Green Chili Cubes

So, my friend Kathy had a fantastic idea for freezing green chili's. Roast your chili's. I used an outdoor grill. Char the chili's on all sides, then place in a plastic bag for 15 minutes. Using gloves, peel the skins off, and scrape out the seeds. Then, the wonderful idea she gave me is to dice the green chili's, and put them in ice cube trays. Freeze them for several hours, then place in an airtight bag for the deep freezer. Freezing them this way means you can just pull out a little at a time for recipes or toppings. I love this idea so much! I plan to get more green chili's and do them this way.

This is about 1 pound fresh chili roasted then chopped and frozen.

Okra!

It may be 105 or more for the past month, but man do my okra plants love it! In case you're wondering, this is 1 weeks worth of okra. I blanched it, breaded it, and froze it on cookie sheets before transferring to this 2 GALLON sized bag. :)

I used Paula Dean's recipe for the breaded okra using buttermilk. Yummy and so crispy!
Click Here for Paula's recipe 
And this is my favorite site for gardening, canning and freezing.

 I think my peppers would do well if I had a shade over them. Unfortunately they all sunburned. :(

Cucumbers pulled, and the okra "trees"! Ready for some cooler weather and a fall garden now.

Garden in August

So....what happens to cucumber plants when you do this...

Well, sadly, you get this. Goodbye my loves! The dozen or more jars of pickles you gave this summer will be loved all year long! 

Harvest!

So happy to have such a wonderful garden! I'm getting lots of ideas for next year, but still thoroughly enjoying this year. We have a very long season in TX, so I think it's about time to plant some more for a late summer harvest. :)

My little friend, golden garden spider. She eats wasps and other creatures that scare me to death. She can stay. :)

 New trellis for the beans/peas

1 day late picking these...too yellow. :(

 Future pickles!

 New trellis for the cukes!

Okra blooms

Cukes

So happy to have such a wonderful garden! I'm getting lots of ideas for next year, but still thoroughly enjoying this year. We have a very long season in TX, so I think it's about time to plant some more for a late summer harvest. :)

Gardening

Early June update on the garden. It's growing like crazy! Now, just working on keeping it well watered and getting rid of the insects. I had to add a trellis for the peas and beans.

This lily plant was a surprise this year, and we have another one growing too. I think I'll split them up, and replant them throughout this garden for a beautiful surprise in the years to come. I bought them last year, and they died after I planted them. So nice that the bulbs survived and have come back!

My Texas Gold Star Columbine! We planted this 6 years ago, and it comes back every summer when it's almost 100 degrees. It blooms until Fall!

Here's the latest in the garden of eatin'!

Cowpeas, beans, corn, onion and mustard

Lettuce, carrots and raddish

2 of my happy broccoli

 My love affair....these are the first 2 on the 1st of 8 plants

Basil and cilantro...I think they're ready for a new home