Nature's Pest Management

While I was out picking tomatoes,

I came across Nature's way of controlling hornworms.

The white things are eggs/larvae of a Braconid Wasp.

The wasp lays the eggs on the live caterpillar, 

and the young feed on it.

And it dies.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I came across a recipe for a chocolate zucchini bread and thought

what the heck

I have more zucchini than I know what to do with.

Since my fiance said it was "DELICIOUS"

and "GREAT"

I figured I'd share it here.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt

set aside

In medium mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs until fluffy

add oil and vanilla

add to dry ingredients along with the zucchini and chocolate chips

stir until combined

divide between 2 loaf pans

bake 50-60 minutes or until top is cracked and springy to touch

I think it could have used a few more chocolate chips, other than that it was pretty good.

Goes down nice with a tall glass of ice cold milk!

Check back for other possible zucchini bread recipes as I plan on trying a zucchini pineapple recipe 

and a lemon poppy seed zucchini bread recipe.

Preserving Pumpkins

It might seem a little early to start talking about pumpkins,

but I had some that were ripe.

Actually, I only had 1 ripe one,

but because the pumpkin vines were decimated

I wanted to preserve what I had.

This is a pretty easy method that doesn't require peeling the pumpkin.

First, Cut off the stem and cut the pumpkin in half.

Oh, and preheat the oven to 350

Scoop out the guts with a spoon.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray 

and place the pumpkins flat on the sheet.

Bake at 350 until they're done.  

I don't have a specific time to cook them.

Small pumpkins won't take long, thick pumpkins will.

Basically you want the inside mushy.

Scoop out the pumpkin with a spoon

leaving the shell behind.

Let it cool

then bag it up and freeze.

I was thrilled with how easy this was.

This year, my pumpkin cookies will be made completely from scratch!

And I decided to plant  another hill of pumpkins

(and hope I can keep the squash bugs at bay).

Even though we won't have them for Halloween,

we'll have them for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.

Butterflies

Our back pasture is full of purple clover.

Purple clover and butterflies.

These photos can't describe the number of butterflies 

(I counted 23 just near the area I was standing in).

Freezing Corn

We managed to pick 46 ears of corn the other day.

Out of the 46 there were about 5 that weren't good either because of bugs,

bad spots or not being developed enough.

So after eating some, 

I had 30 something ears of corn to do something with.

I opted to freeze it, not because of my canning phobia,

but because many recommend freezing as the best method.

First you husk the corn.

Remove as much silk as possible- using a brush if needed.

The Corn then needs to be blanched,

so start a pot of water boiling while you husk.

Place cobs in boiling water for 4 minutes.

Immediately place cobs in a bowl of ice water.

This stops the cooking process.

Leave in the ice water for about the same amount of time you blanched them

(4 minutes).

Next, cut the corn off the cob.

There were suggestions to use a bundt pan to hold the corn.

This would work great if you have fat cobs.

I didn't, so I found that just holding it on a plate was better

(the cob kept sliding further into the hole in the pan.

Your corn will look clumped, but don't worry, 

it will break apart into single kernels when you bag it.

The finished product- 2 quart bags of fresh corn ready for the freezer.

There's An App For That

While checking out tips on canning

(because while I have obtained the tools, I'm still quite intimidated by the whole process)

I came across an app for my iPhone.

Seems Mother Earth News

has a free app for canning.

I of course downloaded it.

I'll let you know if it's helpful

(you know, once I get over my canning phobia).

Pickles in the Jar

 Sunday night I made 6 more quarts of refrigerator pickles.

My first batch was a success

with the exception of 1 pint of pickles that tasted totally of apple cider vinegar.

Despite that one issue, 

I went ahead with these 6 quarts. 

And as promised, here is the recipe:

Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles

Makes 3 pints- 2 pints=1 quart so double recipe makes 3 quarts

2 pounds cucumbers 

(I didn't really weigh any, I just cut up and used what would fit in the jar)

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups water

2 Tablespoons pickling salt

6 garlic cloves (2 per jar)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper per jar

1 teaspoon dill seed per jar

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns per jar

Wash and slice cucumbers

In large saucepan combine vinegar water and salt, bring to simmer

Dole out spices to each jar

Pack cucumbers firmly into jars- you want them packed tight without damaging them

Pour the brine into the jars leaving 1/2 inch head space

Tap jars gently on counter top to dislodge any air bubbles

Apply lids and let jars cool

When they've reached room temperature place in refrigerator

Let them sit for at least 48 hours before eating.

Enjoy!