The Modern Victory Garden

It feels like fall today.   The sky has been grey and overcast and the temperature decidedly cooler   I really need some warm sunshine to return soon so that the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and corn can finish maturing and ripening their main season crop.                              

This afternoon (after the weekend errands were completed), I spent about two hours in the garden attending to various items.   Here's what I did today:

• Sprayed all of the cole crops (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbages, kale, and kohlrabi) with Bt.   Hand picked and crushed some cabbage worms from the youngest cabbage plants late last week, so they definitely needed a spray of Bt.
• Added compost to two emptied garden bed sections and worked it all in.
• Transplanted 10 broccoli seedlings (Umpqua), 5 chinese cabbages (Tender Heart), and 4 lettuces (Super Gourmet Blend).
• Direct seeded a 4'X2' section of lettuces (Super Gourmet Blend) using the block planting method.
• Direct seeded a 4'X2' section of spinach (Bloomsdale Savoy) again using the block planting method.

Before coming in for the afternoon, I picked several items for tonight's dinner prep.                                          

The large tomato is a Legend fruit and the two smaller ones are Stupice.   The green zucchini have quit producing entirely and I am tempted to just pull the two plants up.   Luckily the gold zucchini has been producing nicely and has been keeping us well supplied.   The sugar snap peas (Cascadia) are amazingly still producing - despite the significant heat wave we recently experienced.             

Since the weather is cool and gloomy this week, I am going to take advantage of that and get some preserving done.   To get ready, I ground a large amount of wheat berries into whole-wheat flour, bagged it into a large freezer bag, and then put it in the freezer.   This allowed me to remove the grain grinder from the kitchen counter for a few weeks and replace it with the food processor.   The freezer supply of whole-wheat flour will cover my baking needs for a while.   I have a rather small kitchen and counter space is at a premium.   I want the food processor out and available for the next month or so while I work on processing the summer garden harvests.   Unfortunately, I just don't have enough counter space for both items and have to swap them out. 

Last night I picked six pounds of red cabbage.                          

Every "red" cabbage I have ever grown has been distinctly "purple" in color.    I don't know if this is just the varieties I tend to choose - or if this is actually the case for everyone else too.   If it is, why don't they call them purple cabbages instead?   Just wondering!                                     

The cabbages were harvested because I am making a batch of spiced red cabbage relish.   I removed the tough outer leaves and cores.   I then cut them into chunks so that they would fit into the feed tube of our food processor.        

Don't they look purple to you too?                                   

The shredded cabbage was then placed in a bowl, layered with canning/pickling  salt throughout.                                         

The bowl was then covered and set aside to sit for 24 hours.                

Tonight at about 10 pm it will have been 24 hours, so just before going to bed I will rinse this entire batch well to remove the salt and then lay it out on paper towel lined trays to dry overnight.   By tomorrow morning (Sunday) it will be ready to be processed into spiced red cabbage relish.   I am planning to pick green beans tomorrow morning too and make a batch of dilly green beans as well.   Since I will have the canner going, might as well get two things done while I am at it.

I will post tomorrow and let you know how everything turned out.