Adventures On a Rural Homestead

More Tomato Canning

I picked 2 more 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes on Friday, and canned Saturday morning. I canned 7 quarts of whole tomatoes, 9 pints of whole tomatoes, and made more roasted tomato pasta sauce. The sauce is so easy and delicious! 

Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

12 pounds tomatoes, cored and cut into chunks

1 large green pepper

2 medium onions

6 garlic cloves

salt and black pepper (about 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)

handfuls of fresh basil and oregano

~Roast in 400 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. When cool blend in a strong blender. Makes 2-3 quarts of delicious sauce. 

I told my mom we probably had a bucket of tomatoes she could take to can. My parents came for lunch today, and then we picked tomatoes....3 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes! That makes 10 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes so far this season. I'm so thankful for the delicious bounty from our garden, and for plenty to share too! 

Preserving Tomatoes

We picked 2 more 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes Tuesday evening, and I got busy yesterday canning. I tried a new recipe for oven roasted tomato pasta sauce that is so delicious! I chopped up the veggies and roasted them Tuesday evening after dinner, so the kitchen was hot at the end of the day when we didn't need to be in there. Yesterday morning I blended the sauce and put it in quart jar with plenty of space so I can freeze them. 

Then Alex helped me chop peppers and onions for another batch of salsa.  He got his goggles for cutting the onion, it made us chuckle, but protected his eyes from the sting of the onion.  We talked about dinosaurs as we worked, and Eli stirred the salsa and listened too.  We have 82 jars of salsa now, surely that will be enough.

I canned the rest of the tomato haul as whole tomatoes in quart jars, to use in our favorite tomato soup recipe this fall and winter. 

I think we'll have more tomatoes ripening to pick tomorrow, before more rain comes this weekend. I hope to make more roasted pasta sauce and whole tomatoes for tomato soup and chili. 

Art Show

The boys were looking for something to do this morning, and Eli asked Alex to have a business with him. They decided to have an art show, and spent the day creating things to sell. Alex made figures from Sculpey, paintings and a finger-knitted snake, Eli colored cards and bookmarks. Nick hung lights and moved tables into the garage. The boys got everything arranged and priced, and invited Grammy and Grampa to come see their artwork and shop. 

It was so fun to see them spending hours making things, and their pleasure in showing others their creations. 

Eli enjoyed making bookmarks using colors that Grammy and Grampa picked, and Alex made Maple leaf rubbing bookmarks. We had a great time examining what they'd made, and talking about Grammy and Nick's time doing art shows. 

Weekend Canning

I picked 2 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes on Friday, and Nick picked a 3rd 5-gallon bucket full on Saturday. 

I asked Nick to chop the onions and peppers while I did the jar prep and tomatoes. We got to work Saturday morning, and after 5 canners and 11 hours we had 45 pints of delicious salsa. 

Eli loves to help fill the jars, the funnel makes it very kid-friendly!

Alex helped to skin and chop the last few batches of tomatoes, and entertained me with facts about dinosaurs and space while we worked. 

We have 45 pints of salsa and 9 more jars of whole tomatoes to add to our fall and winter food shelves. Delicious bounty! I hope we'll have another batch of tomatoes to process next weekend, we need maybe 20 more jars of salsa and 20 more jars of whole tomatoes. 

 

 

Friday Evening Walk

We walked our back field path Friday evening, on the search for Monarch caterpillars and eggs on the milkweed plants. Another homeschool family was going to buy Monarch caterpillars, we said we would find some to give to them instead. We had fun searching, and watching the dragonflies and other insects. 

We found about 10 Monarch eggs and 5 caterpillers, then continued our walk. Levi amused us by hunting for voles, we love to see him pounce.

It was a wonderful time to be together outside for a walk, every time we are out there I say how thankful I am for this space! 

Wednesday Walk

My mom asked me to walk yesterday afternoon. My dad stayed here with the boys, while Mom and I had a lovely almost 6 mile hilly walk in the country. We walked to the slab bridge over the beautiful creek on the gravel roads, one of my favorite walking spots. 

The gravel road was covered in clouds of lemon yellow Cloudless Sulphur butterflies, I've never seen anything like it! We walked through hundreds of butterflies dancing all around us, it was magical. It was a wonderful afternoon to take in the beauty, to chat with my Mom, and to feel the strength coming back to my legs from the great exercise! 

Tuesday~ Food Preservation

Tuesday is when the local donut truck is in our town, so our day started with a sweet treat! Then we got to work on some food preservation.

We got the dehydrator filled with our sweet Seckel Pears, and had lots to give away to friends too. Eli liked to help me by coring the pears, I sliced them and put them on the trays. 

I got our first canner load of whole tomatoes canned, and the boys helped by working together to pick tomatoes in the garden this morning while I hung laundry out to dry. We enjoy canned tomatoes in our chili in fall and winter. I plan to can 50+ pints of whole tomatoes and 100+ pints of salsa this year, so hopefully the tomatoes will keep producing well! 

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of all foods grown here on Golden Hen Farm: roasted chicken, beets, potatoes, green beans and tomatoes. It was a nice easy meal to end a day of good food preservation. Next I need to can more green beans! 

Monday Hiking

We met my parents in the woods at Paul State Forest yesterday afternoon. Grumpa's still recovering from a thigh injury, so we got him set up with his chair and books a little ways up the trail. It was so lovely to walk and chat, to admire the huge Oak trees and plants along the trail. 

The boys enjoyed using Grumpa's knives to carve a rotted log. They found insects to examine while Grammy and I chatted on the trail. It was a lovely time in the woods, and we hope to go more often! 

Pear Harvest

The boys picked our Seckel Pears this week, and they are on shelves to ripen in the basement. They picked 4 5-gallon buckets, and there are still lots of pears on the trees! I still have pear jam and pear sauce leftover from last summer, so will dry a bunch and maybe can some half pears in syrup. 

In between pouring rains we've harvested tomatoes and more zucchini from the garden. We let some zucchini get big so we could make zoodles, one of the boys favorite summer meals. They made the zoodles while I cooked beef, garlic, onions, tomatoes and basil. We've gotten about 6" of rain each of the past 2 weeks. Many of the tomatoes are split and some are just rotting from all the rain. Earlier in the season we had quite a drought, now we've had 3 weeks of steady rain! I'm thankful for the good food we have from our garden and chickens! 

Monday Canning

I got an early start to more food preservation yesterday morning. After picking apples on Sunday the boys picked 80 jalapeno peppers! I pickled several pints, then chopped and froze the rest. Then my mom came and helped me process more apples. We finished the applesauce and filled the food dehydrator with apple rings to dry. Eli helped to pour the sauce into the jars, while Alex printed more of his bird cards.

Then we started processing potatoes. Eli liked to help wash them, it was sweet to have him in the kitchen with us. 

Eli was super pleased when Grampa came to visit after lunch. Grampa watched the boys swim in the pool, then he and Eli played games. 

I'm very glad for the good food that we have on our shelves for winter. So far I've canned 200 jars of food this season!