Dried Raspberries

I've never dried raspberries before - always had plenty of other ways to use them up.  This year, however, I'm thinking about making some homemade granola and granola bars and I thought they might be really tasty with dried berries. 

Raspberries are super easy to dry - just place them in the dehydrator and turn it on.  Easy Peasy. 

I think I'll dry some strawberries and blueberries also - although I don't grow either of them so I'll have to buy some. 

If I ever make the granola, I'll post the recipe.  I'm also thinking about making some instant oatmeal to take with when we go camping.  I usually just cook oatmeal at home but I'm thinking some instant might be a good fit for camping. 

Making Raspberry Ice Cubes

One of the many ways I use my raspberries is to make Raspberry Ice Cubes.  I have so many raspberries this year - so many! 

I run my raspberries through my food strainer attachment on my kitchen aide because I don't like seeds in my smoothies or raspberry ice tea.  Then you can just ladle the juice into ice cube trays or you can sweeten it a little first with the sweetener of your choice.  When they are frozen, I just pop them out and store them in a baggie in the freezer. 

They are so easy to use to make smoothies or to add to your ice tea instead of regular ice cubes.  My son likes to suck on them like a Popsicle.

It's Raspberry Time!

Don't they look yummy? The black raspberries are in full swing, the reds are fully started and the yellows have just started ripening. I just love a pie or jam made with the combination of all three - each have their own unique taste which blends together and says raspberry like no one of them alone can!

A quote from my silly child: "Mom, some of the raspberries looked too ripe - so I ate them and put them out of their misery - you're welcome!"

Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Raspberry Dressing

Earlier this summer my oldest brother took me out for dinner and I had this wonderful spinach salad with grilled chicken breast and a wonderful creamy raspberry dressing. With so many raspberries in my garden, I was sure I could replicate it and I was not disappointed.

Here is the salad all nicely layered before adding the chicken - I used what I had available - spinach, cucumbers, radishes, kohlarabi, and carrots - use whatever you like. I generously sprinkled craisins over the whole thing and topped it with slivered almonds.

Next I grilled up a chicken breast and sliced it on top.

And here is the finished salad with the dressing on top. It was delish!

Raspberry Salad Dressing

14 oz Silken Tofu
1/3 cup Agave Nectar (or maple syrup)
14 oz fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon sea salt

Mix all ingredients until smooth in a blender. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving

Makes about 1 quart

Lots of early bounty in my garden

I continue to be amazed at how well everything is doing this year - and how early it still is! I just can't believe that it is barely June and I am eating from my garden! I love it!

Look at those pea plants. I know you are probably getting tired of seeing pictures of my peas, but I haven't grown peas in several years. I am so glad that Andy suggested we should grow them - they are so tasty and yummy!

And here is some of today's harvest of peas - this is the second time I have picked them. The first time two nights ago I added them to the bourbon chicken I made for dinner - so very yummy. I think I will just steam these for tonight's dinner.

And look at this - a ripe raspberry! Going to be a good raspberry year - the bushes are loaded and to think that they are already ripening!

This is all I picked today - but it was a tasty start - I think there may have been more but the kid beat me to them. Speaking of the kid, it is hard to believe that he was preschool when I started this blog and he is going to middle school in the fall! Where has the time gone? They grow up way too fast.

And here is today's harvest of strawberries. I think they are nearing their end already - this is the smallest amount I have picked in a single day - of course the kid and his friends could have beaten me to them also............

I hope all of your gardens are doing as well as mine! Happy Gardening!

Today's Harvest

I haven't been online much because I have been spending much of my time in the kitchen processing harvests like this one.

Today's harvest includes:
3 5-quart pails of tomatoes
1 pint of raspberries (both yellow and red)
1 huge bucket (maybe 2 gallon?) of Swanson Red Grapes (seeded but sweet)
4 cucumbers
2 quarts of green beans (both green and purple)
1 quart of broccoli

I really should pick some apples too but I want to process all of this first.

