Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Despite our efforts with solar alarms and solar rodent alarms, the rabbits got the green beans (again).  I know we have to fence the other area, but it's just not in the $$ pocket book right now.  I should have planted a squash plant at the end of every row.  I guess we were really lucky all the years we've lived here and not fenced it. The birds got all our blueberries.  I just didn't make it to town for netting yet.  It's been on my list, but I have to figure a way to cover the bushes without it touching the plants, and easy to remove. I need to replace my mandolin this year.  If you have one that you really like, let me know in the comments.  The one I have is 15 years old, and has limited thickness for slicing.  It's not sharp anymore, and the case broke years ago.  It's just time to upgrade. June went by way too fast.  It really depresses me to see the summer go by so fast, as we have not gone camping one single time yet....

  The rain is flowing again here.  The weeds are getting taller, ha ha!  Some garden seasons can be a real struggle. Today is probably the most boring post of all times.  It's the time after planting, and the wait in between the rain storms time of year. I spent more time purging craft supplies.  I had everything you wouldn't even think of, and some in mass amounts thinking I would make and sell some new items I was making.  I literally had a bag full of medicine cups for crafting, and have had them since before 2011!  In 2011 I made Christmas ornaments with them, using belt buckle pieces for top and bottom, added the tiny bird, and used embroidery floss for the hanger and added a scrap bead that was part of a set of beads I was given.  Oh, and a circle of red felt.  Very creative, ha ha!  I wish kids were creative more than on their electronics these days.   Anyway, I emptied several more containers of crafting stuff.  Mu...

  Photo is June of 2023.  The zucchini plants grew to almost 6 feet tall last year, thanks to our compost pile.  I have yet to check on the garden after a torrential downpour. We had flood warnings, flooded areas, and it was worse north of us.  Strange weather this year, and mostly frustrating for gardeners. Another strange event. . . I walked out the door a few days ago, and right in the driveway, not very far from me stood a baby deer.  No Mom around.  Of course I think I scared it, because it ran off, but a very rare sight around here.  At least that close to the house anyway. Rainy days can be productive here. I took advantage of the rainy day and purged/organized "stuff." I emptied 4 plastic storage drawers of craft supplies, of much will be donated.  A few items went to other people (or will go soon).  A few items went to the garage, like my eye screws I used for crafting. I also emptied two entire totes from the garage.  I had a t...

  Too many eggs?  Never!  You can not only boil them, but pickle the boiled eggs.  I forgot all about this, until I found us with more eggs on hand (again). You can get the recipe for our Hot Pickled Boiled Eggs:  HERE Part 1, was my blog post about baking an Angel food cake:  HERE  (sorry, the link for the original recipe online no longer works).   There are never too many eggs part 2 © June 2024 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  I posted this photo a few days ago, and asked if anyone knew what it was.  Well, with the help of my sister-in-law, and an app on her cell phone, it's been identified as Wineberry. In the early spring, I thought it was my red raspberry bush spreading into my asparagus patch.  I never got the chance to dig the sprouts out due to fracturing my foot. I did some research on this plant, and of course the birds planted it (they seem to be good at this).  However, it's an invasive plant, because it grows quickly and can over take the area.  Lovely.  It's actually illegal in some states to sell etc. I'm not sure I'll be able to dig them out until spring, as my asparagus has gone to seed and is very tall.  I'm going to do my best to remove it this year though. Apparantly, those spiky looking pods open up, and produce an edible raspberry.  Other than that pod, the plant itself, literally appears the same as our red raspberry plants. Oh, and the stems are ...

The weekend went too fast, but we had a fantastic time with family.   I took an orzo pasta salad, and a cold mostly sugar free carmel apple dessert.  It was very nice to visit with everyone, and with help we figured out what the strange plant is growing in my asparagus patch (more on that later). Two lap afghans were delivered to my husband's cousin and her husband, who live in an assisted living home.   I have been successful at purging books I have read. Over the last two weekends I placed books, reader glasses I can't use, and two sets of nautical crocheted cup coaster sets in a little library on the island we visit.  A bag of books went home with my sister.  I also found homes for three more sets of crochet cup coasters leftover from craft shows. Trust me, I have more craft supplies to purge, but I am very behind on reading books.  If I am not using something, or haven't used it in years, it is making it's way to another home. We had to cancel...

The microgreens I planted in soil are ready to eat today.  I planted broccoli and radish microgreens, but we plan to expand on our options. I filled a tray I had in storage, but I feel this only provided enough for one meal, so I will be using my sprout jars next, to have more than one meal available. Other than adding to your sandwiches, you can toss them into salads, smoothies, top your hummus, add to omelets or eggs, or even add to anything that you add lettuce too.  Do you have a favorite way to eat microgreens? The two types of lettuce are up now.  I will have to thin them out later, as the seeds are small, and as you can see, there is more than one in that container.  I'm not even using the grow lamps right now, as they are getting a good amount of daylight/sunshine.   We finally got rain last night.  I hope it was enough to keep things alive and well outside.  It's been so hot and crazy dry.  Not to mention the well needs water too. I ...

