It has been BUSY on the homestead. I feel like I should be updating the blog but so much needs to be done, there is no time to write. We have been digging in the garden, harvesting cucumbers, zucchinis, kale, lettuces and herbs. I have dried a batch of herbs for teas during the cold months.
We started our CSA season (community supported agriculture) and with that, the season for food preparation has begun. We have been getting flats of strawberries and whatever doesn’t get eaten has been converted into strawberry lemonade concentrate, strawberry-rhubarb jam and syrup, fruit leather, frozen and dehydrated. Our kids love strawberries, these will be a nice treat when the season is over! Right now, we enjoy a berry or two from our patch. After much discussion, Paul and I decided that we needed to move our strawberries to a sunnier part of the yard. This will happen in August when the plants stop bearing fruit.
Next on the berry horizon will be raspberries, which are my favorite berry. Our plants are giving us a lot of berries to enjoy but we will either go to a u-pick place or get them from a farm stand for preservation. We make raspberry jam for medicinal purposes. During a fever, hot tea with raspberry jam makes you sweat, cooling down the body-lowering the fever. It really works! Try it, it is way better than taking a bunch of synthetic medications. Raspberry leaves are also good dried and used for tea. We will be preserving some for the colder months as well. Blackberry and currant leaves can also be dried for teas.
In mid July, we will be going to pick blueberries. I am not a big fan of blueberry jam, but I do love the syrup, We eat it with homemade scones/biscuits and pancakes. I freeze most of the blueberries and then use them in yogurts and baking.
This is another great year for zucchinis. We have been enjoying them raw and grilled so far. I got a few recipes from my aunt on canning zucchini salad. I will be trying them this weekend and if I manage to get it right, I will share the recipe.
Here is a picture update of all that is going on…
