you ran and played like a child
As adults we often are to cautious and wait to see what happens in life
as if joy and happiness are limited and we’re afraid to use it up
I think joy begets joy
So take a few minutes every day
Don’t think about who may be watching or what others may think
Play like the children did yesterday &
Laughed with carefree abandon
Where did you find joy today?
Katie
Over the weekend we blanched, cut off the cob and froze over a bushel of corn.
We’d had it in the cool basement while I procrastinated processing it. With the temps over 100 I just couldn’t bring myself to fire up the canner in the house. The AC has been working overtime and I’m emptying the dehumidifier 1-2 times a day. Over a gallon of water each time. The last thing I want to do is create more humidity or heat inside!
We’d been discussing a way to set up an outside canning center & I was worried our old Coleman camp stove could hold up under the canning kettle weight. So, Mr. Fix-It came up with this from the back of his (Mary Poppins) truck. It seems he’d done a job for a customer & for some reason felt led not to charge him. After refusing payment a few times the gentleman finally left and then came back and gave him this burner. (the bottle and kettle are ours) I has a huge wok bowl we’ve already used and I love it!
He set this up and while the water was heating we shucked the corn and had it ready to go. Once the corn was shucked it only took an hour to process the entire bushel.
We set at the tables with large cutting boards and went to work cutting and bagging.
For some reason this photo is locked and won’t let me turn it.
Some of the finished corn cooling before being laid flat in the freezer. He’s helped me in past years switch jars in the canner or wipe the jars rims before setting lids but, generally I’ve tried to be done or nearly done when he gets home. This was the first time we’d worked together start to finish. It was nice and so much quicker working together. And even better…the compost pile is about 50 feet away! Really makes me wish I knew someone local to can with.
So, since this process worked out so well we’re trying to figure a way to create a canning set up out side now. We have the camp stove I can cook on and the canner will fit on the burner above. I think if I set a board on the ground in front of the stone wall (for the jars as a smooth surface)
Think it will work or am I looking at cracked jars?
Katie
Remember this post about my neighbors bushes?
Well, the trimming has begun. 2 were pruned last week, they still need a bit more work but I had to take a break it was so darn hot.
I need to thin it out a bit and shape the bottom more but, it’s a giant leap from what it was.
We’ve more rain (THANK GOD!) in the forecast for the next few days so it may be Wednesday afternoon or Thursday before I can get to the next one.
Little bits at a time
Katie
Maybe a fools fall? This drought has effected all the trees and the stress to them is starting to show. As much yellow and orange are showing as there is green. The other night we were eating supper outside and heard this rustling sound. Both of us looked over to the wooded area to see what critter would be coming through the under brush but, what soon realized we had heard was falling leaves…. so dry they were making a crackling sound as they fell and brushed against each other. In my mind ( and maybe out loud) I was shouting NO NO NO! Not yet! I’m not ready.
I’ve 3 peppers and 3 cherry tomato’s harvested from the garden so far! The garden went in a month (at least) later than normal and compounded by the heat its just hanging on and starting to show. We’ve been watering with the hose but this weekends rain has really made a difference.
The melons just are starting to develop. In the past we’ve eaten one for 4th of July and been eating canalope daily by now.
I’m hoping for a bumper crop, I want to make watermelon jelly and try my hand at pickling the rinds
This melon is 6 inches & was the same size as the one starting in the photo above 3 days ago. A good soaking rain is wonderful!
Mulching tomato’s and peppers, not as many planted this year
Larry mowed yesterday for the first time in 4 weeks. It was so dry he hadn’t needed to but, yesterdays mowing gave me more grass trimmings to mulch in the garden pathways
Combined with the cardboard or news paper under the grass It’s saved hours of additional weeding.
My 4 lonely beets. This was a row of carrots & beets. No carrots germinated and only 4 beets in a 20 foot row. It was my first time planting beets so I was kinda bummed by the showing. They are about 1/2 above the soil line so I think they are ready to harvest. I need to check on that. When we were in Poland we were served some wonderful cold beet dishes and I’m trying to find the recipes.
So how is your garden growing?
Katie
Yeah~ That’s right the weeds lost this round. I spent about an hour weeding yesterday morning with the little man helper ‘compost boy’. He was ready & willing for the first 10 minutes then the novelty wore off…so to take his mind off the work we started singing silly songs, country songs & patriotic songs. Which lead to a few political discussions (yes, he’s 9). We/he planted 3 more rows of green beans we chatted about seeds & how precious good seeds are.
