Seven Vegetable Tortellini Soup (in a Slow Cooker)

Cold. Cold. Cold.  It was 4 degrees outside today and comfort food was the perfect solution to warm our spirits.  This soup has 7 different vegetables and is healthy and delicious! 

Its also a fun soup for our little one to help me make.  I would cut up the vegetables then put them on the plate which he added to the bowl.  Enjoy making this soup and keep in mind you can add or delete vegetables to make it your own.   

Butternut Squash, Zucchini, Carrots, Asparagus, Scallions, Spinach & Tomatoes

Seven Vegetable Tortellini Soup           
Makes 6 to 7 servings

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash- cut into 1 inch cubes

2 small Zucchini- cut into 1 inch cubes

4 Carrots

1 bunch of Asparagus

1 bunch of Scallions

5 oz of fresh Spinach 

Canned Diced Tomatoes (or fresh)

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp. garlic salt 

1 package (9 oz) of Cheese Tortellini

3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

3 (32 oz) low sodium Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth

NOTE: If there is a vegetable you don't eat you can just leave it out of the soup!  You can also make it gluten free by leaving out the Tortellini.  

Tortellini, Chicken Broth, Diced Tomatoes and Spices

Instructions:
1.  Wash, peel and cut Carrots, Zucchini and Butternut Squash and add to slow cooker.  (For how to cut Butternut Squash see the end of this post).  Add cut Asparagus and Scallions to slow cooker.

Sunflowers & Winter Squash Harvest

This past week I was able to harvest a variety of vegetables from the garden.  Winter Squash, Green Beans, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Watermelon, Onions, Carrots & for the first time Sunflowers (for their edible seeds of course)!

Green Beans, Spaghetti Squash, Burgess Squash, Cucumbers & Summer Squash

How can you tell when to harvest Winter Squash?  The best way to tell is to push your nail in the squash.  It won't leave a visible dent if it is ripe.  You may also be able to tell when the vine starts to die and turn brown drying out (keep in mind this may also indicate that your plant has a disease, is under stress or early frost has caused this.)  

Cut the squash from the vine and leave about 3 inches of the stem.   Winter Squash can last in storage anywhere from a month up to 6 months (depending on the variety). 

Typical Shelf Life of Winter Squash:
1-2 Months: Acorn, Delicata and Spaghetti Squash
2-3 Months: Buttercup/Butternut & Pumpkins
5-6 Months: Buttercup and Hubbard

How to harvest Winter Squash properly to last in storage: 
1. Place the unwashed squash in a spot that is warm and sunny for around a week to two weeks.  
(NOTE: Don't do step 1 if you have Acorn Squash- move it to a cool location right away.)
2. Store them in a room that is cool and dry with good air circulation.  (Above 50 degrees F)

Watermelon ready to eat!

We have been amazed at the Sunflowers growing in the beneficial beds in front of our garden.  This is the first year that we have grown Sunflowers and they are incredibly beautiful.  We grew 2 different types: Summertime Mix (more for color and cutting) and Russian Mammoth (for their edible seeds).  See pictures and tips on drying Sunflower seeds below

Sunflower Summertime Mix F1 

(Helianthus Annuus) 

- mixture of colors

- good for mass planting and cutting gardens

-pollen free hybrid collection

-height 4'-5

Summertime Mix- beautiful red/orange color and light yellow flowers

Russian Mammoth Sunflowers 

(Girasol Mammoth Ruso)  

-9'-12' tall with 10'-14' flowers

-easy to grow heirloom

-gigantic single flower heads on stalks

-dry to produce thin-shelled edible seeds

We still can't believe how tall these Sunflowers are!  They are truly Mammoth in size.

Process for drying Sunflowers (indoors):
1. Harvest when wilted &  some yellow petals have fallen off. 
2.  Leave 3 inches of stem when cutting off head of Sunflower. 
3. Secure string around stem of flower. 
4. Hang Sunflowers upside down in warm dry area with good ventilation.
5. Check drying Sunflowers each day & collect seeds which have fallen off. 
(Seeds are dry & ready when the green part of the Sunflower is dark brown & dry).
6. Using your hand rub the top of the flower head & the seeds will come out. 
7. Rinse with cold water and drain.  
8. Allow to air dry for a couple of days on a towel. 
(If desired you can put them on a cookie sheet & toast in oven).
9. Store or eat your Sunflower seeds!

