Cabbage.

Our very first cabbage harvest, minus two heads I left in the garden for another day or two. Our first year growing cabbage at all, and we will have a second harvest. The first harvest went in as transplants and the second one was direct seeded afterwards. The second harvest will be a different variety too, it has more of a pointy end to it instead of being fully round. 

This is probably the largest one all cleaned up. I took several layers of leaf from the outside where it was beaten up from the elements and slightly chewed on from some insects. Perfect as a pearl on the inside. 

Cabbage, a few brussel sprouts, garlic and salt combined to make sauerkraut. This needs to  ferment for about a week, after constantly cleaning and repacking the fermented veggies, before it is ready. You weigh it down into the liquid, that combining the salt and cabbage creates, with  a clean plate or rock. I'm using a plate with a jar filled with water on top for weight. I am loosely using a recipe from Mother Earth News magazine. 

Fingers crossed! 

Putting the cheap Christmas table cloth to good use making relish. A meat grinder does an amazing job of pulverizing cucumbers, onions and peppers for relish. We made a double batch of my mother's famous relish since one batch will do us for the year, right up until it's burgers on the BBQ time again, and the extras make a fantastic gift. We give relish for birthday and Christmas gifts, for a thank you when someone does us a favor and if we really like you, you may get a jar just because.  

Before the Rain, During the Wind.

I thought I may lose these guys in the wind they had forecasted and had to snap some pictures just in case.  

Man down, we lost a bean teepee in the wind. Ripped the roots right out of the ground. 

Brussel sprouts are just the coolest to grow. You can start taking the bigger ones from the bottom and allow the upper sprouts to develop. 

All the tomatoes are ripening at once. Hopefully they don't split in the rain, although if they do it sure doesn't affect the taste of salsa. 

Marigolds blooming in the garden. 

Drooling over these shallots, they're the best! One of my favourite things we grow, I know that doesn't mean much since I say everything is my favourite, these shallots store really well. 

A bee on a sunflower. 

Nodding. 

A perfectly ripe ground cherry in front of the massive plants they grow on. Prolific hardly scratches the surface, ground cherries are a must in the garden. We pack these little guys in our lunches, take them to town for a snack, put out bowls during social events and every other occasion we can think of to eat these guys. Apparently they make a mean pie, although I have never tried it. 

Harvesting onions. 

Rutabaga.

We grew some beautiful rutabagas this year. We will leave the majority of them in the ground to be 'sweetened' by frost. I had to steal one last night to cook with a roasted chicken.  Turnips and rutabaga are confused for one another constantly. Rutabagas are actually the result of crossing a turnip with cabbage. The difference between the two is mainly in the colour of the flesh, generally turnips have white flesh where rutabaga has a more yellowish flesh. Turnips are round like a ball and rutabagas are typically more round at one end than the other and usually larger than a turnip. Turnips are sometimes grown more as a summer crop, some do grow them as a fall storage crop too, where rutabagas are planted a bit later and allowed to mature into the cool, fall months. Rutabaga flesh gets even more yellowish orange as it is cooked. 

One of my favourite ways to cook rutabagas. 

Maple Turnips or Rutabagas

4 large turnips or about 3 rutabagas                    1 tsp garlic grated or minced

3 tbsp local maple syrup                                                  2 tbsp butter or oil

1/2 tsp salt                              dash nutmeg and/or cinnamon and/or cloves

Peel and chop turnips into small pieces. Place in a saucepan and almost cover with water and boil until tender. Drain saving the water for soup stock if ambitious. Mash with the maple syrup, salt, butter and garlic and then sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon. Serve nice and warm.

Picked this beauty last night for making relish, pretty good sized onion. We had great success with our onions from seed again this year. We direct seeded the majority of them to see if transplants were really necessary. I would say that if you get them seeded in as soon as the soil is workable, that is when these ones were planted, that transplants may not be necessary. I would still start shallots, leeks and maybe some onions for an earlier crop even though I will probably direct seed all the red and yellow onions.  

Almost time to start preserving tomatoes. I will probably make salsa, marinara sauce and then see if I have enough for ketchup. In the meantime we will be doing lots of fresh eating too. 

Update!

Basil in pots to take indoors when it gets too chilly out. 

The ground cherry/tomato jungle. There's ripe ones in there somewhere, I get lost and snap branches when I try to get in around these plants. I planted them at the minimal spacing and they grew to be huge giants. I will be a bit more generous on the spacing next year.  

Brussel sprouts forming. Did you know that pound for pound brussel sprouts contain more vitamin c than an orange? 

A second crop of fall sugar snap peas. 

Gobble Gobble, turkey hens. 

Baby chicks! 30 meat birds, 5 new laying hens. 

This petunia was bashed around in the weather and still not that worse for wear. 

Another sunny day in the garden. This fall weather is so lovely, the very best for working outdoors. 

Sunny Morning.

My sunflowers finally bloomed. I planted these in the hard ground beside the fence since sunflower roots can help loosen and break up soil due to their extensive root system. 

Waiting for the other to open beside this one. 

Enjoying a lot of these little gems lately, ground cherries galore here.

The makings of a veggie stir-fry. Over-sized scallions, celery, carrots, broccoli and edamame. I steam the edamame separately, take the beans out of the shell and add them to the stir-fry at the last moment.  

I am head over heels for these pole beans. They are delicious, easy to grow, easy to pick (no bending required) and prolific. We planted the pole beans around the same time we sowed our first planting of bush beans. The bush beans are still producing a few beans just as these guys are taking over. 

Corn on the Cob.

We had a good bit of wind here the other day and it blew down a few of our corn stalks. We certainly did not mind since it meant eating a few cobs of corn early. My parents always grew a few corn stalks, just enough for a feed, and I remember the home grown corn tasting like no other corn I had ever tried. These cobs were amazing, well worth the room the stalks occupy while growing.  

Borscht.

As I was making a big old pot of borscht the other day, my boyfriend remarked that it had been awhile since we had borscht. It had probably been an exact year. I only really make borscht at this time of year when everything needed for it is available in the garden, even my dill is cooperating by having gone partly to seed. Here is the recipe I always use. I have tried several variations and like this one the best. There is a lot of grating involved, often I will double the recipe to make a bigger pot to ensure leftovers. What a great way to use up some beets, carrots and tomatoes from the garden. Borscht is one of my favourite soups. 

1 tbsp butter or oil

1 large onion or several cloves of garlic diced 

4 large beets, peeled and grated

3-4 large carrots, peeled and grated

3 celery stalks, sliced 

(I use the leaves and all if they're in good shape when using celery out of the garden)

6 cups beef broth or chicken broth

(I make my beef broth out of bonus soup bones from the man we get our beef from)

1 cup chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp dill seed

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1 jalapeño pepper (optional) 

Salt and pepper to taste

Organic sour cream or yoghurt to garnish (optional)

Fresh chives and parsley for garnish. 

Saute onions or garlic in butter until soft, about 3 minutes. Add beets, carrots and celery and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until softened, stirring frequently. 

Add stock, tomatoes, vinegar, dill seed, jalapeño and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer about 30 minutes until all vegetables are cooked and tender. 

Add cabbage and simmer about 5 more minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before serving with sour cream or yoghurt and chives/parsley as garnish.    

Veggie tray for company. Kohlrabi with orange, white and yellow carrots.