From Scratch Fresh Peach Dump Cake

Some of our “Belle of Georgia” white peaches on tree (100% organic)

We’re in the middle of peach harvest here and so I have been making all things peachy…the other day I was wanting a yummy moist delicious peachy type cake, I was thinking about maybe a dump cake or something similar.  I went searching online looking for a recipe and could find not a single one that didn’t call for canned peaches or a cake mix as part of the recipe and I don’t do cake mixes 🙄  …sooooo, I did what it seems I always have to do: make my own recipe!

The below recipe is the results of that endeavor 😀

First you need about 8-10 smallish medium type peaches peeled, pitted and sliced into the bottom of a well buttered 9″x13″ pan.

Sprinkle the peach slices with about 1/4 cup of demerara sugar and 1 tsp. ground ginger (I LOVE peaches with ginger! ..but if it’s not your thing then omit it…)

Let that sit while you make the cake batter, you’ll need:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups demerara sugar
• 4 large eggs (I used eggs from our hens)
• 2 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk (I used milk from our goats)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. pure almond extract

Cream together the sugar and butter till light and fluffy, beat in the 4 eggs and then sift together the flour and baking powder into the bowl, then add the milk and extracts, beat until well mixed and smooth.  Pour and spread evenly into the pan over the peaches, put into a 350F oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake portion comes out clean.  Remove and let cool completely before slicing.

the cake cooling on counter amidst green tomatoes and snap beans from the garden, and yes I like to drink wine when I cook 😀

and here it is, a slice of from scratch fresh peach dump cake, it all it’s glory!

The Forgotten Season

A 10’x10′ freshly dug fall garden plot, from back to front: 2 rows Forage Proteor Kale, Misato Rose Winter Radish, Black Palm Tree Cabbage (dusted with diatomaceous earth to kill slugs trying to eat it.) and Cardinal Swiss Chard in the front

Gardens are not just for summertime, you can also garden in the fall and in the winter.  Fall gardening is actually my favorite time to garden, the temperatures are cooler making it more comfortable to be outside and the weeds don’t grow as fast or prolifically as they do in the summer.  The fall garden does require extra planning though… and extra watering,  and by the time August rolls around most people are just so burnt out on their summer garden and preserving/using it’s bounty that they don’t even want to think about starting a whole new garden.   But it is possible! .. and very doable, and when November and December arrive and you’re harvesting delicious greens or parsnips or fresh parsley to enrich and enliven your holiday meals you’ll be glad you took the extra time to plant a fall garden!

Firstly, you must needs know the coldest temperatures that your location drops down too, that way you know which plants will survive through your winter and which ones won’t, you get this information from a plant hardiness zone map.

We live in the middle of the southeastern most tip of West Virginia in zone 6b, which means that, on average, temperatures can dip as low as -5F in any given winter…and they dipped to -4F the first winter we lived here, but last winter the lowest low that we saw was only 2F.

I know of only 4 crops that are hardy enough to live through our winters: Spinach, Mache (also known as Vit or Corn Salad), Cilantro, and Parsley

We’ve tested this for several winters in a row, purposely leaving crops out there to see which would survive and which would not and everything dies except for the above four crops.  Now there are other crops like Swiss Chard for example and the different types of Kale, that die back when the extreme cold hits (usually in January) but then when the first tiny bit of warmth begins to show in early March they are the first to start to put out new leaves giving you very early spring greens!

I usually plant my fall crops where I had summer potatoes, onions, and garlic planted…and then later on where the waning summer snap beans and tobacco were planted…and this year I’ll be making up for tomato failure (we got some, but it’s just been so WET that they didn’t do well at all..reminds me of the summer of 2008, it was very wet then too and the tomatoes did bad…the economy also took a giant crap that year, so I imagine it’ll be the same this year too…) by pulling out ALL 15 of my dead/dying tomato plants and planting an extensive fall garden.   As you pull out dead or dying summer crops also pull out the weeds and then quickly dig in some compost and a bit of blood meal and bone meal and plant a fall crop, just make sure you keep it well watered not letting the seedlings get baked by late summer heat.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard (aka 5 Color Silverbeet)

What to plant when (according to my zone 6b):

Key: The ones in red are for that time period only, the ones in green can be sown till mid september

Mid July- Early August

• Peas – had the most success with sugar snap peas, green shelling peas don’t seem to do well as a fall crop, at least not for me anyhow
• Fava Beans – these are often overlooked in american gardens but they are extremely tasty and VERY cold tolerant for a bean, will survive temperatures down to 15F without dying.  They take about as long as peas to mature so planted at the end of July you’ll get a harvest before the serious cold sets in but they don’t typically like temperatures over 80F, our summer temperatures rarely get over 80F but if yours do make sure to keep them well watered and plant them somewheres in part shade, then once the leaves drop in fall they will get full sun.
• Fall snap beans – Provider seems to have slightly more cold tolerance than the rest
• Lettuce – Black Seeded Simpson, and Four Seasons are good here because they tolerate heat well but will mature very rapidly once the chilly days begin in September, Buttercrunch is the most cold tolerant lettuce that I know of and one of my favorites
• Beets – Flat of Egypt is the only type I plant, planted during this time it will mature just as the first light frosts begin to hit in October
• Carrots – same as beets, my favorite is Red Cored Chantilly and regular ol’ Nantes type, White Lunar is fun though as well as Dragon purple carrot (you can also plant turnips at this time)
• Winter Radishes – these are spicier and slower growing than spring radishes, my favorites are Misato Rose and German Beer radish, they mature into the light frosts of October
• Cilantro and Parsley – the more mature the plant is before the cold weather hits the better, but even young ones will typically survive very cold winters, my parsley plant is currently 3 years old and always has green leaves still in January!

