I want my fridge back
Sep 17th, 2008 by Laura
I think I’m bonking. Or for those of you that don’t mountain bike for fun, I think I’ve hit the wall.
I’m so sick of green beans that there’s a gallon in the fridge that have started to mold and another 2 gallons that I’m not interested in eating, freezing or pickling. I think I’m going to give them away. There are beans aging on the vine out in the garden and I can’t make myself care.
I just cleared the fridge of enough pickling cukes for another 10 quarts of dill pickles (that makes 20 quarts and 2 pints). And I’m declaring no more! I can’t stand the smell of boiling vinegar for one more second! Well, no more dill at least. I’ll still do a few pints of bread and butters for Mike…
There are 4 heads of green cabbage in the fridge that I was going to make into sauerkraut. But I don’t have a crock and I don’t want to spend $45 on a new one and there are none for sale on Craigslist. So now I have 4 heads of green cabbage in addition to the 2 red heads in the garden. Anyone have a recipe for non-traditional sauerkraut? The kind you cook and can? I could use up it all and it would make me very very happy. Or can you pickle cabbage for cooking later?
And that’s only what’s in the fridge. In the garden are at least 100 pounds of potatoes that NEED to be dug and bagged. But it’s too warm to put them in the barn yet.
Then there’s the gallons and gallons of blackberries that I’d like to pick and use for jam and freezing. But I can’t figure out when I have time to go pick? Not tomorrow, not Saturday, not Sunday. Maybe Friday after work.
And the tomatoes. Yeah I’m a bad tomato grower. I put the plastic over them on Monday night, remembered to vent them yesterday morning and forgot this morning. So when it hit 80 today I think it was close to 110 F in the poly tunnel. It cooked all the green tomatoes at the top of the plants as well as the tops of the plants. Now they’re vented and it’s 50 F and I think that’s how they’re spending the night as I have to leave at 6:00 am for work tomorrow and I’m sure I’ll forget to vent them again. Hopefully the green tomatoes that didn’t get cooked will still find their way to turning red.
On the positive side, the lettuce seeds I recklessly put out a month ago have turned into small starts that might give us lettuce in another couple weeks. I finally found time to plant the cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli starts that I bought two weeks ago. They look good. Now I just have to get the winter lettuce, chard and spinach started in trays. Might be too late, but with the weather we’re having and the expensive poly I got, maybe not.
And the squash, pumpkins and leeks are going strong. Not to mention that my garlic seed just arrived and I can’t wait to find a winter spot for it. Oh! And the fall peas are a foot tall - now I just have to get around to giving them a trellis to climb.
Wow. Anyone want to come help out for a few hours this weekend?
I’m going back to my wine and non-local but so freakin’ good brownies now. And my mindless TV show. Talk to you tomorrow.
Aw. It takes some time to get used to it all, and, well, hey girl this is your first season.
Regarding the crock, try making kimchi in a bowl. You can also make sauerkraut in the biggest bowl you have: think about it: it’s an ancient food and they didn’t always have crocks. I’ve also made sauerkraut in 1/2 gallon canning jars….
And the beans. Leave them in the field and you can have shell beans or even dried beans later. Green ain’t the only way to eat them!
Laura, if you’re looking for a use for cabbage, you can always hang it in your chicken coop for some extra chicken entertainment/pecking/eating. I’ve been doing this to try and get my 7 hens in the “big coop” (as opposed to the 4 in the “hospital coop,” now a permanent residence) to stop picking on eachother. They love the cabbage and will peck until there’s literally nothing left.
I used a metal clip thingy from a chain link fence as a “hook” (dig it in around the core on two sides), and then hang it from the coop ceiling at slightly more than chicken back height from some hay baling twine. I lower it slightly as they peck the bottom into nothingness.
Loads of fun!
(And I hate to say it, but I’m jealous of your bounty. Our garden is pretty lame-o this year.)
I wish I could come help, but I’ll actually be home this weekend and need to get my own garden under control! I’m a little afraid to go out and look at it… I haven’t been home for more than 48 hours in the last 2 weeks. I don’t think anyone else has been out there and I don’t even want to think about the plants I put under plastic before I left.
Hi Laura, haven’t commented in a while so I figured I better before you forget about me.
I’ve also made saurkraut in large jars, it works well. You can also look into local commercial container suppliers that will sell food grade plastic tubs. (the crock of the millenium) You can easily make a large batch in one of these. I totally understand getting sick of beans too, we pull probably 4 lbs a day. We have given a lot a way to friends of ours that are a little tight this year. They enjoy them, and we’re glad to help.
Catch you later.
P~
I was going to suggest a Lexan container, too. They have them cheap at Cash and Carry - I know it isn’t as romantic as a crock, but oh well.
Man I wish you weren’t such a haul (and gas being what it is). I would kill for some beans, I haven’t made dilly beans yet this year. Put them on the train, I’ll pick them up in Porltand!
When I have a surplus of beans that I don’t feel like doing anything with and the family is tired of beans at EVERY MEAL, I just start a big pot of water to boil, stems and all get thrown in. After boiling a bit, I drain, let them cool and toss them to the chickens. They love them soft. I figure we get the healthy goodness of the beans through eggs and meat, less grain costs feeding them and no guilt of tossing hard earned produce.
I’m with you…I’m getting overwhelmed, and I don’t do a tenth of what you do. The bounty at this time of year reminds me of a line by Lily Tomlin, “I wanted it all–I just didn’t think it would all come at once.” I’m managing to persevere by telling myself that this good stuff just won’t be available in the winter. Okay, sometimes I threaten myself: “Do you want to eat Birds-Eye again?” (Nothing against the Birds-Eye folks…I just don’t know where their food comes from and one thing I can say about my food is that I know exactly where it came from.)
Good luck!
Hiya, just found your blog and am thrilled!
I just wanted to add another voice to the making o’ sauerkraut in the bucket or 1/2 gallon jar. That’s how we do it when we train new Master Food Preservers here in Eugene, OR. If you put a paper bag over the jar, it’s supposed to help it retain vitamins that are light sensitive. Personally, I use a crock, but jars work.
Hiya, just found your blog and am thrilled!
I just wanted to add another voice to the making o’ sauerkraut in the bucket or 1/2 gallon jar. That’s how we do it when we train new Master Food Preservers here in Eugene, OR. If you put a paper bag over the jar, it’s supposed to help it retain vitamins that are light sensitive. Personally, I use a crock, but jars work.
But boy do I ever feel you with not wanting to put up or pick one more thing.
El - thanks for telling me it’s okay to leave the beans in the garden, I’m doing exactly that!
Amy - good idea! I’ve been giving the hens corn cobs after we’re done with them. They LOVE them. Cabbage would likely go over equally well.
Denise - I hope you didn’t find anything too scary under the plastic…
P~ We’ve been giving some away, but not as much as we should have. Thanks for the reminder to start up again.
Heather - wish I was coming down your way, I’d certainly bring you some beans! Let me know if you’re ever up this way and want to work for produce - an extra pair of hands is always welcome.
SophieL - I tried your trick of asking myself what I’d rather be eating this winter and it did wonders for my motivation. Thanks!
Eugenia - thanks for the tips here and by email. It seems to be working like a charm to make sauerkraut in a jar.