We Be Jammin'...Again

So, local fruit market has some beautiful Eastern Washington apricots for a great deal. Recognizing that I didn't get my 1/2 flats x2 of raspberries this year (gasp!), and that apricot jam is second only to raspberry as my favorite kind of jam, it was a no-brainer.

So lovely, and large too! The ones on the bottom looked a little green, so I figured we could start off by eating our fill of the perfectly ripe one, then start jamming when the others began ripening. Hubby, Middle Monkey, and I ate quite a few this week, and what you see in the box is after I took out a jam-batch worth.
So good! The picture gives them a green hue for some reason, but as I was chopping them up, I was reveling in their beautiful rosiness.

Look at the beauty there! It was a bit foamy, and I didn't put butter in, but knew hubby would be thrilled. The scum is his favorite.

My eldest comes in after I'd gotten them canned up (save for the remnant jar in front). "Oh, did you caramelize that Mom??" "Oh yeah, isn't that great?", is my response while trying not to laugh. The color is gorgeous, however, not the color I aim for while making apricot jam. After I had cleaned up the stovetop area and gotten utensil loaded into the dishwasher, I 'fessed up with this:

Not so lovely scorched spot in the pot. I had forgotten that apricots have a tendency to burn more easily than the normal berries I use (this has happened to me before), but was so very careful not to scrape it while stirring so there wouldn't be any nasty flecks in the jam. End result: Yummy apricot jam with a hint of smoke at the finish. I've been using the Ball brand classic pectin. I get more jam for the money than using the pre-measured pectin, and I get it at my favorite hardware store, where they also have jars, lids, etc. cheaper than anyone else around here. I have to admit though, I cheat a little. According to the recipe, you aren't supposed to do more than 5x the batch listed on the label. I consistently do 6x as the numbers come out a little more even for measuring, and I like that.
And, hubby likes this:

Happy Crafting!

A Very Welcome Wet Wednesday

And, we have rain:

 It has been a long time since we've had "real rain". Very light sprinkles yes, but this was an honest-to-God downpour. The rain woke me up in the middle of the night, I smiled, and promptly fell back into a peaceful sleep. Fast forward a few hours: dragged myself out of comfy bed to go on a morning walk, and enter the thunder. Hmmm...walk on. Enter thunder and friend lightning and mild rain. Walk off. Before I knew it thunder and lightning were overlapping, rain became pour...

 Here is a glimpse of the gushing gutters (there was plenty of overflow off of the roof as well), and standing water in the garden.

Here's a peek at the new garden space...the new plants seemed to be holding up okay. I was a little worried about them in the downpour.
Just ran some buckets out to catch the rain to save on watering when the rain does go away in a day or so. It looks to be in the mid-80's again by Monday.
Welcome to the Pacific Northwest.

Enjoy your welcome wet Wednesday PNWers. Hope it helps the firefighters on the East side of the Mountains.
I'm going to work and craft inside, guilt-free, today.

School Garden Weekly Update

It's still chugging away...

The garden definitely wasn't loving the heat we had the past couple of weeks, but it's still hanging in there, and the weeds haven't come back either.

Tomato and tomatillos had some blossom drop which could be attributed to the heat, or lack of pollination. I haven't seen many bees when we've visited. 

The cukes seem pretty happy, or at least pleasantly green. It's time to watch for their tendrils and get those running up the side so they don't latch onto the tomatillos. 

Onions and nasturtiums are growing well. I am really wanting those nasturtiums to go nuts and call in the bees. :) 

The rest of the seeds are still showing, but not showing a lot of development. We'll see. 

I'm chomping at the bit to get those fall/winter crop seeds in, but need to wait a few more weeks.

Still hoping someone will come in once school starts with a plan for Garden Club or for one of the classrooms. 

Until then, I'm happy to keep it "presentable". 

Have a great afternoon!

School Garden Update

Happy Wednesday!
It's starting to heat up around here -starting Saturday it looks to be in the low-mid 90's around here. Pretty warm for us. About time for us to drag the portable a/c unit in.
Because it's been warm, and about to get warmer -I've been checking in on the school garden a little more frequently. The school sprinkler system comes on about 3 times per week, but I'm concerned about those little transplants and seeds getting enough water.
I've started taking my watering can down a couple times a week to supplement.
They seem pretty happy:

The tomatillos are starting to sport some fruit and get some new growth at the base. Tomato looks happy, but no blossoms yet, same with the cukes.

 Tiny mustard and chard sprouts coming out...hopefully they won't bolt immediately.

A lone nasturtium sprout.
And...

Happy onions! 

It's hard to see, but to the right of the onions, there are a zillion little lettuce sprouts.

So far so good.

I'm hoping with enough moisture and all this warm weather, the sprouts should be all up by next week. My plan is to do a weekly school garden update. So look for more (green!) next week. 

This little bed has definitely inspired us to look at some square foot gardening next year in our own garden beds. Maybe even do one specifically for a fall/winter crop this year -we've got room to add in one more bed. :) 

Have a great day!

School Garden Update

It's been the better part of a week since I did any significant work at the school garden beds, but I'm excited to see how it will come out.

 The top of the bed faces North. Starting from the NW corner, left to right, this is what was planted:
Row 1: Cukes x4, Row 2: tomatillos x4, Row 3: empty, unknown type tomato, tomatillos x2, Row 4: nasturtiums, empty x3, Row 5: empty, lettuce x2, chard, Row 6: nasturtiums, lettuce x2, mustard greens, Row 7: empty, onions x2, empty, Row 8: nasturtiums, carrots x3.
The first three rows utilized extra starts that were thinned from my garden, except the tomato that was a volunteer. I'm very curious to see what variety it is -we had quite a few different ones last year.
The nasturtiums I put in for color and to bring back the bees that the previous resident clover did. Also, they're edible and pretty in a salad. :)

The empty squares, I plan to utilize as fall crops, and plant seeds in about a month. Going to try: beets, turnips, cabbage, and more greens.
These are very late plantings, especially the seeds, even by Puget Sound planting standards. The spring was much drier and warmer than normal, and summer is looking the same. A lot of crops are kicking off earlier this year than they would in a "normal" year. Check my berry  post for more on early crops. I was very glad to see that the sprinkler system is working, and hoping it will carry the transplants through the warmer days.
Overall, I'm really not sure how these plantings are going to work out.
We'll call it a summer science experiment. :)
Hopefully, there will be something for the students to check out once school starts.
I would LOVE it if the fall crops come out well and a class or two could use the beets to pickle or use for dyes: science and art, two of kids' favorite subjects! If there are any NHE teachers reading this, please comment or email me if you have an idea for the fall crops (or any of the summer leftovers!). Pinterest has some good ideas for using fall veggies.
If the kids could use these to make a snack, that would be my dream come true! I think it is so important for kids to learn where food comes from and how to utilize it from a fresh and local source. Unfortunately, there always seems to be a lot of red tape where this is concerned. If you have interest in a garden for a school you work at or that your children attend, check out the Teaching Gardens hosted by the American Heart Association. They've come up with a program to combat childhood obesity by teaching children the steps of gardening: planting, nurturing, and harvesting. While it teaches them the value of being able to produce their own food and good eating habits, it's also giving them hands-on science, math, and heck, you can even work art into it!
Another thing it incorporates, is just good old-fashioned time outside, another thing many children just don't get enough of, and this subject could be another post on it's own. Until it is however, let me just give you the title of the book I'm reading right now on the subject: The Last Child in the Woods.
Before I really get going, and you stop reading, let's go enjoy the beautiful day -rain or shine!
Garden on friends...