(IF DRYING OUTDOORS DO THE FOLLOWING): 
Do not cut off Sunflower heads.  Instead put them in brown paper bags and tie a string around the bottom of the stem to close the bag.  Continue to check each day.  When ready
cut the Sunflower off stalk leaving 10-12" of stem.  Leave paper bag on flower until it is cut off so you don't loose any seeds.  Continue above steps 6 through 9.

Sunflowers hanging in our garage to dry

Sunflower on the end is about ready for us to remove seeds.

Its now August and the vegetables in the garden are slowing down their production.  The weather has been unusually cool during these summer months.  We have really enjoyed being in the garden this spring and summer.  Its going to be hard to transition to fall this year.  Soon it will be time to clean up the garden and plant a cover crop for the winter.  Then in late fall and early winter it will be time to plan again for next year. 

I will miss the Zinnia flower arrangements in my kitchen this fall!

More to come next week with Garden Tour #2!

Garden Challenges

All gardens have their challenges.  From year to year you learn from experience.  It really parallels with life.  No matter what anyone says problems and issues will arise.  You have to learn that this is part of having a garden.  

You can most certainly be successful and really enjoy the process but first you have to learn to relinquish control.  If you want every plant to be perfect and nothing to go wrong then I suggest not attempting in the first place.  If you are up for the challenge and want to learn from the challenges and rise above them then you won't be disappointed.

In the last week we have started to see some "challenges" in our garden.  Below I am going to share with you our reality!  

CHALLENGE #1: RABBITS in the beneficial flower beds

Rabbit appearing to be innocent

Two years ago rabbits invaded our plastic chicken wire fence and attacked our carrots.  This year however, they can't get into the main part of the garden.  However, they have been chewing away at the beneficial flowers in the front of the garden! 

LESSON LEARNED: Next year the support wire for the Zinnias needs to go all the way around the 2 beneficial flower beds so they can't get in!

Beneficial flowers in front of garden

 CHALLENGE #2: JAPANESE BEETLES in the beneficial flower beds

Japanese beetles on Zinnias

Damage to leaves from Japanese Beetles

The Japanese Beetles are alive and well.  They have been eating the leaves of the Zinnias.  They basically eat all the foliage on your plants and you just find slivers of leaves.  I look for them and when I find them I pick them off and smash them. 

LESSON LEARNED: Next year I want to try to plant some more natural repellents for these pests which include: catnip, chives, garlic and tansy.
  
CHALLENGE #3: ASPARAGUS BEETLES continue to attack!

Asparagus Beetle Larvae

This year the Asparagus Beetles have been on the plants daily.  I find at least 2 or 3 of the adult beetles and then 10 or so of the larvae.  Its a daily battle that is really getting tedious.  

LESSON LEARNED: Next year we will make the row covers taller and keep them on the Asparagus all season! 

CHALLENGE #4: POWDERY MILDEW

Powdery Mildew on Zucchini leaves

Powdery Mildew has already attacked the Zucchini leaves!  Last year it got the Summer Squash before I knew what it was.  This year I should have taken more preventative measures.  However, now I can only try to keep it minimized.  It won't go away at this point but maybe we can keep it from spreading.

I am going to try a solution of 1 tsp. baking soda to 1 quart of water.  Then I will spray it on the leaves.  The baking soda is supposed to raise the PH which creates an environment that Powdery Mildew doesn't enjoy.

LESSON LEARNED:  Next year I am going to be preventative and spray the leaves with the baking soda solution BEFORE this happens!

CHALLENGE #5: Inadequately pollinated Winter Squash

Inadequately pollinated Burgess Squash

Inadequately pollinated Butternut Squash

I have been trying to hand pollinate some of our squash this year.  This is because last year I noticed that some of the baby squash started to form and then turned yellow and were brown on the end and dropped off the vine.  I thought maybe they just had some disease, however when I researched I found out this was not the case!

When I researched this I found that it was because more than one bee visit needs to happen to each fruit in order for the fruit to have enough pollen to properly form.  So these inadequately pollinated squash have had at least 1 bee visit but they are not getting the extra visit!  

I have read that there has been a decline in pollinators in recent years and this has been a common complaint of gardeners.   I was hoping that when we planted the beneficial flowers that they would draw more bees to the garden.  I know that I have seen more bees than in the past, however somehow they are still missing some of our squash!

