This fall I spent more time hunting chanterelle mushrooms in the woods than I spent in our own garden. The combination of foraging for wild food, hiking for hours and simply being outside among torrential rains and giant trees made me feel more than alive at an otherwise sleepy time of year. I ended up with baskets full of mushrooms – more than our family could eat fresh –
Last Call for Tomatoes
This weekend or next may be the last call for tomatoes for the season, so break out the canner, freezer bags, dehydrator or whatever you preserving method of choice is. Tomatoes do best with nighttime temperatures above 55 degrees, but overnight temps in Portland are more consistently in the low 50’s at this time of year. Frequent fall rains overwhelm the fruits with moisture, which
Making Perfect Apple Chips
I have always loved drying the fruit harvest and with little kids we consume more of these goodies than ever. It’s a healthy, naturally sweet snack that you can munch away on without worrying about additives. And drying fruit doesn’t require a lot of hands-on time or money. A bulky dehydrator can tuck away in a closet when not needed and they are easy to
It’s That Time of Year
Fall… the crisp colorful leaves, the brisk mornings, that smell after a fresh rain… And of course, the canner. It’s a permanent fixture on our stove at this time of year while the dehydrator keeps a steady hum on the homestead. I have been busy, which is an understatement. Our ten heirloom tomato plants keep the harvest basket overflowing every few days with about 30 pounds of
Preserving Tomatoes
Tomato season is just about to come to a close and I’m just a few pints and quarts away from being okay with that. Here is how I have been busily preserving the tomato harvest this year. First, dry them! You can leave the skins on or off depending on your preference. Sauce tomatoes work best since they are not too watery. If you use
Preserving Asian Pears
Asian pears are still in season here in the Pacific Northwest and we just can’t get enough of these little gems! I often see two types grown locally – one with a thick, brown skin and one with a thin, yellow-green skin. I prefer the latter as I find the flesh to be softer and sweeter. You can do lots of things with asian pears
Welcome Fall
It doesn’t feel like Fall today, and yet today it officially begins. The temperature is suppose to climb to the 90’s this afternoon and yet I get an unexplainable itch every year at this time to stock my cupboards and prepare for old man winter. To date, my cupboards are stocked with the following: 10 quarts marinara sauce 2 quarts canned tomatoes 8 pints blackberry
Endless Squash
So much summer squash… so much zucchini… so many patty pans… Saturday was a really raining morning, the kind I actually prefer to work outside in. That meant fewer volunteers showed up, but the summer squash waits for no one – it still needed to be picked. If we decided to put it off a few more days, we would end up with baseball bat