Fall is a busy time. I haven't been on the computer much let alone writing about all the stuff I have been getting done out in the yard and kitchen. Rather than try to document it all in separate postings, I decided I have to do it in one so I can keep track of my activities for next year.
TO CLEAN OR NOT TO CLEAN...
Different people have different ideas about whether or not you should clean out your gardens in fall. I clean mine out for many reasons. First, I collect seeds and it is easier to do if I collect as I go. This way I can get down to the small stuff and collect that as well as the tall stuff. I save seed from several annuals. Asters, zinnias, marigolds, larkspur, love-in-the-mist, thunbergia, and nasturtiums are the usual suspects. I collect them in envelopes and hang them in my basement with clothes pins on hangers. I also shake out the plants to direct seed for next spring, allysum and love-in-the-mist are good for this as well as larkspur and cosmos. You have to be patient next spring to give them time to bloom. Another reason for cleaning out the garden is to take advantage of the city pick up of some of the vegetation like the old tomato vines and such. They only do this in the fall so that is when you have to get it to the curb. Leaves and such find their home at the municipal nursery. I used to work there and it was always interesting to see what was going to pop out off the leaf covered fields the next year. Several things still remain standing especially the flowering kale which still stops people in their tracks.
HARVEST, BUY, PRESERVE, AND DO IT AGAIN...
I was on a mission this fall to really take advantage of what I could from the local farm markets. I share this with my daughters who are both out of the house. I get some help from them in return with all the cutting, peeling, and canning to get it all done. We also were able to get half a steer from a local farmer. My husband and daughter were both successful in the Wisconsin deer season this year. You have to make hay while the sun shines.
FALL CAMPING...
I have missed many years of fall camping because school and sport schedules didn't allow us the freedom to flee. This year we got out of town on a regular basis to state parks, private campgrounds, and family cottages as the weather got colder and wetter. Empty nesting has been very, very good for us.
CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE...
We went out and cut our tree in the next county this past weekend. I also have been collecting trimmings and grapevines to hanging up and string lights. Next on the list is cookie baking and eventually, I will have to shop...I hate shopping. I want to get some cards out, if only I can find the stamps I bought last month.
DARKNESS HAS FALLEN...
The days have gotten so short that I feel like I am cramming several hours worth of work into the limited daylight hours. After all that, I sit down and fall asleep. My children love to tease me about my ability to zone out immediately. I try to motivate myself, but it just ain't happening.
Merry Christmas to one and all!
I started my first batch of sauerkraut...ever. The last time I remember taking part in the process, I was about eight years old. I was sitting under the legs of the adults while they cut the cabbage on the "kraut cutter". It was build to fit between our kitchen sink and the adjacent cabinet. My younger sister, Lisa, and I were in charge of picking up the cabbage that didn't land in the crock and adding it to the rest. The only other person that came down by us, was our mom. She would bend down to sprinkle in a layer of salt every so often between the layers of cabbage. I don't have a kraut cutter, or a mandolin (the miniature version of our kraut cutter, or a large enough food processor. I do have cutting boards and a large, sharp knife. Last Friday morning I worked my way through six heads of cabbage one eighth of an inch at a time. I'm sure that my great grandmother did it this way, so why couldn't I?!
In true style for everything I do, I read up on it first. The Pickled Pantry by Andrea Chesman was my first encouragement to try something I had very limited experience with. I consulted the Ball Canning and Freezing handbook. I had the University of Wisconsin Extension handbook that I picked up at State Fair YEARS ago. They have the same publication on line in pdf format. Same words, different format. I talked with friends and family on-line, at work, over the phone, and even strangers who wanted to talk canning. The one thing I couldn't do, which would have made me much more at ease, was talk to my mom. She's been gone for 18 months and there are still times I want to pick up the phone to ask her a question. I wanted to pick up the phone several times on Friday, but I just sent thoughts heavenward in hopes that some divine inspiration would come seeping downward to get me through.
I improvised. I didn't have the cutter, the stomper, or the crock. I made do with a knife, a wine bottle, and a re-purposed pickle pail (this is food grade plastic, laundry detergent pails are not). With a bit of advise from my friend's mother (the cabbage from our drought summer was not going to be moist enough), I was able to decide to make up a brine one and one half tablespoons of salt per quart of water to add to the pail. This advise was my sanity saver. I mixed my three tablespoons of pickling salt (don't used iodized) to the five pounds of shredded cabbage. The directions said to let is wilt for five minutes. I would cut the next five pounds while the first sat wilting. Layer by layer I added it to the pail while pounding it down with my flat bottomed wine bottle. It was juicing but not enough to cover the cabbage no matter how much I pounded it down. I would add some cool brine a little at a time until it came to the surface.
Layer by layer, batch after batch. Cut, salt, wait, pound. In the end six head of cabbage, which were average size by farm market standards, filled the pail just over half. My arms were tired, my hands were cramped. Tasting bits of salted cabbage took me back to the linoleum floor under the cutting board. I missed my mom more than I have in many months. My full canning shelf remind me of the hours she put into preserving food for our family. Hers was at least 3 times the size of my own.
