We have reached that point when the dead of winter is behind us.
Actually, I have no idea when the dead of winter is – perhaps January, as the days are short and nights are cold. Except January 2022, when there was really no snow (at least none that I had to shovel) and the day and night temperatures were way above average.
Now that I think about it, maybe dead of winter is still coming; otherwise, the dead of summer will soon be wreaking havoc. Therefore, I am officially in favor of the “dead of winter, to be expected.” I’m ready for more shoveling, down jackets and the soft hum of the boot dryer. I don’t want to open the shorts drawer, see people skiing at Purgatory in T-shirts (or less) and even think about washing the truck.
Another way of gauging which stage of the season we are in is to look in the pantry. Beth informed me that we are down to two more pints of applesauce, which is a bit alarming. I refuse to get store-bought sauce, as our homemade applesauce is blue ribbon-worthy, or should be if we ever had any left for the La Plata County Fair. Once the sauce is decimated, then we will turn to the canned peaches, which surprisingly, have not been the hit they were in previous years. Yes, a crazy thought: The kids’ tastes change! So who knows, maybe next year they will want canned beets or dilly beans for breakfast.
But as we look back to last month’s article about which seeds you should be buying right now, think about not only what you like to eat – fresh – but what you also want to preserve, either by freezing, dehydrating or canning. We know that it is always exciting (don’t judge my social life) to pop open a jar of pickles, dilly beans or pickled jalapenos. And apparently, applesauce. So we will make a note to try to grow more of those things, as they were the first ones to leave the pantry shelves.
That is the beauty of the garden: grow what you want to eat – either now or later. I can only eat so many fresh tomatoes. And while that may sound like garden nonsense (what kind of gardener does not eat fresh tomatoes?), we typically grow about 20 to 25 tomato plants, and even though I try to grow different varieties that ripen at different times, Murphy’s Law seems to dictate that this does not always happen. It is not uncommon to have so many tomatoes that it makes my mouth sting just looking at them.
The answer to that dilemma is to preserve the excess harvest. You can turn them, and other garden goodies, into salsa or sauce, and either pressure can or freeze them. If you have a veritable cornucopia of small tomatoes that are fully ripe, cut them in half and dehydrate them. They are easily rehydrated in some warm water and with a little bit of imagination you can chew on one with your eyes closed and hearken back to the dog days of summer, harvesting in your shorts and flip-flops.
Darrin Parmenter is the director and horticulture agent of the La Plata County Extension Office. Reach him at darrin.parmenter@co.laplata.co.us or 382-6464.
