What a fun day! And lots of good meals for this winter...but here is the potato patch that will be the source of all my calories for the month of Spudtember!
Later!
Tim
Monday, August 29, 2016
Puttin' up Carrots and Kale
Just wanted to share some garden pics before I transition into Spudtember. Today I picked a bunch of carrots and some kale for the freezer. First I blanch the carrots for about 3 minutes, then pack in sealer-type freezer bags. For kale, I only blanch about 30 seconds.
2-3 weeks until frost hits!
Later!
Tim
Later!
Tim
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You'll ferment some of those carrots and kale too, right?
ReplyDeleteC.
Good idea! Still a ton left.
DeleteI had to look up the word 'blanch'. (grin)
ReplyDeleteBlanching - a cooking process wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocking or refreshing) to halt the cooking process.
Yep. Supposedly stops some enzymes or something. I've tried freezing without blanching and the result is totally different.
DeleteYou know you can eat the carrot greens too, right? They add a great aromatic note to veggie soups, like a cross between parsley and carrot. I just do a rough mince, stuff them into bags, and freeze them. Then, just drop a handful into soups or broths. Tasty and nutritious!
ReplyDeleteYep! That's why half the carrots still have the tops on them. I use the bigger chunks in roasts, and the tops and end pieces in soups and broth. Carrot tops have a similar flavor to celery leaves to me.
DeleteI like carrot tops as part of my daily veggie omelette when I have them. I like the carrot/parsley taste.
DeleteForgot to add that I put them in raw. They cook a little with the omelette, but not a lot.
DeleteI eat a carrot or two every night out of the garden. I usually hose it off, but then I eat the whole thing and the first 2-3 inches of stems and feed the leaves to the chickens.
DeleteThere is a little pocket at the top of a carrot where the stems join the root. I'll bet if you sampled it, you'd find it acts like our appendix, storing all sorts of friendly microbes that want to get in the belly of a beast.
I always eat the area where the stem joins the root. Ibe read elsewhere that it has special properties.
DeleteNow there is a true conundrum: I love the leaves, and eat them when I can get good ones. I can't imagine sacrificing them, EXCEPT if I got to eat the eggs of chickens I sacrificed them to. Tasty leaves? Tasty carrot leaves? Tough choice!
I need to pay more attention: Tasty eggs? Or maybe I've unconsciously decided.
DeleteI learn something new every day. Never have tried to eat carrot greens. I guess it's time to start.
DeleteBtw, I planted carrots this year and right now for some reaon I've got some 3 foot tall carrot flowers. I thought these things were biennials. What's going on?
I have the most spoiled chickens in Alaska. They have been getting fresh caviar all summer, now designer salads. They better lay deviled eggs or they are going in the soup pot! This flock was hatched in April, should start laying in September. I am trying a breed called Dominiques, very hardy birds. Really pretty, too.
DeleteGab - I have been growing carrots for over 10 years and have yet to see a seed stalk. How strange.
I looked around. These are white carrots and possibly because genetically they are closer to wild carrots, that's why they've bolted. Maybe they feel threatened. It certainly has never been even remotely cold this summer. Au contraire. It's now 30 degrees C. Feels like 35C. Been like this all summer.
DeleteSomething we've been really enjoying in this heat: classic Vichyssoise. Yum.
Delete- Kimberlite
What about dehydrating the kale, then grinding it up to make a kale powder?
ReplyDelete2-3 weeks until frost? Yikes, that's soon.
Barney
Rather 2-3 days until frost...
DeleteI've made kale chips in the dehydrator, and they will turn to powder easily. Not a bad idea.
Delete2-3 days... bite your tongue.
Kale is pretty cool, it's always the last green thing around here. It survives the first couple frosts and even snow. Then the moose discover it.
Love this stuff. Beautiful carrots. I tried planting mine twice this year, but I just didn't get them watered well enough to get them going. Very interesting about the spot between the stem and the carrot flesh. I've always noticed it was a "goopy" spot.
ReplyDelete