Sugar Snap Peas that I planted in Mid July

Mid August – Mid September

• Greens – Kales, Red Russian (AKA Ragged Jack) and Lacinato (AKA Dinosaur Kale) are the two that I love and plant most often.  This year is our first year planting a “forager” type kale used to feed livestock, it is called Proteor and will be fed to the goats when it fully matures sometime in November/December…and a good collard is Morris Heading Collard,it forms a loose head and is more tender than regular collards and for mustards my favorites are Red Giant and Purple Osaka I love to use them in place of lettuce on a sandwich
• Cabbage – a Non heading type like Black Palm Tree tends to be more heat tolerant but matures rapidly once temperatures start to cool off
• Swiss Chard – Five Color Silverbeet is my very most favorite, I grow it ALL YEAR!  however, it is easily killed by heavy frost but planted early will quickly mature in the coolness of fall as long as you keep it well watered, my other favorite type is a white-ribbed type called Fordhook Giant and these babies will live well into December but typically get killed off by the extreme cold of January, however they are always the first to put out new leaves in springtime, second only to spinach..
• Spinach – The “Star” of the winter garden, it tastes sweeter after heavy frost and continues to grow new leaves (albeit very slowly) even in the coldest weather!  We plant THOUSANDS of spinach seeds every late summer/early fall and harvest POUNDS of it in the springtime (we harvested 10 POUNDS of spinach this past spring!). My favorite type is Giant Noble.
• Mache – a gourmet european green with tender tasty rosettes of leaves that have a sort of nutty flavor reminiscent of walnuts, just like spinach they are super cold hardy, growing new leaves in the coldest of weather and at a faster rate than spinach even.  I personally prefer the dutch varieties over the french varieties, but to each his own…Mache and Spinach make up the majority of our winter salads!

Midsummer Routine

We’ve settled into quite the relaxed pace now….to awakeness, usually late in the morning (because I can) drink some coffee while milking goats and listening to the radio, feeding of everyone (human and animal) the first meal of the day, usually eggs from our hens is included somehow and recently there have been wild blackberries…

..then a short clean-up of the house and a smooth transition into simple learning activities during the heat of the day, reading and short fun worksheets and puzzle games for older boys…play learning for the younguns, simple blocks, colors, alphabet games and then restlessness and the urge to move and into the woods they go!  or, into the creek most recently, the “lagoon” as we call it or playing in sand on “the beach”.

Whilst toddlers play with sidewalk chalk, drawing on the cat, husband and I enter our respective  gardens…he is on a mission of “death to all weeds!” while I am after one thing only.  Harvestings.  Recently it’s been blue potatoes and garlic and onions, but the majority of that as been removed into the security of the house….scalloped potatoes, potato salad, and blue mashed potatoes…but now, with empty bare earth staring up at me in all the perfect loveliness of limitless possibilities I am drawn to planting again.

The peas, and the beets, and the carrots and the kales and spinach and fava beans …those sturdy, stalwart, strong old friends who being too “well armored” and over dressed for the short bit of summer heat arrive again in all their majesty to store the waning sunshine (the days dwindling already now…) in the deep roots and long leathery leaves in reserve for the silent grayness of frigid slumber that is winter.  It is bittersweet, their planting is a the signal of the beginning of the end of summer…

And then a re-entering, toddlers in tow, harvestings on counter…a few tomatoes, a good bunch of snap beans, lots of jalapenos and sweet hungarian frying peppers, and about 15 tobacco leaves which I hang to dry, along with the lemon balm and catnip, from the low hanging ceiling beam in the kitchen.

Hungry from the day’s plantings, mouth in salivation contemplating tomato sandwiches, stir-fry peppers and onions, potatoes and greens beans. “should pair up well with that nice sirloin roast that I got on sale last week.”  The children come running in for cold drinks and small snacks, I set out homemade goat cheese and crackers and they hungrily munch away as the toddlers dash back and forth playing “tag” across the kitchen threshold..

Happy tummies with their dinner fill, everybody goes their separate ways, time for more play.  ..but first, toddlers to bed with fresh milk from the evening milking…and older children whip out the video games whilst I and my husband sneak out the door and sit on the front porch enjoying the cool evening air as the last vestiges of light give way to darkness, listening to talk radio over his smartphone and discussing the day’s events, both domestic and worldwide.

Almost 11 pm, sleepy children laying on couches, almost begging for bed but not quite yet…time for the evening fireworks show, fountains really, fireworks from the 4th of july set off to celebrate life …no reason to need a reason really and no one who lives nearby enough to notice or complain or care, exactly how we like it.   Followed by brushings of teeth and washings of hands and face, discarding or addition of clothing and then to bed, sweet slumber and peaceful rest as images of midsummer adventures replay in their little minds, memories that can never be taken from them, the happy carefree unburdened living of summertime for all time.  There is no need to rush these things 🙂