6-30-12
The potato plants are drying out at different times; some are still green and some have been dry for a week or more. This morning at 6:30 I went up into the garden and dug up 17 of the dry plants. Believe me hunting in the dirt for potatoes is not easy work. I think I only sliced through 3 potatoes with my shovel. After an hour of digging the sun starting coming up over the tree line and I was getting tired so I stopped; covered in sweat. There are still about 15 or so dry potato plants to dig up and I’ll be out there in the morning doing it all over again.
Once I finished with the potato digging I decided to make my corn relish before canning the potatoes. This is a recipe I made up.
Southwest Style Corn Relish
Makes 2 pints
2 cups fresh corn
1 1/2 cups tomatoes, seeds removed and chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp canning salt
1/2 c. cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. cilantro
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. lime juice
Place all ingredients in an enamel or stainless steel pan. (A large stainless saucepan is big enough.)
Bring to a boil and let boil for 15 minutes.
While relish is boiling get your jars and boiling water bath ready.
Fill jars with hot relish and place on your lids and tighten the rings.
Place in boiling water bath. (Remember the boiling water should cover your jars by 1-inch.) Leave in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Remove jars; sitting them in a draft free place. Wait for the lid popping sound and you’re done.
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After putting the relish away I canned 4 quarts of the potatoes I picked this morning. The recipe and instructions I used came from my Kerr Canning Book.
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7-1-12
Dug up more of the potato plants this morning; 18 today leaving 10 green plants up in the garden. Dug up another wash tub full. 
I canned another 4 quarts. There were lots of little ones attached to the large potatoes and some small ones so I decided to put them away in pint jars for stew this winter. I don’t know why I insist on putting myself through all this work. I guess I just can’t throw good food away.
To prepare the little ones I stood at the sink using my dish scrunchy and rubbed all skin off each one under running water. I had to trim off each one. Potatoes have a tendency to turn brown after they’ve been peeled for a while so I place them in a bowl of cool water with a squirt or two of lemon juice. I always rinse them before I place them in the jars. I do the same lemon water soak with my cut potatoes I placed in the quart jars.
It was a busy weekend and I could use a day off now. :O) I will say I enjoyed myself. I LOVE TO CAN. Have I mentioned that?
The weekend was a hot as the week and the fields, woods,and creeks are drying up. I heard they have banned fireworks in our county and the next one (Fort Smith,AR’s county). Guess the 4th won’t be much of one unless we get a good soaking rain for a day. We’ve deer on our property that graze in our field behind the garden and drink from a spring just down below the hill from our house. We’ve seen generations of these same deer over the years and one doe has had several sets of twins. Dad and I went out for supper this evening and on the way in we saw four of them by the spring. They just stood there and looked at us as we drove by. I saw the buck in the back field last Thursday. It was the first time I’ve seen him in the open.
Well enough about the pretty deer. Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend and the same for the week to come.
arkansasfarmerette2012 