# Benefits of Summer



## mywaynow (Jul 19, 2012)

Since we are all from different areas, thought it would be interesting to see what gifts from the earth are provided at this time of year.  Veges, fruits, seafoods etc.  We have the best corn in the states in my area, and it's all over the place right now.  Sweet, white corn on the cob.  My garden is pumping out Green Beans faster than I can pick them too.  Tomatoes are a couple weeks away, but planted them late.  No local fish to speak of.  Maybe a Hearth Barter program would be in line?  My corn for your??

Side note;  yesterday I was in 105 degrees at 2:30, and by 4:30 a storm had dropped the temps to 74!  31 degrees in 2 hours.


----------



## jharkin (Jul 19, 2012)

Our town is full of farmstands and we just started to get local corn the last few weeks. Been waiting for it since the start of BBQ season. Also bought some local blueberries (kids love them), etc..

OTOH, my wife's backyard herb garden is really suffering from the heat. We are on mandatory full water ban for a week so everyone's garden is wilting.

Same major weather change here. We had some huge thunder cells move through from the same front - first time in as long as I can remember I heard the emergency alert system on the radio- warning of a possible tornado developing near us.  Didn't touch down AFAIK.


----------



## Weird tolkienish figure (Jul 19, 2012)

Just lounging around enjoying the pool.


----------



## ScotO (Jul 19, 2012)

This time of year I eat so much sweet corn I get sick of it.  We will be buying around 20 dozen here in the near future, and blanching/freezing it for use over the winter.  Nothing like having Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with local sweet corn.  Lots of tomatoes, fresh onions, potatoes, beans and peas locally too.


----------



## Delta-T (Jul 19, 2012)

fresh catnip...nothing makes your cats do silly things like fresh catnip.

on a side, you could also have the thread be "the benefits of Sumer" and we can mention agriculture in that context as well.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 19, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> fresh catnip...nothing makes your cats do silly things like fresh catnip.
> 
> on a side, you could also have the thread be "the benefits of Sumer" and we can mention agriculture in that context as well.


 
Very rare that I describe something as a "good pun", but there it is. Friggin genius.

I grows me a lot of garlic. Never much luck with corn, but only tried once. I do well with hot peppers (cherry peps- stuff with cream cheese and grill, and habaneros- make jelly, and general heat). Plus the usual tomatoes, squash, etc.








Elephant garlic- bottle of a favorite local for scale.
E


----------



## GAMMA RAY (Jul 19, 2012)

Switchin things up AP?...no friggin fluff jar for scale? Pfft....
Fluff is the bomb...


----------



## fishingpol (Jul 19, 2012)

Hmmmm. Hot peppers and garlic.

Note to self: Do not work in the same cubicle as AP.

The first thing I thought of after seeing the garlic pic was a giant case of Altoids.  Just joking ya. Garlic is good stuff.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Jul 19, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> This time of year I eat so much sweet corn I get sick of it. We will be buying around 20 dozen here in the near future, and blanching/freezing it for use over the winter. Nothing like having Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with local sweet corn. Lots of tomatoes, fresh onions, potatoes, beans and peas locally too.


 
Scott, we quit blanching many, many moons ago and think the veggies taste much better. We've also never had a problem with the food unblanched.


----------



## ScotO (Jul 19, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Scott, we quit blanching many, many moons ago and think the veggies taste much better. We've also never had a problem with the food unblanched.


 My buddy at work was telling me to try that.  He said just shuck the corn off the cob, bag it, and freeze it.  So you are sayin that works good, too?  If so, I may give that a try this year.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Jul 19, 2012)

If you or your wife is unsure, then just do some both ways and mark it. Which tastes better? Which is easiest to put up?


----------



## mywaynow (Jul 19, 2012)

Anyone have experience with vacuum packing green beans?  Last year I did some but they were not good to eat.  Blanched, cooled and vac packed.  Found the beans were soggy when cooked, and tough.  Was thinking that a shorter blanch time, quicker cooling and lots of time to dry out before sealing them.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Jul 19, 2012)

Once again. When we stopped the blanching, the beans always have turned out great.


