The first tomatoes of the summer

Here they are, at last. The big one on the left is thessaloniki, the beautiful striped ones are tigerellas, the yellow ones are yellow grapes, and a san marzano paste tomato. They are so pretty! Wow. I'm absolutely beaming. It's nice to see the hard work finally pay off. Still sick as a dog, but feeling a bit better today. It is HOT today. I just went out and watered everything before it gets super hot this afternoon. It just seems cruel to be off of work and be sick. What the hell?

I did manage to make 9 jars of cherry jam last night. Now, I still have one bag of blueberries left. I'll probably freeze most of them, maybe make some pie. I have 5 jars of blueberry jam leftover from the workshop. I ended up freezing the last of the cherries. I finally feel like I'm making a dent in it. That was a hell of a lot of fruit!

Sick as a Dog

How did I manage to get so sick on the middle of this heatwave? I feel horrible. I think I must have caught this from a coworker of mine who has been sick. Boy is it miserable.

Anyway, despite the cold, the jam workshop went off without a hitch last night. It went really well, people seemed to really enjoy it. Karen made crepes and sauteed plantains in brown sugar and we had them all with vanilla yogurt. Very yummy. I felt like I at least looked like I knew what I was doing, so that was good. There's apparently already a buzz about the home made mozzarella I said I was going to make in August. I'll just have to practice the recipe a few times before then to get it right. I figured we could do two batches, and then make some ricotta with the leftover whey. Then, we could make a fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella salad.

The Garden Tour is Saturday, I am trying to get the yard spiffed up. I did some weeding and deadheading this morning, but I feel so shitty and it's so hot out I kind of crashed after a few minutes. I've got to m ow the lawn at some point too.

And, I got the water garden all fixed up, that Drylok paint did the trick perfectly.

Sour cherries = Pain in the Ass

So, Saturday I loaded up the fam to go fruit picking with me out in Western MD. First , we hit the blueberries. It was the first day of blueberry season, so it was busy, but the picking was really good. I think we got about 12 pounds. Next, Sour cherries, three big bags full, 20 something pounds. Lastly (and I was definitely pushing my luck at this point) red raspberries. I made some raspberry jam later that night, which went off without a hitch. Then, I started tackling the cherries, since they were so ripe they were crushing themselves in the bags in the fridge under their own weight and starting to rot already. So, I got out the pitter and started pitting. It was 10:30 pm. For some insane reason, I thought canning the cherries would be easier than just making jam with them. I realized that the recipe called for 12 pounds of cherries, which equals 2.5-3 cups of pitted cherries per pound. So, basically I needed 30-36 cups of pitted cherries. After I started pitting them one at a time, I realized that this was going to take awhile. 2 hours later, I had them more or less ready to go. The recipe said this would yield 9 pint of cherries, which seemed insane to me, because it seemed like I had so much more than that. I decided instead to use quart jars, which yeilded be about 6 quarts. However, now it was 1:30am and I was falling apart. I read the directions for water bath canning, rather than pressure canning by mistake, so I processed it 10 minutes toolong, and when I opened up the canner, all the liquid had been forced out of the jars. I was so pissed I just put the lid back on it and went to bed. This morning I got up, opened up the jars (which had all sealed anyway) and reheated everything. Only now, the stuff had cooked down so much that 6 quart jars only amounted to 3 quart jars refilled. Which, as I realized, was about 9 pints, so it wasn't really off at all. I processed it again, but it still leaked out a bit. Two jars were fine, the other one I'm just storing in the fridge for now. It kind of turned into bland mush. Needless to say, I will not be doing that ever again. I still have some cherries in the fridge, I think I'm just going to make plain old jam and freeze the rest. I was trying to chalk it up to a learning experience, but I was still pissed. It just seemed like a waste. I wish there was someone I could consult on this; you're not supposed to cram too much in each jar, and it 's supposed to be fully submerged in liquid. But what ends up happening is that the fruit shrinks and you end up with a jar that's 2/3 floating fruit and 1/3 syrup on the bottom. It just doesn't seem right. Anyway, it was giving me an anxiety attack because I am teaching this jam workshop Tuesday night and I was suddenly doubting my skills. I'm being too hard on myself, I know Tuesday will be fine. Que Sera Sera is my motto in life.

Incidentally, today I picked my first tomatoes from the garden! A beautiful Thessaloniki and a handful of tiny yellow grape tomatoes. I ate them with some salt and lemon juice and I can honestly say that I though they tasted great. Maybe I can learn to like them after all. Small victories!

