Southwestern Pot Pie

Sooooo, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted.  Yes, I know you are aware of that.  However, in my defense, mid-September I packed up and moved out.  Yep.  Left it all behind.  Over the river and through the woods I went.  Literally.  Then, in October I was promoted.  A good career move?  Yes indeed!  Is it incredibly stressful?  YOU BETCHA!  I traded in a 500 mile/week commute for 60.  Unfortunately, I’m still putting in the same amount of hours.  This is still a good thing.  No really.  It is.

So, with the new life and new work comes less time and I’m surprisingly ok with that.  I’m spending my time living, laughing, and loving.  This is a very good thing.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think about the blog.  A lot.  Every time I embark on a new canning adventure, or cook up something delicious I want to share it with you.  Really, I do.  But then days turn into weeks, and weeks fade into months; then, the season has passed.  And in my draft que those forgotten posts hibernate until their season of plenty returns.

Now you know where I’ve been and why the blog is so quiet.  It’s not that I’m no longer canning, preserving, and obsessing over food, because I am.  TRUST ME!  I just lack the required time to write about it.  Now that my days are darker and the air is colder I’m hoping to change that.  But, I make no promises.

We can thank my bestie for giving birth and a much needed 4 day holiday weekend for this very tasty season-appropriate recipe.  Friday I headed back over the river and through the woods toting food and a few other necessities, in exchange for cuddles with that sweet little baby boy.  She and the hubs had lunch and dinner, I got to feed, rock, and snuggle baby Grey!

Southwestern Pot Pie

1 pt tomato salsa

1 pt Spicy V8

1/2 pt water

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed.

1 butternut squash neck, peeled and cubed.

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup kidney beans

1 cup northern beans

1 cup corn

a light sprinkling of cinnamon

olive oil

1 small box cornbread mix

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

In a large pot heat oil over med-high heat and add onion; sauté until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.

Stir in sweet potato, squash, salsa, water, V8, and cinnamon.  Heat mixture until boiling.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until potatoes and squash are tender.  Stir in corn and beans.

In a medium bowl combine cornbread mix, milk, and egg.  Spoon on top of vegetable mixture.  Cover; simmer approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Images and content copyright © 2012 Danielle R Limoge. Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker Easy Everyday Vegetarian

Garden Tour and My Battle with Blight

Last weekend, I spent most of Friday night, all of Saturday morning and some of Monday afternoon tackling the beginnings of late blight on my tomatoes.  Late blight is usually our precursor to the ever loathsome dog days of summer.  Every July, the bottom leaves develop spots, turn yellow, shrivel up, and die, leaving my tomato plants looking like a sad mess.  Thankfully, late blight seems to favor my leaves and not the actual fruit itself.  However, it can affect and destroy the leaves, stems, fruits, and tubers of potato and tomato plants.  Late blight was responsible for the Irish Potato Famine.

Late blight spores are asexual and are spread by rain splash and wind currents.  One way to slow down this ugly fungus-like pathogen is to begin removing the infected leaves as soon as they appear.  I should have started that task around Tuesday, but alas, I had too much other stuff to tend to.  By the time I got into the garden Friday, it had spread through the first three rows of my tomatoes.  My Cream Sausage were the hardest hit.  Since they are a determinant variety, I will be pulling them after the harvest.  My Amish Paste, Hillbilly, Cherokee Purple and Green Zebras are all indeterminant varieties, so I will continue to clip off leaves and suckers well into the fall till our first hard frost.

And now, I shall take you on a 365 degree tour of the main garden!

Several of my sunflowers had what appeared to be powdery mildew, so I pulled them.  I’ve started new ones for transplant.  Two weeks ago, I pulled the sugar snap peas and rebuilt the trellis to accommodate my tiger melons, which I will be growing vertically.  My bush peas will most likely be pulled this weekend and replaced with winter squash.  Carrots were next to the bush peas, but I pulled them after the picture was taken.  The brassicas will most likely come out next week.  Some are forming heads and others I don’t believe ever will.  I will be planting carrots, beets, and beans in that space.

After the empty space on the left is celery, then Brussels sprouts.  They may or may not do anything.  Regardless, I am going to give them another go this Fall!  I love me some Brussels sprouts sautéed in an obnoxious amount of butter and garlic!!  And now begins the tomatoes.

L-R Cream Sausage, Amish Paste, Hillbilly, Cherokee Purple, and Green Zebra.  I think it took me a total of about 10 hours to cut out all the blight damaged leaves.  I also thinned out the suckers (stems that will never flower) and restaked everything!  You can now walk down each path; by thinning out leaves, I’ve increased air circulation, which will hopefully help in protecting against other tomato diseases!

Some of my tomato plants have reached a height of 6 feet, they are now taller than me! 🙂  I did some companion planting this year and placed a row of carrots between the Green Zebras and the Purple Tomatillos, they were shaded by the rapid growth of the plants flanking them.  After the leaf trimming, they are getting more light, but it will be a slow grow for them!  This is my first year for tomatillos and I did not realize just how big they got!  I did not stake them, but they are holding up well.  I may go in with supports later if they begin to look stressed.  To the very right of the picture are my ground cherries.   Only two made it and they are thriving; I’ve started two more that now have true leaves.

Beans, beets, beans, and cucumbers!  I’m going to seed more carrots next to the last planting of beans.  If I need to, I will trellis my cukes to keep them off the ground and away from my carrots, which is most likely the case.

And as we continue along the backside…

Zucchini and purslane are behind the tomatoes.  Yes, I eat purslane.  Yes, I know it is a weed.  I have more summer squash growing in the front garden, along with kale and onions…but this post is all about the main garden.

I ended up losing two Swiss chard earlier this year.  I’ve never had them bolt from the heat in their first year till now!  I’m going to start more for my cold frames, and hopefully extend my harvest well into the winter months.  Next to my chard are alternating rows of beets and carrots.  They will soon be ready for harvest.  In front of those are my newly seeded French breakfast radishes.  So far they are doing well!  Next are beets that I have slowly been pulling.

And finally, the remaining brassicas, peas, sunflowers and some empty growing space that will soon be covered with winter squash!

Well, that’s it.  You have now just circled my main garden.  Hope you enjoyed the tour! 🙂