It’s August already! Can you believe it? In a way the whole month of July seemed liked
August because of the hot, hot temperatures, but I am certainly not ready for
the summer to be half over.
The heat has been brutal, but
the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, summer squash and yes, the weeds love
it. Barb is coming to help me on
Wednesday and Thursday and sometimes on Monday to help harvest and
weed. I have had to spend allot more
time just keeping things watered. Last
year the gardens were watered every other day or so except when it was really hot,
but right now I am watering every day and sometimes I even hand water certain
tender crops in the evenings when it starts to cool down.
I direct seeded new crops
this week of spinach and lettuce and covered them with a thick layer of grass
clippings and shade cloth in the hopes that it will keep the soil cool and
wet. These crops don’t like to germinate
in temperatures over 75! I have had luck
with the last two lettuce plantings, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I also planted new crops of radish, chard and
beets. I want to make sure that there is
a bountiful fall harvest.
I am more than a little
concerned about the state of our food system.
There is drought in all of our major food producing states and that
means that when you go to the grocery store you will be paying more and there
may not be the selection that you have become accustomed to. You have the opportunity now, this summer, to
make decisions that will affect your food budget and the quality of the food
that you purchase. The food that you receive in your weekly CSA
share and additional purchases from local producers at the Farmers Market can
be preserved in any number of ways, ensuring that you have high quality food
stored for the winter and into next spring. This way of sustainable living has
been lost to many of us, but I remember spending many hours as a young child in
the kitchen with my Mom and Grandma putting up pickles, tomatoes, beans, beets,
jams, jellies and syrups. We picked chokecherries
and scavenged wild mushrooms and asparagus in the wild. We traveled to Flathead Lake
to harvest cherries, and we had a favorite apple tree that was on a farm that
allowed us to come and pick so we could make applesauce. This was such a
wonderful, empowering way to live! I
think its way past time to bring back this way of living. It is empowering to know that you are
prepared for whatever comes down the pike.
I know that many of you have
never preserved food. Some of you are
just now learning how to cook using fresh herbs and veggies from the garden and
some of you have stated that you really don’t have the time to cook. However, food, high quality food, is vital
for our health and quality of life. Can you really afford to rely on our
industrialized food system? I am just putting this out
there for you to think about. Hmmm.
If, however, you would like
to learn how to preserve some of your local summer food, I would be honored to
teach some classes. I was in the
restaurant business for over 20 years (in another life, ;-) so have years of
experience in the kitchen. Cooking has always been
one of my favorite things to do, besides gardening. Canning, dehydrating, picking, freezing,
making herbal vinegars and oils, are some of the topics we could cover. Let me know if you are interested, and we can
schedule some classes here in my shop.
I mentioned a few weeks back
that raw milk was available from Ed Miller.
There are two slots still open.
Pick up is at Spring Blossoms Quilt Shop in the Heights and a gallon
sells for $4. He also has eggs for $3
per dozen. This week he was selling 2
dozen for $3 as his hens are going crazy!
Such a deal! Another great way to
support local producers. If you would
like to find out more, Ed’s phone # is 670-9414.
Your garden share this week
will include leaf lettuce, golden and ruby Swiss chard, haricot vert green beans,
yellow and green zucchini, yellow and green patty pan summer squash, suyo long
and slicing cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, rhubarb, assorted herbs. Please don’t waste those beautiful herbs! Here’s a tip for you. If you are not using
them fresh, place them in a bottle of white wine vinegar and infuse for several
weeks. Strain and use in salad
dressings, to season mayonnaise, or to deglaze the pan after sautéing chicken
or fish. Yum!
Pick up is from 2-6 PM! Please remember to bring your harvest basket, box or shopping bags to carry your goodies home.
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