Finally something to can!

 

Yesterday morning I popped out of bed as soon as my eyes opened.  I had to go and look at the steps, just to make sure they were really there & it wasn’t a dream. Generally I don’t make it past the kitchen without coffee in the morning so… I know I was a stumbling mess going outside, still in my night shirt doing a odd hop step. We have a sisal door mat and the odd hop step was because my foot landed on a “gift”…a furry full sized dead mole. 

A gift from a feral cat who has decided it owns us.

She’s put on weight and really filled out since she’s been hanging around.  She was a scrawny matted mess when she first showed up

Now,  I don’t really want it to own us, I want it to move on. but it’s earning it’s keep & we’ve worked out a system. I feed him bits Monday, Wednesday & Friday & the days in between he hunts and brings me gifts…..Like Moles, mice,  baby rabbits & baby moles, frogs and parts of frogs.   My caffeine deficient brain was just not ready for that!

What a way to start the morning ugh!

The day did get better, Isaiah & I ran to the grocery for canning lids & scored a few great deals in the produce department.  I’ve found Mondays are the “new stock day”…anything left from a prior shipment has to be marked down..even if it’s still good!  Apparently after the episode of bad spinach a few years ago, they can no longer mix shipments in the produce department.  I picked up a bag with 4 huge heads of perfectly fine broccoli for .59 cents, a bag with 5 lbs. of rhubarb for $1.59 , a bag with 3 of celery for .59...and 45 LBS of peaches for $15.00.  All organic,  all perfectly fine!  Score! 

So my afternoon turned out pretty busy.

  The celery all went in the dehydrator, I’ve 6 pints of rhubarb sauce cooling on the table,

7 quarts & 9 pints of peaches.  These peaches I’d had, the others from today need to ripen a few more days. I went ahead and set the canner up outside and it was wonderful keeping the heat out of the house.  I’d prep & load the jars inside and use a roaster pan to carry the hot jars outside.

What a blessing!

My garden (the parts that survived) like so many is just now really starting to produce… If all those blooms actually turn into pumpkin I’ll have enough to supply the entire county!

After reading how many have lost everything I’m not complaining!

 

The beans need picked today /tomorrow, I’ve some tomato’s harvested with more to come

,

Cherry tomato’s are taking off this year

a few herbs, peppers and some beets.  Although I know the weather is out of my control, I’ve been feeling like I’m letting the household down with very little canned to date.  Like so many others, the garden & it’s production is my contribution to the finances.

 

These watermelon have all grown like gourds..I think inconsistent watering?

It’s how I’m able to stay home.  So when there is nothing to put by, it makes me feel like I’m not pulling my weight. 

It also reaffirms my thoughts of canning enough for 2 years every other year.

Yet sweet deals like today sure do help my attitude and the pantry!

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,state of the garden,sweet deals,food storage,dehydrating,preserving,sustainable living

 

 

 

Projaholics…We’re Baaaaack!

A 5 year project is nearly at an end.  We originally started with building a garage.  When we bought the house it had a carport….and hubby waited years till we could build one. 

Well, 2 months after the garage was built we found there was a bunch of air pockets in the floor, and in the end they ripped it out and re-poured it

. Which left us with 22 yards of concrete slabs in our front yard which, we called “yard art”.  With that we built a courtyard/patio 40ft long between the house and garage which ends with the 6ft wall you see in the photo.

Because, What else would we do with it!

So, for the past few years we’ve had a mini mountain of rubble (as in solid, it ain’t going no where pile of concrete) that we would rabbit up and down to get to the back property. We needed steps.

  We’d looked at various plans and designs for steps but everything was just to formal for us.  Backed up to the wooded area, we wanted something that would blend into the surroundings.  We’d visited quite a few quarry’s looking at rocks but they were pricy to say the least.  So we started stashing and saving.  It seemed crazy to us to pay so much for rock to finish a project that (other than the garage) was less than $500.00!

