Summer time is gardening time and for some reason the food you grow yourself always tastes better than anything you can buy. Maybe it’s all the time, effort, and love you put into your little garden that gives the vegetables a little something extra.
Personally, I am still pretty new to the gardening experience but it is a big tradition in my husband’s family and they have been teaching me a lot over the years.
An absolute must in the Anderson gardens are tomatoes. This year there were over 60 plants, enough for everybody in the family. Since we can’t possibly eat all of them fresh – although a big family favorite is a fresh tomato and mayonnaise sandwich – we can the rest either whole or as juice and some tomatoes are even turned into homemade salsa with a store bought seasoning mix.
Another big hit is corn. Most of the harvest will be frozen, some shucked and some not, but with it being a regular ingredient for Sunday dinners, this is not only very convenient but also supplies us with homegrown corn all throughout the winter.
Something new to our garden are cucumbers. Whatever doesn’t make it into fresh summer salads will be turned into pickles. The latest trend in the Anderson family is jarred freshly pickled spicy cucumber slices. A combination of vinegar, water, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper poured over the cucumber slices and heated up for about 60 seconds in the microwave will do the trick. After placing the cucumbers in a sealed jar in the fridge, they usually don’t last longer than a day or two.
Since my husband loves everything spicy, the most important plants in our garden are the pepper plants: jalapeno and banana peppers. I prepare them in two different ways:
1. Pickled Pepper Slices:
- Fill a Mason’s jar with sliced hot peppers – you may want to wear gloves to cut all these peppers
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of salt – depending on the size of your jar
- Bring white distilled vinegar to a boil and pour it over the peppers, covering them entirely – also, put the lid into boiling water for a little while
- Take the lid out of the boiling water, close your jar tightly and turn it over – you can hear it “click” as it seals after a few minutes
2. Pickled Peppers, Carrots and Onions:
- Slice your hot peppers, cut an onion and some carrots into bite size pieces – or use baby carrots
- Layer the vegetables into a Mason’s jar
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of salt – depending on the size of your jar
- Put the lid into boiling water while boiling white distilled vinegar
- Pour the vinegar over the vegetables, covering them completely
- With your lid close your jar tightly and turn it over – you can hear it “click” as it seals after a few minutes
Keep the jars in a cabinet until you use them. Once opened, store them in the fridge for about a month – if they last you that long.
