We’ve been making and enjoying garden salsa. The recipe varies by what we have on hand, but its all tasty!
Use a mixture of onions, zucchini or squash or both, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers—hot or mild or both, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and whatever else you want to add. Stir in some lime or lemon juice and let it sit in the frig for a couple of hours or overnight.
The fresh salsa is great with tortilla chips and its good as a side dish. Chitter puts it on her salads and says its good that way too.
This week we:
- canned green beans
- canned tomatoes
- picked blackberries and made jelly
- canned our 14 day pickles
- froze 8 cups of zucchini
- froze about a quart of blueberries
- dehydrated about a quart of small tomatoes
- checked our kraut, but decided to give it another week
- harvested onions and set them to dry
- made a gallon of fermented dill pickles—I’ll let you know how they turn out, over the years I’ve tried lots of dill pickle recipes and never been satisfied with them
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I’ve got some of the biggest purtiest maters I have ever seen. I’ve got some as big as softballs and as round too. The problem with them is they are all as green as a gourd. Ain’t nary one of them looks like it’s even close to getting ripe. Three of them have given me hope because they starting turning a little but the turning turned out to be blossom end rot. Any idee how to make them ripen?
I made my (hopefully) last picking of blueberries this AM. I picked about 2 & 1/2 quarts. That will make about 14-15 gallons in the freezer besides what we’ve used for cobblers. We made 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce for the freezer today. I’m giving squash and cucumbers out all over the neighborhood.
Tipper,
Your salsa stuff looks delicious. When me and Harold was little things, we were out hunting with the 4 fiest dogs and spotted a Ground Hog up a slanted tree. We must have surprised that booger, cause he didn’t have anywhere to go. Harold pulled up part of an old stump and knocked that son of gun right in the middle of the Fiests. They fought that thing all the way to the branch and drawned hin there. We knowed that Ground Hog was dinner, soon as he was cleaned and we did that right there. We gave the dogs the parts we didn’t use. They were use to eating table scraps anyway.
Me and Harold could just taste that thing, baked the way Mama fixed it. Soon as we got home, we showed Mama what we had, and after she explained how to cut it up, she sent us to the Footlog over the creek. …Ken
Your Garden Salsa sounds wonderful! I made a Gazpacho Soup recipe last week for the first time, and it calls for pretty much the same fresh ingredients you mentioned. I just ate it as a cold soup with an open faced grilled cheese sandwich (using monterey jack cheese). It was sooo good!!! I had leftovers, so the next day I just poked around in the fridge and cabinet to see what I could add, so I added some leftover Navy Beans and Instant Rice. It made for a hearty, healthy, and delicious meal. I can see a lot of possibilities with your recipe, and as my sweet mother used to say, “And it’s healthy!” 🙂
Jim’s mention of “coming in” brought to mind those Chinese okra seed Bill Burnett gave me and you back last winter. That’s the growingest stuff I have ever seen in my life. I swear I think that stuff would smother out kudzu. I have only gotten one “pod” off it but if you could eat the vines, you could feed the world. Why the other day when I went to go in the garden that stuff had growed through the gate and I had to rip some of the vines loose just to get in. It wouldn’t like I had gone on vacation for a week, I had been through that gate late the evening before.
So the stuff is escaping the garden and I’m afraid it might be “coming in” the house! Did you ever see “The Little Shop of Horrors”? I’m afraid I might wake up in the middle of the night to the guttural “Feed Me Edwin!”
Gonna try this salsa recipe. Sounds delicious with zucchini. My daughter and her husband have an over abundance of zucchini this year. Been giving her all kinds of recipes and ideas; this sounds like yet another option for using up her stash!
Thanks for sharing.
I’ve never had the deer problem that I have this year. They have eaten my cucumbers, beans, the tops of my sweet and hot peppers, watermelon vines, tops of Egyptian spinach, and some of my late okra, and to top that off a huge fat groundhog has ate some of my tomatoes. I’m trying to get that varmit but it’s too smart to trap. I’ve started digging post holes around my garden but so far I’ve only tamped in 10 post. This heat is a killer. I did build a couple of temporary fence around a small part of my garden or I’ll have very little of anything.
just sat down from coming from the garden. Picked 2 gallons of blackberries this morning. The total so far is 10 gallons. We juiced 5 gallons on Sunday using the 40 year old food processor. Sure beats trying to strain through cloth.
Gave the basket of yellow squash and zucchini away with the blackberries. wife is making bread& butter pickles today.
