Corn Harvest

We have some very generous neighbors out here on the farm.  Just the other day the neighbors called to let us know that the sweet corn is in!  They pretty much let us pick what we want, although we let them know what we wanted before picking just to be sure.  I don't have an exact count but I'm pretty sure it was over 150 ears of corn.  We took the kids and were in and out of the field and back home within 45 minutes - we did good.


It's very easy to get lost in the corn.

Good stuff!

We put quite a bit of corn in the back of the van.

We shucked the ears and then had to wipe them down to get some of the silk off because apparently you can "strangle" on that stuff, according to my dear mother-in-law. 

Unclean!  Had to get some of that silk off those ears.

Then we cooked them for approximately 3 minutes, I didn't time it but that's what I aimed for.  I have trouble remembering numbers and we had 2 pots going - it was cooked for a short period of time, that's all I know.

Yummy!

Then the fun begins!  This is my mother-in-law cutting corn off the cobs and bagging it to put in the freezer.  When you cut corn off the cob it flies everywhere!  I cleared off my counters so it would be an easy clean-up but we still had to scrub the counters quite a bit.  Corn has a lot of sugar and when it dries, it's like glue. 

Mama-in-law cutting corn.

When all was said and done, we ended up with 28 quart bags of corn.  Didn't seem like enough to me after all that work.  It didn't nearly fill the back of the van as it did before.  I was amazed how much we reduced the volume, how much we put in the compost pile and how much is in the bags.  It's a lot of work but I know we'll appreciate it come January when we have "fresh" frozen corn in the freezer.

Did Someone Say Zucchini Relish?!?!

It's that time of year again when everyone has an abundance of zucchini in their garden.  About 10 or more years ago, my mother-in-law and I made our first batch of zucchini relish.  We have a recipe passed on to us by my Aunti Ann in-law.  This stuff has a strange cult following, the people who love it, really, really love it.  Two years ago I had a friend actually buy me zucchini to make some relish because she had to have her fix.  I have to admit, it's pretty good stuff.  We eat it on just about everything - ham, chicken, turkey, burgers, salmon - it's all good.

So, to start out, you need to get yourself a 50 year old food processor.  Yup!  Everytime I make relish I have to use this food processor, my new, fancy food processor just doesn't get it done like this one.

My Mother-In-Law's Food Processor
(She received it as a wedding gift)

Here is the ingredient list. I always go over and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but this is a good place to start.

10 C. Shredded Zucchini
4 C. Thin Sliced Onions
1 Lg. Green Pepper Chopped
3 T. Salt

John shredding the zucchini

Put all this stuff in a large bowl, cover with water and let it sit overnight.




That food processor makes the best shreds!




Green Pepper!



Onion!



Zucchini mixture covered with water.

2.5 C. Cider Vinegar
5 C. Sugar
1 T. Black Pepper (you can adjust to your taste)
1 t. Tumeric
1 T. Dry Mustard
2 t. Celery Seed

The next day, drain  your zucchini and  put it in a large pot with the above ingredients.  Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 30 minutes. 

Fill sterile jars and seal.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy - right?!?! 



Voila!  Zucchini Relish!



New Friends In The Garden

I haven't blogged lately because the only thing I have to talk about are bugs and that gets a bit boring after a while.  After picking a few hundred bean beatle larvae off my beans the other day, I went to visit my sister-in-law.  She told me she had some old chickens she wanted to get rid of before her new chickens were delivered.  After picking all those bugs off my beans I decided a couple of chickens might be the answer I'm looking for.  I asked her if I could take a couple of the girls home and put them in the garden.  I don't care if they ever lay a single egg, as long as they eat the bugs.  Since my garden is fenced, I figured the girls would be safe from our beastly dogs and we have an extra dog crate that we put out there for housing.


My brother-in-law dropped them off Saturday morning and we put them in the garden.  We gave them some water and let them out to get aquainted with the bugs.  So far the dogs seem interested but don't act like they want to jump the fence to kill them.  I'm going to call them Thelma and Louise. 


They especially seem to like the squash plants.  The huge squash plants provide plenty of shade and hiding places for them - and probably a snack or two (yes, I've seen the squash bugs too).

Thelma

Louise




Louise trying to hide in the squash.

Things I've learned about chickens after 3 days:

  1.  Chickens do not eat Mexican Bean Beetle larvae.
  2.  Chickens stink!
  3.  Chickens are, for lack of a better word, chickens.

Thelma is the adventurous, yet predictable, one.  Every evening at the same time she jumps the fence and every evening at the same time we catch her.  Last night she was perched on the handle of the tiller.  Louise is a chicken chicken.  She hides all the time - under the squash plants and in my potato bins.  At least she's easy to find. 

So, that's the story of my new garden friends.  If they don't get to eating some bugs soon, they will no longer be my friends, they will be soup!