Looks like some pickled green tomatoes are in my future! Last week a pretty good freeze came thru our area and wiped out the tomatoes, yes the fall tomatoes that were looking real nice!!  So it goes in South East Texas, just when you think its gonna stay in the 60′s …bammm a freeze rolls thru!

On the bright side, at least we knew it was coming and were able to pull them in time.  My wife Cathy was able to get out and pick them the Wednesday before Thanksgiving!

Green Tomatoes

Most of these were about racket ball size, about ten or so were baseball size, we fried those up along with some of our purple hull peas for dinner one night….good eatin Aunt Bea!

The Bigger Ones

So like I said looks like some chow chow or some other good stuff coming our way,   I sure can’t wait to get a green house so I can extend some grow time around here!

Well that’s it for now, another dip into the freezing range expected tonight, gotta go wrap some pipes up, stay warm ya’ll!

The Cabbage has taken off and is growing like gangbusters, it hasn’t started forming heads yet but looks like its coming soon.  I planted green and red cabbage , the green looks like it has just a little more uumph than the red cabbage, but the red is coming along too.

Green Cabbage

We just mulched the beds with some pine needles from the front yard, tryin to keep some of the water where the plants can get too it, our drought still remains in effect, hopefully we will get some rain this weekend!

The whole bed o' Cabbage

Those are the red cabbage in the middle of these beds, as you can see they are just a little slower than the green. Behind that is the Brussells Sprouts, they are looking good too!  We have another bed of those as well.

2nd Bed Of Sprouts!

The ducks like these too, that’s what happened to the front left plant there, looks like it will make a full recovery. We also hung the bird / deer netting up around both beds last weekend , for just such issues!

Tomatoes

The tomatoes are still holding on, we had some cool temps last week, down in the mid 30′s. So far the tomatoes are still looking peppy, maybe the daytime temps in the 70′s are keeping the growing, going!

Tomatoes Still Holding On!

Hopefully they will get ripe, but if not we’ll make some relish or chow-chow, maybe even some fried green tomatoes.

I hope your sstuff is working ok, leave a comment and tell me about it, love to hear from ya!

Until then, Take it Easy

I Wrote last time about the fall garden stuff being overall not that good, as I look back though it is doing as good as it can with the drought and all. Not to mention that I forgot about the tomatoes that were looking fairly good, when you keep the chickens off of them.

Fall Tomatoes

More Tomatoes

The plants look like they are growing just a little slower than they would in the spring, but they are chugging along, and they are loaded with blossoms!

Blossoms

The cabbage and brussels sprouts are growing well , along with the last of the peppers that were planted in the spring.

We also have a pecan tree as well as several wild persimmon trees that grow around here that are getting ripe and ready.

The pecan has started to look alot better from seasons past, I started a  fertilzer treatment this year and it made quite a few more nuts, and they started dropping this week.

Pecans

What can you say about the persimmons, they are a wild variety , so they put out a large crop darn near every year, but don’t try em till they are completely ripe….its an awful dreadful fruit until then hehehehe.

Persimmons

Red and Green Cabbage

The fall garden started a little rough this year , due in part to a late season drought!  The Burn ban is back in effect after a short reprieve, so the rain has been scarce here, and it took a toll on the early plantings. I started with a few rows of pinto beans, and they didn’t even sprout, The cucumbers that I started a couple months back are about 4 inches tall, with flowers but no real vines to speak of. The only real stars of the fall garden this year have been the brassicas, I put in some red and green cabbage and some brussles sprouts and they are still looking good, so there is our hope to hold us thru till spring! I didn’t get the garlic in yet but maybe next week I will plant a few bulbs of that.

Anyway take a look at the latest pics from our place.

Brussels Sprouts

Red Cabbage

So hopefully this will keep us occupied until the spring thaw hahahaha.

Ya’ll have fun and enjoy the weather , we sure are!

The one thing that stands the Texas heat and laughs is the Okra, when all else has shriveled and wilted the okra keeps on chugging. It has been way hot this last week and no real rain for about three weeks so everything is mighty dry, all except for the you know what…that’s right, the okra. it is just starting to really churn out the pods like mad, we are getting about 2 five gallon buckets a day now!  OK, OK I might have over done it this year on the okra, with three rows of about 50 feet each, but we all like it around here, fried, in gumbo, pickled, heck you name it we like it,  and our friends like it to, so it doesn’t go to waste!  And if we don’t eat it all the pigs and goats like it too, they get it raw though!  hehehe …

Yea so I over did it but using the Earthway Garden Seeder, over seeding is a breeze lol! So next year maybe i’ll cut it down to two rows, or maybe not!

