Of Cabbages and Kings

Or at least King-sized projects.

We had success growing cabbage last year but we don't yet have the proper storage to try and keep it whole. We dried some - I highly recommend it. I shredded it the way I would use it in meals later, blanched it and then put it in the Excalibur. When I rehydrate it there is still some crunch and all the flavor and expected aroma. It's been a very positive experience.

Still, we wanted to try something more with it. That's when I opened up my newest Backwoods Home magazine (last summer) and found Jackie Clay-Atkinson's article that included Amish Canned Coleslaw. That sounded like something we could really get behind.

So we chopped, we shredded, we prepped. And then we realized that we didn't own a single bowl big enough for our ambition. What to do?! We needed something large. We needed something that would hold liquid. We needed something clean enough to eat out of. We needed...

A large plastic storage tote. (Don't get into the whole BPA thing with me, please. It was not in this long and it worked very well for our needs.)

And we canned up the most delicious coleslaw! It really delivered on the promise that it would taste great. How nice to pop open a crispy, delicious cabbage side whenever we please.

Kent is very good at canning. I'd never make it through the season without all his help.

 

Here's a link to the recipe online. You'll need to read down the page, past the sqiurrel relocation, past the daffodil bulbs and the vegetable broth:

 

Amish Canned Coleslaw

 

And here is the text lifted from that link:

 

I love the Amish canned coleslaw, BUT it is NOT an approved recipe. (It is basically pickled sweet cabbage, so I’m not too worried. I can’t tell you to try it, only that generations of Amish have used it and so have I for a few years now.) Here’s the recipe:

1½ cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. celery seed
½ tsp. mustard seed
2 tsp. salt
1 large head cabbage
1 cup diced celery
½ cup diced onions
2 cups shredded carrots

Mix vinegar, sugar, and seasonings. Mix with vegetables. Stir very well. Pack into sterile jars and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. (If you live at an altitude above 1,000 feet, consult your canning book for directions on increasing your processing time to suit your altitude.) — Jackie

What we did last summer

The garden flourished - it was such a joy to tend and reap the bounty. The garden is large (you can see Kent in the background to the right of Steph - he's in the potato rows) so the three of us had plenty to keep us busy.

 

 
The bean teepees were a huge success. I found that picking the beans was enjoyable, they were high producers, and with mulch around the bases there was no weeding to speak of. We will be using these again.

 
Our basil did incredibly well and I found a spinach I will be planting again and again. Bloomsdale is a popular spinach but I find I like the less common New Zealand variety. I can pick the leaves from the stems and it continues to grow unhindered, the spinach itself is hardy and not easily bruised yet it has a nice flavor and dries really well.

 
The potatoes looked very healthy and yet we didn't get a huge yield from them. Maybe a few bushel at best. We need to reassess and figure out how to do better this year.

 
I also found a technique we will use each year for our cabbage (and broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc.) Cabbage loopers are a problem but it occurred to me that if the moths couldn't lay their eggs, then I wouldn't have to spend my time picking the worms back off. I purchased basic tulle from the fabric store, sewed three widths of it together and covered the cabbage rows. We weighted the edges with stones and the cabbage got sun and rain but no moths.

 
It made for beautiful cabbage free from worm damage!

 
And I was excited that our dill came in this year - now we could use our own hot peppers, cucumbers and dill for our Kosher-style pickles! That steer in the background is Grady at 1 year old. He now looks me nearly in the eye and his horns are about 8 inches long.

 
Stephanie purchased two dairy goat kids. Fern and Adelle. They were so cute! I have long thought I'd like dairy goats and they have done nothing but convince me - even though they are smart enough and curious enough to get themselves in trouble from time to time. Adelle, unfortunately, died unexpectedly but Steph got Fern another friend, Nougat (or NewGoat).

 
There was no shortage of cucumbers this past year. We canned kosher-style spears, dill slices, bread and butter, and hot and sweet pickles. And that's not counting eating fresh cucumbers and Grandma's refrigerator pickles.

 

 
Our mower stopped working but we had backup. One day I looked out the kitchen window and there were two cows grazing...

 
And out the other window I saw two goats. Wow, they were happy and we were happy. A great temporary solution.

 
And lots of tomatoes. Every day resulted in something to can, dry or otherwise preserve.

I find I'm getting so excited to start our 2013 garden - I can feel the sun on my back, the hot dirt under my bare feet, and hear the buzz of the bees!

Gardening is Good for the Soul

There is bound to be a lot of entries about gardening on the blog because it's that time of year and gardening is a big deal with us. Looking at then and now pictures or seeing lush green crops in photos is nice but does not convey the full effect of the gardening process.

The hours spent hand howing lime into the soil. Baking in the sun. Drinking greedily from the hose. On your hands and knees digging, planting, weeding, thinning. The well-developed appreciation for the fact that God and not you make these things grow and prosper. Or not. The warmth of the sun and rain in its time is less about what to wear today and more like breathing. It becomes a part of your daily existence. It's a very connected feeling. Connected to the land, the crops, the weather and especially to our dependence on God for all things.

 The wonder at planting something you've never grown before and watching it come up unlike anything you expected. This is buckwheat. Not at all what I thought it might look like.

 The tomato plants that you stripped down to two leaves and and gently buried you realize have now become strong, lovely plants with tomatoes already setting on them.

 Bean teepees. Constructed with hope and expectation soon to be vining

With plants just emerged from the dry seed you placed in the ground

Tiny plants with the promise of large, crisp heads of cabbage,

hard as it is to believe when you put their fragile roots in the soil.

Now straining against their protective covers and looking strong and healthy.

Trust. Hope. Wonder. Gratitude. And so many lessons to be drawn about life.  So much potential in a small dry seed. How stripping branches and burying a plant may seem harsh but actually causes it to be stronger and more fruitful. The net of protection that keeps away the enemies that would devour. The strong framework that gives support to the plant that would otherwise fall on its own.

Life itself began in a garden. Tending the garden was the job God gave to man. Work with God's design and you will be rewarded and amazed. Work against His design and sooner or later you will be humbled. It is hard to feel far from God when one is tending the garden.

A couple weeks ago I realized I was still mourning the loss of fruit on our trees this year. Not a single fruit tree on our property will be producing this year due to a cold snowy spell that happened just as everything began to blossom. Did I believe I was owed a fruit harvest? Last year we reaped that which we did not sow. And while we appreciated it and there are still apples and peaches preserved and dried. Although, or perhaps because, we rely greatly on the produce of our land to supply us for the whole year, it seemed that I felt I was entitled to MY fruit. I asked God to forgive me and determined to thank God, even though "the tree does not blossom".

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall be] no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17, 18

And now I wonder to myself, Is this how God gives rest even to the trees and vines? Could we see a larger harvest someday in the future because of the loss of harvest now? I can't know but I do know He has a plan and His way is always good. Am I willing to trust His provision even though my own plan has had a wrench thrown into it? Yes. I will.