduce the conversion of bile into carcinogens (cancer-causing substances).
• Some studies have found that probiotics may enhance immunity by regulating lymphocytes and antibodies.

Not all yogurts are alike, however. I eat homemade yogurt made from raw milk. Unpasteurized milk by itself has more healthful bacterias in it than the store bought stuff, and by souring or fermenting it to make yogurt you boost those good bacterias even more. Fresh, living probiotics are aflurry in my yogurt, but if you purchase yours from the store be sure and choose a brand that clearly states 'living cultures' because not all include them. Are you familiar with creamy, overly sweet and fruity custard like yogurt? That just doesn't cut the mustard and can contain harmful sugar that counteracts your desire to eat healthfully. Calcium is nice. Probiotics are nice. Tons of sugar for breakfast is not nice - you might as well eat some fruit loops. When i buy yogurt here in Austin (i need starter for my homemade yogurt, and if i have my timing wrong and have used up all of my own yogurt, i need to purchase my starter) i purchase White Mountain Bulgarian style yogurt. It's made locally and is rich with living bacterias.

Smoothies, labneh (yogurt cheese), curry, tzatziki sauce, cucumber salad, or in a bowl with some fruit and chia seeds: yogurt is where it's at. And it is super easy to make, so make yogurt part of your immunity boosting, cancer fighting, regularity building diet today!

What's your favorite use of yogurt?

Giveaway Time! Cousin Leroy's BBQ Sauces!

I mentioned last week that i would be doing a fun giveaway of a great local product: Cousin Leroy's BBQ Sauces. Cousin Leroy sells (and samples!) his sauce at our Urban Farmers Market at 5109 Manchaca in Austin, TX every Saturday 10 - 3. I just love the mustard mop on some freshly fried chicken wings (i know, not exactly my usual healthy fare) and have used his seasonal Asian Sauce to cook a most delicious salmon fillet. His sauces are all great for marinading, dipping, or slathering on meat and veggies alike.  Don't miss out on this opportunity for a taste of some delicious, local flavor blended to perfection by the fastidious foodie, Cousin Leroy.

What's in the box for the lucky follower:

A taste of Cousin Leroy's BBQ Sauces. Leroy has hand selected the three following sauces: In this gift box is the excellent Spicy, the Mustard Mop and his newest sauce The Texan. Leroy offers these sauces with that " Kick In The Mouth Flavor " that you will find in all of the Cousin Leroys products. This product is made in Austin and carries a proud Texas tradition of quality ingredients and service.

How to win:

Enter this giveaway by "liking" Cousin Leroy OR An Austin Homestead on Facebook, or if you're not a Facebook user simply become a follower of An Austin Homestead. After you've liked or followed, submit a comment below with an idea you have for using Cousin Leroy's sauces. If you're already a follower, that's great! Just be sure and mention that along with your great serving idea. Tell your friends - this giveaway is not to be missed.
I will choose the winner this Friday, so get your comments in!

These sauces can be shipped anywhere within the lower 48 in the USA, so enter now to get your gift basket in time for the holidays! Delicious local Austin flavor at it's finest!

More About Fermented Pickles

I just love pickling. There was a time that pickling intimidated me. Thoughts of sterilized jars, boiling cauldrons, and mushy vegetables all threatened to foil my pickling attempts. But once i'd pickled once, there was no turning back.
I have pickled with the traditional vinegar/water brine, but have found my preference to lie in fermented pickling. I find vinegar pickles to be too, well: vinegary and overly tangy. Fermented pickles have a more balanced and complex flavor. Fermentation she says! Why, that's even more intimidating! Actually, it's the easiest and most natural thing in the world only requiring a few necessary tools. All you really need is a crock and something to hold the veggies down. A beautiful ceramic crock with perfectly sized plate would be awesome. I don't have either of those things. Instead my pickling crocks consist of various sized mason jars, tupperware lids, and vinegar bottles. I'm a girl who knows how to scrimcoach.  My kitchen is currently bubbling some pickled okra picked up by a local farmer, some jalapenos from my front garden and some green tomatoes that i'm tired of planting around. Fermentation is great: from kimchi to sour pickles, fermented foods are rich in enzymes and good bacterias that are great for you health, and the recipe is simple.

Cukes, cayenne and grape leaves make for zesty pickles with great crunch.

