I have had a very successful day of canning today. I went to the garden early today and cut the mustard and turnip greens. The cooler nights make the greens tender and less bitter than those grown in hot weather. I usually just take a big plastic tub and a knife and take hands full of the green tops and cut them off. This way you don't get all the grit and debris from the ground not to mention the weeds and grass. The bonus is the greens will grow back in a couple weeks and can be cut again for an extended harvest right up to winters hard freeze. But this is the back breaking part of the job, although the washing wasn't that easy for me either. I wash the greens in 3 changes of water and then put then in a kettle of fresh water to wilt down before packing them into the jars. My total for today was 6 quarts and 11 pints of greens canned.
I guess this motivated me to get my blackberries out of the freezer to thaw to make blackberry jam tomorrow. Maybe for dinner I can make some homemade biscuits and try the jam.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
stella
2 comments:
Hey Stella! You're right about the greens gettin' a lil bitter in hot weather--I've got 2 red leaf lettuces growin' in a container, and with as hot as it's been here they need some dressing and other veggies added to salad to make 'em tolerable. I pick off leaves an they seem to be growin' back, so as the weather cools and the new growth comes in I'm hopin' it'll be more palatable.
Hi Greg, the leaves on the lettuce will keep coming back as long as the plant has food and water. And you are right, the cooler it gets the better the greens will be.
stella
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