Gardening does pay off... even if there are problems.

This year we have a terrible raccoon invasion.  They ate ALL the sweet corn before it was even getting close to being ripe.  And now they are eating and knocking down tomatoes that are green.  Ugh!  Next year we will have an electric fence to keep them out.

Nevertheless, in spite of the raccoons and weeds, there is lots of food out there.  I went out and picked things today and cut up 7 different vegetables and one herb to make a stir-fry for supper. It was very good, by the way, served over rice with some soy sauce.  Here is what I put in the stir fry. The big white blob is some frozen onions.  My garden onions were starting to rot in the ground, so I pulled them all and sliced them and froze them in little packages.  Clockwise from the onions are sugar snap peas, sweet banana peppers, tomato, parsley, leek, and okra. I also added some fresh garlic from the garden. I feel, well, privileged. There are so many of our brothers and sisters in the world that have so little to eat. 

Tiny Tip - about onions

Today I am making cucumber relish to can.  It calls for cucumbers, sweet peppers and onions - all ground up.  You know how it is... if you deal with a lot of onions, pretty soon your eyes will be burning and tears will be coming out enthusiastically... very uncomfortable!

I am here to tell you I have discovered a solution!  At least it works for me. I used a hand powered food grinder to prepare the vegetables.  While I ground the onions, I kept munching on cucumbers.  For some reason, then the onions did not bother my eyes.  Voila!  I hope it helps you too!

Repost - How to preserve fresh basil!

I grow quite a lot of basil in my vegetable garden.  I grow it between the tomato plants.  I love this easy method of preserving it and also, I like to make pesto and freeze it.

How to Preserve fresh Basil

I have never tried companion planting before. I grew my own Genovese basil transplants this year and so had quite a few and decided to plant them next to tomato plants, as I had heard that is a good combination. It must be. I've never had such glorious basil before! The basil is on the left next to the tomato plant.



I went out this afternoon and cut a basketful of the fresh basil.



Then I removed the leaves from the stems, washed them well and gave them a few spins in the salad spinner.



Next I chopped them in the food processor and put them into a quart jar.



Finally, I covered them with raw apple cider vinegar and put a lid on the jar.



If my house was cooler, I'd just let it sit in a cupboard, but the house gets pretty hot this time of year, so I will store it in the refrigerator. When I want basil for cooking (pesto, spaghetti sauce, pizza, soup, roast, chicken.. etc.) I can just retrieve what I need and it will be like having fresh basil all year!