Sour Pickles

• Smallish pickling cucumbers (blossom end removed), okra, green tomatoes, hot peppers, or just about any vegetable that is ripe (excluding the tomatoes) and freshly harvested/ undamaged.
• Salty brine: 3 Tablespoons salt per quart of water
• Grape or horseradish leaves (the tannins in the leaves give your pickles that desirable crrrunch!)
• Garlic
• Pinch pickling spices or peppercorns
• Fresh dill or cilantro

Play with this recipe choosing the quantities you like (ie tons of garlic if you like garlic) and herbs you prefer. Add hot peppers for some zest and experiment with different veggies to pickle as they come in season (you can even do greens!) The method for all is the same:
Place a few grape leaves in the bottom of the crock followed by the peppercorns/pickling spices and garlic. Fill your crock up to half full with the vegetable of your choosing and place your plate (or plastic lid - no metal please) on top. Pour the mixed brine solution over it all and weight the plate down with a water filled bottle or clean rock. You can use about any receptacle for your crock - just no reactive metals. Cover the whole to-do with cheesecloth to keep the flies out and watch your pickles come alive within days. Day one you'll see brighter green. Day two the green will begin to soften. Day three there will be bubbles (watch out for an over flowing crock - never overfill with the brine solution, only be sure the veg is fully covered) and by the end of a week or two you'll have delicious sour pickles. Try and skim any mold that may develop, but don't worry as mold is normal. Don't throw out your brine when you're done pickling, either. You can keep it in the fridge and sip as a digestive tonic, or use to pickle hard boiled eggs or other veggies in the refrigerator. Store your pickles in the fridge to slow down fermentation. The pickled peppers will mellow their heat with time.

My first batch of pickles: i filled the crock too high and awoke to brine bubbling all over the kitchen counter!

My fermentation crock setup - total jerry rigged operation

What's your favorite way to pickle?

This post and others I've written can be found at Yard Farm Austin.

Garden Watch: Caterpillars On The Loose

The broccoli is growing crowns, the kale is leafing up fantastically, the chard is out of this world: but what's this? Little holes in those big, beautiful leaves?

One little caterpillar can do a whole lot of damage

Caterpillar Attack!
It is important to spend some time in your garden to observe the health of your plants and check for potential marauders. My garden is most often plagued with snails: they can at times be seen in vast herds on the walls of houses in my neighborhood and take advantage of rains to sneak attack the veggies trying to enjoy the drink as well. Nasty snails.  Along with snails are their covert friends: caterpillars. Small, green and camouflaged; large, fuzzy and obvious: all caterpillars want is to defoliate your lovely veggies and herbs as quickly as they can digest. Granted, some will turn to beautiful butterflies and should be left alone or even provided with specific habitat (ie dill plants for the swallowtail butterflies). This time of year though, most of the caterpillars in the garden should be hunted and squished - or fed to the chickens.
What to look out for:

• Holes in leaves - may be small and round or jagged and 'chewed' looking
• Broken stems or leaf stalks
• Holes in tomatoes and other fruits
• Strange grenade looking dung

Leaf damage like this can be caused by snails and caterpillars

The hornworms of Summer

If you see any of these signs, go in for a closer look: turn over the leaves of your plants and you may find an unwelcome visitor. Caterpillars will most often hide on the underside of the leaves and down in the center of a plant or flower. Tomato hornworms are remarkably well camouflaged and can sometimes only be spotted by the tell tale signs of leafless stalks amongst an otherwise healthy tomato plant, and the conspicuous grenade shaped dung they leave behind.
What to do with the critters once you've caught them? I generally squish the smaller, green caterpillars  or cutworms found on my brassicas and in the soil. The larger worms get tossed to the chickens to their delight - or thrown into the street for the mockingbirds to dispatch. It's not the most gentile job in the garden, but your plants will thank you for being their hero. They can't run away from threatening critters, and they'd much rather have your hands on them than nasty chemicals. However, If you have a bad infestation of caterpillars or a very large garden area you can supplement handpicking with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) a natural soil bacteria that can fight off hoards of nasty caterpillars too vast to be handpicked. The great thing about BT is that it only targets the caterpillars and spares the beneficial insects.

Fuzzy caterpillar found chewing on some beet greens

Flipping broccoli leaves over can unveil some unwanted tag alongs

Take some time to look over your plants today, it might just save their life - or at least maximize the bounty for you instead of for creepy crawlies. Also, please mind the lower temperatures during this lovely season. Temps below 40 may be too chilly for certain plants, especially tropicals and citrus. When our first freeze does show up in the forecast - pick what tomatoes and peppers are still on the vine and wrap any other sensitive plants with freeze cloth or old sheets.

This post and others I've written can be seen at Yard Farm Austin.