I explained the differences between GMO, heirloom & organic. Which in turn led to questions like “Why would people be dumb enough to buy junk GMO seeds!?”
Leave it to a 9 year old to not sugar coat a question!
We chatted about organic gardening, using no poisons to kill the weeds we were pulling…”poison! We want to eat this stuff why would we put poison on it”!
We talked about taking care of the soil like we do our bodies. We work & play using up energy, and need to eat good healthy food to keep our body working properly.
As we mulched the existing bean plants and newly planted rows with fresh rabbit poo,
we discussed how the plants “eat” the soils vitamins and minerals, so it’s important to feed the soil & give it snacks by adding things like the rabbit poo & compost to keep it fresh and strong like he is.
As we were finishing up & gathering our tools I was feeing pretty good about the work done. Thrilled with our conversation & all the questions he’d had knowing more than just green bean seeds were planted… till he got this look on his face…you know, the light bulb moment?
“Oh….so that’s what the compost is for~” *Palm to face* As ‘compost boy’ He understood the basic process of composting but I didn’t realize he until then he hadn’t understand what it was for!
He’d not been at the house when we used it. He thought it was just a way of getting rid of garbage!!
As we sat on the patio later taking a break, he bit in to a fresh peach and said ‘you know what’s nice about being a boy and not a plant in the garden?' My snack is healthy & doesn’t smell like rabbit poo’
Katie
.
If I drink my Birthday presents!
I laughed so hard, Danielle & Justin had picked up a few bags of my favorite coffees at Whole foods, Larry picked up the M&M’s and coffee..I ended up with 7 different bags & none knew what the other was planning other than the last gift…
Hey I was a happy camper thinking I’m stocked for a month! Then I opened the envelope from them all and found
*
*
My Hubby & Kids ROCK!!
I was planning on a Kindle Fire or an I pad after the the Nexus was released as I figured the prices would come wwwwwwwwwwwway down.
Yesterday was such a sleepy lazy day. We’d spent the evening before at a family (belated) 4th of July celebration. We’re a bunch of pyro’s at heart I have to admit. Tents, fans and misting hoses kept us from being to hot in the 97% humidity and 104 heat…until the power went out about 7 pm. First brown out I’ve known in the 20 years we’ve lived here. It was back on by a bit after 11pm but we were home by then.
Yesterday (Sunday) I couldn’t focus on a thing. I think it was a cumulative of to many
days of outdoor activity in the heat. Good news is the temps have cooled, thank God!
Today was planned as a day for weeding, I know with last nights rain the weeds in the garden will have grown a foot & I have a good size load of rabbit poo waiting to be mulched in the garden. But, I think this heat has really zapped me cause I never left the house. I puttered around the house & had energy for changing bedding, a bit of laundry and meals but that was it.
Tomorrow, is a day to tackle a bit of weeding…I think I need to double up on my vitamins for a few days to get them all. So how about my blogger family out there, anyone visited by the rain clouds? I will admit I did a little 2-step in the rain
Aaaaand This photo is for Mama Pea
These used be pretty good sized nice, thick and full. I kept finding all these little black dots on the counter & window ledge..couldn’t figure it out till I really looked at the plants and found………
An Army worm on each plant!! I could see them chewing away and a blade fell off as I was watching Can you say gross! On a house plant!!! Now I really need to go check the others. Who’da thunk…house plants EWwwwww!
kinda creeped out now
Katie
The scent on of damp earth in the wind. We were smelling it for hours, heard the lightening and were celebrating the cool breeze, The clouds were rolling & building like huge gray pillows I poured rain! Every where but here.
In the first few hours this is the result of our first rain storm.
Mother Nature can be such a tease.
An hour or so later when we decided to eat outside on the patio it started drizzling, a nice soft steady rain which soaked in immediately. I’m not sure how much we got but it may have been an inch at most. Some areas around us received 3-6 inches. As nice as it sounds that much rain falling on dry soil just runs off and created a lot of damage.
As much as I wanted to dance in the rain I had my chocolate birthday cake inside & celebrated the gift of another year as well as the rain
Hope you had a wonderful day!
Katie
Who live behind us.
We never hear them and only see them when they use our shared driveway. I take that back, they walk a dog 2 times in the evening. Our property & theirs were family owned and the property split when we purchased the house from the son. The second smaller house was home to the 90 yr old father who passed away about 10 yrs ago….. and then the grand daughter moved in. Still with me? Were on the 3rd generation neighbor living behind us….
