Canning freshness straight out from the garden…

Yes, I don't know what better way to explain this new interest or rather a process of mine. I have been navigating the internet how to pickle beans (I mean green beans) and I found a way which I like very much. No idea how it all going to turn out but sounds like a great plan to lock away the freshness of backyard vegetables. 

Perhaps for some Bloody Mary’s in future and I feel it is not that fancy without pickles as a garnish. Moreover you need few pickles after drinking few of those. I also found out that I cannot find okra pickles from MA because that is not a northern thing. I had to buy a bottle while I was in VA. 

One thing I like about this particular recipe is it really adds heat to pickles with few black peppers and red chillies. I can’t wait to try some with my salad. 

A bit late post about 4th of July...

This is our first official Hydrangea bush and they were tiny when I first planted them. I love these mainly for two reasons one for the neat flowers the other during Fall the foilage turned into this beautiful deep maroon like red. I truly love a four season garden and I am still working on this tiny stamp size garden. It is always a working progress…

While we were in VA, Niegel decided to run a 5K ( we did planned this before hand) and It was fun. He did great but most of all he enjoyed it very much because he consider this as his home town.

As always Nicolette managed to find a dog to pet while her brother finishes the race. It was a great joy to watch her.

We were able to carve some time to sneak into the National Gallery of Art. We all took turns in enjoying various parts of the museum. Mostly the early paintings…

After a long stroll we were hungry and it was almost time to have dinner we all unanimously decided to dine at China Town, DC. 

Found a spot see the fire works and not too far from the capital; yes it was smokey but had a great time.

We had plenty to cover from taking care of the house, to running a 5K, visiting the museums, having dinner at China Town, and finally finding a spot to watch the fireworks. It was a great week!

Our first gathering for 2015

For 2015, gathering was much better term mainly because we received few vegetables from our friends as well. Largely few neighbors who is growing in their backyards. Some went to ladies who is always get anxious if I am at the compost bin(chickens). 

We love our wax and green beans from our yard because they are so tender and yummy. I am working on canning few for winter so I can have some at school lunch. I have heard from few friends they are so crisp. Hard part is not picking them when they are in abundance. Tomatoes are all steak this year and I hope I might get a bumber crop this year. 

It is a delightful experience to go to our tiny backyard and pick few eggs from the coopand at the same time pick few vegetables for a meal. Tender turnips adds so much flavor to a salad. I traded few eggs for handful of summer squashes this year. Beets were doing much better this year and we had it twice so far and there is few more to pull.