Preserving My Summer

I am a curious cook and love this time of year, when my gardens and the Farmer's Market overflows with fresh produce.  Yesterday I made wild rice (grown here in Minnesota), pattypan squash, and apple sauteed with baby kale and it was surprisingly good.  

I've made Caprese salad for the neighbors with my beautiful Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes, and my cucumbers have made delightful salads as well as pickles (both dill and refrigerator).

To give you an idea of what I've preserved this summer:

Sauerkraut; plain, with caraway, and with celery seeds (3 batches)

Fermented kosher dills - 3 gallons

Fermented garlic

Strawberry Rhubarb jam

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Blackberry Lime jam

Fermented dilly carrots

Fermented dilly beans

Fermented asparagus

Pickled jalapenos, Serrano, and Hungarian hot wax peppers

Pickled ginger

Pickled beets

Tomorrow I'm going to make rhubarb chutney, which I've made before.  It's a sweet, savory, chunky sauce just perfect for pairing with pork or chicken, or over a block of cream cheese.  I'm also going to make a savory pluot jam.  A pluot is a cross between a plum and an apricot.  This jam calls for honey, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and fresh chives.  

And the Farmer's Market is tomorrow, so I will probably get more beans and dill...

And frozen food - I invested in a Food Saver vacuum packing machine, and I wonder how I survived all these years without it!  I've frozen 18 ears of corn (blanched and cut off the cob), tons of rhubarb, fresh sage (who knew you could preserve it this way?), fresh chives, and even quartered heirloom tomatoes.  I was going to can the tomatoes, and still will when I get more, but I didn't have lemon juice at home and was too lazy to go back to the store.  

I've given away lots of my jars, but still have a lot to pack in my car for the drive to Texas in October.  I'm gonna have to ship everything except jars and frozen stuff, and even then there will barely be room for the cat!