Baby, it's cold outside

After so many warm weather autumns, this one has taken us by surprise.  It has been colder than normal and we even have some snow that fell three days ago and is still sticking to the grass.

I had sprayed my shrubs with rabbit repellent for the winter but hadn't put up the fencing around them or wrapped those in burlap that needed winter protection.  I bought three bales of straw and only had one down on the parsnips and carrots to try and keep the ground from freezing.  The potted shrubs just barely got dug in to the garden before the ground got to hard to get a shovel in.  I peeled apart the last two frozen straw bales to finish heeling the shrubs in.  The fence and burlap was a quick job before the snow fell.

There is a slight warm up coming in the next week in which I am hoping to dig up some of the parsnips and all of the carrots.  I also need to cut down my two story high sweet autumn clematis for the winter.  There just aren't enough hours in the day or energy in my system!

Fall vegetables...canning, freezing, or just keeping it cool

I have continued to keep putting up the harvest as long as it keeps coming in.  That includes the harvest that comes in from my local farmers as well.  There are so many crops that continue to produce after the first freeze.  Just because the weather changes at the end of September, it is still too early to write off the weekly farm market visits.  In Milwaukee there are several winter farm markets that have sprung up as well.

There are several crops that are better after the cold hits.  Kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, late apples, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and several other root vegetables are a few of them.  I also wait for the fall to buy a bushel of potatoes, some storing onions (when I don't have enough of my own), and winter squash.  Many farmers have cold storage areas for items that they can continue to sell well after the last apple is picked and potato is dug.

Some crops require no preparation other than a quick cleaning before storing them in a cool, dark location.  Many of the root crops can be stored in the extra frig if you have it or layered in sand in an area that does not freeze.  Squash can be laid out on shelves or hung in nets to store until they start to lose their storage limits.  The better that the rind is cured in sun and kept dry, the longer it will store later.  Potatoes and onions as well as garlic just need some air circulation and a cool, dark space to keep for months.

Natural fermentation will also keep crops for a much longer time, sauerkraut being one of the most common in a town with a large population of German and Polish heritage.  Fermented foods do not end there.  Check out some of the old and new authors that devote their time to writing about some common and uncommon fermented food.  I had fun with a bag of "wind fall" apples and the cider project.  I made one gallon of some very nice hard cider with apples that my sister salvaged from their fallen tree.  Next year I will make twice as much.  The package of champagne yeast from the wine making store was a very small investment for my project.

You don't have to have a big canning set up or a large freezer to enjoy some of the local produce into the cold, winter months.  

Still gardening even after the first snow.

While the rest of the crew went hunting, my oldest sister and I set out with leaf blowers to clear off their lawn before the first snow.  It is a pretty big yard, so it was nice to do it together.  

My own yard is not such a monumental task, but there are the beds to clean up and all the corners to clean up.  I mulched the healthy leaves into my compost bin.  The tar spot on the maples, apple scab on the crabs, and black walnut leaves all went to the curb.  The weather forecast for this past week was not good.  My goal on Sunday was to get it all to the curb to make the November 15th cut off for city pick up.  I was so sore at the end that I had to push through.  A hot shower followed by ibuprofen and a heating pad were so welcome.

When we got our snow on 11/11, I was glad to have it done.  The rest of the week was pretty cold and windy.  The flowering kale pulled through but it was pretty frosty after the snow.

The leaves droop and sag with the cold, and perk up as the temperatures come above freezing.  It is fun to watch them come back each day as it warms up just enough.  I still have some edible kale in the garden.  This cold should add sweetness to the plants as they produce more sugars as anti-freeze.  There is also parsnips and carrots to dig up.  I need to get the garlic in the ground this weekend as well.  I regret that I did not get my pot washing done this fall.  It is time to put away the garden tools and make room for a car for the winter months.

Wedding flower pictures

Matching ceremony arrangements

The dinner table 

The florist did such an amazing job with the arrangements.  A big thank you goes out to Emily at Belle Fiori for working with us to provide very tasteful and personal arrangements to help frame the day.  It was very special to have our own home grown varieties in the arrangements as this is not something a florist can easily do, not knowing her supplier.  We definitely recommend her services to anyone!