I made more brine and let it cool as I finished up my cabbage lasagna. The higher the layers came, the easier it got to hold on to the bottle to pound. I remember Dad standing over the kraut cutter moving the cabbage halves back and forth over the triple blades. He cut himself every year. In my memory he did. I will probably be corrected by my older sisters, all five of them. Dad also did most of the stomping. We all took a turn, but it was Dad's arms that truly brought out the juice from the cabbage. Mom was a strong woman in her own right as well.
I had made another gallon of brine which went in to a two gallon Ziploc bag. After putting a plate on top of my sufficiently salted and liquidated cabbage, I laid the partially filled bag on top of the plate. This sealed around the edges of the pail to keep the air out of the briny mix as much as possible. I believe this is working well, as today is the first day I felt the need to skim the scum from the top of the pail. Bubbles are coming up from below when I push down on the plate, so fermentation is taking place. As we like to say in our household...it is processing nicely.
I also weighed down the plate with a half gallon Ball jar with more brine in it. I could have just used water, but if I need more brine, it will be at the ready. Some liquid has evaporated as it came over the top of the bag. I have not added more since starting the process.
Most books recommend keeping the crock in an area 68 to 72 degrees during fermentation. This will keep the fermentation going at a steady pace. Too warm and it happens to quickly and may spoil. Too cool and the process takes longer, which means you have to baby sit the kraut with daily visits for skimming. I also placed the pail on one of my multi-use boot trays. If the kraut were to be higher in the pail this would be more necessary for possible run over. I would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to our old, hardwood floors.
I will update as needed so I can keep track of the process for future reference. In the meantime, we're processing nicely.
Today was my day to get my beans Frenched and in the jars. I had picked and washed the beans and tossed them in the frig yesterday as I did not have the energy to get the canning done. I did snip the ends off the beans while supper was cooking, so I had part of the job done for today. I start any canning process by gathering everything that I will need to do the job from start to finish. I have my jar lifter, funnel, and wooden spoon that I keep together once canning season starts. I also use canning salt, sealing lids with bands, and glass jars that I bring up from the basement when needed. If I am canning vegetables, I use my pressure canner. Fruits can be processed in a hot water bath. I want to learn more about steam canning as an alternative to the hot water bath.
Jars need to be checked for nicks and cracks. I run my finger around the top of each jar to make sure it has a smooth edge for sealing. Sometimes they chip or get a stick residue from the sealing compound. Chipped jars will not seal. Sticky jars have to have the goo removed with alcohol or other cleaner that will take it off. Once they are washed in soapy water, they go into a hot rinse water where they stay until the food goes into the jars right before sealing the jars.
Always use new lids. Some jars use canning rings or other compounds. I choose the one use Kerr lids that I just use for dry storage once the seal has been used and broken. Follow the directions on the box for sterilizing and keeping the lids hot before using.
I have a hand crank French beaner. The beans are fed into the top as you turn the crank. A white nylon wheel moves the beans through the cutting disks turning each bean into a thin lengthwise slice. I started out using a smaller hand held tool which the beans were pushed through and pulled out the other side one by one. I eventually splurged on this with a 50% off coupon in the gardening catalog. We like French beans, so this was worth the money I spent ($20 sounds about right).
I steam blanch the beans for 5 minutes before putting them in the jars. Loosely pack the beans with 1" of head space. Add a half teaspoon of salt. Top off with boiling water to cover beans with the 1" head space. Wipe down the top of the jar before placing a hot lid on top. Use a screw band to hold the lid in place during canning.
Place the jars into the pressure canner with 2-3" of hot water. My pressure canner can hold 10 pint jars which helps speed the process up. Some canners are tall and can handle a double layer of jars. I can only do that with half-pint jars.
Fix the lid on the pressure canner and place over heat. Once the steam starts coming out the top. I place my weighted pressure gauge in place. Other canners will have a knob to close off and you set the gauge to the proper pounds. Beans are canned at 10 pounds of pressure which raise the temperature at which water boils from 212 degrees to 240 degrees. Vegetables are low acid and need the higher temperature to sufficiently stop bacterial action safely.
Once the beans have been held at this temperature for 20 minutes for my pint jars, I remove the canner from the heat and let it cool down naturally. I do not remove the weighted pressure gauge or run cold water over the outside of the canner to cool it faster. This is just part of doing it right. Once the temperature is down enough that the pressure in the canner has come down naturally, I can remove the weight and open the lid. Always remove lids away from your face and hands to avoid steam burns.
Use a jar lifter to take the hot jars out of the canner. Place them on a heat proof surface to cool completely. Do not turn the bands or shake the jars, just let them set. If some jars have not sealed, (read your lid box on how to tell what a sealed lid looks like) place those jars in the refrigerator or use right away. I will let jars sit over night before removing the screw bands and cleaning the residue off the jars. Make sure to label the jars with contents and date. The year is usually enough unless you really like to keep track of canned goods. Different sources will tell you how long you should keep canned goods but most things keep quiet well for at least a year or more. Place jars in a cool, dark location to best preserve the color and quality of canned goods. Don't let the jars freeze.
This is just a general tutorial for canning. I do recommend getting a book on canning to really understand the process and learn about how to do other types of foods and canning. There is nothing quite so satisfying as going to your pantry in the dead of winter and enjoying last summer's harvest.