----------



## Dix (Jul 19, 2012)

I agree with the non - blanch. Just seems to work better, and no soggy stuff.


----------



## firefighterjake (Jul 20, 2012)

I haven't planted a real garden for a few years now since I'm lazy and it's much, much easier and almost as affordable to pick up the stuff at the local farmer's market or farm stands . . . haven't seen much out yet.

I do know that my tomatoes, while still green, are loving the weather up here this year . . . if things keep going I will be buried in them.


----------



## firefighterjake (Jul 20, 2012)

GAMMA RAY said:


> Switchin things up AP?...no friggin fluff jar for scale? Pfft....
> Fluff is the bomb...


 
Fluff . . . as in fluffernutter sandwiches? My sister loves that stuff . . . claims she cannot find a single jar of that anywhere in Alaska . . . says there are some similar products, but no Fluff.


----------



## btuser (Jul 20, 2012)

We've got a good sized pond in the back of our house. During  the month of July you can pick bluerberries all the way around the perimeter and on the islands (if you can get there).  Every year I pick about 20-30 quarts and freeze them for pies till about Christmas.  This year I'm going to try some wine with the later ones.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 20, 2012)

btuser said:


> We've got a good sized pond in the back of our house. During the month of July you can pick bluerberries all the way around the perimeter and on the islands (if you can get there). Every year I pick about 20-30 quarts and freeze them for pies till about Christmas. This year I'm going to try some wine with the later ones.


 
If you can cast a fly under the blueberry bushes, some big fish often wait there for ants to fall in the water. I've had a lot of luck with that when I used to fresh water fish (large mouths).


----------



## ScotO (Jul 20, 2012)

firefighterjake said:


> I haven't planted a real garden for a few years now since I'm lazy and it's much, much easier and almost as affordable to pick up the stuff at the local farmer's market or farm stands . . . haven't seen much out yet.
> 
> I do know that my tomatoes, while still green, are loving the weather up here this year . . . if things keep going I will be buried in them.


 I plant a huge garden every year.  This year was no different, except for the fact that as soon as everything sprouted, within two days all the shoots were GONE.  We had an EXPLOSION of rabbits and chipmunks this year, and I just can't seem to get rid of them.  So I gave up on the garden, mowed it all down, and I am going to build a polebarn there next year.  Like you said, FirefighterJake, it's just easier to get stuff at the local farmer's markets.  Lots of Amish veggie stands over the hill in the valley (10 minute drive) and the stuff is all locally grown, cheap, and abundant.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 20, 2012)

I have a fencing method that got rid of my groundhog problem, and I assume it would work for rabbits (though we don't have them as pests in my neighborhood, knock on formica), but I don't know how to fence out a chipmunk


----------



## ScotO (Jul 20, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> I have a fencing method that got rid of my groundhog problem, and I assume it would work for rabbits (though we don't have them as pests in my neighborhood, knock on formica), but I don't know how to fence out a chipmunk


 The chippies are the worst of the problem.  The are destructive little bastiges.  That's why I gave up, tired of working my arse off when I can just take a ten minute drive over the hill for the same (or even better) vegetables..


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 20, 2012)

Carpet bombing. They're in burrows though, right?

Bunker busters.


----------



## firefighterjake (Jul 20, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> The chippies are the worst of the problem. The are destructive little bastiges. That's why I gave up, tired of working my arse off when I can just take a ten minute drive over the hill for the same (or even better) vegetables..


 
Never had a problem with chippers . . . I guess having four cats around could be the reason why.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 20, 2012)

We have feral cats occasionally. I could plant that catnip that T suggested.


----------



## Delta-T (Jul 20, 2012)

I use reflective pinwheels to keep the chippies and squirrels away....they got some instinctual reflex to shifts in shadows and such (thinking theres a hawk above them or something)....the pinwheels spin, casting reflexions about and....no chippies or squirrels....at least that was my reasoning for putting them there, and I have no chippies or squirrels, so.....if she weighs the same as a duck, then she must be made of wood, and therefore......


----------



## btuser (Jul 20, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> The chippies are the worst of the problem. The are destructive little bastiges. That's why I gave up, tired of working my arse off when I can just take a ten minute drive over the hill for the same (or even better) vegetables..


