So far, this spring garden has been one of my most enjoyable, successful and experimental gardening seasons I've ever had.  It has brought me so much joy and I've learned so much from my tiny urban garden.  
      Because I decided to try growing from seeds this year, instead of buying transplants, one of the things that I've discovered is a new seed company online,  it is called Seeds Now.  I love perusing all of the seeds that they have available and finding some that I would love to give a try.  That's what happened when I saw the cute picture of a Pattypan Squash!  I mean, look at that thing, isn't it cute?  I could decorate tables with them! I fell in love with the look of the pattypan and decided to order some seeds to give them a try in my 3 sisters garden.  I thought you might like to hear all about this journey! 

     We just entered 2025, right?  Except we are in the halfway month and Father's Day is this coming weekend!  Not only that, I will have grandchildren arriving here on Friday Night who will be wanting me to help them create gifts for their dad!  

        This set of grandchildren are in the older group of my large, wonderful crowd of grandchildren, so it is going to be a challenge and yet a lot of fun to come up with ideas that they will enjoy making and not feel are too young to come from them, and that their dad will enjoy and treasure.   Today I am going to share some ideas that I think will be great coming from kids who are 14, 12 and 10! 

     In my last post, I shared some ways that I've been using Moringa in my morning smoothies  and juice.   Since then, I've been experimenting with it in other ways because a.) It is very prolific so there is a lot of Moringa to use!  b.) ​It is so healthy and I love the boost that I feel when I'm using it consistently! 

      About a week ago, I also had some apricots and peaches that I needed to finish processing.  I thought about the Apricot Peach Butter that I made in the crock pot last year and decided that a new batch was in order, is has such a delicious blend of vanilla and cinnamon in it and everyone loved the flavor.  But, then I looked at my dried moringa leaves and of course, a lightbulb went off that I should incorporate moringa into a new version of this delicious fruit butter!  So, of course, I did it!  I am so glad that I did because it is my new favorite form of this butter! 

     I decided that this time instead of the warm cinnamon with vanilla tones that I had in the original recipe, I would go for a brighter flavor where hopefully the moringa could shine through a bit.  I used dried moringa leaves because I wanted to use the steam or water bath canner to can this and I didn't want a fresh herb messing with the acidity of the recipe.  Be sure to crush the Moringa Leaves when you put them in.  
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      Also, my fruit was pretty small.  In the recipe I give an approximate amount of fruit that I used, but mainly be sure to fill your crock pot about 3/4 of the way full. The beauty of this Peach Apricot Butter is that there is no peeling involved!  The immersion blender makes short work of the peels.  If you don't have an immersion blender, you need one!  Or, you can use a blender or food processor.  I just like to be able to blend everything up right in the crock pot, fewer dishes! 

You can adjust the sweetness of the butter up or down according to your taste.  I didn't use pectin, so the amount of sugar won't affect how the butter sets.  I thought about using honey, but I didn't want the honey to overpower the rest of the flavors of the fruits and the moringa. 
     
​     The thicker that you want your butter to be, the longer you will allow it to cook in the crock pot.  I had mine in the crock pot all day.  Then I covered it and put it in the fridge.  In the morning I warmed it back up again for awhile and blended it once more before I put it into the jam jars and canned it.  I canned mine in small jam jars, if you are going to put it in larger jars, be sure adjust the processing time to be longer. 

     What I love about this fruit butter is the bright flavor that is such a surprise to your tastebuds when you put in in your mouth!  I'm so happy that I had the bright idea to try this! I hope you will give it a try if you have some peaches and apricots coming on your trees. 

      I have a new tree growing in my backyard!  It is about a foot tall now, but by the end of the summer, it should be as tall as I am.  It is a Moringa Tree and the most recent trend in super foods! 
      Two of my friends, Julie and Anita are the ones who first told me about this tree.  It produces a bean that people in Asia love to use, but here is the west, many don't find it very palatable.  But never fear!  The leaves are also edible and healthy and delicious!  
       Anita has a number of Moringa Trees growing in her yard, and she gave me some seeds, which I sprouted and now have growing in my backyard!  The tree is very fast growing and it will be a large bush or a tree, depending on how you trim it as it grows.  I want mine to be a tree, so I am snipping off lower growth as it comes out.  Anita has been harvesting leaves off of her trees as well and gave some to me!  So guess what?  You are going to be seeing some Moringa leave recipes here on the blog!  So keep reading because what could be better than some cool Moringa Iced Tea Beverages for Summer!