Anyway, It’s like we don’t have neighbors….we actually forget they are there. They don’t come outside…..at all. They don’t care about outside. And we can tell. If I’m in the side yard…in the pool area or back behind the garage this is the view
Notice the shrubs?
Here’s a better view
Yes, there are windows back there and a porch!
I couldn’t take it any more and the other night waited for her in the drive way.
The conversation was pretty one sided and went something like this “*L*” I’m going to trim your shrubs for you. Would you prefer them just trimmed and shaped or, would you like to use your windows?” Yes, she would like to use her windows.
I was nice & smiling as I spoke to her but I think she understood It was gonna happen. Actually, I think I kinda scared her.
I did explain it really was not the greatest time of the year for pruning & taking them that far back to widow ledge may kill the bushes, they would for a few months be ugly brown sticks that would fill in etc….her response was a meek “ that’s fine”.
Yesterday I started on the first Holly kinda tree/bush and it’s partially done in the photo. Today off and on I worked on the bush by the door. It was so darn hot but I was afraid if I didn’t get one done she might change her mind. I’d work on it for about 30 minutes at a time and then go stand in front of the fan.
That sucker was at least 8 ft wide and ate half the porch. Now, it’s 4 ft wide and ugly brown sticks…. minus a hornets nest.
Did you know if you run out of hornet and wasp spray…a spray can of starter fluid works just as well? I know, not the greatest thing to do but they didn’t take well to the evection notice & Hey, it was them or me.
Those bushes were comin down
I get to finish tomorrow
Katie
I was out watering the garden first thing this morning and was mentally whining about the projected 104-106 temps for the day & I’ll admit I was also having a bit of a pity party concerning the shape of my garden. Which led me to thinkin about those that depend on their gardens for food or an income. Don’t get me wrong, we depend on ours also & the food we harvest saves us a LOT of money…which frees up cash for improvements about the place and other items we may need. But, if my garden dried up kaput we would still be ok.
Those who farm or raise livestock for a living on any scale are facing some serious challenges with the extreme heat and lack of rain. Grazing land and ponds ranchers depend on to feed and water animals are drying leaving many no choice but to use feed purchased and stored for winter. Feed that will come at a precious cost to replace for the winter & in turn will follow into the price of beef. The same for farmers, corn, fruit and other produce in our area are suffering from the lack of water & will be financially devastating for them.
Standing there at 7:30 am in my shorts and flip-flops, hot & a tad cranky…hose in hand ready to bold inside to the AC I kinda gave my self a mental kick as I thought of those farmers & ranchers who labor in fields for hours in this heat. Sure some are on tractors but it’s hot back and soul breaking work. The same could be said concerning those that come to the farmers market week after week providing fresh produce they’ve struggled to grow…only to have folks fuss about the prices.
Made me really feel a bit guilty…….
and realize I need to stock up on flour and a few other things before the prices go up because there is no way around it.
Praying for rain
Katie
Tying up tomato’s
By now you know I try and repurpose everything.
OK, I’ll admit it, I’m cheap & just hate spending money on things that will be tossed out like paper towels (don’t get me started)
When we first started gardening & tying up my maters I used the “tomato” tape similar to florists tape sold in garden shops, It snapped under the weight of the fruit. So next I used string and then twine (unsuccessfully)…both of which cut into the stems as they grew and developed fruit. I finally settled and have been success full with 1-2 inch strips of old t shirts.
I think every home has a few “oh, your not going out in public in that are you” t-shirts. You know what I mean, they have built in air conditioning in inappropriate locations or would fit your child better than the hubster.
I cut the shirt fabric in strips long as possible and cut off after I have the plant tied. 1 shirt will generally tie 20-25 plants. There is enough stretch to allow for stem growth, wide enough for support fruit weight and by the end of the season they till right in the garden.
Martha Stewart would tell you to use a shirt that would color coordinate to be visually pleasing…but we all know…. I’m not Martha
Have a great day
Katie
Fell last night.
Bit of a nasty storm actually that brought sideways rain pounding the front window. It had been overcast off and on all day and we had a teasing 10 drops earlier in the afternoon and nothing else.
I told Mr. Fix It if I water it will rain. Sure enough, 30 minutes after I turned the hose off the sky opened up. Watching the news this morning I see we got the tail end of the massive storm front that knocked power out to much of the north east and thousands in our area. The excessive heat will make repairs and those waiting for repairs miserable.
