On Monday we had a group meeting with the Grow Appalachia participants to discuss how the year is going so far. The gardeners were excited to report that the rain has finally slowed down and the gardens are starting to produce.  Jackie and I stressed the importance of  Harvest Reports to the gardeners.  One of my favorite things about these group meeting is the food the gardeners bring to share with us. Patricia brought Zucchini Bread to share, it was wonderful!

Zucchini Bread 

3 cups Zucchini

3 cups Flour

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Walnuts

4 tsps. Cinnamon

1 cup Oil

3  eggs well beaten

1 cup raisins & Coconut

1 cup Pineapple

Mix all together, makes 2 loafs, Bake at 350 for 55 minutes

On Thursday we had a canning class with Rebecca Milller from the Bell County Extension Office. They made Banana-Strawberry Freezer Jam.

Banana-Strawberry Freezer Jam

Yield 5 half-pint jars

3 large bananas

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups crushed strawberries (about 1 1/2 quarts)

1 pouch freezer jam pectin

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place bananas on baking sheet: do not peel. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F. Cool. Peel and crush bananas. Measure 1 cup crushed bananas then combine them with the strawberries and sugar in a medium bowl. Let stand 15 minutes. Gradually stir freezer jam pectin into fruit mixture. Stir 3 minutes: let stand 5 minutes. Ladle jam into can or freeze jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Label and freeze.