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Food For Life Garden Update!

Inspiration “It was August and the fields were high with corn. In the orchard the last of the peaches clung to their branches and the apples were showing their first pinkish blush. The vegetable garden overflowed with produce: peppers, green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash.” — Melanie Gideon, Valley of the Moon

The summer is in full swing here and the garden is busy producing all sorts of crops. There are lots of beans and cucumbers, tomatoes are ripe, peppers are turning red, cantaloupes are slipping off the vines and are ready to eat and lots of delicious, juicy watermelons, cracking open when I cut into them. Perfection! The night is full of buzzing from crickets and there are all sorts of flying insects during the day. June bugs and japanese beetles seem to be winding down after swarming this area for about 6 weeks. Bugs abound and some I had never seen before

The garden produces delicious fresh food every day to take advantage of for fresh eating and to preserve.

My days are busy with harvesting and preserving, and cooking up summer vegetables and fruits. I've got several new recipes posted for using your zucchini and and other garden veggies in a delicious zucchini ikra vegetable spread and fermented coleslaw with root vegetables. I posted instructions for making homemade no-fail mayonnaise for summer salads, and super delicious blackberry cheesecake streusel bars. Read on to find details below.

Preserving Your Harvest

Here are a few tips for preserving your harvest:

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Freezing peppers is super quick and easy to do. No need to prep or blanch anything. You can actually throw them in a bag whole and toss them in the freezer and when you need them, take them out, chop them while frozen, and toss them into your dish. I like to chop them before freezing to save space. But still, I can process a big pile of peppers without much effort and mess in a short time. Just chop, bag, and freeze.

You can also ferment your peppers and I have a few quick and easy recipes for hot peppers. Sliced fermented jalapenos will keep in your refrigerator or root cellar for a year or more. Or try making a hot chili paste with green or red peppers.

There are so many great reasons to grow and preserve peppers and to use them regularly in your meals. Check out my article about the benefits of peppers, hot and sweet, to learn more.

Tomatoes are easy to freeze too. You can chop them into small pieces, bag them and freeze them and then just toss them into your pot of soup when you want to cook with them.

When I want to make tomato sauce, but I only get a few tomatoes each day, I core them, cut out the bad spots, cut the tomatoes into rough sized chunks, and toss them in bags to freeze. When I have enough to make sauce, I just dump the tomatoes into a big pot, still frozen, and turn on the heat to start defrosting and cooking them down. Then I put them through the mill and can them.

And to preserve fresh tomatoes, try fermenting them. I love fermented cherry tomatoes, they are delicious tangy flavor bursts and a perfect way to preserve your extra cherry tomatoes when you can't keep up eating them off the vine. This same method works for the regular sized whole tomatoes too. Or make a delicious fresh fermented tomato salsa.

Cucumbers: It's hard to beat fresh cucumbers for hydration and a refreshing, crunchy snack in the summer or to eat in a fresh cucumber salad. But if you have extra cucumbers, try to make some fermented dill pickles. So delicious and so good for your gut, and they stay preserved for at least a year in your fridge or cellar!

Garlic: Make the ultimate convenience garlic. Prep once and be done for the year. Keep a jar of convenient fermented garlic paste in your refrigerator, ready to use any time. Much better than the garlic paste from the store and much healthier. And if you can make it last that long, it will be even better in three years.

Prepare for cold and flu season by fermenting some of your garlic with honey. Find out the benefits and get the recipe for fermented garlic honey here.

Blueberries: Blueberries are mostly done by now, but some varieties will produce for another month. If you're lucky to still have blueberries, one way to preserve them that's quick and easy, is to spread them out on a baking sheet and placing it in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer container and stick it back in the freezer. Also consider making some super-tasty lemon blueberry cheesecake bars.

Blackberries: Blackberry season is already coming to an end here in the South, but you Northerner's must still be in the thick of it. Blackberries can be frozen just like blueberries and used any time like fresh in most recipes. Have you tried my blackberry cobbler? It's a delicious dish that highlights these awesome berries and it can be made with frozen berries too. And don't miss my new blackberry cheesecake recipe, it's awesome!

Eggs: If you have chickens, you might like to preserve your fresh eggs for winter when the chickens take a break. If you want to learn how to preserve farm-fresh, unwashed eggs in the shell, check out my tutorial on waterglassing eggs!

Herbs: Don't forget to dry some herbs for winter teas, such as lemon balm, chamomile, peppermint or other mints, and many other herbs. And dry some of your sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary and others for cooking during winter. Preserve basil, parsley and other pot herbs by freezing or salting them.

Onions: Some of my onions are ready for harvesting. When the tops fall over and the leaves dry up right where they come out from the bulb, you can pull them up and leave them to dry in the sun for a day, then place them on racks to cure for a few weeks. Find out more about growing and harvesting onions.

