She Certainly Can…Can-Can…

Ella Fitzgerald, anyone?  We may not be “having a heat wave,” but I am looking forward to warmer weather and canning!

It’s been years since I’ve canned anything.  There’s something about those finished jars all lined up that is so lovely and satisfying…I’m hoping that between our CSA weekly produce and the veggies we grow ourselves we’ll be able to can a few things besides FIGS.

Come August and September, I suspect I’ll be googling every fig recipe out there and working on a few fig jam recipes…here’s hoping all my friends and family like it, because I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone will get for Christmas this year!

Mr. B and I moved into a place last year that has 4 really old, healthy, and well established fig trees on the property and last year we literally couldn’t give them away fast enough.  Birds, squirrels, neighbors – together we were no match for the trees, which continued to produce figs faster than we could keep up with.  Purple splats stained the yard and walkway.  There were many happy insects in our yard.

THIS year, I’ll be prepared…with jars, lids, and a new pressure canner.  Here’s the one I’m looking at:

It’s an All American, and it gets pretty rave reviews.  People seem to like that it doesn’t use a gasket – fewer parts to wear out and replace down the line, solid construction, and a good guaranty.  These beasts (and they are big) seem to last forever.

While it will hopefully solve the problem of what to do with all those FIGS, it sure doesn’t solve the “but where are we going to PUT it” issue.  Sigh.

Still, it will be worth it to can up  some pickles, green beans, pesto, roasted peppers, and my husband’s amazing tomato sauce!

Anyone else out there thinking ahead?  What are some of your favorite things to can?

New Beginnings…

Although there is the threat of snow this coming Friday, I’m choosing to think of this as the beginning of Spring.

Expected snow aside, all signs are pointing to yes (as my old magic 8-ball used to say):  the birds are getting raucous, the tips of our forsythia are starting to burst into neon yellow, and the bulbs I planted last fall are on the way up – the crocuses have been blooming for weeks.

It’s the time of year when I stand and gawk outside other people’s houses, eyeing their already-blooming tulips and daffodils and surreptitiously snap photos of their birdhouses, window boxes, and blooms.

It’s also the time of year when I need to take stock of what’s been done out there in the yard, and what needs to happen next….I’m hoping this blog will help me keep track and that it will be a place to share information, ideas, and inspirations.

Last year was a big year…Mr. B and I got married in spring and then moved into a new apartment in August that has a backyard!  It was becoming necessary, if we were to stay here for any length of time, that I have access to some sort of outdoor space.  Getting my hands in the dirt is a must.  Watching things grow is necessary.  Feeling like I can get outside without having to leave my own house is important to me.

We were really lucky to have found a rental apartment with such a great private outdoor space (You mean it’s all ours?  We don’t share it with anyone?  I can plant whatever I want?)

Some completely unexpected bonuses are the driveway, which nearly doubles my perennial planting space, the GARAGE (what???) which provides incredible storage for and access to all things garden (and cat rescue) related, and the four healthy, well established FIG TREES in the yard!

At the end of last summer we ate figs until they were practically coming out of our ears.  We called friends over to climb a ladder and pick them.  We gave them to neighbors.  We gave them to people we didn’t know. The birds ate half of them.  And still…we had figs.  And they kept on coming, for at least a month.

This year I’m getting a pressure canner.  Guess what I’ll be giving out for Christmas this year?  Fig jam, anyone?

It seems a long way from now until the time when we’ll have figs again, and there is an incredible amount of work that needs to happen…we have lots of ideas and plans and dreams, and if we can get just half of them done I’ll be really happy.

For now, I’m just grateful our yard no longer looks like this:

Just to be clear, that’s actually a BENCH underneath those fallen branches…you can only see the top of it underneath all that snow.  Here’s the same bench last fall before the snow buried it:

As much as I love the snow (and having lived in Minnesota for years, you learn to love the snow!), I have joined the ranks of those who are officially “done” with winter.

Bring on Spring, please.  And soon.