It was 100°F yesterday, and yes I did garden work.  Watering everything has come first due to the lack of rain (we didn't get enough).   It's going to be up in the 100's again today.  Yesterday, I put my chargeable fan on the chickens.  They love the frozen water in tins to cool off better than anything right now.   I thought I would get so much more done by June, and I have not.  What was I thinking?? I thought I would get the baby blanket done.  Ha!   It was only something to use up yarn and store for gifting.  It's still not done. I thought I would get a few lapghans done for extended family, and have them delivered by now.  They have yet to be delivered to the assisted living home they are in. Sigh. I can't even get to the library to return a book, and pick up a book.  Eye roller. I forget to check my email on a daily basis. I contemplated starting a crochet group once a week in our home town.  Big eye roller....

  My husband and I were comiserating about the heat, and he could not believe I did garden work (the weeds are out of control).  He said something about Friday, and I said, "huh?" I could not believe Friday as snuck up on me this quick this week.  It cracks me up, when there are folks who assume, since I do not work a regular "job" that I have all the free time in the world.  Ha!   Yesterday I froze water in tins, so the chickens could walk in them and cool off.  They loved it!  The heat and humidity has been grueling for all. Regardless, laundry went out on my solar powered dryer (clothesline).   It's too hot to cook, and too hot to do dishes - chicken salad on cucumber slices.  I used blended cottage cheese in place of the mayo this time, as I had heard it was just as good, less fat, and more protein.  I have to say, it's pretty good.  We can't tell a difference.  So, when organic/non-gmo mayo gets too expensive, an...

  I debated just freezing the last of the peaches, but canned a smalled batch early in the morning.  We'll get more peaches later this summer. I made a new recipe for pomegrante vinaigrette.  One recipe uses the seeds (using a blender) and the other uses juice form concentrate (the one I tried).  I used a bit more dijon in ours to thicken it just a bit more, and we love it.  We are enjoying more salads this week with the heat index so high. I was out checking berries and taking the chickens fresh cold water, when I discoveredd this growing between the raspberries and asparagus patch.  Does anyone know what it is?  The plant itself is growing just like a red raspberry bush, but it obviously is not a raspberry bush. I have never see this before.  In finding this, I do see some poison sumac in another area, so we need to remove it.  Always something to take care of around here. It was so humid and hot, I was getting seriously worried about my ch...

  The laundry has dried so much faster with the heat wave.  I love our solar dryer.  Free!  Smells great!  I get exercise. Wild black raspberries are on now.  I'm picking daily, and will use them for simply eating or making fruit smoothies for a cold lunch.  The best part?  It's free!  I forage for them, and some plants have been planted closer to the house by birds.  If there is an abundance, I will freeze some, but the lack of rain and heat wave may say otherwise. I received some free merlot heirloom lettuce seeds, so we are trying something new with this heat index skyrocketing - planting lettuce indoors.  I'll let you know how it turns out, or if it does well.   I decided to plant two kinds of lettuce, and a tray of microgreens.  If it all does well for our meals, I'll start more later this week. The mulberries are also on the trees, but they are not all ripe yet.  I did get a mix of berries a few days ago th...

We've entered a heat wave, and yesterday we had a heat index of 102°F.  No one is enjoying the outdoors right now.  The chickens are being treated with frozen treats, ice water, and I have even frozen water in a tin.  I am also freezing water in bottles that I put inside their watering unit to keep their water nice and cold.   I have more treats in the freezer for today, but the forecast is saying the heat wave will last the entire week.   It is unusual for us to have such hot weather this early in the summer. Our red raspberries are slim pickings.  I have to water the plants this week, as the rain we were to get, never arrived.  Watering the entire garden and flower beds is a full time job this week. That's a bell pepper dipped in a new hummus recipe I made.  It's a red lentil hummus, and my gosh is it creamy and good.  I used 1/2 cup tahini (recipe said 1/4th), and used 3 cloves of garlic (recipe said 2).  It is higher in protein ...

  Instead of moving an entire basket (again), I decided to just tackle what was in the basket, and store the basket away. One project will be taken apart (beads will be donated to a kiddo), one needed edged together, and the other two needed ends sewn in.  One was from 2017!   A doily I made, and most likely was a porch project, as it is with #10 crochet thread.  Done!!  The doily was no slow project, as it is 11 x 16 inches.  I had a place for it years ago, but now I have no idea just yet.  I can't believe it let this project go so long unfinished. The other unfinished projects?  A single hot pad.  The story behind it?  Why there is only one? The story?  Well, I used to sell what I made.  I had a blog where I used to share and sell items, a social media page (since been deleted), and sold items at the Farmer's Market and Holiday craft shows. My Mom was my biggest fan, supporter, and purchaser.  She found so many peop...

Nothing really exciting on the news front.   I dehydrated more oregano to make sure the new dehydrator worked.  There are things about it I like, and other things I do not like.  It is much quieter than my last one.    I can say that I am glad I saved my trays from my older one.  The new ones are thinner, and the way the metal is twisted on the trays, the oregano stuck to the trays.  I had to layer the counter top with sheets of waxed paper, so I didn't make a mess, and didn't lose any of the dried oregano in the process of removing it.   I dried some oregano for the kids, and I was thankful to find a drawer full of saved lids to top the canning jars with. How I found the lids?  Well, funny story.  I have one daughter who just started to learn to crochet, and asked for some yarn and supplies.  I went rooting around in my craft drawers, and low and behold, I had used one drawer for empty baby food jars and lids that fit canning ...