Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, September 16, 2013

Garden Surprise ~ A "Get'er Done" Project


From the Homesteading Journal . . .

Garlic was planted this weekend.  It will be harvested next spring. The heat wave we had is over, and they are calling for much cooler weather. 


I also made homemade seasoned salt. I used my homemade garlic and onion powder to make it.  It's the first time making it, so I am comparing it to the smell and taste of Lawry's from the store.

Recipe I used:

Seasoned Salt
2 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cornstarch

Mix all ingredients.  Store in an empty spice jar with shaker top.  Makes 1/4 cup.



Our pullets are now laying eggs - yay!  All the more reason to get the rats out of the barn. 

Completely forgot that we planted a row of pinto beans this year.  It was the first time for us to plant them.  Note to self: pinto beans need a fence or something to climb, they are not bush beans.  I used broken tree branches to prop them up, but left them to dry up, along with the flooded out garden.  I never thought they would make it, but while working 5 hours weeding out the dead plants, I came across the row.  


I was super excited, that the entire row survived.  We are cleaning 5 good size bowls of them.  I definitely will plant pinto beans again, and maybe even black beans.  Our yield was about 3 lbs, 2 oz.  I think we could have doubled that if I had done my research and put in a fence for them.

And this is what I get for broadcasting about my clean (and empty) counter tops.....

 . . . we were blessed with more tomatoes.  I'm not sure if I will can salsa, cook some, or freeze them yet.  Pizza sounds good too.  


. . . spent Sunday weeding out the potatoes, and brought in more of them.  I didn't expect that, and I am not done in the garden either.  Not by far. 



. . . the progress on the goat fencing is speeding up thankfully.  It's almost done.  We need to finish two more sides, and install a gate latch.  This was a huge, very timely, "Get'er Done" project.  My teen farmgirl daughter, did a good portion of this project herself.  She's very tired today, and I think she suffered more scratches and bug bites than the rest of us.  The weeds and grass have grown so tall, we had to stomp them down to get the fence up to the poles (our gas powered trimmer broke down so that was not an option).




From the Gratitude Journal . . .

Today I am thankful for:

~the harvest of pinto beans
~the continued harvest of tomatoes
~the good start to putting up the goat fencing! Yay! We've been working on this for the last two years when time allowed.
~the calls my daughter is getting for stud service with "Big Boy"
~God's Provisions
~quiet mornings
~water 
~the school's 2-hour delay today, so we could all sleep in and rest our achy bodies from yesterday's work (well some of us anyway)
~for my 11 year-old's help in cleaning all of the pinto beans for me








5 comments:

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

I need to go back and read your post about dehydrating onions and garlic. This is definitely something I should be doing.
Looks like you had a pretty good haul with the beans and tomatoes...definitely something I'd be grateful for.
I've almost given up on gardening...it don't know that I'd make it as a sustainable gardener at this point... unless we lived off of the grasshoppers.
(just the sound of it grosses me out!)

have a great week... Pat

Yart said...

I know that a couple posts back you were talking about using baby food to cook with and I stumbled upon this recipe and thought of you. http://www.nannytomommy.com/2012/08/deceptively-delicious-baby-food-style.html If you try it let me know how is goes! :)

Liz said...

Sounds like lots of work around your place this past weekend! Nice reminder I need to get my garlic in the ground.

Candy C. said...

Nice surprises from the garden AND the pullets! The fence project is looking great, kudos to your daughter! :)

Sam I Am...... said...

So glad you got pinto beans and more tomatoes! Thank you for the recipe for seasoned salt. I've been collecting recipes for "pantry" items and that is a great one. Anything I can make or do myself is wonderful. Your fence is really coming along and that is hard work!
Glad the weather cooled for you. It's cooler here too and so I've been trimming, weeding and yesterday power washed the mold off the cement but there's more of that to do. Today I stayed in to pay bills and make bread and a supper. TTYL! Isn't progress, you can actually see, wonderful?