Zucchini Parmesan (recipe above).
Posted on 09/01/2025 4:39:33 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
bbqsauce (abt 1 1/2 pints)
2 c ketchup
1/4 c molasses
1/8 c wooster
juice of half lemon
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/2 c dark brown sugar unpacked
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coarse black pepper
Simmer in sauce pot 10-15 min.
I simmer mine longer. Surprisingly complex flavor for some basic ingredients. Adjust Tabasco/cayenne as desired. Swap molasses for prepared mustard for Carolina style.
First batch of norther beans at 40 minutes in instant pot were tender but firm. Ran them another 30 minutes and they were soft to the bite but still holding together well. I think 60 min in instant pot and then a 6 hour simmer in smoker should be good.
The other northern beans look darker and have lots of cracked shells/skins so I think I’ll just pitch those. It’s about half of the northern so I’ll still have 8 lbs of them, minus 2 lbs tomorrow.
Pintos are three batches of 2 lb each and the dated bag is 2020 and the others are in containers with no date so I’ll pitch those too since we’re not big on them.
Missouri gardening by the month. Trees & Shrubs, Annuals & Perennials, Lawns, Fruits & Vegetables, Misc
I used to make a similar homemade BBQ sauce like this, a little honey and a tablespoon or two of a fresh mixed mild salsa. Great on any meat and we loved those little bits of tomato and onion that hung onto the meat.
Two sources is better than one! DT is not perfect, but generally pretty accurate.
With “cold” this early & potentially early frosts, it sounds like a long, cold winter ahead. Where I am now (as opposed to a year ago), fall is about a month earlier, spring about a month later. This past spring, I was really frustrated thinking it was getting so ‘late’ for putting out plants when it was pretty normal for around here ... mountains make a difference! :-)
Here’s Ryan Halls forecast and as a meteorologist myself, I agree he has good reasons to come to the conclusions he has.
This Winter Is Looking VERY Weird...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRYSdYFyMrw
Sems like the severity of the winter depends some on your location. His forecast for the NE is mild first half and then VERY cold and slammed by fast moving nor’easters. Now, the nor’easters aren’t that much of a problem if there’s time and milder weather between them for the snow to melt.
This doesn’t look to be the option.
I’m suspecting mr. mm and I are going to have to go sparingly on the wood for the first part of fall, and save it for the colder weather that probably will include power outages.
We had the best intentions of harvesting trees to season for the next winter but due to a lot of circumstances beyond our control, mostly health things that have taken far longer to resolve than we wanted, we did not get done nearly what we wanted.
We’re likely going to be asking some of the men at church for help on a work day to take down some trees and get them pieces at least to the wood shed. We do have a professional logger at church, and others can help with cutting up the downed trees and transporting the pieces to the wood shed. Splitting them can maybe wait a bit.
# Dry Brined Smoked Salmon
* one 1.5 lb fillet
* 2/3 c brown sugar
* 1/3 c kosher salt
* 1-2 tbsp black pepper
Online sources say 1:1 sugar:salt ratio might be too salty. Others have 3/4:1/4 sugar:salt. I split the difference and added the black pepper from a recipe. Most are just sugar/salt.
Mix sugar and salt for dry brine and rub on salmon. Many people do the skin side and then flip to do the meat side.
* brine 4 hours in fridge
* rinse
* pat dry, sprinkle with coarse black pepper and then let sit for for two hours at room temp to form pellicle/skin which prevents the salmon from drying out when smoking. Some use a fan to help it go faster.
* Smoke the salmon
* 1 c dark brown sugar
* 1/2 c paprika
* 2-1/2 tbsp coarse black pepper
* 1-1/2 tsp chili powder
* 1-1/2 tbsp garlic powder
* 1-1/2 tbsp onion powder
* 1 tsp cayenne
* 2 tsbp kosher salt
Mix well until lumps are gone
Rub on pork/ribs
Got just enough of a sprinkle this afternoon for me to round up tools and cover smoking wood. Been cloudy all day but finally cleared up and will be clear tomorrow with high of 84.
Split some more dry white oak and cut some dry dry black oak branches up with the sawzall pruning blade I picked up this morning and probably have enough for 3-4 smokes.
Bit more to do tonight like clean up the kitchen, put new spices away; wash dirty pan, measuring cups and spoons; plus last night’s dishes, after I eat.
J bolts would have worked better than what I did.
I just want some native/wild elcerberry around the perimeter to possibly head off or occupy pests and maybe give the birds something to eat and not hit the good ones.
I might have just a little bit of elderberry info!
# Elderberry Varieties
What River Hills Harvest grows — https://www.riverhillsharvest.com/shop-for-plants-supplies
Wyldewood
Bob Gordon
Ranch - early but - powdery mildew is problem
Adams 1 & 2
Others
Mt Royal
Todd
Northern Blue
Black Ice
Ewing Blue Superior
Nova - low producers - huge berries
* Thought I had more sources for them.
