Loving and Learning on the High Plains: October Garden

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

October Garden

Garden dying back in beautiful color.

Even here in Nebraska, even in October, there is something going on in the garden...

We finally had a hard freeze and the majority of the garden was finished off. A few days before the freeze, we went out and picked all of the unripened tomatoes. My Roma tomatoes were running late this summer, so most of them were harvested green, but never-the-less they turned ripe just nicely in a box in the basement (thanks for the tip, Kristin!) Now I'm blanching and skinning them for salsa.

How to blanch tomatoes:

Wash the tomatoes.
Put on a pot of boiling water
Put a basin of cold water in the sink (ice is great too)
In batches, put the tomatoes in boiling water for 45 seconds...
Then place them in the ice water immediately.
With a paring knife or with your fingers, gently remove the skin, it should peel easily.
Chop the tomatoes for salsa, or freeze or can for later use.
Of course, feed the skins to your chickens!

chickens cleaning up a broccoli plant

We still have lettuce, cabbage, and broccoli growing, and the lettuce tastes better than ever.

The pumpkins and acorn squash are done now too. Unfortunately, this little pumpkin was our only yield but there were about 10 acorn squash. I'll post a recipe for those soon. :)