Mother Earth's Garden

If you had a wonderful harvest this year you can give back by donating some of that late season harvest to those less fortunate than you. I’m always thankful for the food that I get from my garden. There’s almost always more than we can eat ourselves.

This time of year there’s not much left from my garden but I do still have some potatoes, winter squash, onions, watermelon, pumpkin, turnips, cabbage, and apples floating around.
If you have some late season bounty why not donate it to a local food kitchen, or make something to take to your food kitchen and …read more

No Comments

My dad gave me a big bag of apples a couple weeks ago. I’m almost to the bottom of the bag, but I still have enough for a few more snacks and a dessert or two.
One of my favorite fall desserts is apple crisp. I have an easy way to make a fall apple crisp that’s loaded with flavor. I cheat just a little and use cinnamon oatmeal (like Quaker’s Cinnamon Roll oatmeal) for the topping. I still add a little exta oatmeal, but the cinnamon flavored oatmeal, yum!
Here’s my super quick and easy recipe for a yummy fall apple …read more

1 Comment

We had our first Fall frost last night, so I spent the evening grabbing the last of the tender vegetables out of the garden, and pulling in houseplants, and any other plants I want to keep through the winter.

I think we’re a little early for our first frost date here in Ohio this year, but not much. I know we don’t usually see frost until October, but it’s usually a little later than October 1st. But this morning Mother Nature gave us our first white coating of frost.

I picked a bagful of peppers, a couple dozen …read more

1 Comment

I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of September already! My garden is still going strong. I’m still picking squash, tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplant, and the last of the cucumbers.
 
The tomatoes have been going crazy, so I’ve been making tons of tomato juice for soups and chili this winter. I’ve also been freezing peppers, and I think I’m going to make some zucchini bread this weekend (or maybe some muffins so I can freeze them).
I also have some watermelons that are about ready to be picked.
Some things are starting to die back, I’ve been slowly picking all …read more

1 Comment

The garden’s cranking it up the last few days, here’s a photo of last nights haul. I’m starting to get tons of peppers, a few red tomatoes, cucumbers, and yellow squash daily.

I’ve been plucking onions almost daily for cooking, and my potatoes are ready to dig. I probably need to get them dug this week.
There’s also a couple eggplant almost ready (another day or two). They’re yummy on the grill.
The tomatoes that are getting ripe are the smaller ones, I have red, yellow, and a dark purple variety here. They’re smaller than the peppers, but they’ll be wonderful …read more

No Comments

It’s that time of the year again. When I’m scurrying around, trying to preserve all the fruits and vegetables in my garden for later. The time when I have squash, green beans and other produce overflowing on my counters and in my fridge.

Over the last couple years I’ve written several posts on how to preserve part of that harvest, with some yummy recipes thrown in there too. I thought I’d revisit some of those posts since we’ll all soon be in a canning and freezing frenzy.

Hot Pepper Jam
Freezing Peppers
My grandma’s recipe for canning red  beets
Freezer Pickles
Zucchini cobbler
Freezing Blueberries

I’ll …read more

1 Comment

I talked the other day about some of my favorite ways to eat asparagus, here’s a yummy recipe from Love Your Veggies that combines asparagus and new potatoes. Perfect for spring cooking from the garden.

Wild West New Potatoes and Asparagus with Ranch-er Dip
You’ll need: For Vegetables: Non-stick vegetable spray 1 ½ pounds unpeeled red new potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half 1 pound asparagus (about 20 spears), washed and trimmed to approximately 4-inches 3 tablespoons olive oil …read more

No Comments

Every year I can and freeze a ton of fruits and vegetables from my garden. There are some fruits, grains, and vegetables that can be kept for long periods of time without any extra preparation from you. Those are some of my favorites. You can extend your garden meals long into the winter if you include some of these long keepers in your garden plans.
Here are some of my favorite fruits and vegetables to grow for their long storage capacity:

Pumpkins and winter squash will keep for most of the winter if you keep them in a cool dry place, …read more

1 Comment

What does a gardener do when the temps are in the teens, and everything is covered with a sheet of ice? Stay inside where it’s warm and cozy and bake cookies of course!
I got some of the Bob’s Red Mill Hulled Hemp Seeds a few days ago, and I’ve been wanting to try it out. So I made some hemp seed cookies.
Here’s the recipe (it’s also on the back of the Red Mill Hemp Seed bag):
Hemp Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of Hulled Hemp Seeds
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup of unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking …read more

5 Comments

Holidays are the perfect time to bake homemade goodies for loved ones, and to make from the heart Christmas gifts. Canning jars are also great to package up dry mixes to give as a hostess gift, or to friends and relatives. I always try to have a few mixes made up for those last minute gifts I’ve forgotten about.
Here’s a recipe originally from Ball Canning’s Fresh Preserve website:
Pumpkin Pie Bars

You’ll need one or more (depending on how many gifts you want to make) Ball wide mouth canning jars with lids.
A small decorative or handmade card to write or …read more

10 Comments