First canning of the season

It is that time of year again, time for canning. I ordered a box of cosmetically challenged nectarines which was the first project we took on. These nectarines were delicious but at 10 lbs you can only eat so many which is the perfect time to can.

First we made Nectarine Jam using the recipe from the pectin box.

Then we made nectarine butter from Blue Ribbon Preserves

It is carrot season and we have gotten a ton of them in the weekly box, to avoid wasting them I decided we should can them and the parsnips. We used the recipe in Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

 With all the zucchini we have been getting it was time to make more zucchini relish. I love the stuff and we always use it up before the next year. We used our standard recipe from Ball Blue Book of Home Preserving

Katie loves the jars, they are very pretty. 

How is the garden growing?

I have had several people ask how the garden is doing this year. I keep taking pictures intending to post but then more changes and the pictures feel out of date. I took these pictures last Monday and it has grown since then.

This is what we got out of the garden on Monday. The beets were ready so that is about 30 of them, quite yummy. Of course lots of squash, it is growing well and I have it everywhere in my house. We pick it almost daily.

This is the largest tomato plant. We planted a lot less tomatoes this year but they are growing well and have small green tomatoes we are waiting on to get ripe.

Something new this year was planting garlic, that is what these thin plants are.

There are peas growing up the netting along the fence.

The kale has done well and is huge.

Here we have cucumber and some other plants. We have them climbing the cages to help save on ground space.

The pepper plants have been attacked by bugs this year, only a few have survived and they are quite small but there are peppers growing on them.

Here are the squash, a wide variety are growing and they are all doing well. No pumpkins yet but the hubbard are going a little crazy.

We have already harvested and eaten the artichokes.

Here is another looks at the peas and garlic.

Not pictured is the corn with has grown about 5 inches in the last week. They are planted around the peach tree and rhubarb on the other side of the yard.