Pickled beets

After a lovely morning bike ride, the skies darkened so I decided to can some more. The beets needed thinning and I didn't make any pickled beets last year so out I went into the yard and started yanking.

This year I planted a mixture of heirloom beets (golden, red and variegated) and I pulled those that were up out of the ground. Great colours! I also thinned out the sugar beets (the white ones). They taste just like beets, but sweeter.

A quick boil and peel and were were ready to pack. I found one of the variegated beets but cut it the wrong way to get the rings, but the colours are still interesting.. I planted a bunch more of these for a fall picking.

The result was a very lively set of beets (five jars) that are pickling in the cupboard. I'm also excited to see how much the sugar beets have grown (and, now that they are thinned, have more space to grow).

Then the weather completely turned around again and we went for a hike in the valley. It was fun to listen to Jess identify berries and pick wild Saskatoons for me. We also ran into a porcupine!

On the way back we passed by one of our neighbors who turned his front yard into a garden. This is quite impressive (the 10 boxes are about 6x3 feet), although I'm not sure pressure-treated wood was the best choice.

Tonight I'll start in the custard layer for Jessica's birthday cake. I'm going to give this lemon cake another whirl now that I have (I think) figured out the trick to folding in beaten egg whites. I'm also hopeful to get the pressure canner up and running and put away some carrots for the winter. I also see that the shell peas are putting out a second set of blossoms (which is encouraging!).