Processing and Cooking Beet Greens

Processing and Cooking Beet Greens
as well as battling squash bugs and a short garden update.





After the dust storm, we got busy catching and squishing squash bugs as well as harvesting from the garden. This week, we'll show you all how to process and cook beet greens.

Beet Greens are very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol (we make up for that in the bacon we add). It is also a good source of Protein, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus and Zinc, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A (220% in only one cup of beet greens), Vitamin C (eat two cups and you'll get 120% of your daily minimum), Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

There's only about 40 calories in a cup of greens. If we throw in one ounce of bacon, we only add about 130 calories and a TON of flavor. If you add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, you'll add 120 calories. You'll save in saturated fat if you go the olive oil route.

There is no specific recipe:

Hand full of Chopped Beet Greens
Chopped Onions
Chopped Bell Peppers
Bacon (for the fat) Could use Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

ENJOY!

Links:

Squash Bug Trap

Squash Bug Trap & Frost in June - Back to the Homestead

We are moving along. The bean and pea seeds that I replanted in the bare spots of the rows are starting to come back. I took your advice and held off on watering them for a while but nature keeps interfering with my plans (not complaining at all). It's strange how some plants need more water than others. They are greening up a bit but I am still keeping an eye on them.

This video has a kaleidoscope of topics: Frost, Green Beans, Rain, Wind, Squash Bugs, Duckweed and...well...there's got to be a topic or two that I could squeeze in there. We had a big storm come through the area and blew...well...like it blows in Idaho. There sure is no shortage of wind here in the potato state.

You'll see in this video:

1. Wind on the Homestead
2. Duckweed Update
3. Building a Squash Bug Trap
4. Frost in June

I have another experiment that I am going to try. Stink bugs and squash bugs look so much alike to me. I know they share some similarities. According to http://bugguide.net/node/view/182:

The stink bug's classification is as follows:

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Superfamily Pentatomoidea

Family Pentatomidae (Stink Bugs)

The squash bug's classification is as follows:

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Superfamily Coreoidea

Family Coreidae (Leaf-footed Bugs)

Subfamily Coreinae

Tribe Coreini

Genus Anasa (Squash Bugs)

They follow the same classification all the way down to the Suborder. They are "True Bugs." Nope, and I don't know if there is a "fake bug" out there. Anyway, it makes sense that they will follow some sort of pattern that are similar. Hopefully they both like a bright light at night.

In this week's video, I demonstrate setting up the squash bug trap. I will check it every day until I start getting some bugs in the trap (or not) and let you know how it turns out on subsequent videos.

Here's a link to the video where I got the idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKc5acECuQk

Lastly, I have a video I uploaded called, "Video Response to Strong Points during SHTF or DHTO - Back to the Homestead." I was tagged in a video and posted my response...



Enjoy!