Ground Works

A while back I met the Ground Works folks from Sioux Falls. What an incredible organization. Their tag line - Growing Opportunities nails it.

They work to bring gardens to school children. You can read more about them in their very first newsletter found on their Ground Works blog. Click on the "It's About Their Stories' link.

Freezing Tomatoes

Freezing is an easy way to preserve tomatoes, and it takes much less time than canning tomatoes. There is no need to blanch or remove the skin before freezing.

Frozen tomatoes retain their fresh picked flavor, and make a tasty ingredient in any recipe calling for tomatoes - tomato sauce, marina sauce, soups and stews.

For best results use vacuum seal bags, plastic bags or rigid plastic containers designed for use in the freezer. 

Equipment:

Knife – used to remove core and any bad spots

Cookie sheet

Freezer safe containers

Ingredients

Fresh tomatoes

Method

• Wash tomatoes.
• Remove the core and cut out any bad spots.
• Place tomatoes on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to freeze. Note: Taking this step will prevent tomatoes from sticking to one another, making it easier to use just one or two tomatoes rather than having to thaw a block of frozen stuck-together tomatoes.
• Remove tomatoes from freezer.
• Insert into freezer safe container.
• Return to freezer.

How to remove skin from frozen tomatoes:

• Remove desired number of tomatoes from the freezer.
• Place the tomatoes in a bowl of cold water.
• Allow to sit for up to 5 minutes – the skin will begin to crack.
• Use a knife or your fingers to remove the skins.

Freezing Beans - Green, Wax and Snap

A quick and easy way to preserve beans is by freezing.  A few easy steps can make it possible for your family to enjoy beans throughout the winter months. Use fresh picked beans from your garden or the local farmers market.

For best results use vacuum seal bags, plastic bags or rigid plastic containers designed for use in the freezer.  Package according to your family’s needs: pint bags or containers hold 2 cups, quarts hold 4 cups.

The beans should be blanched and cooled before freezing. Lacking a blancher, use a kettle.

A handy chart provided by National Center for Home Food Preservation shows blanching times for various vegetables.

If you are new to blanching or need a refresher, read Blanching How-To

Freezing Beans

Equipment

Blancher

Large bowl of cold water

Freezer safe containers

Sharp knife for cutting beans to length

Ingredients

Fresh picked beans

Method

• Wash and drain beans.
• Remove stem end and the little “tail” at the opposite end with a sharp knife, or by snapping them off with your fingers.
• Cut or snap the beans into 1” or 2” pieces.
• Blanch for 3 minutes.
• Remove from blancher and put into bowl of cold water.
• Drain and put into freezer container.
• Put containers in the freezer.

Sauted Green Beans

Serves four. A new way to serve an old standard - green beans. Easy and delicious gourmet cooking right at home.

Equipment:
Blancher or kettle
Bowl of cold water to cool green beans after blanching
Saute pan

Ingredients:
One-half pound fresh green beans (two good handfuls)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Sea salt


Method:

• Blanch beans for 2 minutes 
• (Lacking a blancher: Put enough water in a kettle so that it will cover the beans. Put on medium heat and bring to boil. Add beans and blanch for 2 minutes.)
• Remove beans from water and put into cold water.
• Drain beans.
• Place saute pan on medium heat.
• Add olive oil and garlic.
• When oil is warm, add beans.
• Saute, stirring frequently, until beans are crisp-tender, about 5 - 7 minutes.
• Add bread crumbs,stir and saute an additional 30 seconds.
• Plate up and enjoy!

Fresh Corn Salsa

Four ingredients, all fresh from the garden or the local farmers' market.

Equipment:
A sharp knife for removing corn kernels from the cob
Kettle for par boiling corn
Tongs for removing corn from kettle
Pan of cold water for cooling down corn after par boiling

Ingredients:
2 cobs of corn
4 medium sized heirloom tomatoes, diced
1 medium sized purple onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only
Sea salt (optional)

Method:

• Husk corn and remove silk
• Place a plan of water on medium high heat and bring to a boil
• Carefully place corn in boiling water, using tongs
  Par boil corn for 2 - 3 minutes
• Remove corn from boiling water and place in cold water to stop the cooking process
• When cool enough to handle, use sharp knife to remove corn from cob
• Place corn kernels in a bowl
• Add remaining ingredients
• Mix
• Enjoy!

Friends and urban gardens

Yesterday my friend S and I went over to our friend K's house to pick up some sweet grass, sprouted garlic and asparagus roots from her. Off course, we couldn't just do the pick up thing, we had to stay and chat. And that turned into tea and K showing us her latest issue of her favorite farm paper, which lead to more conversation and planning and lunch and more conversation. And three hours later, we had to leave. It was beginning to look like rain and S and I needed to plant that garlic in S's urban garden.

So over to S's house we go. I hit the garden and planted most of the garlic (we had each removed a few pieces to chop up and have for dinner), she made newspaper pots and transplanted some garlic into them. We'll be selling that at the farmers' market on Saturday. We got a lot done in an hour and then decided we'd reward ourselves with some ice cream from the local shoppe in the Washington House Museum. They have the best ice cream!

And then it was time to be off to the City Council meeting, where the urban gardening project was mentioned! I love how the city leaders are so supportive of urban gardening.

I just love the community in which I live, and am continually inspired by all the wonderful artists, business owners and just plain great people who work so hard to make this the incredible community it is.