Pioneer Woman at Heart

Things we learned gardening: Yes, you can learn something new, even after years and years of planting a garden.   I came up with an idea to keep cucumbers from spreading out all over the ground, making weeding a nightmare.   Let me back up a minute.  My husband insisted that we not plant anything whatsoever, that spreads out on a vine this year.  Between the squash bugs last year, and the tiresome weeding with vine-type plants (that spread out on the ground like spaghetti squash, pumpkins etc.), he did not want to deal with it this year. Bent on having cucumbers from the garden,  I suggested (and I came up with this on my own, not knowing it really is a way to grow these), that we use large tomato cages to grow our cucumbers.   The plants climb up and not outward. I can't believe not one gardener suggested this to us in the last 20 some years.  If they did, I did not pay attention.  We already have a plan to build cucumber trellises...

  Cherry tomatoes are selling for $5 a quart right now.  We planted a few plants this season.  However one of the plants were knocked all the way down in one of the recent storms here.  I re-staked it, but it's looking very iffy.  Regardless, we are getting cherry tomatoes thankfully. We have made roasted cherry tomato sauce in the past, but this year, I made us this . . . Cherry Tomato Salsa.  It was very good, and we will be making it more often during the garden season.  Making salsa from our home grown cherry tomatoes is a "first" time event for us this year. It is much like a Pico.   You need 1 1/2 pounds of cherry tomatoes.  Ours are somewhat larger, and very delicious this year. I put them in my food processor and pulsed them about 12-14 times.  The tomatoes were chunked, but not purreed. I also let them drain for 15 minutes with a pinch of salt.  To that in a bowl, I added fresh garlic, home grown jalapeno, freshly cut ...

  My first house plant propagation has been successful.  The plant has 3 roots right now, but I will let it grow a few more before I plant it. In the meantime, I have an old plant stand we already have, that will get a fresh coat of paint (weather permitted).  I will need to buy a new plant pot for it, but I love this plant.  It's easy to care for. One Easter, my Mom gifted each of us a plant instead of candy.  There was a very small plant store in town at the time, and she often visited it. Good memories.   I may start more for gifting a few friends, or maybe to even sell.  We do not have a "plant" store anymore.  The only place to buy houseplants is from our big box stores anymore. I can check this off our "first time" list, and smile that I was finally successful.  It helps too get tips from a friend that was growing her own propagated plant cuttings. First Plant Propagation ©  August 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart...

New salad recipe tried.  A white bean salad with garden cherry tomatoes and some chopped Red Russian kale.  There are many recipes for this type of recipe. I believe we added garden parsley and some feta cheese.  I am using our chive infused vinegars for many dressings as well.  I honestly cannot recall which recipe we actually used, but  there are many Mediterranean seasoned recipes online for this. New salad recipe tried.  I did not use every single ingredient, but pretty close.  We loved this just as I made it too, but next time we may just try adding avocado to it.  I used organic quinoa, our homegrown cucumbers, basil and green onions, local sweet corn, and the dressing was made with my home canned Blueberry-Basil Vinegar (instead of the sherry vinegar the recipe called for).  I sprinkled extra sunflower seeds on top of our salads, and we really liked it.  I also used one clove of freshly minced garlic in the dressing. The recipe is...

  We are getting more rain.  It's a muddy mess, and rain is too continue for the weekend.   Fresh purslane in a salad is my first way to add it to a meal, but to long term store it, I decided to try dehydrating it.  First, you need to pick the smallest, newest plants, as the stems will take longer to dehydrate. I also air-dried the cuttings a few days before adding them to my dehydrator.  Once they are completely dry, I ground them up into a powder, to add to any meal (soup, stew, eggs, sauces, dressings, smoothies, etc.). It is a new "first time" for us to try this way to store purslane.  Purslane contains high amounts of oxalates (according to my own research), so always do your own research when foraging. I'm wondering if purslane can be frozen, and then maybe added to a recipe with a food processer to add to egg dishes, soups and stews?  Just a thought. Purslane   ©  August 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

  We have been getting a lot of rain, thunderstorms, and even a very close to us tornado warning.  The last storm took down several of our tomato plants. You know that saying "if life gives you lemons...?" Well, life gave us mislabeled red bell peppers, and we ended up with Anaheim peppers.  Literally. In July of last year, I made homemade chili peppers from our home grown Anaheim peppers, and they were delicious.  They are very easy to make too. I made them again, but this time we are freezing them.  I just used my muffin pan to freeze 2 oz. portions, and then popped them out of the muffin paper (used parchment for this batch), and then placed them all in a freezer bag until I use them for meals. Did you know that when you drain a purchased  4 oz. can of diced chili beans, you end up with about 2.5 ounces of actual diced chili peppers? I just open my freezer bag of pre-frozen, 2 oz. chili peppers, thaw them, and add them to any meal I am wanting to use th...