Veggielution Sunday

A long day at Veggielution, but lots of fun. I wanted to make pasta sauce to serve at lunch, and so I started as soon as I arrived, first harvesting onions, tomatoes and basil, then cooking them on the camp stove in a nice new pot I bought just for the purpose this week.

The sauce cooked for an hour and a half, and it could have been reduced even more, but I had to put the water on to boil the pasta. And then the propane ran out, and it was some minutes before I realized it. (“Why isn’t the water getting hotter?”) But the pasta got cooked eventually. Next time, I’d like to have the food done when people actually come over to the picnic area, hungry from the work day. But I browbeat everyone into finishing it all.

While that was going on, I saw this week’s Featured Giant Bug:

which I’m calling a scarab beetle. It has the most beautiful shiny green on its legs.

I also picked some green walnuts, with which I hope to make nocino.

And I took a lot of photos of peacocks today. They were very active and vocal, but this one looked tuckered out.

Then after lunch was done and cleaned up, Joe the CIA man led a mustard and pickling workshop. There is much mustard seed in the back acreage at Prusch, and volunteers have been harvesting it and cleaning it of chaff. Joe brought fixings to make many different types of mustard, and people were cooking it with honey, thyme, beer, garlic, cherries, you name it. He also had a big pot of vinegar-based quick pickling liquid on to boil, and I made some wax bean, eggplant and cucumber quick pickles.

I’ll keep them in the fridge, since I didn’t process them for long keeping, and bring them to the next workday.