Urban Homesteading: Putting up Produce (Cherries)

As I have mentioned I am enjoying our little community garden. However, in reality most of us city-folk do not have the space to grow enough fruits and vegetables for our family to eat. And we definitely  do not grow enough to can or put food up for the winter. One of the keys to homesteading regardless of your location is the ability to look around you and use what you have available to you. A benefit of living in the city is all the local markets and ethnic groceries. Here in Southern California we have a wide variety of produce available to us and if I keep an eye out I can get amazing deals when markets are trying to quickly sell large amounts of fresh produce.

I posted about our great deal on zucchini last year. This past week a market in town offered fresh locally grown sweet cherries for 99 cents per pound. How could I pass that up? I quickly picked up about 11 pounds and called a friend to borrow a cherry pitter. I was able to process all the cherries over the course of two days. During the cleaning, pitting, and processing I had lots of little helpers appear in the kitchen. Little Luke would hear the sound of the pitter and come running with his mouth wide open for a fresh cherry.

After eating a bunch fresh for every meal including snacks, I was able to freeze a few pounds for summer smoothies. I also made a batch of fresh cherry jam. The jam was delicious over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

One evening as I was finishing up the last of the processing I decided that a fresh cherry cobbler was called for. I did not get a picture since Shane and I quickly dug in when it came out of the oven but I assure you it was the perfect evening snack.

If you don't have a big garden to provide food for your family year round start looking for opportunities to preserve fresh produce for the winter. For the next few months, most fruits and vegetables will be fresh, at their peak season, and at their lowest prices. You may have a neighbor with a lemon tree or an abundance of produce from their garden. Or you might be able to find a great deal at the grocery store this week. With a little extra work now you will be able to provide good, healthy food options for your table this coming winter without breaking the food budget.

Spring Garden Update

Our garden has included lots of learning and some trail and error. We have learned so much in the 7 months we have been growing. Last fall we had a few veggies from the garden we were able to eat but also some plants that never produced something edible. I mentioned some of our plans to grow cucumbers, a variety of peppers, a few types of tomatoes, and some summer squash. Well I am happy to report that we are having a little more success so far this spring. I am still learning a lot about how much water the plants need and how to keep the critters and bugs out of our garden.

Luke's favorite is cucumbers. I have to keep a close eye on him when we are out watering because he will sneak over and grab one to eat. He is super stealth! We tried to grow our cucumbers in a little circle to grow up a round cage. It works ok but in the future I think we will try something a little different that will give the plants a little more room. There are 4 plants in there and they seem a little too crowded.

In the picture above you can see our gigantic summer squash. We have two different types growing: one is a variety of patty squash and the other is a small round summer squash. We choose these two because they are best when picked around 3 inches big so it is a quick harvest. This is perfect for the kids who may get a little restless waiting for longer crops. I would definitely recommend them if you have little helpers in the garden. Just remember to give each plant plenty of space to grow.

Here is what we have harvested so far in the last week or so, minus the cucumbers that are devoured before making it to the house.

The kids are so excited. It is amazing how much more adventurous eaters they are when they get to see the veggies grow. And to be completely honest, I'm very excited too. I may be becoming a little bit obsessed with this little garden of ours. Do you have a garden? Some herbs growing in a window? What are you growing this year for your family?

Mom's Cranberry Bread Recipe

Growing up my mom would make Cranberry Bread every year. It is delicious and we all looked forward to it every fall and winter. It is traditionally made during the holidays but I like any excuse to make it. A whole bag of cranberries have been sitting in the freezer waiting to be turned into bread and today was the day. I thought I'd share the recipe with you in case any of you would like to make some for your family.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 cup real mayonnaise
4 eggs
5 cups flour
2 cup sugar (plus a little for sprinkling)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 tsp orange zest (plus a little for sprinkling)
3 to 4 cups halved cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 loaf pans and sprinkle with sugar.

Mix orange juice, mayo, and eggs. Then add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Blend just until moist. Over mixing will make your bread a little dense. Fold in the nuts, and cranberries.

Pour into your prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle with sugar and orange zest and gently pat down. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until done. Let the loaves cool for 10 minutes then remove from pans and let finish cooling on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

Tips:

- You can make them without the walnuts. It is still yummy. I occasionally make it nut-free so my daughter can take some to school or if I just don't have walnuts handy.

- You can half the recipe and make one large loaf. Just increase the baking time slightly. You may need to cover with foil the last 15 minutes so the top doesn't burn.

- After completely cool wrap 2 of the loaves tightly in a couple layers of plastic wrap and freeze them. Simply set a frozen loaf on the counter before you go to bed and you will have a nice breakfast ready to go in the morning.

- My favorite way to eat cranberry bread is toasted with butter. Serve it with fresh fruit and milk or coffee for breakfast. Or slice off a thick piece for a quick and satisfying afternoon snack.

Garden Planning: Spring 2013

(Sydney's lunch)

We are participating in a community garden. It is such a great way for us to get into the earth and grow some of our own food. It has been a learning experience already for me and it is fun to see the kids learning about where their food comes from. Sydney loves to go out on a weekend and pick stuff for her own lunch. We started some seeds back in September and were able to successfully grow lots of lettuce and carrots. The broccoli was attacked and enjoyed by caterpillars but with a little help and watching them closely every day we were able to save some and now we have some broccoli coming in. The snap peas and shelling peas did not make it.

