Corn & Taters

We picked all of our corn & potatoes yesterday.
Wound up with 13 gallon bags full of corn on the cob. (cut small)
We also got approximately 150lbs. new red potatoes & 60lbs. white potatoes.
I thought I got idaho or brown skinned white potatoes but they are a golden color like a butter potato.
We should have had some more corn for us but we think we left it on the stalk a little too long. --That's ok though. The chickens & pigs will enjoy it.
I boiled up some small potatoes with green beans to go with our steaks for dinner yesterday and they were declicious!
I am so thankful to the Lord for providing us with a good harvest.

Country style green beans & potatoes

fresh green beans-washed & snapped
fresh little potatoes-washed well skins on or off doesn't matter
a couple tablespoons good lard OR a couple pieces of bacon OR a ham slice
salt & pepper
a little butter

Put lard, bacon, or ham (or all 3 if you're really into the meat) lol.
Melt or cook the meat. Then add the beans & taters. Fill up to just cover the veggies with water. Add a little salt & pepper. Stir & bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are done. Drain off most of the water & put in a little butter. Stir and serve.

*You can also make this with some extra ham & don't drain the water. It makes a good filling soup in the winter. You can also cook this in the crockpot.

Garden pick today

Home canned tomatoes

Friday evening I discovered that I'd used my last jar of home canned spaghetti sauce. Not too bad as I purposely did not try to conserve it to see how long it would last. I still have other tomato products on the shelves though. So to make the spaghetti sauce I just used a quart of tomato sauce, some of my homemade tomato paste, & the usual seasonings. Turned out great! I've still got about 8 quarts of regular tomato sauce & 5 pints.
Our garden is looking really good so far. We planted: bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, yellow sweet corn, green beans, yellow squash, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, potatoes, & of course, lots of tomatoes!
Best wishes to any other fellow gardeners out there!

Garden

Boy, it's been really hot & dry around here. It's all just about done...it's been a great season with many, many jars on the shelves. Another summer garden come & almost gone.

So, plan for next year???

~Will plant half the tomato plants as we were WAY over on them.

~Plant more onions (and at the right time)

~Plant more corn

~Plant more potatoes & try the idaho variety (we've always just done new red potatoes)

~I found green beans quite a hassle. So to be honest I'll check prices at the stores & stands and may just buy those.

My pumpkins are starting to grow!

Green from the Garden

Now all nicely sliced up & put into gallon size freezer bags. I did keep out a couple for stuffed peppers that will be on the menu for tonight!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 bell peppers (or 1 per person depending on size)

1/2 cup cooked rice

1/2 lb ground meat (beef, venison, pork)

1 can tomato soup

garlic powder

onion powder

salt & pepper

In a bowl combine rice, meat, & spices. Mix well -I usually do this with my hands. Next stuff this meat mixture into the peppers. Lay them meat side up in a lightly greased casserole dish. Then pour tomato soup on top of the peppers. Put about 1/3 cup of water in the dish & cover with foil. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

We like this served with mashed potatoes & a tossed salad.

Planting

We're going to plant our pumpkin seeds today. I usually get a small pack of seeds every year and never get around to planting them :( So, this year will be different. I have some jack-o-lantern ones and some mini seeds. I am hoping to throw a fall party this year for some of our friends where we can provide the pumpkins for decorating. I also LOVE fall decorating. I think it's mostly because I love fall weather. I detest these 100* humid temps we have here this time of year and can't wait for it to finally get cooler. Less mosquitos, sitting around an outdoor fire, etc. Even the farm chores become more fun when it's not so darn hot!

4th of July Harvest

Today will be spent dealing with this harvest!