Fall Fresh Tomatoe Salsa From Your Garden

When your summer garden is just about coming to an end, the tomatoes are just taking off.  We have more tomatoes than we need, so I have a recipe for FRESH TOMATOE SALSA  from the garden. 
So far I have made tons of tomatoe jam which I have done in a canner and I hope to give it away at Christmas for gifts.  It is delicious! 
A good friend came by today and gave me a bag of Chile peppers and with all my tomatoes---you guessed!
Here is my recipe:   3 cups chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup green bell pepper, 1 cup of onion diced, 1/4 cup cilantro chopped, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 4 tsp. jalapeño pepper, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. 
Just stir it together and chill for 2 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips.
I hope you like my salsa recipe !  You will feel good because you will have used all your tomatoes.
Fall is fast approaching the garden.  The colors are so vivid and the air has a feel to it that you really know your garden is about through producing.  However, we are adding nutrients and fresh soil where the old crop was and getting ready to plant some root vegetables.  Shallots and onion sets along with garlic will make good stews and soups. 
Happy munching and planting! 
Basil Babe

A Small Sustainable Farm On Three Acres or Less

After gradually reaping the fall harvest for the last two years I have come to realize we actually have made for ourselves a small sustainable farm on less than three acres. 
We love being outside and planting anything that we get an appetite for, and veggies that we can store up for the winter.  We just harvested all our grapes.  I put them in trays and covered them with cheesecloth I found at the “dollar store”.  I have half of them cleaned and put in small jam jars and  tomorrow I will start on the ones that have taken a little longer to dry.   YES,  I have about twenty jars of delicious raisins. 
Last week we finished drying and roasting sunflower seeds.  I have four quart jars in the pantry for my husband and son to enjoy over the winter.  I soaked them overnight in a salt brine and in the morning, drained them and put them single layered in the oven for 40 minutes at 300 . 
We have 15 chickens that give us about ten eggs every day and they have room to roam and at night they go back to their safety hen house. 
The tomatoes are still going crazy so I am picking  today to make cherry tomato jam.  I will give you the recipe if you like this and have an abundant crop of cherry tomatoes.
2 pounds of cherry tomatoes,  3 Tablespoons olive oil, 2/3 cup champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar,  1 whole large shallot, minced, 4 cloves garlic minced, 3/4  cup sugar, zest from one lemon, 1 Tablespoon salt.
In a large heavy saucepan, cook the cherry tomatoes. vinegar, salt, sugar, olive oil, shallots, garlic, and lemon over low heat, stirring frequently.  The mixture will rapidly begin to liquefy as the tomatoes break down.  Keep stirring!  This jam is a bit prone to scorching.  After about an hour of low heat reduction, most of the water will be gone.  Let cool and check the consistency.  It should resemble a traditional jelly or jam when cool.  Ladle into small jam jars and process in boiling water for fifteen minutes. 
Another prize crop we grew this year was our butter nut squash.  We have about fifteen of them.   I love butter nut squash baked with brown sugar or maple syrup.  We are leaving them on the vine until  October so the skin will harden and they will keep longer. 
We have about six pumpkins and they are still growing and changing color to a deep orange.  These are just for fun, because I prefer canned pumpkin to cook with.
Our corn crop did not do well, along with the green beans. 
Our pear trees must have a fungus because they are coated with a hard scalely brown coating on the fruit. 
All in all I really believe that anyone can have a small sustainable farm if that is your goal.  Ours took us all of two years to get enough to really enjoy and feel encouraged that we did it.

Smell the Sea Air

                                                                                                                                                               

This is day two of our relaxing get-away to the beach.  This was taken at 6:30 a.m. and it was just the two of us, our coffee and cinnamon roll and sea spray.  It looks to be cold but it really was not, as neither of us had a jacket on.  There was some sort of a boat out at sea, maybe a fishing vessel but we couldn’t tell from the distant roar of the ocean.  The tide was low which made it perfect for collecting smooth rocks and small driftwood.  I enjoyed just spending time looking for certain shapes and colors to add to my flower bed at home. 

Later in the day we ended up at a fish restaurant to satisfy our appetites for seafood and chowder.

We have one more trip planned for this summer to do something similar. 