Now the the new year has begun I have grand plans for this little 4' X 24' garden of ours. I am not sure how much food I can grow from it but I'm determined to use this year to learn a lot and maybe grow a few dinners too. I just recently planted lots more carrots since those are a favorite of the girls to pick and eat. Some kale seeds were also started in an nice spot near the broccoli. Hopefully in a couple weeks we will have lots of new little shots coming in.

This spring I'd also like to grow cucumbers, a variety of peppers, a few different types of tomatoes, and some summer squash. The seeds are ordered and have been received. Now I'm just waiting for the right time to get these started. Do you have or want a garden? What are your best gardening tips? What are you hoping to grow this year?

New Year Inspiration

Life seems to be speeding up the older I get. The evidence? Look how big my kids are getting and how long it has been since I posted here. Does that keep happening with each passing year? Some days I feel like I can barely keep up with everything and other days I remember to slow down and look around. It is hard to be present: to see those sweet little faces looking up at me and asking to play, to listen to their thoughts about life, to feel their warm embraces, to recall the importance of slowing down and taking the time to be purposeful in each day, each activity, each moment I have. Please don't think I have figured this out. Truth be told, most days have moments when I choose to be online again or look at my to do list for the 10th time in an hour as if something will magically be completed instead of actually doing something on the list.

A new year brings so much hope and encouragement. We talk about goals for this year. It is a time to set aside bad habits and begin again. This year has me thinking about what are the most important roles or things in my life right now. I'm learning that sometimes I need to say no to good things in order to focus on the few things I can maybe learn to be great in. Being a mom to three young kids is definitely near the top of that list. Being a godly wife is too.

I have some specific ideas and goals I'd like to work on that relate to the things I share here. I'd love to keep growing our little garden and see how much we can actually grow and harvest from it. Hopefully, more crafting and sewing time will appear in the schedule now that the house is unpacked and mostly organized. I have never really shared this much before but I'd like to work on my writing. The goal is not a book or anything crazy like that but simply to learn how to communicate better through the written word. Naturally, the blog is a good place to practice if I can get in the habit of sharing here more often.

What are your goals for this year? What are you excited about? What are you anticipating for 2013?

Inspiration Saturday: Quilts

I am wishing for fall and cooler weather. Autumn is my favorite season. I love the cooler air, the sweaters, warm tea and cocoa, slow cooking soups and stews for dinner, making homemade bread every few days, and just about everything else that comes with the season. When the weather gets cooler I love having homemade blankets to snuggle under. I have seen some amazing quilts online lately and wanted to share some with you. So grab some tea or cocoa, pretend it is cold outside, and enjoy the eye candy.

Fabricworm recently shared this soft Bella By the Sea or by Land quilt. I love the gentle curves and color choices. This would be a great pattern to showcase some of your favorite larger prints.

Blue Elephant Stitches inspired me with this simple white and lime zig zag quilt. I love the playful backing she choose. I think something like this would look amazing in any kids room or even in a living room. Imagine something simple like this with a fun Anna Maria Horner print on the back or even one of her flannels to add a little warmth. Jolene already sold this quilt but go check out her store for more cheerful goodies.

Finally I saw this adorable heart quilt on Pinterest. It is a quilt from earlier this year from Heather Cartwright at Quilt Barn. The quilting on this totally makes the quilt. I am eager to try something like this. I don't know if I'll do a whole quilt though. I'm thinking some sort of winter inspired table runner might be fun. We shall see.

I love finding inspiration online. There are so many talented artists and sewers out there. If you have been inspired by a quilt recently share a link in the comments so I can check it out. If you want to see more of the quilts that caught my eye you can check out my Pinterest board.

Preserving Zucchini

We are settling into our new home. It feels so different to move into a house versus an apartment. Things feel more permanent. I love that we can dream about someday changing this or doing that. It is a huge blessing and a dream we didn't think would happen. At least not this early nor this way. 

Unpacking and organizing are top priority around here but as we settle into the daily routine I have begun having sudden urges to sew, crochet, bake, and preserve. We just spent some time last weekend planting some seeds for the garden we will soon begin. I know it seems weird to start a garden in September but we have been looking forward to it for so long and living in Southern California allows us to have a late season harvest, hopefully. I've been seeking wisdom everywhere I can, including Pinterest.

The planning and planting created a desire to can and preserve immediately. Of course you can't plant on the weekend and expect to can during the week. So when I saw fresh zucchini at the market for 59 cents per pound I made an impulse buy. After getting home with my 5 pounds of zucchini I quickly realized that I had not thought this all the way through. You see it is 90 degrees here most days and we have no air conditioner, no cooler, not even ceiling fans. So as much as this zucchini spread is begging me to make and eat it I just couldn't commit to having the stove on for hours today. So what to do? 

I shredded up all the zucchini and froze it in 2 cups portions. It is the perfect amount for a loaf of zucchini bread this fall or winter when we need to warm up the house. I might also use some in a pasta dish or these zucchini tots for my growing boy. Of course that spread is still calling me so I'm hoping for cooler weather long before zucchini season is over. 

And in case you are curious, this is what it looks like at my feet when I'm working in the kitchen during the day. My little helpers busy playing together.