Ingredients: Beets - enough to make 6 pints 2 Cups Sugar 3-1/2 Cups Vinegar 1-1/2 Cups Water 1 Stick of Cinnamon 1 Tablespoon Whole Allspice 1-1/2 Teaspoon Salt Directions: Wash beets leaving tap root on. This will help keep the color when you boil them to loosen skins. Put beets in large pan and add enough water to cover. Boil 15-20 minutes or until skin loosens. To test, scrape a spoon against the beet to see if the skin scrapes off easily. Remove from heat and cool slightl

Garlic Scape and Basil Pesto is one of my absolute favorites! This is a great way to use your bounty of Basil and Garlic and you can enjoy it now or preserve it for later to have a cozy bit of sunshine on a winter day. Ingredients: 7 garlic scapes 1/3 cup pine nuts 1/4 cup basil leaves 1/4 cup Parmesan 1/4 cup lemon 3/4 cup olive oil salt to taste Directions: Put all ingredients in food processor and pulse to blend. Blend until pesto is spreadable. Add to pasta and top with a

As the warm temperatures persist in Connecticut, it is easy to forget the cold months of winter that still lay ahead. It is tempting to start pulling out seed catalogs and dreaming up big plans for next year's garden. I try to savor these few months of downtime and use it to allow my soul and body to rest - at least from the outside tasks. I find these cooler months ideal for planning and canning as well as learning new old skills. You know the ones I'm talking about... the a

While Farmer Mike and I are not posting as much video content as we would like, the Homestead is anything but quiet! Tomatoes are ripening. Hydroponics are humming. Flowers are buzzing... quite literally! I walked by some squash flowers today and they had 3 happy little bumblebees drunk on pollen wallowing around in there. I think if you listened closely enough you could even hear the pumpkins growing! Harvest season is in full swing and Farmer Mike and I are at our busiest m

What is it? Kohlrabi is a vegetable in the Brassica family and comes in 2 colors purple and white (green). If you've seen this vegetable available at the local farmer's markets it looks a bit like an alien vegetable with a bulb on the bottom and large leaves protruding up. Most of this deliciousness is edible, but I do make a few exceptions for the actual stalk and the rind. The taste of this vegetable is like that of a mild cabbage. The texture of the bulb is like that of r