Dilly Beans

I put up a batch of Dilly Beans the other day. I have never had these before, but the recipe sounded good so thought I would give it a try. The recipe calls for either a head of fresh dill or a teaspoon of dill seed in each pint jar. I went out to the garden armed with my kitchen scissors to snip the dill heads... once out there among my jungle of 4 foot tall dill weed, I realized that I didn't know what stage of dill heads is generally used. I was pretty sure that it wasn't dry heads with the seeds... but do I want dill heads still in bloom or with green seeds? Back inside I went to call Mom. Dill heads still in bloom was her answer. This will actually give more dill flavor than dill seeds, remarkably.

After cutting about two pounds of beautiful green beans into four inch pieces, in went the dill head, a clove of garlic and some cayenne pepper into each pint jar. Finished that off with the pickling solution and a water bath for ten minutes. I was surprized in that my new "So Easy to Preserve" Book called for processing in a water bath as opposed to pressure canning. I guess there is enough acid in the amount of vinegar to make it safe.

I will wait until Mom comes for her visit to give these a try.

Update: tried the Dilly Beans. YUM! The beans were nice and crisp and the cayenne gave it a real kick! Plenty of dill flavor and the garlic a nice background.

Some Seeds Started Today

Before I get too far behind the curve, I went ahead and started some seeds in a protected seed bed to be transplanted later. This is just a few things to get me started and I will add more when the new garden bed is ready. I have a BUNCH of beans and I am thinking about a whole new place for those. Most are hybrids, but one is an heirloom kidney bean. I will not plant all of them, but hold some for next year and maybe try to save some seed then-- when I learn more about preventing cross-pollination. I especially wonder about the surrounding soybean fields...lots of questions! Also one thing I did not realize, but read recently is that most or all of the bush beans are harvested at once like determinate tomatoes!? Unlike the pole beans that I have always grown and are harvested over a longer period of time. This is actually fine that I have chosen several types of bush beans this year as most of them will be for freezing and canning. I will plant those over several weeks to try and space out my canning work and also I will go ahead and plant some of the Kentucky Wonder pole beans that I still have on hand for fresh eating. All of my tomatoes are heirlooms and indeterminate, except for one that is a hybrid.

This is what went into the seed bed today:

Cilantro
Florence Fennel
Basil; Cinnamon and Swift
Sage
Italian Parsley
Muskmelon; Hale’s Best
Hot Pepper; ‘tabasco’ and ‘Santaka’
Acorn Squash; Table Queen and Table Ace
Sweet Pepper; ‘Sweet Havana’ and a color mix of bell peppers
Zucchini; ‘Black Beauty’
Summer Squash; Yellow Crooked Neck
Okra; Clemson Spineless
Tomatillo; ‘Salsa’ and an unnamed variety (I think these are the same)
Beans; ‘Fejol Huerto’
Tomato; heirloom rainbow blend
Cucumber; ‘Sweeter Yet’ and ‘Cool Breeze’
Milk Thistle
Summer Squash; ‘Cashflow’ and Medley Blend

Gurney Seeds Arrive

The seeds came today so I can begin to work on a strategy for getting them started. The Jerusalem Artichokes are not here yet, but that is fine.

The first plants that I need to think about starting are the peppers and tomatoes. I will start these indoors about 8 weeks before transplanting. It is generally said that Memorial Day (May 25th this year) is our average last frost around here. Judging by the four or five years that we have been down here, I would have to say that I disagree. It seems to me that our last frost is much earlier than that. There have been years that in hindsight, I could have set things out sometime as early as April. I truly believe that this spring will be the same. If by chance we do have a late freeze, then I can protect them. I should order some floating row cover in advance.

If I start some tomatoes and peppers inside between the second and fourth week of February, then I think that will not be too much of a gamble. I can start more seeds spaced out over a few more weeks. By the way, one thing I have observed in the past: when planting some started tomatoes from the nursery and then also direct sowing seeds...the directly sown seeds always catch up with the nursery plants. It therefore doesn't seem to make much sense to spend the money on plants. I wonder if I should even bother starting any plants inside myself, but for the sake of experimentation, I will. Last spring was soooooooooo wet and rainy. My garden was repeatedly delayed just waiting for the rain to stop and then the soil to dry out enough to get out there and work it.

Next on the list are carrots and beets. I also have some seeds for radishes, turnips, rutabagas, spinach, lettuce, etc. These can all be directly sown in the ground "as soon as the soil can be worked, while the weather is still cool".

Now the beans. These are to be sown "in early spring after danger of frost has past". I am also directed to "plant at two week intervals for extended harvest". One thought that I have had about beans is that I should plant many hills. More than I think we could ever use in one year. I think this would be a good way of having enough properly sized beans to can a batch every few days. I think that in the past, I have let the beans mature too much for snap beans. I need to think about younger, more tender pods this year.

The winter squash, summer squash, cucumbers, and okra need to be sown "when the weather is warm and all danger of frost is past". I will also grow some gourds again this year. I am thinking about a bunch of loofa and some bushel gourds. It would be cool to grow some gigantic bushel gourds to make into....NOPE, I'm not telling. I have some cool ideas, but you'll just have to wait to see. Ha! maybe a year or longer since it takes some time for the gourds to cure!

By the way, I bought a Doyle's Thornless Blackberry at the Organic Farming conference that I went to last week. He also mistakenly sent me an additional plant along with the fish emulsion/kelp fertilizer that I ordered. I called to tell him about it and he just told me to enjoy it! We are going to have blackberries coming out of our ears in a couple of years time...each plant is supposed to yield 10 to 20 gallons of berries per year! I have already thought about some delish blackberry cobbler (made with agave nectar, and Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour, of course...will have to experiment with recipes), Jalapeno Blackberry Jam....etc., etc.

I still have not ordered other seeds that I will need. Better get on the stick with that. Time's a wastin'....