Peony jelly

One of my gardening experiments this year was peony jelly. I don't think I have ever made a floral jelly before and we have lovely peonies.

I picked flowers from three different plants (light pink, magenta and dark red) and washed them up.

I then stripped the petals, cover them with four cups of boiling water, and soaked them in in the fridge for 24 hours. I then strained the liquid out and topped it up with water to four cups, added a box of pectin and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and brought it to a boil.

Then I added four cups of sugar, boiled for another few minutes, and then jarred. I decided not to water bath and just store them in the fridge. Tastes like crab apple jelly with a slight floral tone. The colour is amazing.

We were away for a week in Saskatchewan and came home to huge garden growth. I had to cut down the first crop of arugula and use it as a green manure. But the peppers seems to be growing well and starting to produce fruit.

The first few cucumbers are also visible. The melons seems to be growing but no fruit yet.

We have started to harvest the peas and eat them. We are also eating lettuce from the yard.

After a rough start, the tomatoes are also fruiting.

I need to cut the scapes and the basil and make pesto next week. We are also starting to see the pumpkins start to grow with the rain and the heat. They may need some fertilizer. If I get ambitious, I'ma also going to crop some nettle and cook it up.