Our garden is finally starting to come to an end, but I do believe tomatoes just keep producing for as long as the weather is warm.  We have a friend that loves to come and help us out with chores and harvesting all the sunflower seeds, so I can salt and roast them. 

My chickens are slowing down a bit on their eggs but they are two years old and I really like having them around. 

A Much Needed Vacation

    

                      BEACH AT SAN SIMEON

We are happy to have escaped our responsibilities for a few days to this quiet lovely place along the California coast. 

We found ourselves out on the beach at 6:30 A.M. having our coffee and a freshly baked cinnamon roll we had picked up.  The beach was right behind our hotel so we could walk down and not worry about having make-up or hair  combed.   I found myself picking up shells and jade rocks in the little coves and exploring in the tide pools until I stepped in the wrong place and got squirted right in my eye.  I presumed it was a sea anemone, a flower looking thing, that squirts water .

Soon, I spotted a large friendly dog running towards me and when he got near, turned and ran the other direction.  My husband Paul, tried his luck at fishing, using squid as bait.  The seaweed was so thick he got all tangled up and it took him most of the time to get his line untangled. 

After a time we went back to our room and cleaned up to go shopping in the quaint seaside village of Cambria.  We found a outdoor restaurant  where we could sit and enjoy our  food and watch the whales spouting out at sea. 

We had a very restful time and it seemed like we were gone a lot longer than we were.  Sometimes these kind of trips are much more relaxing than big scheduled vacations. 

Easter Sunrise

 

 

He is risen---He is risen indeed!    He is not here!   Read the story for yourself in Mark  15 and 16.   This is what the real Easter is all about. 

We attended a fresh, country experience this morning  at our community folk gathering up on the mountain.  It was cold but everyone wears the warm clothing .  We all hopped on a hay wagon at the local church, and a tractor drove us up to the sight .  They had a pit fire to warm the hands, and coffee to warm the heart.  The message was on “surveying the cross”, with a local county surveyor to give highlights on doing surveys.   We all sang “ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”. 

Before we knew it, the hay wagon was there to pick us all up and take us back down to the church where there was a wonderful hot breakfast  being cooked! 

I do hope you all had a special, meaningful  Easter Sunday.  It is really a privilege to have the freedom to worship our Lord.

Springtime is Here

 

I have red and yellow bell peppers growing in the greenhouse, peas, and two new pink calla lily's.  I love the pink color and the freshness of new spring green.  The giant pink tulips are not quite here yet, but I give them about two weeks. 

I had a “girly day” at my house last week.  We sipped tea and ate little sandwiches of egg salad, chicken with cashews, and dill, cucumber, with cream cheese.  After the tea sandwiches we had little tea cookies, and Madeleine's.  I used my silver tea set and china cups and saucers.  So beautiful, that everyone wants to do it again! 

The weather was perfect and we even sat outside on the patio with our tea and cookies.  We all indulged and then had to go home to make dinner. 

Spring always makes one want to do something beautiful and different, so we did exactly that.  I hope some more of my friends will be able to come the next time , and just relax. 

 

Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13   So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.  And people should eat  and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Touring Backyard Chicken Coops

 

In Davis California there is the largest Farmers Market in the country.  Farmers come from hundreds of miles away to sell their organic vegetables.  It takes place every Saturday, rain or shine.  They sell beautiful hand made baskets, (to place your goods in and purchase).  Fresh, ready made hummus to try and buy, fresh organic eggs, and etc. 

They also sponsor a bicycle tour of backyard chicken coops, for those of us who are into raising chickens.  It is called “Tour de Cluck”.  This is very innovative for this to be a part of the “Market”. This area is really into eating healthy and staying organic. 

Davis University is there in the midst, and everyone rides bicycles or walks to have coffee and pastries or out to an “Al Fresco” late dinner.  It seems to be a safe place even after hours. 

The person who runs the whole Market has been doing it for thirty years and she has gotten to be friends with all the growers over time.  They even put out a cookbook with different recipes from the vendors that have been there every week.  It is called the DAVIS FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOK.  It gives one a chance to taste a sample of California’s small farms.  The book gives a little history on the area and people involved with the market. 

I hope you get to visit and spend the day “at the Market”.