Tea

It is citrus season folks! That means, in our home, it is time to dry citrus peel and make marmalade for the coming year. That is just what I have been up to this past month or so. I dried citrus circles around Christmas and this past week I made marmalade with some blood oranges I scored through Misfits Market. There are many tutorials online for this so I will spare you the instructions and just show you a few photos.

Dehydrated citrus wheels and peels are great to add to hot water for tea or for a stove top potpourri. If you are blending your own teas the citrus peels are a nice addition to your blending stash. They are not hard to make at all. I follow The Purposeful Pantry for almost all of my dehydrating projects these days and she shared one over Christmas for these citrus beauties pictured above.

This stash of peels is going into the dehydrator today after I trim the pith (the white part that makes things bitter). I am going to dry them for more tea ingredients. I love tea made with citrus and ginger on a cold day when I am not feeling my best. It is a very warm and soothing option for days when you feel under the weather or have a cold or flu, too.

For dehydrating you can use any kind of citrus. You can also use any kind of citrus or a variety of several kinds of citrus for marmalade making, too. The batch I made last week came from a variety of blood oranges, mandarin, and mineolas.

I added the cut up fruit without the peel, pith or membrane and then cooked it with sugar and some rind chopped into smaller pieces. I used this tutorial over on The Spruce Eats. I really love their website for learning something new. They have an extensive database on a variety of topics.

Look at that gorgeous blood orange color! It made for a very pretty and tasty marmalade when everything was finished. I have 8 jars ready to go for the coming year. When I am in a tea and toast mood I will enjoy this treat very much.

Are you doing any canning this time of year?

Maybe some dehydrating?

What are you working on around your home these days?

I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to drop a note in the comments to share or invite me to check out your homesteading or homemaking posts on your blog. I love to find new cozy blogs to enjoy! I find reading like minded blogs feels so much more personal than social media. Let’s bring blogging back.

One more thing… did you know that there is a small window for fresh strawberries for canning in February? I always find beautiful strawberries on sale around Valentine’s Day and do a small batch of strawberry jam for my youngest during that time. I will likely share my project with you when I get there.

My children all have their favorite types of jams and pickled items. They refuse to buy store bought alternatives because they know mom will make it for them. LOL There is always something to preserve. I have found that I can dehydrate and can something almost every month of the year. I am hoping to share more of the gardening and preserving with you this year. There is just something that is very satisfying about growing and preserving for your own family and friends.

What is your favorite thing to can or preserve?

Until next time…

Happy Canning!

~Leann

Photo at the top by Andre Taissin on Unsplash

As we have moved into winter here in the desert southwest I have to admit that it has been pretty mild around here. Our lows are in the upper 30s and highs in the 60s for the last few weeks. I have only had a few days since November where I had to cover carrots and leafy greens overnight. I am still watering a couple times per week because the days are warming up into the 50s and 60s during the day. If you are not familiar with desert dwelling then you may not be aware that the temperature drops about 25-30 degrees overnight but the days are pretty mild through the winter. That means that I can grow things year-round.

I currently have a very healthy rosemary plant that never quits. I planted red onions, shallots, and garlic back in November and they are growing well through the cold months. I still have small spinach and collard greens but they are hanging in there so I will have early greens come February and March. I even have carrots that I am just letting grow for an early spring harvest.

We planted a few trees this year… an avocado tree, self pollinating apple, mandarin orange and a Persian lime tree. We lost our apricot trees. They are just not producing anything so they are coming out. It will be about 4 to 5 years before we will have real fruit on the new trees to enjoy but the process has been started for those fruits of our labor.

I also brought some plants into the sun room for the colder months. I have spearmint, basil, lemon thyme, and a large citronella plant. I am planning to add a few more herbs this year in their own containers. It works well for me to be able to move them indoors to keep them going through cold months.

I am also still dehydrating herbs as they grow because none have gone to seed. I will probably let some go to seed in the spring to get a fuller planter for later drying. I use some of them in herbal teas. I was sick through Christmas and drank herbal teas to get through that. The homegrown herbs worked beautifully in my little stump loose leaf tea pot. (this is the one I own) I even made a batch of Christmas Tea from the Hearth and Vine blog. It was so good I gifted some to my girls for Christmas.

This is the time of year when I start seeds indoors. I am scouring seed catalogues and getting ready to order and start seeds. I do have some seeds from last year that I will test also. I have also been known to scour Walmart and Lowe’s for seeds, too. LOL

I have been collecting cardboard egg boxes to start seeds. They can be cut apart and go straight into the ground with the seeds. They break down in the soil over time. You cannot use the styrofoam ones for this, btw. It has to be a biodegradable cardboard version.

I have picked up some books over the last year that I will be reading as I go. I am learning from Melissa K. Norris gardening books and canning/preserving books right now. The main book I have from her is The Family Garden Plan book. I also have some old favorites for desert gardening, too. Two books from George Brookbank have been the perfect gardening books for desert gardening for me for years. The main one is Desert Gardening Fruits and Vegetables and his second is a companion entitled The Desert Gardener’s Calendar with month by month lists and helps for year round growing. He has since passed away but he was an Arizona gardener who has helped many of us grow in harsh climates and conditions. I love his resources.

I also use a variety of YouTube gardeners including the NMSU gardening videos. They are an agricultural university just about 45 miles north of El Paso. Their information is very appropriate for our area.

Lest you think I am only about the food gardening I cleaned up and replanted some bulbs this year, added some new bulbs, and I have a variety of rose bushes that are about to get cut back for the spring. I also have a lovely Rose of Sharon and a Wisteria plant in a shaded cooler area of the yard. I do enjoy the flowers and lovely blooms that come with spring, too.

There is just so much I can share on gardening from my collection of books, videos, blogs and such. I will do a few more over the coming month or two so this one won’t be so long. It is already exceeding what I intended. LOL

Are you gardening this year? Do you have plans for growing food? Do you prefer growing flowers and landscaping? Maybe you do both? Do you have a favorite gardening book, blog, or youtuber? Feel free to share below in the comments. Until the next installment…

Happy Gardening!

~Leann

PS. I don’t receive any money for any of the links I share on my blog. I just wanted to share with you.

Photo by Clever Visuals on Unsplash