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Deep Cleaning and Garden Clean Up

(Before I started)

The photo is only one small corner of the 3 vegetable and fruit gardens we have this year.  Day one started with pulling dead tomato plants and pulling stakes.  A good portion of the back is still under water.  This clean up, considering I'm doing it by myself, will take a week or two.  


After starting to clear the corn stalks from the garden, I got an idea.  I took a few of them to the front of the house and added a few pumpkins and squash that won't make it to the table (vines died before they ripened, or bugs got to them).  They will make a nice decoration for fall, without having to buy anything or waste anything.  It's a blessing that the garden keeps giving in different ways.




And speaking of the garden blessings, we are still getting more green peppers.  I am dehydrating some of them today, and may be doing that for the rest of the week.  I have no room in my freezer for anymore.  These can be used in soups/meatloaves/stews, and all sorts of goodies.  Instead of drying my cayenne in the dehydrator, I simply pulled the plants and tied them to hang upside down in the garage.  I still want to build my solar dehydrator for spicy peppers.

In between it all, I am working on deep cleaning the house.  The garden kept me busy, now the house/home will - windows, walls, doors, the inside of the fridge and so on (sigh).

I put notes on a few jars in the fridge yesterday.  They all say "Eat Me!" on them.  There are a few jars of salsa and some pear butter that need eaten up.  I may try to "wing" a recipe tonight and use the salsa to spice it up.  I bet it would taste good mixed in with baked spaghetti squash.

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Comments

simplicityinthemaking said…
Doing the same thing here.
Brought in five bucket loads of green beans, last batch of the year and am blanching them as I type to freeze. My freezer is full and the chickens aren't even done yet! Nice feeling. Wish I had your dehydrator. Good job with the corn! Soon I shall get the grape vines and make something with them. You have inspired me with the front porch.
October 4, 2011 at 2:15 PM
Patricia @ 9th and Denver said…
The solar dehydrator sounds interesting to me.
I we don't have anything else in the state of Texas right, we do have solar energy! lol...
The peppers sound good.
I've got a few onions in the ground...I found these at the hardware store last week when I went to town.
I've been doing some 'deep cleaning' too. I get in the mood this time of year!
I like the idea of your notes that say "Eat Me!" on them...when my kids were home I was forever having to put notes on things that said...
DON'T EAT ME. That's no fun.

take care~ Pat
October 4, 2011 at 5:11 PM
Candy C. said…
Dang, the neighbors gave me a spaghetti squash yesterday and I've been trying to decide what to do with it! If you get a winner, let me know! :)
Let's not talk about deep cleaning the house, okay! ;)
October 4, 2011 at 8:32 PM
Turtle said…
an idea too when hanging your herbs, i put the hanging heads in a paper lunch size bag with a loose rubber band. This keeps them dust free, absorbs their moisture as they dry, and makes collecting the herbs once dried super easy! I have to get out and uproot everything. We expect our first frost in the next few weeks.
October 4, 2011 at 11:26 PM
Unknown said…
I always put some corn stalks and add them to my front porch for the fall too! Nice and natural...
October 4, 2011 at 11:49 PM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Candy we love spaghetti squash mixed with marinara sauce. Here is a link to many recipes (we love the Greek one): http://www.healthy-recipes-for-kids.com/spaghetti-squash-recipes.html
October 5, 2011 at 1:05 PM
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