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Will be interesting to see how much farmers’ markets are charging in Ontario this summer. Quarts at markets were $7 or $8 CAD last year. Maybe $5.50 or $6 CAD / quart at strawberry farms. Cheaper by the flat.
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Full disclosure…my home region stilll produces something like 20% of the strawberries grown in th3 US.
In season we pay $2-$2.50 per quart at the supermarket . The season ends about Easter, so ours are now from other places and running 4ish for a quart.
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How’s the time for chive blossom vinegar. Started this yesterday and I expect it to get a little more intense colored during the next few days.
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Oh how is the taste of the vinegar. I alway chop my chives down before they bloom. Dice them and freeze them. They last me all winter. Will have to try the vinegar.
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It’s deliciously chivey 
, my chives generally overwinter in the garage. You can remove the blooms when you feel that the vinegar is sufficiently infused. Or, leave them in, they eventually degrade and turn white. The vinegar does not retain the purple color after a while.
ETA…I remove the flowering stems but I let them continue to grow all summer.
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This is timely. I want to make some flavored vinegar but I don’t know where to start.
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If using any herb, fruit, I wash , dry and do one of two things. Place items in jar, pour boiling vinegar over, let infuse until you are happy with the flavor. Either remove and strain or leave items in bottle. Second method, I put the items in a Pyrex cup, pour over the vinegar and micro until boiling. Pour into impeccably clean jars, I used to be able to use TJ’s white vinegar but they no longer stock it, so I sometimes transfer the infused vinegar into more appropriately shaped jars.
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Great idea! My chives are just starting to bud. Will have to give this a try.
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They really freeze well too. I have some all winter for a little sprinkle. So annoying if you have to buy in winter.
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I live about an hour away from Ontario’s bigger producers (Norfolk County), but that’s still small potatoes compared to Watsonville, CA and your home region in Florida!
Local produce tends to be fairly expensive in Canada, even at the source.
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They also dehydrate reasonably well. My mom always froze them in long lengths. I snip into bits and air-dry - a process which only takes a few days - but they don’t hold up as well. Good for egg dishes and soups, but I wouldn’t make a really chive-y dip or dressing out of dried chives.
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did you (or @MunchkinRedux ) strain the seeds out of the raspberries for this jam?
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I did not. Funny, I’ll strain blackberries for jam, but in a raspberry jam the seeds don’t bother me.
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Thanks. More q’s: what was your general method ?Cook the fruits together? I think I do want to strain for seeds, which I think means I need to either press raw berries thru a sieve to de-seed, or cook them separately and them pass them through a sieve…
I cooked everything together - berries, sugar, a sqidge of lemon juice.
When I make blackberry jam, if I’m not straining first in a Victorio strainer (does a super job but a PITA to clean), I cook the berries down a bit first before straining through a standard handheld strainer, then return to the pot to add the sugar and make the jam. Either way works, but if straining manually, I think cooking them a bit first would help.
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My jam had small diced pieces of rhubarb and whole raspberries. I had previously made a blitzed one of rhubarb only. Whatever floats your boat, but cooking the raspberries as MR mentioned would definitely aid in deseeding them.
I just made a rhubarb raspberry sorbet and ran the Vitamix until 99% of the raspberry seeds were obliterated.
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The peaches that didnt get eaten out of hand or baked into cobbler got canned yesterday. 6 pints of peaches for another day
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Picking my jaw up off of the floor! We won’t see local peaches until August. 
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It’s mid season in rhe South…strawberries and blueberries are long gone for us.
Next for us is sweet corn and watermelon, then not much else til the heat and humidity retreat in the fall.
Okra continues to produce all summer, but its just too hot for most things.
We actually have 2 full growing cycles over the winter though. My partner bought me out of the side gig so Im hoping to have a veg garden this year.
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