I grumble and complain about all of the work this time of year but those who know me best know that I really love it and would rather be busy than complaining that nothing grew. And in the deep of winter it will be so nice to be able to enjoy all of this bounty!

I hope all of you are having great harvests this fall as well!

My tangled up raspberries

A reader requested to see my raspberries - so here they are.

They are just a tangled up mess - I have no supports in there - I had some supports but they weren't working very well so I took them out this spring.

I have red and yellow berries. Summer and Fall (everbearing) berries.

I don't do a lot to them - just throw some compost on the ground between them once in awhile - maybe once a season - and cut out dead canes.

They are along one side of my house so they do not get full sun. I water them daily if it doesn't rain.

I would guess the secret to such abundance and the huge size of the berries is the compost. The berries spread and I dig up the errant canes and give them to my neighbors - none of theirs produce like mine do - so I think it has to be the compost.

I also have some black raspberries, but I moved them last year so they are not producing right now. The reason I moved them was that their canes grow really long and are more prickly - the red and yellow canes seem to be more stout and upright (sort of) and don't prick as much - the black raspberries were really tangling the other up even more and making it really hard to get in there and pick.

Making Raspberry Sorbet - Step by Step

How to make Raspberry Sorbet in eight easy steps.

Step One: Measure 1 cup of water

Step Two: Measure 1 cup of raw sugar (I suppose you could use white sugar, but why? - if you are going to eat sugar it shouldn't have the trace nutrients taken out.)

Step Three: Mix in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

Step Four: Measure 1 quart of raspberries (about 1 lb)

Step Five: Put through a sieve or strainer to remove the seeds (I use my kitchen aid attachment).

I got about 1 1/2 cups of puree from the 1 quart of berries.

The syrup is now cool and a medium brown color. If you use white sugar it will be clear.

Step Six: Add the berries to the syrup and add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum. The xanthan gum is optional but it is a stabilizer that will keep the sorbet from turning into one big ice crystal if you don't eat it all right away.

Step Seven: Put berry mixture into your ice cream maker and process until done - the time will vary on how cold the syrup is - if it is still a little warm, then it will take longer to freeze.

Step Eight - enjoy!

Fresh Raspberry Pie

Kathi’s Fresh Raspberry Pie

4 cups fresh raspberries

1 cup raw sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons minute tapioca

4 tablespoons water

2 - 9” pie crusts of your choice (I use the perfect pie crust mix from the gluten free pantry)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Line pie plate with one pie crust
3. Mix all ingredients together and spoon into bottom pie crust
4. Place other pie crust on top, flute and seal edges.
5. Make slits in the top so that steam can escape.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 425, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook for 45 minutes

8 servings

Raspberry Season has begun!

Look at what I picked today. Yum, yum, yum!

My raspberries are a tangled mess. I have summer raspberries and fall raspberries all planted together. I have red raspberries and yellow raspberries all planted together. I had black raspberries in there also, but moved them last year.

I like my raspberries all mixed up. I get raspberries from June until frost this way. And I like the flavor variety from growing so many different kinds.

My raspberries spread past their boundaries and I dig up the wandering plants and give them to my neighbors - I think they all look at me strange when I tell them I have no idea what I am giving them - except that it is a raspberry plant. They just have to wait until it bears fruit and be pleasantly surprised.

I'm not planning on making as much raspberry jam this year as I have in past years. I am going to save some of the berries for making syrup for my waffles and for making sorbet. I am going to branch out some. I'll be sure and share my recipes and my successes and failures - I always do.

A robin built her nest in my apple tree!

I am surprised we haven't had more robin nests in our yard - such a perfect place to build - ripe currants and raspberries near by to eat. And my organic garden is a great source of worms. The bird bath provides a nice drink and a place to cool off.

I had no idea that robins built nests this late in the year so I did some research and found out that they build 2 to 3 nests per year - one in the spring and one in the summer here - probably a third one a little further south. They do not reuse the nest - once the young have left the nest, it will be abandoned.