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

I could have kept eating and eating and eating last night. And i did.
I had some leftover pasta when i made lasagna the other day which i cut into fettucini noodles and dried out to be another night's dinner. I also had some leftover roasted tomato that didn't make it into the lasagna's sauce. I combined these things, along with leftover veggies in the fridge and freezer and the ricotta i had from making mozzerella to become a most decadent and delicious meal. Here's the jist:

• Fettuccine noodles made with whole wheat flour, salt, dried basil and truffle oil
• Dried noodles took about 5 minutes to cook in salted boiling water
• Delicious sauce
• Roasted tomatoes



All stirred up and saucy-delicious

• Tomatoes, garlic, onions, salt, olive oil roasted at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until caramelized
• Fresh tomatoes - blend the tomatoes together in a blender then put into a pot to begin heating up
• One diced onions
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• Drizzled truffle oil
• Chopped zuccini
• Chopped mushroom
• Diced roasted or fresh hot peppers
• Dried basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper
• Buddy's Natural Chicken Sausage (or any fresh, low fat chicken sausage)
• Fresh ricotta cheese

You could swap in about any veg you wanted to this sauce and could even use canned tomatoes, a staple for dinners around here (but i'm so thankful for some fresh ones this season). I added the squash and mushrooms at two different times to have some that were mushy and some with some shape left.  Note that i have given no amounts on the tomatoes or ricotta. I had about half a pint of roasted tomatoes on hand and added 3 normal sized tomatoes. I think there was about a half cup of ricotta from my mozz making. I tried to make the amount of sauce that would be good for two guilt-fully eating adults. Could have fed two plus a kiddo, or three with a side salad. The only thing that's important on how this sauce was made is to wait until the very end to add the ricotta so that it doesn't boil. Wait until everything is cooked to your liking and turn down the heat to low before stirring in the cheese.

Fresh noodles piled high with delicious!

I have never been able to eat cream sauces due to my inability to eat pasteurized milk. This homemade ricotta was from raw milk and was very moist since i only drained it for an hour or so. Perfect for adding to a sauce and digestable for me. Every last bit was lapped up by finger or tongue! That's how we roll in this house: if the food tastes good, you darn well better lick your plate!

Central Texas Veggie Garden Update: November

I almost have harvestable broccoli! Holy cow, how cool is that? I planted my first round of broccoli transplants in early September and they're showing signs of crowns. I fertilized with a nitrogen fertilizer when they were about 9 inches tall, and then the other day with Flower Power to promote the development of their crowns. That's how i do most of my veggies - nitrogen once they've put on some height and need greening power, and Flower Power (high middle number) when showing signs of flowering and setting fruit. For long season plants like tomatoes and cukes i will redo the Flower Power fertilizing every month or so, plus seaweed in their water  or compost side dressing for a little extra vigor at any time i please.

I planted some more transplants and seeds last weekend:

• Radish
• Carrot
• Broccoli Raab
• Chamomile (seeds and transplant)
• Kale (seeds and transplant)
• Broccoli (transplant)
• Chard (transplant)
• Lettuce
• Pansies and Calendula for some edible/medicinal pretty 

Baby radishes peeking out

 I must admit: the past few years i have diligently laid out my gardens on graph paper, taken detailed notes of every seed and transplant planted and when, watering schedules, fertilization, all a gardener's work entails. This season I'm beign more indiscriminate in my record keeping. I try and water germinating beds every morning and the large gardens twice a week. I'm tucking seeds and seedlings into bare patches as they come available. I harvest what's ripe and carefully watch the weather to see if a freeze may be imminent. Peppers and tomatoes are still filling lots of space so i've been cramming my brassicas into tight spots and tucking seeds in the crannies as i see fit. My companion planting methods have gone out the window for hte most part and it's fun to see so much green slammed into so small a space. We'll see if my 'tuck it where there's space' method works out for me... at the very least i'll have plenty of green matter to choose from, whether it does well or not. ha.

When does one harvest kohlrabi? I dunno, this is my first year.

Meyer Lemons starting to turn yellow. It's the time of year to watch for below 40 degree weather. I'll have to figure out some way to get this now massive potted plant into the house for winter.

The cucumbers continue to give me big old fruit, my tomatoes are heavily laden with green globes of optimism that i have to hunt for amongst their bushy limbs, and all my pepper plants are busting at the stem: many batches of hot sauce are being simmered and preparing to age, get strained, bottled and processed. I'm putting peppers into everything right now and will freeze what i don't turn into hot sauce, muffins, or jam. I'm preparing to save the seeds of my favorite tomato plant and will be mulching the garlic areas as soon as i see a few more little garlic sprouts peeking up. They aren't as happy this year as they've been in past years which may be due to my skipping a layer of turkey compost on top of the seeded beds. Live and learn.

Early Wonder beets, desperately needing to be thinned. I'm waiting for the greens to get a little bigger to use in a sautee or pickle crock

Happy cayennes ready to be sauced or dried

Who's that hiding in the grass?

Three lovely Homestead tomatoes!

 This is a fun time of year - harvest of the fall/winter crops is imminent, some summer bounty is holding on til the last second, and the garden is teeming with new and old life in a more controlled manner than the crazy tomato forests of mid summer. Plus it's nice outside! Get out there and enjoy your garden, it doesn't get much better than this in Austin gardening.