Preserving herbs

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

The frost hit my neck of the woods a bit later this fall than it normally does, giving me a few more weeks than usual to enjoy my roses roses, mums and herbs. The rest of my garden was gone in October. When I figured the herbs were at the end of their peak, I knew it was time to harvest them all or lose them to the frost.

I made a jar of Italian Seasoning by combining dried basil, thyme, marjoram, parsley and oregano from my garden. It was so easy it was practically cheating for me to choose my herbs: I had bought a pot of assorted Italian Herbs in the spring. A few weeks ago, I harvested everything green on it and it was in a jar in my pantry two hours later.

Home-dried Italian Seasoning
A combination of some or all of the following herbs.
Basil
Thyme
Marjoram
Parsley
Oregano
Rosemary
Sage

Wash the herbs and place in dehydrator. Dehydrate at 105 degrees until leaves are crispy (about an hour or two).

Transfer the dried herbs to a plastic bag, seal it, then squeeze the bag to crush the herbs. Snip a small hole in one corner of the bag and funnel the herbs into a clean glass jar. You can use the jars with the holes in the top for sprinkling directly onto food, but to really bring out the flavours of the herbs, crush them with your finger tips right into your food as you cook them to release the aroma and oils. You can also dry herbs by air-drying (hang a bunch of herbs upside down in warm, dry room).

You can also freeze herbs by adding chopped herbs to water or oil in ice cube trays. Then just pop out a frozen herb cube to add to cooking like soups, stews and sauces.These rosemary cubes will be great later in mashed potatoes or pasta sauce.

Other tips for preserving herbs: don’t wait until herbs are past their freshness to dry them, preserve them at their peak for maximum flavour and nutrition. Don’t overheat them when drying (air drying is probably better than dehydrator drying for that purpose). Freezing would be better for herbs like chives and ginger that don’t dry well.

In other news, a big thank you to Liveblissful and Eat Breathe Yogini for honouring me with two awards this month: Liebster Award (by both) and Blog of the Year by Liveblissful. I’m deeply flattered. Thank you very much, ladies!

Late summer: pest-free gardening and homemade salsa

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

After a very hot and dry July, August’s rains turned my lawn a shade I could almost describe as green, filled my rain barrel and finally brought out some more food in my garden: strawberries and peppers, which we’ve gotten to enjoy for the last month.
The peppers brought scores of ants, but I’ve been trying keeping them at bay with my all-natural pest deterrent. It doesn’t deter them all, but it led to a significant decrease in ants right away. I was motivated to take great care of my peppers after most of my vegetables failed in the heat earlier this summer. See July’s post for a reminder of my vegetable garden of shame!

Nontoxic vegetable garden pest deterrent
1 cup water
2 tbsp all-natural dish soap
2 tbsp cayenne pepper

The measurements need not be exact. Combine in a jar and shake well. Spray or pour over plants with firm skins like peppers. Reapply every few days. Wash vegetables well before eating, naturally!

The spray would work on vegetables with firm skins not delicate skins like strawberries or peaches that I imagine would soak in the taste of the spray.

The spray worked well enough to allow my peppers to ripen unhindered, then I made salsa with one of the peppers plus basil from my garden and the rest of the organic tomatoes from my Palatine delivery. Salsa is easy to make and the ingredients are cheap, no need to buy a jar. I like a mild salsa with a bit of sweetness and tang. I know basil is nontraditional, but for me, it gave the salsa just the right personality!

Tomato-Basil Salsa
2 large tomatoes
1 large onion
1 pepper, finely chopped
2 jalepeño peppers
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tbsp Herbamare seasoning
1/8 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 large pieces of basil, minced

Finely chop all vegetables. Place all ingredients except the basil in a pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low boil for at least 15 minutes. Add the basil and stir well. Pour into glass jars and can, refrigerate or freeze.

July in the garden

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

I love summer. I look forward all year to my summer garden and I’m one of those people who love the heat

Here is a photo of the harvest I was collecting daily in my garden last July, currently my blog header. Is that a gorgeous sight or what? I was so proud of my homegrown food.

This year…. the vegetables are not so great. My spinach and rhubarb are done for the season after a meager harvest and the rest of the vegetables are doing poorly. The peppers and zucchini aren’t up yet, still just flowers, which could be a pollinating problem, or too much heat. I’ve chatted with neighbours with vegetable gardens and they are reporting the same frustrations.

I tried two cauliflower plants this year; both ruined by heat and caterpillars, see photo of all the eggs in the cauliflower. Gross.

On the positive side, we are reveling in a plethora of raspberries right now.

I’ve been making raspberry smoothies, raspberry jam, raspberry muffins, and of course, just eating them fresh off the canes.

Strawberries are doing well too this year. I moved them to different location than they were last year, and that has resulted in less ants in the containers. Growing my own fruit and vegetables makes me deeply appreciate organic farmers; keeping insects away with no pesticides is quite a challenge.

The Saskatoon berries never came up, too much damage from the animals in the spring; hopefully we’ll get a good harvest next summer. For the first time in a dozen years, our mulberry hasn’t had ripe fruit by June, the berries are still small and white, though they look like they’ll be ready to eat in a week or two. The herbs are hanging in there with the heat. We finally had rain this week, which was desperately needed, my rain barrel was just about empty.

Anyone with tips for organic fruit and vegetable gardening? I’d love to hear your comments.

June in the garden

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

First strawberry.

Roses and clematis.

The raspberries are just coming out now. The Saskatoon berry bush shows no sign of producing this year, perhaps too much damage from the rabbits and ground hog. No mulberries yet either which are normally ready by mid-June.

Henry enjoys the salad bar.

My first year attempting to grow cauliflower. The above picture was taken two weeks ago. Unfortunately, my cauliflower turned purple in last week’s heat wave (and it’s not a purple variety cauliflower). I learned after the fact that I should have blanched the curds when they appear by covering them with the leaves so they could finish growing in the shade. Lesson learned for next year!

Rhubarb. Hm, what shall I make? Muffins?

Spectacular peonies! They smell heavenly too.

Roses in an up-cycled tea tin.

Beautiful basil in my herb pot.

Zucchini blossom. Can’t wait to enjoy their veggies in a few more weeks. The spinach has been out for a few weeks though I just have three plants of them. The peppers barely have buds, so we’ll have to wait a while longer for them.