Fruits of our labor

Here's what we've been working towards with our garden. We've been busily storing up for winter. The first picking of green beans yielded 16 quarts and we're in the midst of doing pickles in 3 or 4 flavors. So far we have dill relish, dill pickles, golden glows, and zucchini relish. The next batches will be bread and butter and more dills, but more of a kosher kind. I'm learning a lot about estimating amounts needed and methods used...ice bath, lime bath, pickling salts, soaking, rinsing, flavoring, the possibilities are endless! What kind of recipes does your family pass down? What little tricks do they use to make their veggies shine? We want to know!



We're really trying to get done with this stuff to make room for when our tomatoes really come on. They've been slow to ripen due to the mild weather we've been having. When they do come on we'll be in trouble!!!

Here is my little helper. He made sure I did dill pickles, since those are his favorite. His other favorite that I showed him this year is to take cucumber, slice in spears(which he can now do by himself) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. He probably eats a couple of large cukes a day!!!

Thebest thing about all of these veggies? I don't have to buy them to use on my South Beach diet I'm doing! In phase one you can have lean meats, veggies(non-starchy), eggs, and low fat dairy. That means I'm eating a lot of veggies!!! I am getting a little tired of zucchini and bell peppers though! The great part is I've lost 10 pounds and get to start phase 2 which means I can have fruit again! Have a great week! We're headed out of town on a camping trip.