FauxPas

I know how rain has made me feel down at times. Last Fall, it seemed that we slogged through more than 2 months of non-stop wet dreariness. But I am not going to feel so bad about rain in the near future as we are now on Stage 3 water restrictions and we couldn't even see the sun for the past 2 days (on what would have been bright sunny days) because of all the smoke in the air from dozens of forest fires. I hated the rain here at times, but now that we really need it.... I guess I'm saying I'm going to try and feel better about all the good things that rain brings, if only we would get some again! At the same time, I do know what it's like to have a dreary wet summer when all you really want is some sun and a bit of warmth. Don't want to sound preachy!!!!

Thank you all! And thank you for the laughs! What i'm taking from this and some other info I have gathered is that the fence around the yard isn't the right thing to focus on. We can't extend the height of the fence w/o considerable cost and we would have to have agreement with the neighbours on two sides. The fence at the back of the property is almost 10 feet high, but the deer make their way in on the other sides. They can jump those fences and they can also make their way underneath one side fence. I was amazed when I first saw a good-sized deer squish itself through that small gap. It would have gone over except there is a small group of trees/shrubs very close to the fence in that area so under seemed safer than over, I guess. I'd love a dog and so would my husband but we don't really know if we should have another animal. AlaMoi, when you talk about the width they must jump, it made me think of something similar. I've been told that deer don't like to jump into narrow spaces, so if I made some long narrow raised beds and surrounded them with chicken-wire at a decent height, that might work. Along with some other deterrents - easy to try soap or get a couple of the motion detectors or add some mint. It will have to wait until next year, but I would like to have a plan for the Spring so I can get started.

liamsaunt, thank you so much for sharing. I never get tired of seeing people's gardens and both of yours are looking pretty good, as well as the container gardens. Maybe you could try some mulch to help keep the weeds down? It looks great though and I hope you will give us some updates! Oh, meant to add that one of the reasons why it's tricky to garden here is because we have tons of these critters: Cute little twin fawns in our yard last week, but they and their relatives can chew through a garden in no time. We need to get some secure fencing for some of the yard before I can even think about gardening. Looking for tips, if anyone has any. We get a lot of deer here.

Jo, I hope you will let us know what you do with your okra! It's a bit of a mystery veg to me, actually. I run across it occasionally but I don't know that i would know how to do it justice. But, growing it - it's 34 to 37C in Kelowna this week (near Okanagancook) and the days are really long there. That's 93 to 99F. How hot does okra need to be? (or should this be in the gardening thread?) I'm probably never going to grow it, but I'm curious now.

Not hot enough? I think of the Okanagan as being very warm, but maybe you mean the early Spring temps or something? And you are an amazing gardener, with lovely greenhouses. Do they require an unusually long growing season or something?

So Shel, what did you end up doing with all those peppers?

Smithy, The freshest and tastiest strawberries don't keep well at all, I know what you mean. I either scarf 'em down or freeze them. (You can always use frozen berries later for preserves also, if you only want to make a small batch now.) I saw this video years ago and it made me realize that using a skillet (rather than a higher-sided pot) was the easiest way to make small batches of low-sugar jams and that's what I always do now. I rarely make more than a couple of small jars of jam at a time unless I am gifting some, so I skip the water-bath canning and just make sure I use clean equipment and jars and then store in the fridge. I've kept it there for a month but keep an eye on things, because low-sugar doesn't keep as well as higher sugar. Proportions can be as low or lower than 4 parts fruit to 1 part sugar, by volume - eg, 4 cups fruit to 1 cup sugar or 2 cups fruit to 1/2 cup sugar. I've even used a bit less than that and you can use almost as little as you wish if you aren't worried about setting/gelling and you're going to use it fairly fast. Personally, I think about 4:1 is a pretty good ratio for a spreadable jam. I can get a pretty good gel with that proportion, but it does take a bit of time to cook it down. It still tastes lovely, but if you want a fresher taste and don't need a gel, just go by taste. In order to ensure a gel, add lemon and/or orange zest - it's rich in pectin. I usually do add a little bit of lemon/lime or orange juice as well to brighten the flavour. And sometimes I add a tiny bit of liqueur, like Grand Marnier or Kirsch. I don't like most commercial strawberry preserves, either. Home-made has almost always turned out to be way better! Probably someone else will have some additional experiences/thoughts/comments.

mm84321, that really is Art from the Garden.