Looking out this morning everything in the garden seems to be perking up and doing well. Should make weeding a bit easier this morning.
The heat and power outages remind me to check our emergency supplies & I think it’s time get off my duff and decide which solar oven I want to get. It would sure help in keeping the heat out of the house. There are so many on line to choose from and the prices range from 0 to outrageous. I want an oven that we can really use, not just for emergency’s but something that can be used on a daily basis.
If there is a solar oven you’ve used and can recommend I’d love to hear from you.
Out to tackle more weeds
Katie
Oh my gosh, This entire mid-west area is just cooking…and I’m not talking a pot luck! The lawn is brown & tree leaves are drying out. We were over 100 degrees most of last week, Wednesday I drove to Indy to spend the day with Rachel & Hayden..and it like baking in the car on the way home even with the AC blasting.
Thursday Isaiah & I went to Madison Indiana to help a family member do some landscaping…I lasted 3 hours outside pruning hedges, pulling 3 years of weeks and overgrowth. I got the shakes & chills and knew I was stick-a-fork-in-me DONE!
Trying to keep him cool, I kept sending Isaiah inside for ice and water for us and was able to mostly keep him in the shade and semi cool. He was a major help hauling shrub debris, laying and cutting landscaping cloth to cover path ways, and pinned it in place himself. For 8 yrs. old he worked right along side us with out complaint…other than being the “water boy”. Although. I believe he prefers water boy over “compost boy”
Before we left he stood back and looked at the completed work and said, “Man, this looks so much better! Working together we got a lot done!”
I hope and pray he carries this work ethic to adulthood. We stopped on the way home and had big bowls of (medicinal of course) ice cream to help us cool off. Best medicine ever!
The garden is really struggling. The cucumbers are about shot, some of the squash is “surviving” most of the beets are gone. The green beans and onion are still coming along fine. The tomato’s and peppers are loosing ground. I’m watering early morning but it’s not quite enough. I think I’ll cut them back and see if that helps. This was my lite year in the 2 yr. planting cycle, so a smaller harvest was the plan but….not this small!
One good thing about the heat, laundry sure dry’s fast!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Katie
Are for cousin
water babies
sand and sunscreen
and crawdad catchin
The green beans are coming along beautifully. I didn’t put as many in this season as I have in years past. We still have plenty put up down stairs but, I like to can in 2 yr. cycles. In other words, every other year I can enough for 2 years in case there is a tough growing season…we still have enough to get us through.
While I was in Calif with my son this spring, Mr. Fix-it added a few front loader scoops to the garden to help level it out. Drainage and watering is much more effective. But the added dirt also means new soil that hasn’t been “de weeded” To help slow/smother the weeds growth (cause admit I’m a lazy gardener) I covered the pathways with sheets of cardboard and then layered cut drying grass on top of the cardboard. The same thing could be done using 3-4 sheets of newspaper. It’s a bit of a win win as the cardboard/or newspaper will breakdown and easily till into the garden in the fall. Cardboard layered with grass takes about 3 months and news paper 1-2 to breakdown and is an effective weed barrier
Pathways mulched with cardboard covered with cut grass
If you choose to mulch your pathways in this manner, it’s important to use untreated grass clippings. We cut our field as a lawn at least once a week so I rarely have clippings to “harvest” luckily our neighbor bush-hogs his field only 1-2 times a month and provides plenty to rake up.
This photo shows about 1/3rd of what he mows. His field starts just past the shade of the tree & you can see a fresh cut line of sorts.
This morning he’s mowing for the first time in 3 weeks WOOHOO The mother load!
I’ve found it works best if I let it set a day on the ground before raking.
As you can see in the far left of the photo, my onions are over run with weeds. The new soil added is denser and apparently loaded with weeds. It’s so dry when I try and pull the weeds I’m pulling onions. I’ve been trying to pull 1-2 around each plant and let it be for a day or so, then go back for more. I probably should have mulched here first but I wanted the areas that are weed free now to stay that way & will work my way over to the onions mulching.
Squash, cukes and pumpkins are all coming along in flower and looking good.
The weeds in the tomato’s and peppers are out of control!
I need to tie up the tomato’s today & prune a bunch of suckers.
Time to get off here and get busy…what are your plans for the day?
Katie
I do believe these plants are to big to be called ‘Tater Tots” now
Last week, they were growing strong and looking good. Now, they are chest high on me & shading the strawberry starts.
