A little tour in the garden and a mint syrup recipe

 The garden is growing so much, we had our first eggplants, tomatoes, raspberries, and black currants. The plants grow fast and every week there is a new plant we could use in our cooking or to preserve. 

It's a question of good timing and make time for it. 

I wanted to give you a little tour of the garden. The flowers, it's such a delight to smell the roses, honeysuckle, and lilies. I feel I am becoming more and more of a flower collector. 

I like that we grow vegetables and fruits and have flowers in such a small space. It is a challenge to make space for all of the plants, we need to be creative. 

The hollihocks are doing so good, I brought the seeds from France, they come from my parents yard. 

The honeysuckle. ( See I am really in the city ) 

Lilies.

Some kale, we do eat a lot of it...

First beets are almost ready !

A potted tomato on top of the chicken coop.

Roses

And so much mint !

We dry some of the mint but this year I made some mint syrup !

Here is the recipe.

Mint Syrup Recipe 

- 4 big bowls of mint leaves washed 

- 4 cups of water

- 4 cups of sugar 

In a large bowl add the fresh mint leaves, add the boiling water over the leaves and cover for 24 hours.

Filter the liquid you obtained, add the sugar and cook in a large sauce pan for an hour. ( on high first then on low )

Let the syrup cool and store in a bottle.

Keep it in your fridge. 

Enjoy your syrup in a cocktail, or just with sparkling water ( or not ) and a lot of ice. 

It's very sweet so you really just need a little bit, it's fresh and delicious on a hot summer day! 

ideas for tomatoes

i have been a stranger around these parts for over a month now. that doesn't mean the happenings around the farm have slowed down. not one bit, really. the work is never ending around here, but it brings about a feeling of satisfaction that can't be matched. there's always a project to complete, an animal in need of care, a garden to weed, produce to harvest & a bounty of delicious summer goodies to put up. we are thankful for this work & this season of abundance! 

abundance is indeed the word to describe this time of year. every day we come in from the garden with a basket of tomatoes, peppers, basil & cucumbers. i have pickled, canned, preserved & frozen baskets of deliciously ripe produce this summer. 

this summer i have also found two new, family-approved ways to enjoy these favorites in our garden. 

inspired by a flurry of women on social media, i tried that one pot pasta that so many have talked about. i was a bit hesitant at first to serve this up at dinnertime for fear of soggy noodles & flavorless sauce, but i can now confidently share that it was indeed a hit. that martha is a genius!  we mixed some garden tomatoes, purple onion, basil & garlic in with the noodles. easy cooking, easy clean-up & a delicious dinner. win, win, win!

i also tried my hand at roasting tomatoes. i chopped up tomatoes skin & all, both small & large, & placed them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. i spread a bit of olive oil on the top & then added a mix of salt, pepper, fresh rosemary & whole cloves of garlic. the small tomatoes roasted for about 3 hours at 225 degrees in the oven. the larger tomatoes took about 4 hours. 

we have enjoyed these slow-roasted tomatoes on salads, in leftover pasta & as a snack. i froze the leftovers on a cookie sheet & placed them in a freezer bag for the winter. just another way to enjoy this season of abundance during the cold winter months!

what are some new ways you have found to preserve the summer harvest? please share!