Okra Rows

In this picture you can see down the length of the rows, I’m about to the end of the rows, for some reason the three plants on each row are a little shorter, must have gotten a slow start.

The okra plant is in the hibiscus family and they have a stunning pale yellow flower with a dark purple ring at the base of the petal, they bloom mostly in the morning.

After a day the blossom shrivels and falls off leaving a small green nub, This is the beginning of the seed pod, the edible part!

Okra Pods

In this photo you can see the maturing pods as well as the flower that has closed up and will fall off soon.  The pods will keep forming until the frost gets the plant, or you let them just go to seed, more for next year!!

Watermelon, another heat lover!

Just a quick note on the watermelon, it digs the heat too, I you can keep the chickens off of them!

Watermelon with chicken scratches!

Well that’s it for now, we’ve been busy with the garden and the canning lately, and the fall garden starts soon, I’ll keep you posted.

see ya soon

With the great Okra harvest we’ve been pulling in it’s time to put some up for a rainy, cold day …since the frost will kill it dead, so we pickled a whole mess of it.

I used one of the many recipes you can find on the web, the brine is pretty standard across the board, its the spices and other flavors that make each batch your own. So here is what we did!

First thing, sterilize the jars and lids, I have a large stock pot full of water, I put the jars and lids in the water and bring to a boil, leave em for 10 minutes and pull em out with the jar lifter, set them aside to cool.

Next gather brine supplies, recipe follows!

Pickled Okra

1 quart vinegar – white,cider,rice  your choice

1 cup water

1/2 cup pickling salt

I also add about 3 tablespoons of sugar, to balance the salt.

That’s the basic brine, the you can add Garlic cloves, red peppers , black peppercorns, mustard seeds or what ever you like!

Vinegar and Spices

Put that in a non reactive pan on the stove and bring to and bring to a boil.

In the mean time, clean and trim your okra, I make a slit in the side of each pod so the brine gets in and you get a better idea of the brine level in the jars.

Cleaned Okra

After cleaning, pack your sterilized jars with the cleaned and trimmed okra, we also put and extra clove of garlic, a medium jalapeno pepper, and a 1/4 teaspoon of mustard seed in each jar.  You have to pack the okra in there real tight or they will float around after they are sealed, that way the stay submerged in the brine.

Garlic And Peppers

About to Pack The Jars.

Packed Jars

Once the jars are packed , and the brine has reached a boil, carefully ladle the brine into the jars of packed okra , use the canning funnel its so easy!  Let the brine settle and the top off your jars with the proper headspace, about 1/2 inch, clean the top of the jar off with a damp cloth and put the lid and ring on the jar.

Brined With Lids, Ready For The Hot Water Bath

Now for the hot water bath, using the jar lifter, carefully set the okra filled jars into the boiling water and make sure there is at least 2 inches of water over the top of the lids. keep in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Hot Water Bath

I topped off the water after the jars went in to bring the water level up, it doesn’t show in the picture.

After the ten minutes remove the jars carefully, don’t forget it is boiling water lol!, and set them on a dishrag to cool, if they sealed right you will hear a pop as the jars cool and the lids seal.

Jars Of Pickled Okra Cooling.

Now you could eat these after a day or so, but it’s better to let them sit for at least a week, two is better. that way all the flavors get a chance to mix it up!

Well the vegetables have been coming in for a month or so now and I wanted you to see the laod of good stuff we have!

The Veggies

Here is a rack of stuff we picked from the garden, this is just a small portion of the jackpot. We have some green tomatoes, cucumbers, strait and crook neck yellow squash, zucchini , jalapeno and banana peppers,  green bell peppers and one lone butter nut squash that my nephew  picked , it wasn’t ready , but he couldn’t help himself!

Green Tomatoes

The tomatoes didn’t get to ripen all the way due to a chicken attack on them, so we had to salvage what we could. These tomatoes will give up their existence to make some chow cow, fried green tomatoes and relish, along with a wonderful salsa my wife made the other day …it was delish!