The bucket of death is the only thing I've ever tried that came close to thinning the herd.

I didn't do it this year and the little bastards ate all my peaches.


----------



## Jack Straw (Jul 20, 2012)

I feel bad for poor Blanch......what did she do wrong?


----------



## Defiant (Jul 20, 2012)

Blue Crabs are very abundant in my river this year.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 22, 2012)

Habaneros are setting


----------



## bogydave (Jul 22, 2012)

Summer:
Salmon all put up; some smoked, some frozen fillets, some canned in jars.
Several bags of Broccoli in the freezer. ( Got it before the moose this year) Garden slow this year, cooler than normal but still growing.
Lots of ripe tomatoes & cucumbers from the Green house.
Wood is seasoning. 
Several cookouts at the fire pit.
Several of the "worlds problems" solved with, friends, neighbors, a few beers & a good fire in the evening.


----------



## Defiant (Jul 22, 2012)

Fresh catch today


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 24, 2012)

Defiant said:


> Blue Crabs are very abundant in my river this year.


 

You could send the extras to me!


----------



## Defiant (Jul 24, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:


> You could send the extras to me!


I keep aiming them in your direction, buy they keep running back into the riverGoin fluking tomorrow, wife wants me to repeat this meal from the last time I went


----------



## Freeheat (Jul 24, 2012)

Peaches and tomatos are in so the wife is making Peachs salsa   YUMMMM


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 24, 2012)

You're killing me Defiant...Please take me Flounder Fishing...You BASSSSSSSSSSSSTARD!


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 24, 2012)

es332 said:


> Peaches and tomatos are in so the wife is making Peachs salsa YUMMMM


 
Since you're right around the corner, Share some of that delicious salsa...PLEASE!!


----------



## Defiant (Jul 24, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:


> You're killing me Defiant...Please take me Flounder Fishing...You BASSSSSSSSSSSSTARD!


Meeting in Niantic 10 am, we have room for you


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 24, 2012)

Defiant said:


> Meeting in Niantic 10 am, we have room for you


 
Thanks for the invite D...I hope if I ever get out your way, we could work that out! Just make sure you show some pictures!!  At heart I am a bottom fisher, so please share the photos...As caught, Filleted and then cooked!


----------



## Jags (Jul 25, 2012)

Defiant - you suck (Don't take it personally, it is just my jealous side coming out)

As far as sweet corn - sorry NorEaster's...you don't know corn.  Illinois and Iowa know corn.  Corn and beans and beef/deer (throw Wisconsin in for that one).  That is all we have.  No seafood (unless freshwater and caught yourself), no nothing.  We suck at pretty much everything else, but CORN ohhhh...lets not get into to that argument.


----------



## lukem (Jul 25, 2012)

We're not to shabby when it comes to sweet corn down here in the Hoosier state.  I grilled 10 ears last night and the kids slayed it.  It went from stalk to grill in 5 minutes.

Mix up some basting sauce (I use butter, garlic, pepper, and some fish sauce)....remove from husk, and grill on a screamin hot grill for about 2-3 minutes per quarter (turn 1/4 turn).  It went from stalk to grill in 5 minutes.  Heaven.

For having literally no rain we having a decent garden year.  I'm sure glad I planted extra plants because the production isn't near as high as last year on a per plant basis.


----------



## Jags (Jul 25, 2012)

Indiana can hold there own on corn.  For me - I am a purist.  Only 4 things are allowed to touch my sweet corn (and I am a sweet corn whore - I easily eat 8+ ears at a time) Hot water, butter (real), salt, my hands.


----------



## lukem (Jul 25, 2012)

Jags said:


> Indiana can hold there own on corn. For me - I am a purist. Only 4 things are allowed to touch my sweet corn (and I am a sweet corn whore - I easily eat 8+ ears at a time) Hot water, butter (real), salt, my hands.


 
I can appreciate that, but you really should try it.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 25, 2012)

I taught a guy from Iowa how to grill corn. A proud moment for me.


----------



## Jags (Jul 25, 2012)

lukem said:


> I can appreciate that, but you really should try it.


