HAPPY NEW YEAR

HERITAGE HARVEST WISHES YOU THE BEST FOR 2011!

MAY THE NEW YEAR BRING YOU

PROSPERITY ~ BLESSINGS ~

GOOD WILL & GOOD HEALTH

The Winter Garden

Quietly the garden rests under the fold of snow and cold.

The seed catalogs are arriving and that old familiar stir of creating, growing and reaping is working the frost of winter from my bones.

I have taken a sabbatical from this blog. A full work schedule and busy summer put writing on hold.
But as the summer and autumn diminished and winter arrived, I realized the pull to get back to the garden has been intensifying with each catalog that has arrived!

Dirt under my fingernails is my kinship with the basic needs of life.

SWEET SALVAGED FARMHOUSE FLOWERS

With vegatable gardening being such a disappointment this summer, bits and pieces of my world were saved with touches of color and a freshness to the eye!

My farmhouse flowers have been gleaned from throw aways, trades, giveaways, and salvage from my Mom and Mother-in-Law.

GARDENING FOR OTHERS!

Not only are we battling the elements in North Idaho, but adding insult to injury ~ our garden has been beset with quail. They snipped the chard, the radishes have been planted twice and are a delight to the appetites they have for fresh spicey greenery. They have clipped it to the ground leaving only the pathetic stems for evidence they have feasted! They have re-distributed seeds with the rounded out fluffing holes in which they dust themselves. Our garden is their haven, spa, cafe and home away from home.
And after an early morning stroll through the garden we also discovered by chance our resident red squirrel has planted a garden of sunflowers for himself. We have found caches of the little seeds "squirreled" away in little holes that have been carefully excavated and filled with cheekfuls of stollen treasures. Ten or twelve sprouts will pop through the soil and look like a bouquet getting started. I weed more sunflowers than weeds! Maybe that is a good thing!
Gardening for me is always done with the intent to share ~ but I had in mind the basketful of goodies to the nieghbor, or the extra tomatoes or squash to the food bank. Sharing space with the residents that do not recognize fence lines, boundaries or straight row gardening can be challenging, but we take it with tongue in cheek and do what we can. Row covers are being crafted to keep the quail from our efforts. But stopping a squirrel from emulating what he sees ~ well what can I say... I will just have sunflowers growing here and there!

Fickle Weather and Frustrated Gardners

Being tucked into the mountains of North Idaho gives those of us that love to garden a challenge of growing our gardens in just a short 90 days. Planning is essential and starting seeds indoors is a must. The snow has melted from Gisborn, and even with the mild winter we experienced, this small micro-climate we live in had Spring giving us a taste at how frustrating getting started can be. After being lulled into thinking we could plant in April, May came in with an attitude that had many gardeners trooping back to the nursery to replenish veggies that had their noses nipped beyond salvage. My potatoes have been planted and some are through the ground, the lettuce is up, as are the radishes.
Our apple trees are happily blooming along. I hope the last blast of cold weather is behind us. The poor tomato plants have been in the house ~ out of the house ~ in the house ~ out of the house! The new and enlarged addition to the garden should be ready to plant in a few days. Now if it just stops raining!

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion

I love winter, the cold, the snow, the time to retreat into the warmth and comfort of home. I love the weekend nights sharing suppers with family and friends after shoveling snow, packing wood on the fire, watching the kids play in the snow and coming in with red noses and cold hands. I love the holiday season, cooking with family and friends and eating til you're stuffed.Then I love it when we see the first hint that spring is on its way and the winter hiatus has ended and the snows have ebbed from all but the mountain tops. Spring has arrived early this year and the lust for getting the garden in shape and growing is like an a magnet that pulls at my desires to dig in the earth and plant.The garden is being enlarged this year! Not much, but just enough to add the bed for winter squash and cabbage.
Along with the extra square footage of garden space, we added 3 apple trees to the surrounding yard. Semi-dwarf Honey Crisp, Macintosh and Cameo apples trees grace the East side of our yard. The uncertainties of these times calls for measures that can renew belief in our selves and our way of life. Gardening provides the avenue to meet these needs, providing nourishment for our families and creating a positive impact on the earth. It is like a gift that keeps on giving.I can already feel my senses calming. The process of gardening restores in me what begins to diminish through the winter months.As soon as the first green shoots appear the
excitment begins!

Pickles in Winter

With the preserves and pickles on the pantry selves dwindling at the end of the winter, getting creative to satisfy the taste of something summer is a must.
While shopping at Costco in January, I came across baby English cucumbers. A baggies of these little jewels came home with me. I did not intend on making pickles, but after eating them sliced with salt, pepper and a dash of vinegar, I realized what I really wanted was refrigerator pickles!
Three more bags of cucumbers came home with me the following week, and wallah ~ we had ~

Winter Pickles

Slice as thinly as possible (I use a mandolin) about 4-5 pounds baby cukes, and 2 sweet onions.

Toss to mix well and pack firmly into 4 quart jars, washed and rinsed with boiling water.

Heat in heavy sauce pan, bringing to a boil.
4 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/4 cup canning salt

Ladel over the cucumbers and onions in the jars.
Seal and let cool. Store in the refrigerator.
These are ready to eat as soon as they have chilled through.