Strawberry Season & A [Canner's] Giveaway

Alas, Strawberry season is my area has arrived - early none the less - which is fine by me!

I have a hard time buying produce out of season [at the grocery stores] because you know, it never tastes like fresh, in season fruit. And then I am just disappointed.

I purchased 13 qts over the weekend for $2 a quart - total steal if you ask me!!

I bought them from a couple Amish families a few roads down from me.

I do still use white sugar in canning recipes. I would like to eventually convert that over to honey, but since we are talking alchemy here, a science, involving food preservation, I won't do it until I have a recipe for it :)

I like the preserving book Tart and Sweet. A lot of the recipes in there are simple enough and they don't call for gobs and gobs of sugar.

I canned up 12 half pints of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Monday morning. And I have 4 quarts of Strawberries still macerating in the fridge for a simple strawberry jam. Oh yes, and I whipped up some Strawberries & Cream Popsicles too - perfect timing since the weather has been in the 90's!

I scored 4# of Rhubarb for $1/pound from my Amish neighbor down the road.

I fully intended to pick up lots more quarts this coming week to do more preserving with.

I plan to make more Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam and I also want to try my hand at homemade fruit roll-ups!

One thing different with my canning as I start the season out is my use of the Tattler Reusable Canning Lids.
Tattler sent me some to try out and I was more than excited too. These lids are BPA Free, Reusable, Dishwasher Safe and made in the USA. 

These lids were easy to use and I 'prepared' them the same way I'd prepare the metal lids.
They all sealed nicely too. I have yet to wash and reuse them, but I suspect they'll do just as they are supposed to!

Tattler sent me a set of regular, and a set of wide mouth, lids and rings to try out.

And for one other lucky canner, they are going to send you a set of both too!!

All you have to do to be entered for a chance to win is leave a comment telling me if you can and if so, what is your favorite recipe or food to preserve?

Earn an extra entry for liking The Life of a Novice on FaceBook too! 

(Let me know in you comment that you liked the FB page, please!)

Contest end Midnight on Friday - Winner announced Saturday!

Good Luck!

Harvest Monday, June 20, 2011

The harvest this week was slim again since our garden is just getting going. I am hoping the flood of rainstorms we had tonight didn't do in the 'mater garden. Time will tell.

Allen harvested another Portabella this past week. This bad boy was HUGE - a Whopper. It weighed in at 5.22 ounces all by itself.



Just to help you understand how big this shroom was, it compares to my 15 week olds head! :)
Don't mind him practicing his boyish charm - picking his nose.


And, in an exciting change of events, my garlic did in fact produce scapes. I thought, for some reason, I wasn't going to get any this year as it seems later than usual for them to appear, but alas, hubby spotted them! I have no idea what kind of garlic we have. It was here when we moved in 3 years ago and sprouts up in our front yard in some landscaping where iris, lillies and hostas are planted!

We harvested 2.72 ounces of garlic scapes which will be made into pesto asap!


And, the rest of the weekend I worked on turning 8 qts of lovely Strawberries (from my Amish neighbor) into jam! I did one batch of regular Strawberry jam which gave me 3 half pints and a little extra. As I type this up, hubby has already devoured 1 half pint and the extra! I also made two batches (4 half pints) of Strawberry Balsamic Pepper Jam - YUM -- DEVINE!





Opps...and I almost forgot. I harvested one onion as I pulled it to see how they were doing. So, I guess it was more of a scallion ;)



Check out what other gardner's were harvesting this past week over at Harvest Monday, hosted by Daphne's Dandelions.

QUESTIONS!! I have three plants I need to get into the ground...all of which will be my first time growing and I am looking for any advice you can offer if you grow one of these :)

Fennel: I read that no other veg really likes fennel so I guess I need to plant this away from everything else? Does it spread?

Horseradish: I read this will spread like wildfire and some people plant it into the ground in a pot. Suggestions? Do you plant by other veggies?

Rhubarb: I came home Friday and hubby surprised me with a Rhubarb plant. I would [ideally] like to get three more and have an area with 4 of them planted. I read they like rich soil and sun. Suggestions? Do you plant this by other veggies you have?