Joining a CSA

[Judy Sims]

I grew a huge garden for seventeen years. I canned everything or put it in the freezer. My children were raised on fresh killed beef and fresh vegetables with no pesticides on them. And I knew exactly what the cows ate and no chemicals were added when they were killed. It was wonderful, but a huge amount of work. We were poor and had no air conditioning at the time, so I had to can at night. When you have all four burners going at once for hours, it gets pretty darn hot in there. If anyone needs any canning recipes, I have some really good ones for pickled beets, green tomato pickles (great for those green tomatos picked before a freeze or just too many to eat and they are wonderful), pickled okra, and for dill and other type pickles. I put up tomatos, corn, pinto beans, black eyed peas, and anything else I could get in a jar.

I enjoyed it all, but was glad to stop after after a few years as I didn't have anyone to help me with the garden then. Now, I hate most of the vegetables at the markets. They have no taste. I bought some radishes today, which I love, and they were so old, they were hard as a rock. GRRRR!

For problems with deer, I buy this spray that keeps them off the plants. It is called "Deer Off" and you get it at Lowes. It comes in a blue spray bottle and goes a long way as it just takes a little bit. It smells awful, so I guess this is what keeps the deer away. I have to use it in my front yard on any flowers and shrubs as the deer come right up in the yard and eat everything. It works!!!! And one spraying lasts three months.

[tontrin]

Hm, Deer Off; that's interesting. Boy, do I remember gardening and canning with no air conditioning, sometimes staying up until 3:00 a. m. to get all the corn shucked, blanched, cut off the cob and put into the freezer after going out to pick it in the morning. It is a lot of work and takes a lot of time; I'm sure I don't have that kind of time any more. I think though I could grow a few things at least to add some better stuff to our meals; it is hard to find good produce at the stores.

[Judy Sims]

(05-10-2012 03:01 PM)tontrin Wrote:  Hm, Deer Off; that's interesting. Boy, do I remember gardening and canning with no air conditioning, sometimes staying up until 3:00 a. m. to get all the corn shucked, blanched, cut off the cob and put into the freezer after going out to pick it in the morning. It is a lot of work and takes a lot of time; I'm sure I don't have that kind of time any more. I think though I could grow a few things at least to add some better stuff to our meals; it is hard to find good produce at the stores.

Yep, I stayed up a many night until 2am, but those jars of food sure were pretty to look at once I had them sitting on the counter cooling. And to hear the sound of the lids sealing was music to my ears.:MrGreen:

[tontrin]

Oh, I just love the sound of the jars sealing! That nice little "pop". :D

[Sookielee]

Ditto what Tontrin said. There is no better sound after working all day in the kitchen. Well maybe except the water running because someone else is washing the dishes.

[tontrin]

:bounce: Ya, that would be nice.

[Ghost]

I'm kind of weird. I agree that washing dishes by yourself isn't much fun, but washing them with someone else can be a lot of fun. (Especially if it's someone you know won't mind if you throw a handful of soapsuds at them and actually manage to hit. )

[Regina]

Quote:but those jars of food sure were pretty to look at once I had them sitting on the counter cooling. And to hear the sound of the lids sealing was music to my ears.

Oh, goodness, me too! I love just looking at the jars full of all that pretty stuff and the sealing pop is definitely a rewarding sound to hear! :D There are things that are hard work that I really enjoy and canning is definitely one of them.

I am just irritated as all get-out, though, over the recent changes in canning lids. There used to be two major brands, Ball and Kerr. I never bought Ball lids because they wouldn't hold a seal more than about a year while Kerr lids would stay sealed for decades. If I ended up getting too much canned up for a year that just meant I had enough I wouldn't have to can the same thing the next year if I couldn't get hold of it. Then one company bought the other and now the Kerr seals are those crap Ball lids and what's more they have less rubber on them than they ever did! We found a jar of tomato stuff in the pantry the other day on which the seal had come undone. :headbang: Thank goodness it was tomatoes with a high enough acid level not to spoil right away but it's so aggravating!

