Indian Summer Gardening

Indian Summer is a phrase I don't hear anymore. Is it now *politically incorrect*? My Mom always referred to these wonderful, warm fall days as Indian Summer. AND I LOVE IT! Tomorrow is forecast to break the record high at 75 degrees. Yes, I can like this...especially since we just had our first snow FIVE DAYS AGO!

Growing up I don't remember the practice of *putting the garden to bed* for the winter but it is a big practice here in my little corner of Utah County. But you know what? When I have a whole island of beautiful alyssum in my yard I just can't bear to cut it off at the ground...(my mums fall into the same category)

Can you blame me? As I've worked in the yard the last few days I am treated to wafts of its heady perfume. I will either cut it off after it freezes or, if we get too much snow, I will just deal with it in the spring when it is dried out.

Of course there are some plants I'm just not willing to do that with... calendula, lamb's ear and hostas fall into that category. If I leave them through the winter I have a nasty, mushy, pulpy mess to deal with! ICK! (This is where said plants reside)

Another of my fall projects was to do something with the darling little *Christmas tree bushes* that grow on either side of the garage. Somehow I've neglected them for too long and they were infringing on the driveway and threatening to put scratches in Elio!

I gave them a trim hoping I could make them tall and thin but the damage was already done from years of not pruning them. So... behold my lollipop bushes! The one on the right of the photo was totally caked with dried mud all down the trunk- the water drains off the roof right above it. Poor little tree.

There is a third bush on the left of the porch that needs to be shaped up as well, but I won't have to be as severe with that one.

My gardening style is usually pretty laid back so it takes quite a bit for me to get crazy and totally take something out. This corner of the house was totally taken over by an enormous bush (actually two bushes) that thought it was a tree... a very UGLY tree... and this happened IN SPITE of lots of pruning. I'm convinced that sometimes the wrong plant just ends up in the wrong place. Look how clean this corner looks now. Come spring I'm going to plant a bush call a burning bush that turns the most luscious bright red in the fall. (Clematis creeping up to my sewing room window)

Next on the list of fall chores was to edge the lawn, lower the mower to 2" and mow, clean the dead leaves, dirt, grass, and crack-weeds (Bet you didn't know that weeds have that addiction, did you?) from the gutters.

And what does one do with all of this green waste? Saturday I borrowed son-Kevin's truck so Harley and I could make two trips to the green-waste dump... but I could see that I wouldn't even scratch the surface in one day. Luckily for me one of my sweet neighbors has a big trailer so it is parked by the gate, on the side of the house, and I am slowly filling it up.

There is just something soul-satisfying to me about working in the yard! I not only love the results, I love the process. There is just such order in the process of clearing the flowerbeds, raking leaves, and mowing the lawn on the diagonal that makes me happy.

Is this hard work? You bet it is! Daily thank my Heavenly Father for the strong and healthy body that allows me to still engage in hard work. What a blessing.

Freezer Strawberry Jam

I know this seems totally odd to be posting about strawberry jam in October. I normally think of strawberries as a spring crop. But when I can find them for $7.99 a flat at my neighborhood market, Reams, I just have to buy them. (Reams is famous for their produce).

I brought them home with the intention of making freezer strawberry jam. I knew that I'd picked up a jar of pectin to have on hand just for this sort of thing. But when I pulled out the jar there weren't any directions/recipes on it. Not to be discouraged... I just Googled up the brand. Now, I'm not a sugar Nazi, but I believe in *all things in moderation*. When a recipe calls for twice as much sugar as fruit I have to draw the line (in the sugar and DON'T step over it!) In my mind the ratio of sugar to fruit is exactly the opposite. Gordon says we want to sugar the fruit, not fruitify the sugar!

I remembered that I'd picked up some Ultra Gel up at the Bosch store in Orem earlier this summer. What I liked about it is that it will thicken HOT or COLD liquid! Now that is more like it if you ask me.

I was up to my office for more recipe ideas on the Web and came up wanting again. So I reasoned that I could probably come up with my own recipe! (Said the Little Red Hen). So I will share it with you. It really couldn't be easier or tastier. What I love about Ultra Gel is that if you DIDN'T want to use sugar at all, but Agave nectar or some other sweetener, I think that would work.

Freezer Strawberry Jam (with Ultra Gel)

8 cups mashed strawberries **
4 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups Ultra Gel

Wash and stem strawberries. Crush with a potato masher a single layer at a time. In a large bowl mix strawberries and lemon juice. In a different bowl mix sugar and Ultra Gel. Add the sugar mixture to the fruit and stir until well combined. Let sit for 15-20 minutes to thicken. Ladle into freezer containers. Label and place in freezer (or keep some out and eat it up on hot buttered toast!)

I read that since this jam has less sugar it will spoil more quickly than regular jam and suggests using it within a couple of weeks of thawing it.

** The flat I bought had 4 of those big clam-shells of strawberries. I think that one of those is equal to 3 of the little green baskets.  Two big clam-shells yields 8 cups of mashed berries.

I have no affiliation with Ultra Gel and have not been paid for this information (dang).  I just found a product I like.

First Snow

We woke up this morning to snow on the pumpkins!



Call me, silly! (SILLY) But I love the changing seasons and I always greet the first snow with excitement! I'm sure I'd feel differently if I lived in Randolph, UT where they got 18" of snow! But we just got a skiff!

Green Tomato Relish

*Fritz* has been predicting COLD weather that moved in today. In anticipation of that event I knew that I needed to put my tomato garden to bed! Saturday was one of those gorgeous, glorious, warm, fall day. I knew that was my window of opportunity. I went out and picked any tomato that was big enough to do anything with regardless of ripeness.