One Marshmallow

So, day four of the no HFCS diet. (not really a "diet" per se, but you know what I mean) I had one small indulgence, and that was when Olive and I had a fire in the backyard and toasted marshmallows. I only had one. I mean really, are you going to pass that up? I don't think so. It's been challenging though. To avoid the HFCS, you basically have to make everything yourself, no prepared foods whatsoever. It's in everything. It takes some planning, too; you have to make sure you have plenty of snacks on hand because that's when it's easiest to slip up.
One of my big planters is causing me a headache. The two tomatoes in it (a San Marzano and a Striped Roman) are both showing signs of blossom end rot. None of the other plants seem to have it. I know it is an issue of calcium absorption, caused by uneven watering. This seems odd to me, since I feel like the watering has been pretty consistent. Maybe they are too wet, that could be it. I crushed some Tums in a mortar and pestle and mixed it with water and applied it to them; I have no idea if that will work, it's my own concoction, but I guess it can't hurt. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed with my garden boxes. They are just not doing as well as I had imagined they would. I suspect it is the soil, I am thinking that there must not be much microbial activity happening. More compost, I guess. I am starting to wonder if it's a drainage issue; I may have lined them a little too well. Oh well, it's always learning. That's what keeps things interesting. There's also the distinct possibility that I'm just impatient.
My Jam workshop is next Tuesday night. So far 9 people have signed up. I'm getting all nervous now. Just the same old social anxiety kicking in again. I hate being the center of attention, and yet I love to teach and help people; go figure. I think Saturday we are going to go pick sour cherries and blueberries. I'd go tomorrow since I'm off anyway, but the blueberries don't open until Saturday. I want to go early though, it's supposed to be humid and in the upper 90's. I am thinking blueberries will be the easiest thing for my workshop to make jam from, they are pretty much problem free. They should be OK for four days, hopefully.
I am trying to keep busy to keep myself from wallowing in my unemployment time. The truth be told, I actually love having the time off; I'm kind of dreading going back, but we need the money. I've managed to tackle a bunch of small projects around the house that I've been trying to get to. Tomorrow I'm touching up the front door where I sanded and primed. It's just so easy for me to fall into this "What am I doing with my LIFE?!" mode that is totally paralyzing. I have no idea. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems to me that I haven't figured this out. Buying a farm in Vermont and homesteading is my dream, but I know it's not really feasible, or realistic. I just have to focus on doing what I can with what I already have, rather than whining about something I want that I may never have. Yeah, it's best if I just keep busy.

NO HFCS!

Day three of my week without High Fructose Corn Syrup.

So far so good; I decided Sunday that I was going to go one week without corn syrup and see how it went. I'm not working this week, so it's been easier because I haven't been tempted by the lure of Sweet Tea. I did get some non-HFCS sweet tea from Trader Joe's and it was really good. I almost tripped up on Monday with a Marzetti salad dressing, but I checked in time an switched to a different kind. It's amazing how much corn syrup is out there, in places you'd never expect it.

I am trying to get into the Urban Farm Summit in DC on Friday. The website says it's sold out, I have been calling trying to see if I can still get a ticket to it. It's an all day event about urban farming and community activist groups. I am searching for some kind of change in my life; I know I do this every few months, but I want to see if I can use my passion for this issue as some kind of gateway to a different career. I thought at the very least I would enjoy learnign some new stuff and maybe get networked with some like minded people. I hope they call me back and have space available.

Amish Country

So, perhaps you are trying to convince yourself that farm life really isn't a practical option for you at this point in your life. Well then, you certainly don't want to spend a beautiful June Saturday afternoon driving around the gorgeous rolling Amish farmlands of Lancaster county. (Lancaster County, incidentally, has an unfortunate dark side. They are the number one biggest producer of puppy mill dogs.) I am really starting to think that I was Amish in a past life. We went to the Thomas the Train Day at the Strasburg railroad museum on Saturday; Olive had a great time. I think she had just as much fun on the school bus ride from the field we were parked in to the actual event than she did on the train, but it was fun nonetheless. We stopped and fed goats and chickens and some sheep. We saw lots of horses; the Amish buggies were out and lots of people were out plowing their fields with the horse driven teams. Let's just say it did nothing to quell my desire to quit my job, move to the country and homestead for the next twenty or thirty years. It was a very fun afternoon.

The garden is still coming along, I finally have some squash starting to emerge. Still not a whole lot of growth from the cucumbers, I don't know what the deal is. I bought a poblano pepper plant at the Farmers' Market this morning, and got that in along with a yellow squash for kicks. I also braved the long line this morning for fresh peas. I got 4 lbs, I will probably freeze some this afternoon while they are still fresh. They are so good, but so fleeting. Got to enjoy them now while I can!

Where I've Been

So, I've been gone for a few days. We went to Ithaca because my grandmother died last week. It was sad, but she had been doing well for a long time, and she really didn't suffer long. She just quietly stopped breathing last Saturday. It was a nice service though, and I got to see some of my cousins I hadn't seen in a long time, several of whom had never met Olive. We hung out at my parent's house, Olive kept the mood cheerful by getting naked and playing in her pool or running through the sprinkler every few hours or so.

We did get to go to the Cornell Plantations; they were just putting in a lot of the summer herbs and stuff. The Pounder Hertiage Garden (Cornell's heirloom vegetable display garden; possibly one of my most favorite places on Earth) was just getting started; they had just put in tomatoes. I forget that they are about a month behind us seasonally, and they aren't impatient freaks like me and put things out way too early.

Before we went to Ithaca we had gone Strawberry picking and I picked 19 pounds of berries. I made two batches of jam, and then realized that I hadn't even touched the other huge box of berries, which was rotting literally before my eyes. I made one more batch of jam and then cut up the rest, added some sugar and lemon juice and then froze them in ziploc bags with all the air pushed out. They are so pretty. While I was home I made a rhubarb pie from my mom's rhubarb and added one of my jars of jam to it. I made a crumb top for it adn I took a piece to my 100 year old (other) grandmother at the nursing home. She's the best cook ever. I was laughing to myself because all my cousins spoke at my grandmother's funeral about how they always remembered the food and what a great cook she was. Now, not to belittle the woman, because I love her, but I recall plenty of spray cheese and ritz crackers going on at most holiday events. She did do some things really well, Kalach (?) the hungarian poppyseed sweet bread, and cabbage rolls at Christmas, which I still love. I think most of the time the woman was so busy keeping up with 5 kids that any kind of cooking convenience food was a staple item. Maybe that's just my take on it; but Bess was a really fantastic old-school cook, so that's what I have to compare it to. She was teaching me how to make a roux at 10 years old.

My bluebery bishes actually ahev some berries now, about 12 of them, but they are fantastic. I mulched them in the fall with compost and pince needles, adn they seem to be very happy in their pots right now. Hopefully I will get more as they get older.