Harvest Monday July 7, 2014

I am joining Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday today. I want to send a big "thank you" to Daphne for hosting this event. It's fun. You can see what others are harvesting by going to the link.

It has been a pretty good harvest week for me. First up, I will talk about my pears. I gathered 2 baskets full. That's wonderful! I have had trouble with Japanese rust on that tree for the past few years, so it hasn't had fruit on it. There was a little Japanese rust this year, but someone told me that if I put Epsom salts under the tree to the drip line of the leaves every time it was getting ready to rain, it would help. I tried it, and it helped more than this expensive and hard-to-apply organic stuff I bought.

My mother-in-law really loves pear relish, so I made her nine pint jars from the first basket of pears. I have to dole it to her one jar at a time or she will eat so much of it she makes herself sick. I didn't grow up with it and it isn't my favorite, but it makes her happy.

Pear relish to the left and a basket of pears to the right. 

Pears. You can see a little of the Japanese rust on the very top
pear.

Pear relish

 Then, I made 2 quarts of spiced pear sauce.  I added 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and a ground cloves. YUM! I think it is good enough to eat as a dessert. :)

Spiced pear sauce (like apple sauce, but with pears)

I don't have the best luck with corn, but this is better than the first time I grew it. We got four edible sized ears today and have about 8 more in the garden.

corn

The okra is coming in pretty well. It's just getting started, so it should hit its stride pretty soon. We all love it and are happy to be eating it again.

Stewart's Zeebest okra

 My son is in a 4-H Junior Master Gardener program. It's been a great experience for him. He planted 9 hot peppers in the garden, because of the class. We weren't sure that we would get anything off of them, because they looked very poorly for a long time, but they are bouncing back and we got our first hot pepper this week. He has several different types of hot peppers, so I hope he can at least taste all the different ones. Maybe he will become a chili head! He's only nine and really loves spicy, so we will see.

Hot banana pepper

 The cucumbers are providing us with tasty cucumbers every day. I have squash vine borers on the cucumber plant (argh!), so I don't know how long we will be able to get them, but I am going to enjoy every one that we can get. They taste so wonderful!

cucumbers

And last, but not least, the swallow tailed kites are back in town! Out whole family just loves these birds! They are relatively rare birds in much of the country and several states have them listed as endangered and/or threatened. We love to watch them swoop, soar and dive. And as a bonus, they eat a lot of snakes. It is so neat to see them carrying a snake through the sky, holding it by the middle, both ends of the snake flying behind them like a banner. 

swallow tailed kite behind our home

Pear Relish Recipe

This recipe is from an old church cook book. It is not a new recipe. If this bothers or concerns you, please feel free to choose another recipe. I have made this recipe 2 years in a row. It is my mother-in-law's favorite thing and she is very good to us. It is the least I can do.

I like to eat it over beans, and peas. Served over rice, it reminds me of a Thai sweet and sour sauce that I have eaten at local Thai restaurants.

Ingredients:

4 quarts pears--peeled, cored, chopped
2 1/2 green peppers (or 2 large) (Take out the seeds and white veins inside the peppers and rough chop.)
2 1/2 red peppers (Take out the seeds and white veins inside the peppers and rough chop.)
2 to 3 hot peppers (with seeds makes it hotter. without makes it milder)
2 1/2 large onions (rough chopped)
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Grind pears through food processor.

Grind all peppers, and onions through the food processor.

You are looking for a very fine chop on all the vegetables.

Put all ingredients together into a non reactive pot and boil 20 minutes.

Fill pint jars. Leave 1/2 inch headspace.

Process in water bath canner 10 minutes.

Makes 5 pints. (Most of the time. One time, it made 7 for me. I don't know what I did differently.) 

Canning Pear Relish

This has never happened to me before. I ended up with almost 2
pint jars of relish left over. I didn't plan for that much, so I couldn't can it.
I had to refrigerate it, and now I will have to eat it up pretty quick. 

Boiling, Boiling

The five pints I was able to process in a water bath canner. 

A close up on the finished pear relish.

Pear relish is an unusual thing made with red peppers, green peppers, jalapenos, onions and pears in apple cider vinegar. (That's not the recipe. I am sure I left a few things out.)

It tastes pretty spicy and savory. There is not much sweet taste to it.

As far as I know, it is mainly eaten over "peas and butterbeans." I have also tried it on white rice and like it very much. On white rice, the taste resembles sweet and sour Thai sauce that I have had in a local Thai restaurant.

In the past, my recipe has always made 5 pint jars. Today, I could have canned 7 pint jars, but I only had 5 sterilized and only had 5 canning lids ready. Any canners out there have suggestions about this for me for next time?