The bride

Salsa Verde, 2013

I made my salsa verde without a tomatillo crop.  Last year they were abundant, but this year I got three marble sized fruits.  I did some research and found that my suspicion was right.  You do need more than one plant to have a crop.  Check out the link which answers most questions you may have about growing them yourself.

I did have a good amount of green tomatoes on hand.  My 4th of July variety is even the same size as most tomatillos, so it worked out well.  I did every thing the same as last year's salsa verde.  I doubled the recipe for 7 half pints and 4 full pints.  I enjoy the roasted, smoky flavors of grilling the ingredients before processing.  Next year, I will put in more than one plant!

Sauerkraut, Chapter 2

I will not go into the how of making sauerkraut again this year but refer you to last year's sauerkraut adventure.  With the sauerkraut cutter restored, I was able to really refine the process into a much smaller time frame.  It took me less time to make my sauerkraut from start to finish than it took the Packers to play a football game.

The combination of a sauerkraut cutter (four blades vs one knife) and a pounder (one large chunk of wood with a long handle vs a wine bottle) made all the difference.  I had a one-woman assembly line going in my kitchen.  The cabbage went from sink, to cutting board (cut in quarters), to cutter, to weighing and salting, and into the bucket to be pounded and juiced.  I was so happy with how it all went.  Six large heads of cabbage are happily fermenting in the corner of my dining room.  I was able to get my husband to pound one round of cabbage during half-time when he popped in for a little coffee.

During the whole process, I was able to spend some time just thinking about how long the cutter has been making cabbage into fine shreds for our family.  It sat dormant for so many years, that seeing it in action again brought a little part of family history to life again, for me.  My dad was the person who ran the cabbage over those same blades.  Instead of a stainless steel bowl, my mother had her large, stoneware crock underneath it to catch the cabbage.  My younger sister and I were positioned underneath on either side throwing into the crock any stray pieces of cabbage as we watched our mother reach under to occasionally add salt to the layers.  As the crock filled, it would be slid out and one of my older sisters would take the pounder and push and pound the cabbage and salt together as it wilted.  The liquid would flow out from its cells to form a brine.  The process would continue until the crock was nearly filled.  It was covered with a large plate and a rock or other weight to keep the cabbage underneath the brine as it fermented.  The crock was pushed to a corner of the dining room until it was ready to be canned.  I remember it also being in the basement which may have been during a storage or fermenting period, but our basement wasn't really all that warm for fermenting. The University of Wisconsin Home Extension has a very good publication for making sauerkraut that explains the process very well.

I felt a connection to my father as I ran the cabbage over the blades.  I remember one time that he cut his finger pretty deeply when he allowed his hand to get too close to the cutting blades.  Adding a new quarter head to the top of the lower one kept my fingers out of harm's way.  I cut up the last portion with a knife to avoid the same fate as my father.  It is amazing to me to think he was younger than I am now when I sat on the floor at his feet picking up stray cabbage.  Parents always seem older until we reach that age ourselves.  

It was good to make that first run on my own to allow myself to swim in those memories a little deeper than I would have if I was distracted by conversation.  Now that I know what I am doing, next year it will have to be a party.  I think perogies should be on the menu...with dandelion wine!

A little bit of gardening in the little bit of light after work

The time has come for cleaning up the yard a bit.  I made my first cuttings of the season so the coleus can make it into next year's garden.  I put a few other plants in the garage so they don't get hit by frost until I can cut them back and take them in.  I always soak them through to make sure I don't bring a mouse family into my house again.

The light is growing short after work so I have to get things done a little bit at a time.  With the remaining light I had after the other jobs I did tonight, I started cleaning out the flower garden.  There are still some everlastings that will take a bit of cold so they get to stay.  The zinnias were still blooming so I cut a large vase of the best flowers.  I have opted to purchase seeds next spring and get just the two varieties I liked the best,  Benary's giant and cactus flowered.  Both are multicolored varieties.  The benefit of pulling out the zinnias and cosmos that have gone to seed is now you can really see the flowering kale that I planted behind all the rest.  The plants have grown up to two feet tall and are really starting to color up with the cooler weather and shorter days.  The wedding flower garden has taken on a whole new look by pulling out the brown and mildewed stems and letting a fall crop take the limelight.  I will have to add a photo when it is light enough to take one!