time to start making things from the garden!

[rainbowgardener]

So I have a quart jar packed with purple basil leaves and then filled with white vinegar infusing. I did this for the first time last year and loved it. It makes the most beautiful pink and lightly scented vinegar.

I have a quart jar packed with rosemary and oregano and filled with olive oil infusing.

I have a quart of purple basil leaves infusing in hot water which will soon become purple basil jelly.

And of course various herbs hanging to dry in the laundry room.

This is end of season stuff for me....

[imafan26]

We used to make herb oils and vinegars for Christmas. Only thing is that if you leave the herb in the bottle, it does not last as long. The only herb I dry on purpose are bay leaves. Chili peppers dry by themselves. Everything else I pretty much use fresh.

However, there are other things to collect
Achiote pods will be spray painted red for Christmas wreaths as will Macadamia leaves which will double for holly.
Wild wood roses will also be collected and sprayed silver or gold and some will be left natural or maybe lacquered.

For Halloween we will make mobiles out of leaves and flowers from the garden and hang them in the trees. I always bundle my corn stalks to put up next to the scarecrow.

Tomatoes for tomato sauce

Peppers for hot pepper sauce

[rainbowgardener]

After it has infused for awhile (a couple weeks or so, since it was never hot), I strain the herbs out. Then when I am putting it in to fancy bottles for Christmas, I put just a sprig of fresh herb in for decoration.

[applestar]

After reading this thread, I jumped up to make an infused vinegar.

I have a quart jar packed with Red Shiso and one drunk plum (from a small jar of plum liquor I'm making) soaking in commercial (Bragg's) organic apple cider vinegar.

Do you have to leave the lid on loose? Is it a solid lid or permeable lid like muslin/cheesecloth or paper towel?

When I can go out and buy some white wine vinegar, I'll see if I have anywhere enough purple basil.... Or maybe I'll try to make the jelly (but I still have to go shopping as I'm out of sugar. could I sub with honey?

[imafan26]

I remember my friend used to live in Scotland and her mother made Christmas pudding. I remember she said that you put the cake in the cabinet and every day you pour an ounce of brandy or whisky on the cake and you do that until the whole bottle is used up. Then you start a new one for the next year.

[Bobberman]

I collect mostly seeds from flowers & vegetables. Seeds are everywhere and most people just pass them up even though they are of the most value and keep the longest!

[rainbowgardener]

I do collect seeds and have lots of paper envelopes of different seeds. And I let some go to try and encourage self seeding.

I put regular (solid) canning jar lids on the vinegar and oil. I don't know if that is "right" or not.

I don't know about the honey. The pectin I use says on the package "do not reduce the sugar or use sugar substitutes." But if you google "making jelly with honey" you get lots of hits. https://www.pickyourown.org/Substituting ... rSugar.htm

But if you haven't tried the purple basil jelly, I really recommend it! One of my favorite things I make. Comes out beautiful deep rose colored (the initial infusion is very purple, but it pales out with the sugar) and tastes wonderful, sweet and tart and spicy.

[rainbowgardener]

Last night I turned some of my abundance of California Wonder bells (which are beautiful this year, big and thick walled, rival anything in supermarket; I think all the rain was good for them) and Anaheim chilis into 6 jars of pepper jelly. It is very pretty (thanks to a few drops of green food coloring) and tastes wonderful! The base of this jelly is apple cider vinegar instead of water.

[ElizabethB]

All sounds good. I just harvested oregano, basil and rosemary for oil. Drats! I can't find my silicone candy mold that I use for making herbed butter. Need to get on that before the herbs peter out. It is a must have for family holiday dinners.

[Bobberman]

This week chocolate zucchini cake and yellow beans in mushroom soup.