LESSON LEARNED: I have tried (sort of) to get up early and hand pollinate.  I have only been successful a few times (with getting up early that is).  Next year (or this week) I have to wake up early every morning for a couple of weeks when the Squash flowers open up.

KEY POINT: (I just learned this) they only open in the morning and stay open for one day! Its important to hand pollinate as soon as you can after the flowers open up. 

POSITIVE NOTE:

Onions, Parsley, Broccoli, Basil and Zucchini

I continue to find it very worthwhile and fun to garden!  To end on a more positive note that same day I was able to harvest all of the vegetables above to use on July 4th for our cookout!  We enjoyed it all and its amazing how good vegetables taste fresh from the garden to your table. 

June 30th Update

The verse I read today was:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge."    Psalm 19:1&2

Standing outside today was beautiful.  I tend to love spring weather and it always passes so quickly.  However, today it has felt like spring again!  There was a light breeze and the sun was out to light the sky yet some clouds kept the temperature at 73 degrees.  I wasn't able to stay outside as long as I would have liked (we are in the process of finishing up some interior work in our house) but I relished every moment I had in the garden. 

Zinnias in full bloom

I am always amazed at how small I feel under our giant Maple trees.  Just standing in our yard reminds me that God is amazing!  We have prayed this year that God would bless our garden.  We know that prayer has already been answered in part.  We have been able to share with others our seedlings, crops as they produce and the knowledge we have gained from this process.  

BED# 1- (pictured below) Asparagus, Parsley, Tomatoes & Basil.

Still battling the Asparagus Beetles (next year we will make a taller row cover & keep it on all year!)

I need to dry some of this Parsley because we have an abundance.

(Late plant) Tomatoes & Basil after Peas were harvested

BED# 2- (pictured below) Cauliflower, Broccoli, Corn, Pole Beans & Winter Squash.

We just harvested 2 of our 4 Broccoli.  Yumm!  I think we may have waited too long on one of them.  This is the first year we have been successful with Broccoli.  Row Covers made the difference!  No more of those little green cabbage worms this year! 

Identifying our Winter Squash by the fruit:

Burgess: Winter Squash #1

Butternut: Winter Squash #2

Spaghetti: Winter Squash #3

Buttercup OR Delicata (too early to identify): Winter Squash #4

June 20th Update

I have been checking on the garden in the morning and again in the evening.  This is the time of year that the Squash Vine Borer attack so I am watching closely.  We had to remove our row covers because the plants were outgrowing them (and some plants need to be pollinated by bees).  We had no idea that everything would get so big so fast.  We did make a taller row cover for BED #2 (which you can see below in the picture).  This is an experiment so we will see if it works.   

For reference BED #1 (Asparagus) starts on the left.

Evidence that my little helper has been digging in the dirt!

Zinnias are just starting to bloom!

Tomato plants on deck.

BED# 1- (pictured below) Asparagus, Parsley, Tomatoes (just planted) & Basil (just planted).

Baby Tomato plants & Basil plants (just planted after removing Peas)

Asparagus are very happy.  Next year we can start harvesting them.  
For the first year we just let them fern out.

My amazing Asparagus Beetle catcher!

Each day I check for Asparagus Beetles and I find them on the plants!  I use the glass jar pictured above and I have it filled with water and some liquid dish soap.  I find the beetle put the jar under it and knock it in.  This is much easier than trying to get them with your fingers. 

BED# 2- (pictured below) Cauliflower, Broccoli, Corn, Pole Beans & Winter Squash.

Help the Cauliflower & Broccoli are falling out of the beds!

 

Our first sign of Broccoli!

I made a mistake by planting the Winter Squash plants that I had already started indoors with the corn and beans.  We were trying to do the 3 Sisters Iroquois tradition but I wasn't patient and planted the Squash before the corn and beans.  I had to add cages to the Squash so it wouldn't take over.  This will be interesting!

More detail of Squash, Corn & Beans

 CENTER OF GARDEN- (pictured below) Two Watermelon plants.  This is our first year to try them.

Growing in ground between BED #2 & #3

BED# 3- (pictured below) Onions, Carrots, Bush Beans & Summer Squash.

This bed is out of control!
(Next year we need to pick some of the Onions earlier so they don't overtake the Carrots)

Onion blooming??

(3) Summer Squash in back of BED #3

 BED# 4- (pictured below) Bush Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant & Cucumbers.

 

Female bloom on Zucchini

The Zucchini are happy!