Then a few weeks after one of our quarry visits, Larry got a call saying (one we visited a few times) the company was going out of business…come get which ever rock we wanted….free!. SCORE!!!

Each stone is 6-8 inches thick and at least 4 ft. across and 300-500 lbs.…we wanted nice wide steps.  We have folks of all ages in and out here at our house and well, we’re no spring chickens ourselves any more. 

We wanted steps wide and safe for all ages.

The stones have sat in back of the house for a few years while we built the addition & all the while we’ve discussed what we wanted to do/could do with them

Last night Larry came home and said “wanna play with rocks”?  Ahhh!  Be still my beating heart!

Prep work and planning done was done last night so this morning at 7:30 we started in with overcast skies that thankfully stayed to shade us all day.

I’m pretty sure our family thinks we’re nuts.

I know they think we’re weird!

2 popped in to “see what we were up to this time”

FYI….Crowbars break under 500 lb. stones.   Just a fact I thought I’d share..but you need them to arm-strong the stones

So do shovels…I think I’ll paint it and use it for yard art of some kind

We used Big Red to place the stones in general locations

Moving those suckers manually 4-8 ft. up the hill was not an option.

I learned all kinds of new things .  How to drive the tractor, maneuvering stones pushing them into place with the blade

Isaiah has been a part of this entire project for the past 5 yrs.  He said he was going to be here to help finish it & boy was he was a major help today

The last stone.  We weren’t sure there was enough energy in us to finish but, by 5pm we were done!

Isaiah hosed off the gravel

We are done!

The stones are brown and blue, I wish I could capture the colors.

Supper was a big salad cause that’s all we had the energy for…as in energy to chew.

Fire in the fire pit with s’mores for dessert.

Our next project?

I think I’d like it to be something that does not involve rocks!!

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,projaholics,repurposing,yardart
 Shared on Off Grid at -30  Be sure and check them out!

Clove Oil A Medicine Chest Must!

 

What a week! Not necessary a bad one just….nothing went like I planned.  What’s the saying “make plans and God laughs”?  Yup, that was my week.

Started Sunday brunch, I was nibbling on a cinnamon roll chatting with my Brother-in-law and had a tooth fall apart. 

Once I recovered from the instant frozen, take you to your knee’s,  cold sweat,  bowel gripping  paralyzing fear…. waiting for that agonizing pain…I realized there was none.   I was fine…chunks of tooth in my hand but “ok”.  Now, that my sound a wee bit exaggerated but, if you’ve had a exposed root you know exactly what I mean.  Yes, I have clove oil in the house for emergencies such as this but at the time it happened I don’t think I could have walked the 20 ft. to the medicine chest I was that scared.  Thankfully I didn’t need it.

If you didn’t know…in a dental emergency pure clove oil is your friend.  One tiny (and I mean tiny) drop will deaden the nerve for a few hours, sometimes days. 

 

My bottle of clove oil

My father served as a Navy Corpsman with a marine infantry unit during the WWII & Korean War.  He said clove oil was like gold to while he was stationed on the Aleutian Islands.  It was the only help they could offer to soldiers with facial injuries or dental problems.  They ordered supplies of clove oil as heavily as they did morphine.  When he came home from the service, he left with a few of those tiny bottles of liquid gold.  Growing up in the money was tight and dental care was not always something we could afford.  As a teen I remember having a serious tooth injury and dad had this tiny bottle he said would help.

He dipped a tiny cotton pellet into that oil with tweezers and put 1 drop on the tooth….& near instant relief.  It was the same bottle he’d brought home more than 20 yrs before.

My bottle is now over 20 yrs old

.  When originally purchased I paid $1.73.  Probably need to add another 0 to that number now but, I would add 2 0’s to keep it in the house & emergency kit.

When my tooth shattered Sunday, clove oil was the first thing that came to my mind.

I’m not claiming to be a medical professional in any way but, I know we will never be with out it & neither should you.

