U-Pick Produce Farms. Fertile grounds for a preserver's imagination.

The first day of Labor Day Weekend we were traveling on the main highway through rural Belfair, Washington when we noticed a small hand-written sign that said "U-Pick Produce >>>". Without hesitation the preserver inside me yelled to my husband: "TURN HERE!"

A few minutes later we were at the "Farm At Waters Edge" and I was the proud owner of not only this healthy head of cabbage, but a variety of other organic vegetables too. My husband & I spent a happy hour in the morning sun, picking whatever called out to us while chatting with an enthusiastic young gal about the process of certifying the farm organic, using the manure from the herd of resident Alpacas to fertilize the thriving garden, raising money for the North Mason Food Bank by selling their cage-free chicken eggs and protecting wild salmon (they share an office and the land with the Pacific Northwest Salmon Center.)

When we got home I immediately pulled my bags of slightly dirty loot out of the car's trunk and unpacked them on my potting table. My imagination was already running wild, thinking of ways I could preserve the "straight-outta-the-ground" freshness of my bounty.

Thirty dollars bought some of the most beautiful produce I'd seen in awhile. Inexpensive + organic = winning combination.

 The first thing I did was wash the sugar snap peas, intending to pickle them, which is exactly what I did later on that day. (I'll write about that project tomorrow.) I had to use self-discipline to stop from eating all of them raw. Whomever coined the phrase "nature's candy" must have eaten a few sweet & crunchy sugar snap peas in their day.

I've added numbers to the photo below, to describe what each item is and how I intend to preserve it. Hopefully I'll get be able to blog all of my results in the future. If I ever get out of my steamy kitchen, that is.

1.) Italian Parsley (garnish for pickling projects)

2.) Sweet Basil (garnish/seasoning for pickling projects)

3.) "Bright Lights" Swiss Chard (candy the stems)

4.) Yellow Crookneck Squash (relish)

5.) Kohlrabi / German Turnip (refrigerator pickles)

6.) White Cabbage (sauerkraut)

7.) Zucchini Squash (relish)

8.) Slicing Cucumbers (refrigerator pickles)

9.) Purple-podded Green Beans (pickled Dilly Beans)

10.) Sugar Snap Peas (pickled 2 different ways)

11.) Golden Beets (pickled)

12.) Flowering Broccolini (refrigerator pickles)

13.) Blue Lake Green Beans (pickled Dilly Beans)

14.) Sun Gold Tomatoes (oven-roast then pack in oil)

15.) Elephant Garlic (seasoning for pickling)

16.) Lemon Cucumbers (refrigerator pickles)

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