Gardening and Quilting

It has been a busy day here at the Monkey House. The Monkeys and I tore up the compost pile, screened some compost, and created a new raised bed. Tomorrow we will screen more compost and make at least two more raised beds, if not three. Then we will rebuild the compost pile. If we get it all done, the fall/winter garden will be ready to finish planting. In the past, I have only planted half the garden in the fall. This year, the whole thing will be planted.

After it became too dark and too cold to keep working outside, I came in and started working on the family reunion quilt. I have all the squares and sashing up on the color wall. Tomorrow I will mark the white blocks with the quilting pattern and begin assembling the quilt top. I want to have the top finished by Sunday afternoon and begin quilting it Monday. That will give me a little less than two weeks to get it quilted and bound. It is a twin quilt and the quilting pattern is pretty simple. I should be able to get it done. If my past record is any indication of my future behavior, I will be binding this quilt after midnight the day of the party.

Jam

I may never make jelly again and it is all Curmudgeon's fault. I have made jelly all my cooking life. We have plums that make a very pretty ruby red jelly and black berries that make the best jelly for biscuits ever. Last night I made jam.

I am pretty sure everyone is pretty sick of me yammering on and on about the green tomatoes. Well, the situation is pretty much handled with the green tomato jam and green tomato pickles. There are a couple of bowls of large green tomatoes that will get ripe over time. The little ones are all used up.

Jelly is complicated to make. Cut up the fruit, cook it, then figure out the messiest way possible to remove the fruit from the juice. Then add tons of sugar and some sort of pectin. My kitchen looks like a fruit and sugar bomb has gone off in it every time I make jelly. A T-shirt is ruined by juice stains during each and every jelly making session. I often get half done jelly in my hair - Don't ask.

Jam was so easy. Cut up the fruit, add sugar, and any other ingredients that sound good. Let that sit for a while as the sugar draws out the fruits juices. Then cook it down until it thickens. All the fruit stays in the jam. No fruit goes to the compost pile. Jam is yummy and has a nice texture.

All that jam making reminded me of a song from a long time ago. I have not heard it in years. Thanks to the interweb I was able to find the words.
Saturday morning found me itching
To get on over to my grandma's kitchen
[And what you gonna do, honey]
The sweetest little berries was cooking up right
And then we'd put them in a canning jar and seal them up tight
We were making jam
[What kind?]
Strawberry jam, that's what kind
[Aw, the good kind]
Yeah, if you want the best jam
You gotta make your own
We have Smucker's, Welches, Knotts Berry Farm
But a little homemade jam never did a body no harm
A little local motion is all we need
To close down these corporate jam factories
We'll be making jamStrawberry jam, mmmm-mm
If you want the best jamYou gotta make your own
(Make that jam Doc, show 'em how it's done)
Yeah, we have a little revolution sweeping the land
Now once more everybody's making homemade jam
So won't you call your friends up on the telephone
You invite 'em on over, you make some jam of your own
You'll be making jamStrawberry jam
If you want the best jam
You gotta make your own

Anybody else like to make jam?

Green Tomato Madness

A couple of days ago, I had to pick all of my green tomatoes. Nola and Brenda, as true Texans, suggested frying them. I cannot imagine trying to eat 10 lbs of fried green tomatoes. I love them, but 10 lbs - Yuck. Even I would get sick of that. Thankfully, some other Internet friends came to the rescue.

Several of you suggested letting them ripen on the window sill. Foxymoron suggest putting them in a paper bag with a ripe banana. She wasn't sure how it worked, but she read it somewhere. Kate arrived with the science behind this. Apparently, ripe fruit off gasses ethylene, which will help green fruit ripen. Go Kate, you are our genius.

Gardengirl shared this recipe for dill pickled tomatoes. I remember these from my childhood. She also suggested slicing them and sauteing them in a little olive oil and serving them with basil and Parmesan cheese. Yum.

Curmudgeon, one of our wonderful Weed Wackin Wenches, shared this recipe for tomato jam.

Cinj, suggested freezer spaghetti sauce. I have not found the recipe for that yet, but I am looking.

For the next couple of days I will be making pickles and jam.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out. Without you I would be drowning in green tomatoes. If anyone else would like to add to the tomato madness, chime in now.

Silence at Poor Richard's Almanac out did herself with six recipes. Thanks Silence

cinj posted her freezer spagetti sauce recipe today.

I made the green tomato jam and it is Monkey approved.

Thanks Meadowview Thymes

I received this award from Meadowview Thymes. She is another local north Texas garden blogger. Along with Brenda and Nola we can compare weather notes, shopping news, and look into each others' gardens through our blogs. I am not sure Aunt Debbi's Garden is Uber anything other than uber silly. Thank you Meadowview I am flattered.

Regarding the Uber award "UBER" is an acronym for 'U've Been Excellently Rewarded'. UBER is a synonym of Super. The 'UBER amazing Blog Award' is given to sites that:

1. Inspire you

2. Make you smile and laugh

3. Maybe gives amazing information

4. Is a great read

5. Has an amazing design

6. Any other reasons you can think of that makes them UBER amazing!

Below is the list of blogs I would like to pass this on to. I understand that many bloggers do not participate in awards and memes. Please just consider this my expression of appreciation and don't play if you don't want to.

Nola at Alamo North. A great blog and a new friend.

Foxymoron at This Country Life. She is an blogger from Australia writing about her life and family.

Diana at Sharing Natures Garden. Diana encouraged me to join the 29 day giving challenge.

Kathryn at Plant What Ever Brings You Joy for her great blog and all the work she did organizing and executing the Scarf Initiative.

There are many other blogs that deserve this award and I am sure it is coming around.

Now What?

We had a light freeze last night. The only plants that succumbed were the tomatoes and the squash. Everything else looks just fine including the peppers. We had to pick the green tomatoes. So now what do I do?

How To Create a Cat Magnet

1. Go shopping

2. Buy really cute velvet pants.

3. Bring purchases home and show off to husband who provided funds for fancy pants.

4. Lay pretty pants out on sofa and forget about them overnight

5. Forget to put the cat out.

6. Sleep well in your bed as cat sleeps well on new the britches

7. Wake up to find cat fur on brand new garment.

It's That Quilting Time of Year Again

It's that time of year again. There will be more pictures of quilt blocks and fewer pictures of the garden.

The new turquoise and and lime green Dresden plate blocks are for our annual family reunion. I have to have this finished by the first weekend in December. Yikes, what have I gotten myself into. This is a fun family party. Manly Man's mom is the oldest of five children. There are lots of grand kids, and lots and lots of great grand kids. The party is huge. We can't really exchange individual gifts. We used to do a kids exchange, but it got to big. Now we just bring a gift for our own children and do something like a white elephant exchange for the adults. Some of the grownup gifts have been pretty funny. One year an uncle contributed a tow chain. Another year I managed to score and old milk can. The quilts have been pretty popular. This is a way I can give quilts to this side of the family without being completely overwhelmed.

BTW, how did Thanksgiving end up next freaking week? It feels like this year is flying by.

Well hell, I have to print a correction. My 2008 mastergardener calender has an error. Thanksgiving is 11/27 DUR. I feel a little better. Thanks for catching it Nola.