 
I have - every way to Sunday.  Grilled, smoked, steamed, microwaved, Mexican style, Inuit hut on the 3rd Friday of July with a full moon.  I still go back to the way it should be...water, butter, salt.


----------



## fossil (Jul 25, 2012)

I dunno, Jags...some of the finest tasting sweet corn I've had came right out of the Shenandoah valley when I lived in Virginia.  I don't think you have to be in the Heartland to come across some really nice corn...unless, of course, you're looking for thousands of square miles of it.    Rick


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 25, 2012)

Ya, just like I tells the wimminfolk "Quantity rarely trumps quality"


----------



## Jags (Jul 25, 2012)

fossil said:


> ...unless, of course, you're looking for thousands of square miles of it.  Rick


 
A friend of mine raises a few hundred acres of sweet corn for DelMonte (the stuff the rest of the country buys in a can).  It has about a 3 day window of being good.  Then two weeks later, DelMonte will come and pick it.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jul 25, 2012)

I knew a guy in MA that would get the water boiling before he picked corn. When the pot was boiling he'd run out, pick, shuck, and toss it in. Said that if he dropped a piece on the way in he didn't stop to spoil the bunch.

Only issue there is that I MUCH prefer putting corn in a pot of cold water, heat to boiling, boil 1 minute, then shut it off and cover for 10-15 mins. Cannot overcook corn that way, and it tastes great when you're on your 6th piece out of the pot.

All in all Jags- I like boiled, salt, butter best as well. Grilled to the slightest char is great when cutting off the cob for salads and certain recipes that I do- but it's not the same.

I also soak the whole thing in water, then grill with the husk on to steam- but that can go wrong on occasion.


----------



## Defiant (Jul 26, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:


> Thanks for the invite D...I hope if I ever get out your way, we could work that out! Just make sure you show some pictures!! At heart I am a bottom fisher, so please share the photos...As caught, Filleted and then cooked!


It got a little sporty in the am
	

		
			
		

		
	





	

		
			
		

		
	
but managed to get some dinner


----------



## Jags (Jul 26, 2012)

I am not familiar with ocean fish.  What you got laying on the cutting board?  I think I see a couple of flounder, maybe a couple of rock fish and ???  Fill me in.


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 26, 2012)

I see flounder, blue fish (I think), Maybe a small sea bass??


----------



## Defiant (Jul 26, 2012)

A Sea Bass, 2 Bluefish, and 3 Fluke. This might be a better photo 
	

		
			
		

		
	







Blues weighed in at 8 lbs, large fluke was 4 and did not weigh sea bass, caught allot of 13- 15"ers in which we released but kept the 17" one for a friend that loves to cook whole.


----------



## Jags (Jul 26, 2012)

Fluke is a flounder if I am not mistaken, correct?  I don't think I have ever been introduced to a bluefish.  Sea bass with some butter, lemon and dill...MMmmmmm.


----------



## Defiant (Jul 26, 2012)

Jags said:


> Fluke is a flounder if I am not mistaken, correct? I don't think I have ever been introduced to a bluefish. Sea bass with some butter, lemon and dill...MMmmmmm.


Fluke is a summer flounder well known for the underside fillet which is call "fillet of Sole" the are a very aggressive toothy species unlike the winter flounder. Both very tasty, if I do not smoke these blues they will be crabbing bait.


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 26, 2012)

I am not a huge fan of eating Blue Fish, but small ones like that I will eat!


----------



## Eatonpcat (Jul 26, 2012)

My buddies brother has the state of New Jersey record Winter Flounder...Caught on a head boat out of LBI, NJ


----------



## lukem (Jul 26, 2012)

Adios Pantalones said:


> All in all Jags- I like boiled, salt, butter best as well.


 
Skip the salt and butter and try bacon grease.


----------



## Jags (Jul 26, 2012)

lukem said:


> Skip the salt and butter and try bacon grease.


 
Oh - now you are just messing with my head.


----------



## lukem (Jul 26, 2012)

Jags said:


> Oh - now you are just messing with my head.


 

Yes, but in a good way.  5/5 bacon and corn lovers recommend it.


----------

