On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 16:46:14 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:


>Zukes can be pickled in slices and can be made into a tasty relish. Run
>over to Walmart and get the latest version of the Ball Blue Book. I've
>even succesfully frozen zuke slices in vac bags and then added them to
>stews and soups, same with eggplant slices. Moussaka freezes well too.

And since my charming new (hey, it's not quite a year yet) husband is
of Greek extraction that would be most appropriate. I even have his
mother's recipe. <grin> Ok, so I have her personal three volume
family cookbook. Yes, three volumes of family recipes. Yikes! Talk
about intimidating a new bride...

>I think you're probably in zone 8, maybe 7. You can go to the USDA
>website and put in your zip code and it will tell you. You're in Monroe
>area right?

Yep, zone 8. I did check. I don't find the local extension office a
lot of help, I must admit. I'm out in the boonies and not a farmer.
LOL.

>I plant a second crop of green beans in August to carry through the mild
>part of the winter down south of you.

Good. I will probably go put in a row or three this week then. I'm
accustomed to gardening in the intensive manner but the guy who did
the garden for me (disabilities suck) did it the old way with long,
raised rows. I have a two acre lot so space is not a problem for the
first time in my life and my usual method of vertical gardening does
not seem to be necessary. Well, not this year anyway.

>Food bank, needy neighbors, Doc Charlie's patients, lots of people like
>fresh produce.

Yeah, I could show up at the ER with food. LOL. He's not in private
practice these days so I'm a little limited but generally food in the
ER is greeted cheerfully. That *is* an option. The neighbors are all
trying to dump food on me...

I do think I'll go see if we have a local food bank that will take
extra produce though. Heck, if we do, I'll plant more for them!

>Ask some specifics Loki and this group will help you. Also a book
>"Putting Food By" is good but I like the Ball Blue Book better myself.
>If you have a Big Lots nearby they sell fruit jars and lids at cheaper
>prices than any others I've found except for thrift stores and garage
>sales. Hang in there, either the bugs will get their share or the
>critters in the urban environment or the woods will get some of it.
>We're having to pick tomatoes at the barely pink stage to get them
>before the squirrels do.

I am losing my tomatoes to them, I know. I got the first cherry
tomato today before they found it! Well, probably not THE first, but
the first one *I* saw.

I grabbed your sweet pickle recipe. I'm going to try that later in
the week when those little cukes that were *everywhere* today are a
bit bigger. I've got a bunch of jars from last year when I didn't
manage to get the garden in but my loving husband wanted to be sure I
had enough jars for the produce I hadn't grown yet. <grin> I will
check out Big Lots though. We have one in Monroe. I know I'm going
to run out of quart jars. I didn't plan on needing a lot of those.

Is this blue book different from the one last year? I have that one.
It's just been sooooooo long since I even did jelly that I feel like a
newbie at it. I don't have any family recipes at all and am wondering
which ones folks here like best that are in the ball blue book? There
are a lot and I don't know where to start!

I know I want to do sweet pickles. Chuck does not like dill pickles
(or pickles at all) so I will limit my pickles to just the sweet ones.
What else do folks do with cukes?

I make them up with onions in a vinegar, water, sugar mix and eat
those every day with cheese and bread for lunch. I also do a Thai
stir fry with cukes, tomatoes and scallions (and some beef) that is
wonderful and I can eat every day too. But, Chuck is home a few days
a week so I need more ideas.

I want to do tomato sauce, tomato paste (if that's possible), tomato
juice (not much, but I use it in marinades so some), crushed tomatoes,
diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, spaghetti sauce (will freeze that),
and whatever else folks here recommend. I didn't get my Principe
borghese tomatoes in this year so I won't do sun dried tomatoes but
next year I plan to. Well, oven dried, I think it's too humid here to
let the sun do the work.

I suppose I'll make this a trial year for a lot of things.

Oh, and the HUGE fig tree is loaded as is the neighbor's that hangs
over our fence. Those will be ripe soon so fig jam/preserves/whatever
but what else?

>Glad to hear you've settled into north Louisiana though.

Well, sorta. See, there is this lack of animal control (complete
lack) and this excess of stray dogs and well, I can't stand to see a
stray hungry or sick or anything so we now have 8 dogs and adding
more. I'm the new Humane Society down here. We currently have 2 labs
(one black, one cream), one golden retriever, and one tiny spaniel up
for adoption. There rest are my own dogs.

Poor Chuck is a cat person. He *must* love me.

No, settled does not describe my life. <laugh>

Loki