I must have done something right this year in soil prep. Most years I am able to grab hold of the tomato cage and just *yoink* the whole plant out of the ground. There was no *YOINKING* this year! I had to trim off most of the branches and then dig up the root ball! I love this Black Krim Heirloom tomato. Since it is an heirloom tomato I can save seed from this year's crop for next year (or more likely... find the bedding plants next spring- but I will save the seeds!) Look at the root structure on this baby!

Needless to say I had TONS (read- nearly 3 BYU bucketfuls... the new international standard for produce measurements!) of tomatoes- mostly green. Several years ago when I was in the same situation I decided to see if I could substitute green tomatoes for zucchini in my relish recipe. It was wonderful! HA!

This is another one of my ancient recipes. I got this from a friend in Priest River, Idaho in 1974 and apparently didn't have any recipe cards, so being resourceful, I got the cardboard from my latest pair of Albertson's brand panty-hose and make myself a recipe card!

The first step for making relish is to grind, yes, grind- with an old-fashioned hand crank grinder, the tomatoes (or zucchini) and onions. I gives off lots of green tomato *blood* that looks acid green. (Notice the bucket under the grinder to catch the juice... don't for get this important precaution!) The onion juice goes in as well so you can imagine the smell of this juice.

I was looking at all of the poisonous (not really), acid-green juice and mused out loud that there should be a good use for it. Gordon suggested pouring it on the garden to see if it would repel the deer. So we will see if that deters them from eating my ivy this winter. It will either do that or make the ivy grow even faster!

Back to the recipe... add the salt, stir and let it sit over night. The salt draws the juice out of the pulp and makes for a firmer, thicker relish. Next morning drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.  Put this mixture it into a big pot with the remaining ingredients.

You notice this time I have dark red pepper *blood* from the red and green pepper. That just went down the drain.

Stir it all around and let it cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This really is a mixture that takes good care of itself and doesn't need a lot of tending.

Bottle the cooked relish and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. And since it make just over 7 pints there is always a little left over to taste.

I've been making this for 38 years now and we love it... I will never use any other kind of relish. It's particularly good in tuna-goo-sam'ichs.

October Birthdays

... and, boy, is it crowded!

You know how they say a picture's worth a thousand words? I knew we had a lot of October birthdays... but it wasn't until I turned the page on my calendar that Camille made us for Christmas that I realize JUST HOW MANY!!



Roxie, Camille and Jessica blowing out their birthday candle...



And Uncle Stuey, with help from Roxie and Sophie (Actually Sophie changed her mind when she got up close and personal with the candle. But no worries- Uncle Stuey was there to save the day.)

Fresh Apple Cake

AKA- More Apple-y Goodness

I've been a bit obsessed with apples this fall! I'm not even sure why... I just know what is! I suppose it could be that I started with apples from my tree about 5-6 weeks ago and have continued with first, gifted-apples from neighbors and then apples from Camille and Kevin's gargantuan apple tree. (OK! No kidding this tree is taller than their house.) I filled 11 BYU buckets with apples and barely scratched the surface.

Anyway, I picked last Monday, a week ago, and since then I've made:

• 10 quarts of applesauce
• 19 quarts of apple pie filling
• 1 apple crisp
• 1 HUGE apple pancake (14" skillet)
• And, dried 10+ gallon ziplock bags full of dried apples! (Roughly the equivalent of  50 pounds of apples)

But, lasterday, 3rd Sunday Family Dinner I wanted to make a special cake that  4 of the 10 (Yes, TEN!) October birthdays in our family (who were here) could eat. Since I needed to make a somewhat healthy version of cake (is there really such a thing?) I thought about my ancient recipe from when I was in 7th grade HomeEc!

(This is the actual page from my 7th grade notebook!)

I think this was my introduction to cream cheese frosting and it's been a love affair ever since. How can you NOT love anything with cream cheese frosting?

In my healthy version I substituted whole wheat flour for white flour and Sucanat for white sugar. And I didn't use nuts... but usually don't in cakes.

Now, are you wondering about all of the number written below the recipe? In 1964 Greenville Jr/Sr high school (student body 200 kids... yep, 7th-12th! 200 kids- sad, but true) had the pioneering idea to have a rotating schedule. But it was far from easy- like the odd-even schedule. Are you ready for this:

We had 7 classes but only 5 class periods a day so we had this easy-to-remember rotating schedule:

• Day 1- 1,2,3,4,5
• Day 2- 6,7,1,2,3
• Day 3- 4,5,6,7,1
• Day 4- 2,3,4,5,6
• Day 5- 7,1,2,3,4
• Day 6- 5,6,7,1,2
• Day 7- 3,4,5,6,7

I'd rather just remember the yummy fresh apple cake!

Grammie's Little Pumpkin

Every once in a while there are just the cutest baby-Jude clothes that I can't pass up! When I was at Sam's Club lately I saw this and another darling red-plaid outfit that I got for him.

BUT THEY WERE TOO SMALL!! YAY!! HOORAY!!

Maybe most people don't get that excited about baby outgrowing his cloths, but with Jude it is an occasion to celebrate.

It says "Mommy's little pumpkin"... but he's Grammie's little pumpkin too.

And look at this on the bum...

Happy Tomatoes

This spring when I was browsing the tomato plants at Home Depot I found some Heirloom tomatoes. Wikipedia says they are non-hybrid tomatoes and have a better taste... but I haven't noticed that much difference.

I got one purple and one golden plant and then my good old fill-ins- Early Girl. These tomatoes don't ripen as fast as the Early Girl, but the purple are big- almost like a Beefsteak tomato.

Besides eating them I've decided to make myself some *Happy Jars of Tomatoes*...  I start with several of the purple, then the yellow and top it off with plain ol' red!



Doesn't that just make you smile?  Here they are before the hit the jars...