The strawberry babies are growing well also. At least the rooted runners are.
Those in the red containers are slowly gaining ground but I’m not sure they will make it if I don’t get them growing & established soon. Look how tiny they are! Believe it or not most of the sections have 2 plants. Look at the size difference of those I rooted.
In the main strawberry bed I ‘m letting any runners grow. So far I think there are 10-15 more plants started. With all the babies above I’m really hoping next years crop will be “fruitful” hehehe. Sorry, just had to go there!
Lots of weeding and mulching in the main garden tonight. Things really rook off growing in the few days we were gone. The beets popped up & the late peas are poking through. No carrots yet and at this rate I don’t think they will germinate with the heat. I’m glad I have some left from last year.
Woohoo! We have rain this morning! Just a touch but it saves me watering
Is it dry where you are?
Don’t you love a good plant score?
A month or so ago Mr. Fix It came home with this hanging strawberry basket (poorly shown to the left of the photo) At the time I kinda looked at it cross eyed (although not ungrateful) I thought of all the berries I could have bought with what he spent on the basket..until I found out it was on clearance and he nabbed it up. In the basket are 6 nice healthy plants with runners.
Less than half of the plants we set last year made it through the fall, and our strawberry bed now looks a bit like a raised bed with dirt and less than a dozen plants as an afterthought. I think we were to late in the season for them to establish before the summers high heat & this would possibly be a an answer to replenishing the beds. 2 weeks ago, I attempted to root those babies & am happy to report they all “took”. I checked this morning and they are all firmly rooted in their little pots.
A week or so later In the clearance section I found more plants.
Originally $15.00 a container & I was able to purchase both for less than $5.00. and an additional 3-4 plants large enough to place in the raised bed.
These were literally shoots that had just rooted to late to sell for the main growing season. They were so new I dislodged one of the plants brushing the leaves placing them in the car.
Right now they still don’t look much bigger than this & once I unpack the camera I’ll update the photos.
I know for some that have strawberries these are a bit silly and not at all cost effective but for me they are compared to full pricing. I’m crossing my fingers they all make it and will provide us with lots of yummy berries next year.
Stay cool out there, todays going to be a hot one
Katie
This summer one of my goals is to establish a dedicated space for an herb garden. Ideally the bed behind the garage is where it will go. Right now I have oregano and thyme in. They were established last year with cuttings from my daughter Danielle and I’ve harvested and dehydrated about a pound of oregano so far. Yeah, I know what am I going to do with that much oregano? Well…..if you want some let me know, other than that I’m looking at medicinal uses.
Anyway back to herbs. To start with I know I don’t know enough to properly grow them at this point. Are some friends, enemy’s (like vegies have friends and enemy’s)? Who needs what as far as sun, shade, spacing, which re-seed, etc.
Lots of reading to do so I don’t kill them.
Chives, garlic, leeks,
(yes those are Hens & Chicks watching over the pots)
parsley(s), bee balm, mint (which I know will take over its space)
I need to find and start some marjoram & basil , figure out what is in savory seasoning (or is it an herb?) SO much to learn.
On the west side of the garage I’ve a small selection of Lavender started. My goal is to make my own sachet as a moth repellant for my wool habit addiction stash storage.
There are 2 other lavender plants in other areas of the yard trying to see what works best.
OK, I just love the plant and I want them there ok?
Most of all I want Jewel Weed! Anyone have clipping they’d like to share? It’s an alternative treatment for poison oak/ivy/sumac….which I get EVERY stinkin year.
Yes I know what it (poison Ivy) looks like, but if I’m within 50 feet of it I break out.
So if you find Jewel Weed in your yard or along the road would ya send me some?
Here is what it looks like. There may be some in my area but, I’m not recognizing it.
Katie
Bucket potato’s, yep I’m growing potato’s in 5 gallon buckets
I’d seen this on numerous blogs concerning container gardening for small spaces.
Ahem…I have the space I just don’t want to dig them up. I know I’d get impatient and end up stabbing most with a pitch fork. So, lets just pretend I have a small patio for growing space ok? We drilled holes in the bottom (5-6) for drainage, filled the bottom with 2-3 inches of good loose soil.
You can do this same process also with tires. The benefit in using tires is as the shoots grow and are covered you can stack another tire and another layer of potato eyes and on and on….. I’ve seen photos of tires stacked 6-8 high with claims of 1-2 bushel return. Now, that would be a harvest to celebrate!
What’s growing in your garden?
Katie