More Veggies

Here is just the up close of the other veggies, the cucumbers are doing well on the trellis system and the squash is really rolling too. The butternuts have a few more weeks to develop and there are some acorn squash out there waiting for the right time to pick. The peppers are coming in hot and heavy, get it? hehehe  We have a mess of Jalapeno and about twice that in banana peppers , we pickled several quarts of those, just like a major sandwich chain makes…you know the one, its named after mass transit!  Anyway they are good eatin, if I do say so myself.

Squash and Zuccini

And here is a close up of the squash and zucchini, these summer squash have really done better than I expected so we have frozen alot of it, along with making pickles out of the cucumbers and some jalapeno jelly and and a batch of basil/apple jelly.

The peas have really come on strong, we went out the other evening and with about 40 minuted of picking, we had a large utility bucket full, it’s about a bushel or so! Check it!

Bucket Full Of Purple Hulls.

And it don’t look they are stopping anytime soon!  We have Vacuum Sealed quite a few bags already. If you don’t have a food saver sealer or similar product, shell out the cash, its well worth it.

Anyway , like I said we have picked and shelled peas until were purple in the fingers..lol  couldn’t resist!

Cucumber Trellis

I set up two of these this year, one for the slicing cucumbers, and one for the pickling cukes!

The slicers have got a jump start on the others since the chickens got in the garden and scratched the picklers to death, they had to be replanted …dang chickens!

Cucumber Trellis

As you can see the slicers are on the left in this photo, and they have really shot up the trellis, which I made out of  4″x4″ goat wire and an old gate.

Pickling Cucumbers

This one is last years model, it is one 16 ft piece of cattle panel, bent into a gentle arc, works great, if you can keep the chickens off the seedling.

The Cukes are starting to get to a good size and I have picked a few already, they should start cranking out soon.

Well as I write this a well needed rain shower has started up, with lightning, so I’ll Send this on up to the interwebs for your viewing pleasure.

Good Growing to you!

The Purple hulls have really taken off in the last two weeks, we have pea pods everywhere!

I planted this patch with the Earthway Seeder, and after some tinkering I got the seed plates set just right. It didn’t take anytime for the peas to sprout and start growing, even with the rain deficit we are currently in.  And with a light application of 13-13-13 all purpose fertilizer, I know, I ran outta compost on the tomatoes earlier and I don’t have enough made up yet!  Maybe next time huh?, they are really greening up and growing up!

Anyway here is a before and after view of the pea patch, for your viewing pleasure!

Pea Patch Before.

Pea Patch After.

These pics are around three weeks apart, there are flowers all over and small to medium pods on most of the plants.  The weeds aren’t too bad , I tried to keep up but it just gets ahead of ya!

Note to self : next time space the rows better for easier cultivating!!

Anyway, enough about my laziness, I did find a few pods that were pretty good size.

Pea Pods

Again, don’t mind those weeds!

So i’m lookin forward to some purple hulls in a few more weeks!

The okra is coming along slowy but sure, it was also planted with the Earthway, and they went in very uniformly.  Looks like a pro planted it !

Okra Rows

I did leave the rows spaced so I could run the tiller through them, at least until they get up a little taller and can choke the weeds out themselves.

So there ya have it, we have been awful busy, but it looks like it’s gonna pay off soon!

Again thank for stopping by and we’ll see ya next time!

We finally got a little rain last week, much needed rain I might add, and things are looking good!

The Daikon Radishes grow fast fast fast , they take about 28 to 30 days to start forming root and then they are off, i pulled these a little early to just get an idea of the flavor of these white gems!

Daikon Radish

They are crisp and delicious, But they do get big, so a few go along way!  I’m gonna grow alot of these to put in some Kimchi!
Banana Peppers!!

These are doing good too, they are about 16 inches tall at this point and looking good, most all the plants have blooms and peppers in some stage, gonna pickle a bunch of theses too , when we get a good handful.

Banana Peppers

Other Stuff!

The yellow squash and zucchini are getting big, plenty of blooms on each, and the purple hulls are starting to flower, so it wont be long now!

Sorry for the short update but its been quite busy around here the last few weeks, more coming soon!