4th week of September 2010

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The whole family spent an evening cleaning out the melon and pumpkin patch. Pictured is the fruit of our labor; a pile of Libby pumpkins, Pennsylvania Dutch crooknecks, goose gourds, birdhouse gourds, dancing gourds (we now have picked over a bushel of these little guys!) and stray watermelons. Several of these will be storage squash for eating all winter and the gourds will be used for fall decorations before drying them for crafts. Some of the gourd vines were climbing into the apple trees and we were very amused at the sight and the shape it gave some of the gourds. Several goose gourds had long, straight necks instead of graceful curvy necks due to the tree-climbing vines.

The low tunnel greens are growing nicely thanks to some rainy spells. Here is one of my new plants for the year, ruby streaked mizuna next to the regular green mizuna. Mizuna is a mild mustard green that adds lovely texture to salads and just a touch of zip. We just got the tunnel areas weeded and looking respectable but the greenhouse is another story. Most of the weeds waiting to be tackled in the greenhouse are actually greens that I let go to seed in the spring. So I may "weed" out the baby arugula, chard and kale and bag it as gourmet salad greens with a few edible flowers added for good measure.

I have new "toys" in the kitchen. I attended a lacto-fermentation class with a friend and came home with two Pickl-It jars. These jars are designed to create an anaerobic environment (thanks to the air lock on top) for the lacto-fermentation process. Before I used the Nourishing Traditions method using salt and whey in regular jars but this method only needs salt added to the veggies since it is a nearly pure anaerobic system. Here I am pickling green beans with dill and garlic plus a jar of spicy sauerkraut seasoned with hot peppers, celery, radish and carrots. The end result should be both delicious and good for you as more nutrients are released from the veggies during the fermentation process plus it adds good bacteria to your gut. Ideally after 3-4 days of fermenting at room temperature, they should be kept in the refrigerator for another several weeks/months to develop full flavor. I'm not sure we will be able to wait that long to test these goodies.