Weekend Fun

This past weekend, we made our second trip to Fair Oaks Farm. Somehow, I didn't take a picture of a single live cow... Hmm... oh well :)

Connor and Kate had lots of fun!

I also got some canning done... tomato jam and cowboy candy (candied jalapenos).

And a lovely picture of Connor and Daddy in Cedar Lake, IN

Zucchini and a Visitor

I've pulled a ton of zucchini out of the garden so far. This is from this morning.

It has not been processed yet, but the rest has been shredded. Some went into the freezer for later use, some has been canned in zucchini relish. Yum!

Yesterday, my husband noticed we had a visitor. This turkey vulture sat there for about 15 minutes, then flew away. The chickens were in hiding. At first, we thought it was one of our hawks. Then friends on Facebook nicely told me that I was wrong and it is in fact a turkey vulture. I had no idea we had them here. Jon went out to mow a little while ago and came back in to tell me that he found what it is after (it was back earlier today). There is something dead about 5 feet in front of where it is sitting here. Can't tell what it was, but it looks to be about a foot long with brown fur. Not a cat/dog, it's maybe a gopher, beaver, something like that.

More Canning!

We went to the local apple orchard with my mother-in-law and niece last weekend. Connor and Kate had fun playing in the petting zoo and riding the Moo Train. It's a tractor pulled ride made from plastic barrels painted to look like cows. Connor loves anything train/tractor and had a blast.

We picked apples, which I don't think I've ever done before. Galas, Jonathan and Golden Delicious. Honey Crisps are technically done, but we found a few good ones on the ground. I picked 11 lbs of apples... It's amazing how good an apple tastes right off the tree. I love that they tell you to try them right there in the orchard. Connor ate at least two apples.

I made 4 1/2 12oz jars of caramel apple jam, 2 12oz jars of spiced applesauce and 2 12oz jars of sweetened applesauce. I still have 8 apples left. I'm probably going to make more sweetened applesauce. We plan on going back in October for the next round of apples. They have some kinds I've never heard of that will be ready then - Shizuka, Sundance, and others.

I think I'm hooked on canning. It's so rewarding to see the jars stacking up, knowing that I'm "putting up" for later on. We are considering buying three apple trees next spring. I'd like to get a few blackberry bushes too.

I found a bread recipe and am planning on baking all of our bread now. It tastes so much better than the store bought and I don't have to worry about high fructose corn syrup etc.

Adventures in Canning

Ok, so my garden bombed this year. The tomatoes were taken over by weeds. The bell peppers have finally started to set... see?

It looks like I have an ivory and a green in this pot.

One of my good friends gifted me some beautiful cherry tomatoes:

and plum tomatoes. I used the plum tomatoes and the few from my grandma to make Bell Fiesta Salsa last night:

Now... this was my second attempt at canning. I do not have a canning pot. These two jars are pints and are now in the fridge... I realized that the pot was going to be too short too late. The water is supposed to cover the top at least an inch or so, it was maybe half an inch. I didn't want to take the risk and put them in the fridge after they cooled. The lids didn't pop, but the buttons were down. Oh well, I know it will get eaten!

I went out today to get Red Haven peaches for jam, completely forgot the lemon juice. I'll pick it up on Thursday along with a half bushel of tomatoes for bbq sauce and more salsa. In half pint jars this time...