While we're waiting for the weather to warm up enough to get the garden planted (we didn't have enough time to get any cool weather crops in again this year but we'll get there some year) I started to work on a couple of other projects. For years I've been wanting to plant a row of irises alongside the section of driveway that runs by the "yard". I finally decided to do that. I wasn't sure where to get anywhere near enough irises for it so I went to eBay and found a bunch of people selling tubers from their own iris patches. Then I found some mixed lots of unnamed irises and bought ten from one seller, ten from another, two or three from some other people, etc. plus a couple of single ones that were just too pretty not to buy. Between what I bought and the ones I'll move from another spot in the yard I should have just about enough to plant two staggered rows eighteen inches apart without spending a ton of money. One of the reasons those other irises need moved is because they've been in a battle against some really tough grass for the last ten years. I don't know what this grass is but it grows in clumps and the seed reaches almost four feet tall. The irises can stand their ground against it but that grass is nearly impossible to remove and it looks outstanding so I want to leave it there.

Then there's the little flower bed in front of the house. My son and I planted fall bulbs there a few years ago but then one of the dogs turned that into her summer cooling spot and pretty much ruined it. That dog is no longer with us so we're going to try it again, although we're planting annuals in there for this summer then hope to plant bulbs this fall. I picked up some seed dahlias, a few marigolds and some snap dragons and still want to get some portulaca for it. Then when I stopped by the little market the other evening to grab some produce they were selling gladiola corms from a local grower, two dozen for $5 so I grabbed a bag of those. The corms are absolutely huge, well over 3" across!

It's all kinds of fun and adventure to get my son out in the yard. I told him we should collect rocks to put around the flower bed and he says something like, "But Mom, there aren't any rocks!" Yeah, right! I told him to grab the wagon and come with me and started teaching him the "rock sniffing" skill. :dodgy: For goodness sake, we have all kinds of volcanic rock around here, some of it pretty cool looking, plus who knows how many tons of sand stone.

[Judy Sims]

Sounds like something I did when we lived on our little farm. We did not have money for any gardening stuff and the land around the house had been scraped clean of the good soil it had when they leveled the lot. GRRRR! So I had to wheelbarrow dirt up to the house from the lower pasture. I got enough to have some flowerbeds at the front of the house. I had little money, but bought some marigold seeds pkg, and I also got some Canna bulbs.

As I was driving down our dirt road, I noticed a lot of big rocks that were in the ditches, so I got the bright idea to gather a bunch and line my beds with them as I had nothing to hold my precious dirt in. I drove up and down the roads looking for good sized rocks, then would load them in the trunk. Some were huge and my husband was amazed how I could have lifted them into the car. I have no idea, myself. I must have had superman strength back then.:bounce: Or great determination.:bounce: Anyway, my beds were the prettiest I had ever had that year. It was so much hard work and it took sheer grit to get it done, as I am a small person, but when I want something done, I get it done, regardless. Or could back then.:MrGreen: Gardening is such fun and so rewarding. I love Mother Nature, and I am still amazed each day when I go out into my flower garden. God has been good to me.

[Sookielee]

I am getting so excited 10 days till I get my first delivery.

[Judy Sims]

(05-12-2012 07:59 AM)Sookielee Wrote:  I am getting so excited 10 days till I get my first delivery.

How did you find this service, Sookie. I would love to have something like that at my home in Virginia.:MrGreen:

[Sookielee]

Post # 11 in this thread has the link to "Local Harvest". On that site you can not only find CSA's in your area, but farmer's markets too. They even have some links to small mom & pop's.

[Judy Sims]

(05-12-2012 08:48 AM)Sookielee Wrote:  Post # 11 in this thread has the link to "Local Harvest". On that site you can not only find CSA's in your area, but farmer's markets too. They even have some links to small mom & pop's.

Thanks, Sookielee. I checked out Virginia and there is one in Richmond, but they don't deliver to the home. They have designated dropoff areas to get your order, but only in Richmond. That won't work for me, I think, since I live in a suburb. I will have to study the site a little more and see what else is offered.

[tontrin]

I just noticed your new avatar, Judy. That is so cute!

[Judy Sims]

(05-12-2012 02:20 PM)tontrin Wrote:  I just noticed your new avatar, Judy. That is so cute!

Well, if we are getting away from the cowboy theme, then I thought this one might be more appropriate for a builder. Thanks.:MrGreen: