A while back I had blogged about our sunflower and cold-frame experiments. We had cut the sunflower heads, put them in paper bags and put them in the basement to dry. When we opened them to remove dry seeds, we discovered that most of the heads rotted. I am not sure, but maybe the heads were not dry enough when we cut them? I read that we could've let the flowers dry in the garden by tying paper bags over the heads while they were still on the stalk. The bags would prevent the birds from getting the seeds and from the seeds falling to the ground, but the air still could get through.(?) If it would rain, the bags would have to be replaced, though. I have my doubts on whether we will attempt that experiment again in the near future.
The hay bale cold-frame experiment? That has been interesting. After about a week, the lettuce and onions started popping through the soil. I was excited! Then, I forgot to "open a window" on a hot day, and the lettuce went down hill fast. Now, the only things that are growing are the onions and something else that I didn't plant. The soil was some compost, and I believe the seeds were already in the soil before it made it to the cold frame. The other issue was that the hay bales themselves started to decompose, which effected how the windows fit on top. So, the lesson learned with this experiment is that we would rather have a hoop house. Maybe next year......
With this being the end of the season for broccoli, we ended up doing 3 banana boxes full the last two days. The boys were big helpers once again.
I decided to try some brussel sprouts. They were sold still on the stalk, so we had to cut them off, soak in salt water, blanch for a few minutes, then into the freezer they went. Only Dave & I like them, so we only bought 5 stalks, which gave us about 6 quart.
We had about 6 head of cauliflower to either put into freezer or can. Some of us love pickled foods, so I found a recipe for pickled cauliflower (vinegar, sugar, celery and mustard seeds and turmeric). I canned 7 qt. and have 2 qt. in fridge to eat. It is not as good as chow chow, so I am not sure how popular our pickled cauliflower is going to be. It is fun to try new things every now & then, and sometimes we discover a winner of recipe that our family loves. To top off the day, Ben brought home the hamburger from the beef we had butchered at the shop where he works. Everyone always enjoys packing the burger. First we weigh it into 5 pound "lumps".
Then it gets packed into ziploc freezer bags, pressed flat and carted off to the freezer.
From the beef, we had as many roasts saved as possible. The shop wrapped and froze those for us. After Thanksgiving, I am going to try my hand at making deli roast beef and I will let you know how that all turns out.
May each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Until next time...........
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