# Characteristics
Plum Curcullio (tiny bug)
Brown Rot
Wind Damage
need to prune roots when planting
Not edible raw and all stem must be removed - leaves/stems have cyanide
Cuttings - https://youtu.be/0h2H1eyObn8?list=PLbQw0w1naSdtKibF42DI2uBtyatOqOgLo&t=2250
More details - https://youtu.be/0h2H1eyObn8?list=PLbQw0w1naSdtKibF42DI2uBtyatOqOgLo&t=3774
https://www.midwest-elderberry.coop/grow/index.html
Evaluation of American (Sambucus canadensis) and European (S. nigra) Elderberry Genotypes Grown in Diverse Environments and Implications for Cultivar Development https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/43/5/article-p1385.xml Summary - Oregon is better place but Gordon does good here
https://centerforagroforestry.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Growing-and-Marketing-Elderberries.pdf https://elderberry.missouri.edu/
18mm drip tube
1-1/2 - 2 inches per week
Nitrogen 60-100 lb/acre applied as growth begins
# Pests
Eriophyid Mites
Japanese Beetle
Spotted Wing Drosophila
Disease
Bacterial Leaf Spot
Phoma
Elderberry Rust
#vYield
Year 1: 1 lb/plant
Year 2: 3 lbs/plant
Mature 3-4 yr: 5 lb/plant
High: 10 lb/plant
Self Infertile — plants two cultivars with overlapping bloom time
Bob Gordon & Pocahontas — https://youtu.be/BOnHvokRp80?t=210
Ranch - early
Adams 1 & 2 - mid season
York - late-mid season
Bob Gordon - mid season
Wyldewood - late midseason
Pocohontas - latest
These two links should have been on two different lines
https://centerforagroforestry.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Growing-and-Marketing-Elderberries.pdf
https://elderberry.missouri.edu/
This grower develops them and sells them through garden centers and nurseries. I think Sugar Creek gardens in St.Louis is one of them.
https://www.petersonpawpaws.com/
Good luck!
The Vegetable That Wants to Die
"Zucchini doesn’t even like itself, yet every summer, we pretend it’s worth growing and cooking. Is there any way to actually make it taste good?"
(Everyone should remember that you can be poisoned by zucchini!)
Hmmm.... after watching Ryan, looks like it will be the battle ground area for us. Storms happening Feb/March. March I can deal with because snow doesn’t last for weeks.
Ing 1-2 lge garden zucchini 3 eggs beaten with tbl milk 1 c Progresso Italian style
bread crumbs 3/4 c olive oil 1/2 c grated Parm 1 c Mozzarella 2 c fave tomato sauce
Method: Make 1/4 inch thick slices of zucchini. Dip each slice first in eggs, then into crumbs. Saute in oil until golden brown on both sides. Place layer of zucchini in 2 quart casserole; sprinkle with Parm and Mozzarella then cover with tomato sauce. Repeat until zucchini is used, topping last layer with Mozzarella. Bake uncovered 350 deg 1/2 hour; sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.
Zucchini Parmesan (recipe above).
Other than mowing the place Monday (& ‘eating’ a lot of dust because it was windy & very dry), the only thing of note accomplished that was garden related was deadheading some of my California Giant zinnias to collect next year’s seeds.
Yesterday, I left at 8:45 to take an elderly cousin to a cardiology appointment & I didn’t get home until 2:30 (she treated me to lunch, which was nice).
Then it was a ‘consultation’ with mom on what to have for lunch & dinner today, plus breakfast & lunch tomorrow .... one of my brothers is visiting & spending the night. Then it was grocery shopping for what we didn’t have.
After watering my RoS bushes, I got mom going with the cordless blower so she didn’t have to sweep the patio. The blower suddenly quit (initial research is not promising on a ‘fix’) so there’s that to deal with in the near future.
Fortunately, there was a good tennis match on until almost midnight so I had something to listen to/watch while doing food prep in the kitchen. I pickled a red onion (going in a salad), trimmed up green beans, made a lemonade pie, & cut up a watermelon.
This morning, I have cleaned the downstairs guest bathroom & my bathroom upstairs (which I have to share with overnight guests). I made a 6:30 am run to Walmart & got some new washcloths & a dish drying mat, all of which are in the washing machine & about to go in the dryer. The house is in good shape otherwise.
This brother has a cordless pole saw with a 3’ extension. He’s supposed to bring it & help trim up some trees. If he brings it this trip, I’ll be hauling tree debris the rest of the week.
My cousin’s farmer fiance is going to try to find me straw bales for next year’s straw bale garden ... for free, if he can or at least cheaper than the farm bureau price ($6.59 + tax). I would like to get the bales this fall so next spring, I’ll be ready to go! I have room to store them on one of those 2 pallets I got the roofer to leave for me :-)
Melinda Myers has been around for ages. She knows her stuff.
“Then I bought the dutch oven and things seem to have snowballed from there.”
Life as you know it is OVER! Pretty soon you’ll need a second Dutch Oven...then maybe a third, LOL!
The crusty bread that comes out of that thing is AMAZING!
:)
Yeah, I checked the forecast this morning. We will be having nighttime lows in the high 40’s, which will further delay tomato ripening, but I’m not worried about anything else in the garden, now. Things are pretty much spent and you can’t kill Kale, LOL!
Rainy day today, but nothing more than sprinkles all day; the rain barrel isn’t even collecting much!
We’re going to warm up again next week, back to the mid-70’s. And I’m sure October will be ridiculously HOT like it can sometimes be. :(
They are predicting a snowier than normal winter for us, so far.
‘Summer Dance Cucumber’ has been in my rotation for ages. However, since I’m up to my elbows in PICKLES this year, I will NOT be planting cukes next season!
You got a LOT accomplished this week! I’m coming up behind you on the apple processing. They need about a week yet - I sampled a few yesterday.
Do you have a homemade cider press, or did you buy one? I would REALLY like to get one for Beau because he keeps ‘talking’ about it, but then nothing materializes! Also, he’s always gone bear hunting when the apples are ready for cider, so guess WHO will be doing the bulk of that work too?
Anyhow, any cider press advice would be appreciated!
And, we need a ‘Howard Update!’ :)
I’m done with Zucchini, too. It’s a land hog and for the few dishes I LIKE it in, I can buy it cheaper than cheap in the summer months, anyway.
I’d rather have two tomato plants where ONE zucchini plant would be.
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