By the way, I put a tiny drop on my gums at 9 this morning and I’m still numb at 3pm.

Some things age well!

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,Emergency preparedness,medicine chest,clove oi

Fun Finds & a Great Weekend

Fridays mail brought a few new books I ordered. I love old-time cookbooks.  The recipes are usually simple tasty, nourishing fare.  They each have a few quirks but my favorite are those recipes from one home…for example one books recipes were all written with measurements like… a handful of flour…which might be a full fist or, just enough to cover the palm.  I have large hands so it makes a difference!  Generally after using a few recipes I get the rhythm of the writer’s ways if they are heavy handed with the seasonings, if the baked goods they made were light and fluffy.

Harder to find are those with recipes for venison, squirrel & rabbit because those little cute fluffy critters find their way to my freezer.

Amid the recipes this one is full of household tips and newspaper article’s which give a glimpse into the lives of home makers of the time. It talks about the introduction of electricity to the homes and the changes it brought about.

Since I’m pretty confident with canning and dehydrating (it goes without saying you can always lean more) I’d like to lean more about fermenting as a way of preserving the garden goodies.  Since Mr.Fix-It literally gags and chokes at the smell of sauerkraut cooking, I’m not sure how successful this will be.I’ve no idea if all fermented foods have the same smell

Soooooo, the book may be up as a give away if that’s the case!

We had a great weekend, nice weather,Larry got the tractor fixed and the mower deck working so he got the field mowed and it looks great.  Hmm, not much better scent than that wonderful smell of fresh cut grass.  We had the kids (big and little) over for a family BBQ to celebrate Erika’s birthday.  I love the fact we are so blessed to have 4 generations gathered around to share in these celebrations.  

The beautiful weekend weather carried over to this morning.  I got a few hours of weeding & tidying in the garden before the humidity shot up.  This afternoon my plans are to catch up with some laundry, a bit of knitting and sewing.

What are your plans for the day?

Have a wonderful Monday

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,random stuff

OVERWHELMED

Overwhelmed it putting it lightly.
We built this wonderful addition which included a work room/studio space for me.  However, when the holidays hit everything was crammed in here BEFORE the storage units were ready.  It wasn’t to bad but I added to the mess with more wool, fabrics…and then it became the catch all room with odd items and outgrown kids clothes.

Everyday I try to spend 10-15 minutes sorting and organizing but, with out the storage units it’s basically shifting piles.  The only thing safe right now is customer’s wool in their individual bags.

OK, No Judging now!

_{The wall to the left you can’t see is lined with bins and 3 drawer units}

Digging through wool bins for the Ravellenics projects I trashed it even more. Well, in reality just shifted the piles around…and created a few avalanches.

It’s embarrassing & overwhelming but unless I empty it and start over with shelving, there really is not a solution.  I can only knit and sew so fast…if I can get to the sewing machine!

Last week I found some temporary help.  I’ve seen these in Target for about $20. but didn’t want to spend the money.

I’d popped in the local Aldi’s and found one for $9. Score!

I had lost numerous bags of fabric in this room and as I find and unpack them the shelf is filling up. 

This is all wool I just unpacked from various shipments I’ve received but couldn’t put away properly…because I couldn’t get to it!

Larry has found a shelving unit that will fit perfectly on this wall and hold all 12 of the these 38 qt containers & I can store the un-dyed on top.  Right now I have to move 3 exploding bins to get one on the bottom..which is why all the small bits are on top.

Obviously organization is not my forte but, I should never have moved anything in till the storage was in place…for now I’m working on it. Walking in there it’s overwhelming so I’ve started with 15- minute time blocks to help with that. I’ve set my own deadline to have it useable by 12 August…shelving or no shelving!  I’ve been at it an hour now and am giving 15 more minutes before I stop for the afternoon.  So, this post is for accountability!

The break is over….off to sort some more

What is your challenging space to organize?

