Pennsylvania Pickled Beets and Eggs

One thing you won't ever see on this blog are a bunch of recipes. However, when it comes to traditional ways to use your garden produce, I'm all in. I grew up with pickled beets in Michigan but the egg part I picked up since moving to Pennsylvania. With a little bit of thought I was able to use my great grandmother's pickling recipe and add the hard boiled eggs at the end. Here is how you too can make pickled eggs and beets.

First off, this blog is about gardening and right now is a great time to be harvesting beets in central PA. My family has always used Detroit Dark Red Beets but I'm sure you could substitute the beets of your choice. Pick enough beets to fill a regular sized stock pot, scrub them down and cut off the root tips and greens (please don't throw your greens away, they are delicious!).

Second, boil the beets till the skins are loose, about an hour. Strain the beets and let them cool before removing their skins.

Third, cut the beets to uniform size before returning them to the pot. Don't get too fussy about it.

Fourth, add 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 3 cups of water and mix it all up. Boil for another hour or until the beets are the consistency you want.

Fifth, hard boil 12 eggs and peel off the shells.

Finally, take a 2 quart jar and take turns adding beets and eggs then poor the pickling juice over it all.

Refrigerate for at least 24 hour and enjoy!

How to Grow and Eat Herbs for Beginners

In my previous post about saving money gardening, I listed growing herbs. If you haven't tried cooking with herbs, then you are in for a treat. Herbs are a great way to add loads of flavor to your food without adding any sugar, fat or preservatives. What would Italian food be without basil? How boring are chicken and potatoes until you add some rosemary? Herbs can have non-culinary uses but for this post, I'm going to focus on their benefits to your dinner plate.

How to Grow Herbs

You can think about growing herbs in three major categories (this is NOT official, it's just how I think about herbs after growing them for several years. I think it's a great place to start for beginners): perennials, annuals from seeds and annuals from plants. Yes, some of these are actually biennials and yes, I'm leaving lots out but this is a great place to start.

Perennials are plants that come back every year on their own. You can establish a perennial herb garden or mix perennial herbs into your flower beds. In general, perennial herbs don't need rich soil, just lots of sunlight and good drainage. Here in zone 6 (central PA), some great perennial herbs are sage, thyme, oregano, chives, mint and lemon balm. All of these are easiest grown from plants.

Annuals are plants that need to be planted new every spring because the winter chill kills them. Some of them, like basil, parsley and dill I don't mind because you can buy inexpensive seeds and grow them right in your garden with the veggies.

Other annuals are nearly impossible to grow from seeds so you should buy plants. Buying plants costs more but I just can't live without rosemary so every spring I suck it up and buy more plants. Marjoram is another fun annual that requires buying a plant every Spring. Like perennials, annual herbs also don't require much from their soil but they do need lots of sunlight and good drainage.

How to Cook with Herbs

You're not going to find this in any book, but I tend to think of eating herbs in three different ways. Obviously, there is some crossover and I'm leaving a lot out but if you're not used to cooking with herbs, this is a good beginning. Fresh herbs can get expensive at the store but when you're growing them yourself, you can afford to be generous with herbs in the kitchen.

Italian Herbs: basil, oregano, marjoram, and parsley. If you're making pasta or pizza or nearly any other Italian dish, these will work well with the dish and with each other.

Savory Herbs: thyme, chives, rosemary, and savory. Any kind of potato, chicken or pork dish will taste much better with these delicious plants.

Drinking Herbs: mint, lemon balm, spearmint, or chamomile. Yes, you can grow and dry any of these herbs to make your own home made tea, or lemonade, or mint juleps, or whatever. yum!

For more information, I highly recommend "Your Backyard Herb Garden" by Miranda Smith. The book is thorough and the illustrations are very helpful. Are you an herb gardener? Please comment in the section below!

The 3 Best Ways to Save Money Gardening

So, lots of people get into gardening to save money on groceries only to find out you can spend LOADS more money growing your own food. Now, there are lots of great reasons to get into gardening besides saving money: exercise, fresh air, therapy, quality time with family, organic fresh food, etc. However, most of us need to pay attention to our budget. So, if you're thinking about getting into gardening, here are the three things you should start with. I'll give you an over view here and then go more in depth in future posts.

First: Loose leaf lettuce. Organic lettuce can easily cost $9 a pound at the store. You can grow your own loose leaf lettuce from seeds. I've grown all the lettuce we needed for six months of the year from a $3 seed packet. Here in central PA, you can direct sow lettuce seeds into soil at St Patrick's Day and enjoy it into late June when it will get too hot. Then, start planting again in August and enjoy your lettuce till almost Thanksgiving. Lettuce likes cool weather. Sow more seeds every two weeks to enjoy a continual harvest.

I also love it because there is much less waste. Haven't we all thrown out old lettuce? If you grow head lettuce (like iceberg or romaine) then you harvest the head once and you're done. With loose leaf lettuce you can just go out and clip what you need for the next day or two and none is wasted. Just don't harvest more than 50% of the leaves off of any particular plant at one time.

Image is of part of the herb garden at Mt. Vernon. George Washington knew what he was doing. 

Second: Fresh Herbs. Cooking with fresh herbs is so delicious but having to buy them at the store can really add up. Start by developing your perennial herb garden. Perennial means they will come back every year. In Pennsylvania, you definitely need to include Chives, Oregano, Thyme, and Sage. Plant them in a hot sunny, well drained area and enjoy for years to come. After that, try growing herbs from seed like Basil, Dill and Parsley. Your cooking will be fabulous!

Third: Raspberries. All berries are really delicious, really good for you, and really expensive. Even pick your own berries in season are pricey. What to do? Grow your own. Now, growing any berries will save you money but in my experience raspberries are the easiest. I just spent $12 for three bare root plants and I will harvest tons of berries for many years to come. This also goes for black berries or any other kind of "bramble". I've had great success with "Heritage" raspberries.

How about you? How have you saved money on groceries by gardening? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.