Farmers Market Aug 28th 2010

We had a Great day at the market! I got lots of advise on what is happening in my personal garden - I have been advised to keep my tomato plants growing and they may take off again in October with more fruits. The feeling at the market is calmer, less people and less veggies - it will be interesting to see how the fall goes. Lots of melons, peppers, and eggplants everywhere! Our haul: zucchini for bread, yellow squash, black & white cookies, apple bacon dog treats, lump crab meat, local butter, homemade chips, goats milk, free range chicken, roasted red pepper hummus, McKermies blackberry jelly, mexibell peppers, tomatoes, 2 eggplants, ground pork.

Do the Can Can!

Its been a canning/freezing bonanza round these parts of Texas lately. Our freezer is filling up fast due to freezing cans of veggies that are disappearing fast from our market. With peaches & tomatoes - I blanch them for 3 minutes and then dunk into ice water -the peels come off like a breeze. I fill each can with at least and inch headroom and stick in the freezer.

The green peppers, I blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes but do not peel them. Just cut into a medium dice and fill cans with an inch for head space.

My corn and squash, I didn't blanch - just cut the corn from the cob and just sliced up the yellow squash - canned with 1/2 inch headroom.

Once I have a cool dark space, I will be moving onto a water cannery but for now while my garage is 100 degrees, freezing is the way to go! There are rumors of us even getting a deep freeze cooler too!

Farmers Market Aug 21st 2010

We had the flu bug for over a week and missed going to our market for the 1st time in many months. It was sad but now we are better and slowly but surely got the food for this week to help us heal. We still have tons of meat in the freezer since our stomach bug reduced us to crackers and Sprite the past week. This week we got: tomatoes, peaches, jalepeno's, cucumbers, bell peppers, long beans, cilantro salsa, spinach pasta, ground pork, goats milk, homemade chips..., sunflower bread, oatmeal cookies, Aunt Nita's pesto spinach lasagna, farm fresh eggs and homemade dog treats. I have no idea what to do with a long bean but couldnt resist trying something new!!

Harvard study connecting grocery store pesticides and ADHD

More evidence comes out everyday of how residue on our grocery store produce is effecting our health and those of our children. Please check out this article to see the Harvard School of Public's video that suggests a link between the two. If you have a ADHD kid, or your yourself have tendencies - try to change their diet before you medicate.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_21444.cfm

More Friends More Fun @ The Market

It was so much fun to have my friends from KC - Miss Kim and Miss Matti stay with us in Austin for the week. These two chickys are as mellow as a mushroom and open as a flower and quite possibly the two best people to share a farmers market shopping trip with! Kim runs a container gardening company so she's all kind a smart when it comes to plants and veggies and soil. She was helpful in helping me figure out why my veggies plants have stopped producing their lovely bounty. (I think Im choking the roots) Miss Matti was also a very good match to take the the market as she is a veggiehead and does not allow bacon to pass her lips.

Kim was on the search for unique items and had luck with tamales, lavender agave lemon aid and New Orleans beignets! I really enjoyed all the beautiful peppers everywhere! They look so exotic and taste so good!

This weeks grocery was : Texas peaches (canned last night), green bell peppers, goats milk, sourdough bread, free range chicken, homemade chips, farm ...eggs, macaroons, tomatoes, black bean hummus, green bean blue cheese salad, beautiful patty pan squash, fresh butter, grass fed beef, onions, this crazy colored pepper, organic tamales, and a cheese and spinich brownie for our pups!

It was so fun to bring new friends to the market this day! Thanks for sharing the journey with us! Hope my Kansas girls come back soon!

Farmers Market Veggie Fun

I cant believe its been over 2 weeks since I posted on our blog - I had a tooth pulled then a bad bout of a stomach virus and its really thrown things off! I am trying to start my winter squash and pumpkin garden but Ive been too tired and sick to do it! I started my seedlings 3 weekends ago and they are approx. 2 inches tall - the pumpkins have yet to seed - I think they take a bit longer to germinate. The goal is to get to it this weekend - with 102 degree heat - I hope I can pull it off!

Here are some quick photos Ive taken while cooking with our local farmers market veggies! They are so beautiful - the food is art!! Ive got a whole group of friends who post their cooking photos on Facebook and its one of my favorite things! As I attempt to become a chef and a farmer/homesteader - Im always a photographer at heart! Enjoy!

Farmers Market July 30 2010

This week at the farmers market - we were joined by two good friends! Mr John who has come to the market with us once before and Mr Jimmy - it was his first time but Jimmy is a clean livin fella who eats lots of good veggies so he was v. excited! We got a great array of food for this week!

Sweet Corn, Coconut Macaroons, Homemade Chips, Yellow Squash, Cheese and Tomato Focassia Bread, Turkey Enchilada Casserole, Creamy Serrano Salsa, Jalapeno Cheese Spread, Zucchini, Green Bell Peppers, 3 Organic Cupcakes, Tomatoes, Pork Tamales, Gulf Red Snapper, Grass Fed Beef and local Ground pork.

It was great to share the fun with our friends and of course, we are looking to make up fun recipes this week with all our treasures!

Callahans General Store

I love this store so much! It has everything for your garden and garden animals you could ever need! We stopped by here after the farmers market today so that I could buy some seeds for my fall garden - mostly pumpkins and squashes. If you are ever in the Austin area - you should totally go here! My favorites are the animals there - so adorable and make me want to try homesteading. Maybe someday! Enjoy the photos from today's adventure!

http://www.callahansgeneralstore.com/

Making Dill Pickles from FM cucumbers

Hi All! Ive been very excited to try pickling this season - yet another thing I hadn't tried before. My biggest concern was sealing the lids so I decided for my first try, I would do refrigerator pickles. They brine in your fridge for 2 weeks rather than the shelf and they still last 6 months.
We still have about 9 more days till we can try ours but expecting good things. Here is the recipe I used :

REFRIGERATOR DILL PICKLES

enough fresh cucumbers to fill 2 1 gallon containers. 3 quarts water 1 pint vinegar 1/2 cup canning or kosher salt 1 cup sugar Wash and scrub cucumbers, cut lengthwise into spears. Put cucumbers in a large crockery or non-metallic container. Boil and pour remaining ingredients over pickles. Add 1 sliced onion and fresh dill. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Place into smaller containers. Refrigerate. These will keep in refrigerator from Summer until Christmas (if they last that long). Makes approximately 2 gallons.

I only used about 10 cucumbers to start with but made the above brine at the same amount. I also added 4 cloves of garlic and 4 tbsp of pickling spice.


I hope you will try this simple recipe with your Farmers Market of garden cucumbers. I am very jealous of those that have gardens FULL of cucumbers - I will try to grow them next season for sure! Enjoy the pics and please leave comments below!