If your onions aren't storage onions, or are compromised, you can just dice them, bag them and freeze them. No blanching neccessary. You can also dry them on racks or ferment the onions for easy year round use.

What you can still plant in August: If you're going to plant a fall garden, get your seeds now. Kale, lettuce, chard, and collards can be planted by direct seeding, as well as carrots and beets. Be sure to water them regularly so these seeds have a chance to germinate in the hot and dry weather.

Reminder: Consider pre-ordering your Garlic now for the best selection: Garlic is planted in the fall. Read more about growing garlic and be prepared to plant your own this fall. If you'll be planting from your homegrown garlic, after curing your garlic bulbs, set aside the largest ones for replanting and eat the smaller ones.

Here are my favorite stores that sell seed garlic. They carry beautiful big ones, which is so important. Keene Garlic and Baker Creek.

And, just as a reminder, and if you got my previous newsletters, you already know this, but...

Don't forget to make compost to nourish your soil and plants throughout the year! You can make great compost in just 3 weeks, and use it for side- and top-dressing your planted garden thoughout the season. And if making a huge compost pile isn't your thing, there are lots of other ways to compost!

By the way, if you have massive amounts of comfrey, it will greatly enrich your compost if you toss some in there. I'm going to give mine another haircut and make some nutrient rich compost with it.

​GET YOUR SEEDS HERE! True Leaf Market has many vegetable varieties, as well as a big selection on herbs! Plus, they offer Free Shipping over $75.-. So get your seeds before they sell out or it's too late to plant!

​Herb Seed Collection! Here is a great deal I found for a herb seed starter pack from Amazon. A collection of 36 herbs for just over a dollar a packet. I got one for myself and had good success with germination. This contains most of the seeds to grow the herbs I mention in my medicinal herb garden post.

Your source for information about gardening, planting a food forest, permaculture, farming with animals, growing meat, and milking goats. Learn about making cheese and sourdough bread, preserving your harvest, traditional homestead recipes, off-grid living and more! Visit foodforlifegarden.com​

New On The Blog

Blackberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars With Honey

Here is a new blackberry recipe that I spent some time developing and my latest version turned out fantastic. This awesome blackberry cheesecake is a German style cheesecake, made with quark or cottage cheese. A perfect way to enjoy your berry harvest!

And by choosing healthy ingredients, this cheesecake can be quite good for you. I used fresh milled ancient grains for the crust and crumbles, but you can use whole wheat flour or all-purpose. It's adaptable. I wrote this cheesecake recipe for use with quark cheese originally, but you can also make it with ricotta or cottage cheese and you'll find all that information in my article on how to make these incredibly delicious blackberry cheesecake streusel bars.

Try This Awesome Blackberry Cheesecake With Streusel

Zucchini Ikra, A Fabulous Vegetable Spread, Salad, And Dip

​Zucchini Ikra is an incredibly tasty, Eastern European vegetable spread that you didn’t know you needed in your life! It’s wholesome, healthy, and tastes as delicious as it smells. A medley of fresh garden vegetables that are lightly seasoned and simmered in olive oil turn into a spread, relish, sauce, or salad that’s super flavorful and versatile.

This is also really delicious as a dip and suitable if you want to serve vegetarian or vegan foods. There are many versions of this dish, but I’ll offer my favorite zucchini version here. Get hooked on healthy, homemade food from scratch! Let’s get cooking, shall we?

Take Me To Zucchini Ikra Vegetable Spread

The ultimate Fermented Coleslaw With Root Vegetables

This Fermented Coleslaw is super tasty and extra nutritious with added root vegetables. Preserve your garden goodness with increased health benefits!

If you love sauerkraut, give this dramatically pigmented kraut with root vegetables a try. I've given this delicious probiotic coleslaw version the name garden-slaw.

This slaw with root vegetables is wonderfully tangy and it’s loaded with prebiotics, probiotics, dietary fiber and extra nutrients, and fermenting makes your slaw easier to digest and helps your body absorb more of the nutrients. A big win for fermenting coleslaw! It’s worth rooting for 🤣! So let’s start fermenting coleslaw, yes?!

How To Make Fermented Coleslaw With Root Vegetables

The Best No-Fail Homemade Mayonnaise With Fermented Option

​Homemade mayonnaise is so quick and easy to make. It tastes fresh, delicious, and it’s healthy. This recipe uses all natural ingredients and no weird preservatives. And you’ll never miss the stuff from the grocery store!

In fact you may never buy it again, because if you ferment your mayo, it can last for a month or more in your refrigerator and will be there when you need it. Make this delicious mayonnaise with healthy oil to use on your next sandwich or to make ranch dressing, potato salad, deviled eggs, and anything you use store-bought mayo for. And you’ll know that this is good for you and delicious. Hey, let’s make some Mayonnaise!

Let's Make Awesome Mayonnaise From Scratch!

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