*Embarrassed*

Katie who is posting beforeichickenout

Technorati Tags: Katidids,Studio,organizationally challanged

Catching up and keeping busy

Just a quick catch up here.  We’ve had RAIN!! 3 evenings of a good pouring.  The rain barrel is full again and the moisture is really showing in the garden. 

Beans are finally starting to come on.  They aren’t really ready to pick but I had to munch on a few I was so excited.

Miss Evie was pretty excited to see the tomato’s and peppers turning color.  She can’t’ see them from above so she squats and looks up in each plant.

An I was thrilled to find pumpkin taking off…if you can call 2 pumpkins taking off & at this point I am.

Right now I think I’m growing more weeds than I am vegies. The humidity is down and It’s a good morning to get out there and take care of that. In fact it’s nice enough I turned the AC off and opened up the house for a few hours.  LOVE the fresh breeze blowing through.

The strawberries are doing well with the transplanting.  Those I transferred to individual pots have nearly doubled what they were and look really healthy

Those that we transferred to the bed have set and established well.  No droopers or poopers.

No poopers makes me happy.

To date peaches in the area have been so high I’ve not bought any but, I found/heard of a sale for .69lb. so I’m off to check that out this morning to pick up a few bushels.  Other than peppers, a few quarts of berries & the carrots & the corn there has been nothing put up this year. Looking through the past years posts it was marathon canning by now.  Just a tad bit worrysome!  

I’ve Thyme and oregano to share if anyone would like some…shoot me an e mail.

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,gardening,weather

Carrots Coming Out My Ears & A Giveaway To Tell You About!

but not from the garden.

I stopped at the local grocers this weekend and found 2 lb. bags of organic carrots for 25 cents.  They had received a double order and needed to move them quickly.  Being the upstanding penny pinching gardener who’s carrots did not grow this year, I felt it was my duty to help them out.

I got a few looks when I asked the stock guy (who was blocking the display) if he could hand me a few bags….then a few more, and a few more. He would only let me take 10 bags the carrot miser!

I almost felt guilty checking out as that price was a steal!

Right now those carrots are chopped and sliced and the dehydrator is happily humming

They are going to so good in soups and stew this winter.

I’m not sure what I like best, the rhythm of the pressure cooker rumbling, the bubbling of the canner or the hum of the dehydrator.  I believe it’s a 3 way tie.

Which is your favorite sound?

Be sure and visit my friend Sandy over at Oklahoma Transient.It’s a blog I’ve recently found and really enjoy.  I’ve learned quite a few tips and tricks from her pages.  But, this week she is sponsoring a giveaway!  Be sure and pop over, say hi and enter. 

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,food storage,dehydrating,preserving,give away

Time to move the babies

They are wanting to have babies of their own (but I said no) you need to be a bit older, grow a bit more and become firmly established in your new home first.  Plants or kids, some things never change.  They grow up so fast.

so I know its past time.  I’ve been hoping for cooler temps before I transplanted but I don’t think that’s going to happen.  They need time to establish in the new bed before winter comes

Those I transplanted to single pots are doing really well, & the tiny starts are just getting there.  I may transplant from those tiny containers to the single pots for a while, as I’m not sure they would survive the heat out in the main bed.

The main bed we are picking blooms to let the shoots develop.

As soon as the starts get about 4 inches I’m moving them around in the bed & so far all but 1 has taken the move well. 

More shoots will need to be moved around once a bit larger

Last year when we put this bed in we planted 25-30 plants, and were left with less than 10 this spring.  Those that survived were great producers.

 

Looks like most of the mulch washed away in last weeks rain & needs replaced.

In a way I’m kinda glad the others did not survive because I’ve learned a lot re-establishing the bed this summer.  It’s simple strawberries I know but,  there’s a stronger sense of ownership/pride (whatever you want to call it) tending to the babies and watching them grow knowing what juicy goodness they will provide next spring.

I hope we never loose that feeling and sense of wonder. 