We are all looking forward to watching the young grow once they hatch.

It's looking like it may be a good gardening year after all!

We had a late start and now it is just hot but the garden seems to be weathering it all. And after all, isn't there always something about the weather to complain about? Every year it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry or too something.

Mostly my garden is doing great. I had spotty germination on the parsnips and some of my carrots and Andy's sunflower fort has seen better years - but overall it is doing well. We have been eating lettuce and radishes from the garden for some time.

The strawberries were great this year. The currants and raspberries are loaded. The apple tree doesn't have any fruit this year and it looks like I have lost the peach tree - the green that was there has shriveled up and died. But I keep watering the tree hoping beyond hope that there is some life left in there somewhere! LOL! My plum tree has plums for the first time - I can only find 3 - so not a huge harvest but I'll take what I can get and it is still a very young tree.

I snapped a few pics of the garden this morning -



2 views of my raised bed from opposite angles.


Wayahead Tomato


The dead peach tree.

I picked my first raspberry of the season today

I stood in my raspberry patch and ate it. It was so succulent and juicy. Yum. I savored it since it was the only one ripe. What a wonderful taste of the bounty to come. The raspberries are loaded - it will be a good crop this year.

I think it is also a sign that I am feeling better - I didn't go and get Andy to show it to him or even pick it and take it to him - always Andy first and Mom last. I plucked it and savored it all by myself.

I have no regrets.

Today's harvest Wednesday 9/19/07

Things might be slowing down now that it is mid September - but the garden is still producing a little every day. I know I should probably pull up the cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans, but I hate to do that when they are still producing. Winter will catch me with things not taken care of - but I will continue to enjoy garden goodness until the last minute. Actually we have had some frost warnings already this year - but my plants survived just fine - and I did not cover them. The CSA I get veggies from did lose most of their warm weather crops to frost last week.

What's new in my garden

I have been so busy getting Andy ready for school that I haven't had much time to post. I have taken a few pictures but haven't gotten around to doing much. I'm hoping that now that Andy is in school (school started yesterday) that I will have time to catch up on a few things and find a new job. I am happy to report that Andy had a great first day of second grade yesterday - and rode the school bus for the first time since PreK.


Have a lot of bell peppers in your garden? Make some stuffed bell peppers. I cut my the long way in half instead of stuffing a whole pepper since they were so huge (portion control!) and they turned out wonderful.


Time to start a second batch of sauerkraut. This time I am using red cabbage - it sure looks pretty - I wonder if it will taste any different. I've never made it with red cabbage before. Here it is sliced up and salted (3 tablspoons of salt to 5 lbs of cabbage).


You want to weight down the cabbage so the water is pulled out and comes up and covers it. I find a plate weighted down with a mason jar full of water works well. I have it in one of my stainless steel stock pots to start with - within a few hours it will be compacted enough to transfer to a small crock.


A day's harvest of cucumbers. Dan will eat a few but Andy won't touch them and I can't eat this many every day. The neighbors have started hiding when they see me coming with cukes in my hands so I have started giving them away on freecycle. Freecycle is a great way to get rid of excess garden produce and plants that need dividing, etc - or to find some. Check out your local freecycle if you aren't familiar with them.


The fall raspberries are now coming nicely. Here is yesterday's harvest.

In My Garden Monday 6/25/07

The first daylilly


A few (very few due to transplanting) black raspberries


And another bucket of currants. It is going to be a very good year for currant jam!

In My Garden this evening

The bushes in front of the house are blooming

The currants are starting to ripen

The lettuce and cabbage are bouncing back from the hail - they are still looking tore up, but they have perked up and put out new growth - they will be fine.

The peaches are getting bigger - yum, I can't wait!

And black raspberries are forming. I am not going to get a lot of them this year since I transplanted them - but I will take any I can get. I think the blacks are my favorite. Dan likes the yellow the best and Andy just likes them all.