2014 was the first year that there was enough food coming in from the garden that we sometimes had more than we could eat. Witness our pole beans, of which we had a couple of pounds a week of harvest for a few weeks. We ate them, we dreamed about them chasing us, we gave them away… eventually we couldn’t handle any more.
So we decided to freeze them. It was a pretty simple process: first cut them up, then blanch them for a minute, then let the excess water drain, then lay them in sheets into freezer bags, squeeze the air out of them and throw them in the freezer. Note that these were purple pole beans, heirloom variety. They turn green when cooked or pickled.
Although we had a bumper crop of Shishito Peppers, we didn’t take many photos of them on the plate. We ran into them while eating out in Manhattan and Brooklyn, though. Here’s a set of them expertly skewered and blistered with sea salt over an open flame at one of our favorite spots, Robataya in the East Village.
We had the same issue with cucumbers that we did with beans–too many to eat. We gave some away of course, pickled plenty of them as well, but we also decided to leverage our crop into something more fun.
Enter Picklepalooza 2014. The idea was to bring some friends over in early/mid-August, have them hunt down cucumbers on the vine (which is a novelty in itself for most city dwellers), and then show them how to make fridge pickles themselves, right on the spot.
The pickling itself was also a big hit with the guests. It’s so simple and quick, no reason not to try it! I would post a link, but just look up ‘fridge pickles’ and you’ll get the idea– vinegar, water, and whatever else you want. No muss, no fuss.
Everyone takes home a jar of pickles, ready to eat in a few days with no processing or equipment needed.
I have thrown many a party in my day, and I don’t recall so many happy faces at one event. People really got into it, bringing their own veggies and herbs and hot peppers as well. Obviously, we had to do this again next year.
Last event of the year was Canning Day. My beloved is the expert here, and is shown below in sunglasses working on processing something like 80 pounds of ripe tomatoes from the farmer’s market at the end of the season. This was a much smaller event than Picklepalooza, since we need everyone to be working and there’s not much room to stand once the gear is set up. So it was about five or six of us. Because we have some outside space and a hose, and her gang can provide giant propane burners and various strainers, presses, and such, it’s much easier to do the whole operation outside.
With this much product, it’s gonna get messy… but hosing down a concrete slab is easier than scrubbing down the kitchen at the end of the afternoon. Everyone got a handful of pint jars to take home for the winter.