Just remind me I said that when I’m moaning next summer about the heat and needing to pick berries ok?

Technorati Tags: Katidids,Gardening on the cheap,gardening,strawberries

Bulk Storage Using What You Have

We are rice eaters. When we realized a 50 lb. bag was pretty close to the price of 2 –2lb  bags well I was all over that.  But only when when we opened that BIG bag did I remember we’d have to store the remainder.

**********Now, let me throw out a disclaimer here about plastic and what is or, may not be proper storage….I was using what I had on hand and it’s worked for years for us.

Popcorn tins.  You know the holiday tins you never know what to do with once they are empty…but don’t want to throw away cause I might need them for something?

Well, your something has arrived in a 50 lb. bag! 

Wash and thoroughly dry your tins.  I let mine air for a few hours after this as the metal always retains a touch of moisture & you don’t want the damp or the rust that will develop if that moisture is left behind.  Take my word for it, it happens.

Let’s pretend that spill on the side of the can isn’t there ok?

I line my dry tins with *****Note disclaimer above******** a small trash bag. Fill the bag with rice, twist the top and cover with the lid. We’ve stored rice this way for over 10 years and it’s worked well for us.   It takes just over 3 large popcorn tins to store a 50lb bag, It works out perfect with the bit left over in a container accessible in my panty.  when my container is low I just refill it from one of the tins.

A few facts we learned about rice I thought I’d share.

1.  You will spill a bit when opening a 50 lb. bag…. no matter how careful you try to be.

2.  Rice on bare feet hurts

3.  When sweeping up spills, a few of those suckers will hide very well and you will find them later…with bare feet

4.  Rice loves carpet.  It digs deep and hangs on.

Have a great tomorrow

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,food storage,using what you have,repurposing

A few inches of rain

And cooler temps sure make a difference in the garden! The melons are taking off.  This photo was taken on the 18th and has grown half again its size here…with about 10 more growing between the 2 plants

Isaiah’s excited as all get out, his green beans are coming up great.  This is 5 days after planting…nearly instant gratification!  All 3 rows are taking off with only a few bare spots but, I suspect it had a little bit to do with seed placement!

The pumpkin are all doing great, plenty of blooms but no fruit has set yet.  I’m hoping the cooler temps will help with that.  I’m out of pumpkin in the pantry and need to stock up

The sad state of my blueberry bushes is so frustrating!  We’re keeping the soil ph correct but I think I’m going to move them away from the blackberries

We are looking to move them off by themselves in a semi raised bed back to the left of the tomato garden.  Right now I’m ignoring them because babying them hasn’t helped. The grass needs cleared out and pine needles need to be mulched in.  I think I’m going to just wait to do that till we move them in a few weeks.  It may not be the best time to move them but, at this rate they will be dead by spring and this way they may have a chance to revive if not be replaced….I just hate to give up on them GAH!

Harvesting some chives for the freezer.  I never know if I’m doing “it” right but nothing says (that I’ve read) when and how much to trim off the plant.  So, generally once a week I take half the growth.  The plants had reached a  size and quit growing.  Once I trimmed it spurted up 3-4 more inches.  So we’ve been playing give and take, it gives me a few inches and I take it!  I’ve nearly a LB tucked away in the freezer.  Not bad for a potted plant!

OK and some opinions please,,,

Last year I harvested my potato buckets to early and had 4 quarter sized spuds..now I’m not sure when to do it.

They are in  various stages of droopyness (darn spell check, droopyness is a word if I want it to be)

What do you think?  Do I dump the first bucket?

I think next year I’m going to suck it up and put potato’s in the garden.

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,gardening

When was the last time

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

Technorati Tags: katidids,family,finding joy

 

Canning Out Doors

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)

it (the wall) will block breezes and allow finished jars to cool properly. 

Think it will work or am I looking at cracked jars?

Katie

Technorati Tags: Katidids,preserving,canning

 

Butchering the Bush

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

Technorati Tags: katidids,neighbors