She canned pickled beets and zucchini relish yesterday. Also made dill pickle. Kale was picked and cooked to eat and for the freezer.
We had our first green beans yesterday. she surprised me with french style which is my favorite way for green beans.
Reading the comment about pulling the corn up due to critters. Most vegetarians don’t realize how many animals die to grow the veggies that are eaten. I have killed 34 raccoons and 41 chipmunks this year. I don’t love killing animals, but they do not obey my fencing. after our house was built, the first thing I did was fence the yard against deer and varmints. There is no use in flower or vegetable gardening without it here. I talked to one retired farmer this morning who said he is paid $20 per ground hog by a local pumpkin grower.
O wow. You have been very busy. O how I wish I could do that this year but have to wait till next year. Sounds like you have done enough for all of us Tipper.
I didn’t have time to comment on your steps post but it brought back a lot of memories. I enjoyed yesterday’s song and your salsa looks amazing. Seems like Mother was always canning beans and tomatoes but how wonderful they were when the garden was put to sleep. You and your family will certainly be enjoying a lot of good food this winter.
I gave up trying to get good dill pickles–they never seem to have much flavor. I have made fermented dills and they were probably the best but they had very little dill flavor.
I just came in from pulling corn. I’m amazed that no creature has got in to demolish it so I am trying to hurry. I can’t pick and carry nearly as much as I used to though. We have green beans and purple hulls ready to pick. One set of running beans is blooming and is huge. they have made a canopy between the rows but they are not having beans yet. We’ve had tons of squash & cucumbers–made some bread & butter pickles yesterday–one of my brothers will eat a whole pint at a time!!
WOW!
Your salsa recipe sounds yummy. I never cared for many recipes I have tried for canned salsa, so I just founder on fresh salsa every summer. My salsa is similar to the Fresh Brand that includes very few ingredients. I use tomatoes, artichokes, onions, cilantro and garlic salt and serve it with enchiladas for a feast fit for a king.
It seems like all the vegetables come in at the same time. I can handle the picking and canning, but the heat wears me out.
I know some sweet family that’s going to be eating like royalty this winter! You certainly deserve to enjoy your hard work to the fullest! That salsa looks mighty tasty and healthy. I’m with you and the girls on this one- alone, a side, on salads- garden salsa tastes amazing and I bet the smell is robust and zesty! It reminds me of mommy’s chow chow…. Tipper, you got no lazy bones nor does the family. Hats off to a working family that’s works TOGETHER IN LOVE!!! It’s a beautiful thing! BTW, antioxidants are loaded in your garden foods so free radicals will be ran out of town on a rail!!!! Here’s to local food done right the way GOD intended…. you’ll age like a fine wine beautifully preserved!!! Count on it!!!
We make salsa cruda which doesn’t have the squash, basil or cucumber but does have the other ingredients plus jalapeno. The cilantro just shortly overlaps with the tomatoes before it goes away.
Then we make bruschetta with the tomato, onion, garlic and basil. But have not ever tried additional things. We have only had about three small cucumbers anyway. But I have some second plantings coming along.
Finishing up pulling the corn today. Critters just won’t leave it alone.
Your a hard working girl! You put canned green beans at the top of your list….that’s a weeks work by itself! You’ve inspired me to make some fresh salad it looks wonderful. I haven’t had any in a long time and I bet would like it just as much as ever. Your’s is very appealing looking!
I tried the dill pickles several times and never found a satisfactory recipe. I’ll be interested in how yours turns out!
You go girl!
Tipper–Garden salsa ranks right up there with cornbread salad for me this time of year. One suggestion. You don’t mention including ground cherries as a salsa ingredient. If you have them “coming in” already, they are excellent and can even be the key ingredient.
Jim Casada
You have been really busy. It makes me tired just thinking about all you get done . It is great the girls are there to help you.
Your list made me tired. You absolutely must hit the floor running. I had never heard about salsa until the last few years, but garden mixes used to be very popular. Back before a good selection of salad dressings, and when there seemed to be less variety we had chopped garden salad. The dressing was simple mayo, and I still occasionally like an old fashioned salad with only mayo and salt. My favorite will probably always be wilted or kilt lettuce. I enjoy watching your lists of what all you put up in the Summer.
There has also never been a recipe for dill pickles that turned out right in my kitchen. However, my niece once took my same recipe and hers were delicious. I am always at a loss as to what to do with a large harvest of cucumbers.