We are starting to get some delicious BC Okanagan apricots now and I wanted apricot jam, so I made a small batch this morning. Because there are only two of us and because we don't eat a lot of jam, I only used about 2 1/2 cups of fruit. I am not precise when I do stovetop jams, but they mostly come out just fine. I added a cup of sugar, a fairly generous amount of lemon zest for pectin, a few squeezes of lemon juice and a few drops of Grand Marnier. I used a mid-sized skillet and let the mixture simmer for at least 10 minutes to soften the fruit, then broke it up with a masher and simmered at a slightly higher temp for another 10 mins, stirring frequently. After that, it began to thicken quite nicely. It still has some suspended fruit in it, though that is hard to see in the photos. We sampled it on some toast and both thought it was very tasty indeed. So simple, but so rewarding!

We just started getting Okanagan apricots around here, so I had to make some apricot jam. Picture doesn't really show how nicely it came out. Really lovely on toast. I should make some of my own bread, though.

And/or Chicken Marsala?

Yes, like EnriqueB says, I would go for induction. And maybe have a BBQ with a couple of side burners for spares. But if you really want both in your kitchen, then only you can decide how much you want to spend.

Norm, I love your 'community' approach to cooking!

Did you share some crumble? I hear wounds heal faster with crumble.

C'est vrai ! Speaking of Caesars, I have always wanted to try making one of the clear ones. I've seen a few different recipes and can't find the one I like best, but here is another: http://urbandeli.ca/2010/03/09/clear-caesars/ Have you or Kerry ever had one or tried making one? ETA: This might be the one I first saw. Called Clearly... a Caesar. http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=fcb4f7f3-edcb-455d-b302-3a57f89b72e5&sponsor=

I made some Canada Day popsicles. (Used raspberry purée with a bit of Grand Marnier for the red flag parts, and a cheese-cake type filling. Should have tried to put a whole raspberry in the centre to look like a maple leaf!) Also have some with blueberry purée topping for American friends and 4th of July.

Check out the appliance stores - there are some mixed units. Here is a 36" unit with two induction zones and three gas burners. http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/PM363I0.html

Shelby, I love growing pea shoots. They are one of my fave uses for my sprouting trays. They are especially nice in the middle of winter. But when summer heat gets intense, they can be a lovely delicate addition to meals. I also love sprouting mung beans for stir-fries, chickpeas for hummus or as a salad addition, etc. Some people say you need a growing medium but I have been successful with pea seeds in a tray and I just spray them a few times a day. They are gorgeous within a week to 10 days. Really REALLY hoping you will share some fishing stories from the river!!!! Please?

rotuts, I think I see what you are talking about - like this? Or this? I assume you have a chamber vac? have you tried pickling yet?

LIke Shelby, I'm no help on this either. I don't know much about chamber vacs. Are you asking about putting cukes and pickling brine in a bag via chamber vac vs using jars, by any chance? Or instead of using a crock???

More pickles. The farm had six lbs of cukes saved for me this morning and that made six quarts. I also made some 'baby' garlic-dills and some bread and butter pickles.

Wow. Just wow, Shelby. I adore pics of your farm garden. it's so lovely and expansive and varied. I do love the Okra flower! Maybe the cantaloupe will come back, I hope so! Do the kitties just want to sniff the produce or do they actually like to eat any of it? I used to have a cat that was absolutely MAD for cantaloupe.

Thanks Shelby! And thanks again for sharing the recipe. I would think that frozen garlic would be fine, though the texture might suffer. But you won't be eating the garlic itself, right? You probably just want it for flavouring and that should still work OK. Good luck!

It's fairly warm here so I'm trying not to cook inside too much. Another trip to the farm for eggs and new potatoes in order to make potato salad. Also picked up some tomatoes. I have a couple of sprouting trays/containers and use them mostly for various kinds of sprouts, but have been using the tray lately for growing pea shoots. So we have had a couple of dinners almost exactly the same, rotisserie chicken, potato salad, fresh tomatoes and pea shoots. Berries or cherries for dessert (or snacks). Pea shoots in small tray:

I went to the farm to pick up some Kirby cukes this morning, and used some of them with Shelby's Quickle recipe. Thanks, Shelby! I'll try to hold off tasting these for a week or so.