Pioneer Woman at Heart

  (picked one for canning) All in one day's picking.  The bell peppers are on, but not all  ready yet (very late harvest year).  Those pickling cucumbers can hide so easily, even after making a thorough attempt to check for any.  The chickens were happy with their treat, and the kitchen was busy again. Both went into meals.  The kale went into a breakfast, and the beans went into a dinner. The English type (will have to look up the actual name) cucumbers we planted are about between 11 and 12 inches long. Two large cucumbers went into making a cold salad with some cherry tomatoes from the garden, along with some fresh parsley, dill and peppermint. We have been pretty creative in consuming the cucumbers.  Needless to say, I am finding some nice salad recipes that we are really enjoying.   Canning season officially started this late month of August - sweet pickle relish.  We did not get enough of our cucumbers last year to can this, but we...

  Remember the empty jars piling up? I checked butterfly pea flower facial toner off the to-do list.  One flower per every 1/2 cup of witch hazel (let sit overnight). Once infused, strained, and only a small bit of glycerin added, it's bottled up to use.  The most easiest thing you can make for yourself.  I have been using it for more than a year, and I have a travel bottle to take it on any sort of overnight trip as well.   I still need to make more handmade items to re-stock, however, I was also able to get my homemade hair detangler made.  My hair is loving it. The cucumbers are rolling in now, and I dug out my vegetable chopper, but it's now in the trash sadly. The top part that is pushed down to send the vegetable into the metal slicer, and then into the catch tray, broke off some plastic pieces (and I can no longer use it).  In hindsight, I should have thought of that before buying it, but it last a few years.  The top parts are not re...

  My summer days have been long, long, and long.  The heat left, and boy is it chilly outside this morning.  I could not believe it, after all these hot days.  It also makes me sad we have not gone camping one time this year, and it's already August. Back to the thought of this post... Did you know that when your cucumbers (or even squash) starts out looking nice, but then you see one end rotting and smaller, means that the bees did not pollinate it?  Interesting information for you today.   I pulled all of my pickling cucumber plants, and sent all the remaining cucumbers with my husband to work.  We are done, done, done with those cucumbers.  I still have my other plants out there, and we have been making a greek cucumber salsa daily here.   I am so stinkin' busy, and all I want is a day off.  Well, the zucchini gave me a day off.  I did not have one to pick, and we've been picking them every single day since the beginnin...

  We had a very bad storm come thru last Friday.  The wind was so bad, that it broke some of my tomato stakes at ground level.  Thankfully, the plants were not up-rooted, but those all had to be re-staked and tied again.  The tomatoes are starting to turn red here. Several tree limbs came down, so those need taken care of soon.  Thankfully, no other damage here. Surprisingly, the ground was, what I call "walkable" Saturday, so I have been able to pick vegetables daily.  It rained quite a bit, but with this heat, the ground really soaked it up. We are eating green beans almost daily here.  I whipped up a one pan dinner with ground beef, green beans, seasoning, and some cheeses.   I canned a new dill (sliced) pickle recipe from my BHG canning cookbook.  I'm done with pickles for the season. I tried a new Greek cucumber salsa recipe, and we love it!  I had to buy the grape tomatoes, but yesterday I got one ripe tomato from the garden l...

  I finally found the other tomato worm, while I was tying the tomato plants up again.  By the way, the plants are as tall as me , and have gone way above their stakes.  I am a hair from being 6 feet tall, if that tells you anything.  We will be watching end of summer sales, for 6 foot metal (sturdy) tomato cages for next year.  I  don't know that they'll work, as our plants are fully loaded, and very heavy when the tomatoes are on.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I went out, thinking I'll just quick pick green beans and be back inside for inside work.  Ha!  Not only did it take an hour to pick beans, but I had more zucchini, and cucumbers to pick.  I had no yellow squash, but the plants are once again loaded with blossoms, and the bees are a buzzing out there. I sent more zucchini to work with my husband, and I will be taking any other extra to the library staff next.  I am still freezing some for us, but it is coming in d...

I'm up at 5am this morning.  The corn is all done for the this season.  Well, sort of done.  It's been shucked, removed, and frozen finally. 70 cups so far this year, and I am saving a dozen for another reason this weekend. Tiger comes crying for an ear right when I starting slicing off the corn.  It shuts him up for just a while, until he begs for more.  Most of the cobs went to the chickens, but some went in the compost. I'm still putting up blueberries (20 lbs). Sliced a few cucumbers up for vinegar-cucumbers.  I typically use the recipe I posted years ago, but leave the oil out.  I was plum out of garlic (getting pulled soon), and had one dinky dill plant to use for it). New Recipe Tried - cucumber juice.  Delicious.  I just peeled and blended, strained the pulp, and added some organic lime juice and sugar to taste.  The juice would be pretty good to make cucumber margaritas with too.  The pulp was given...

We finally got another rain shower last night.  I haven't checked the weather forecast yet today, but it's wet out.  I'm running behind today.  I'm just plumb worn out, and needed the rest.  Don't we all? The humidity yesterday morning was thick.  My camera continued to fog up.  Here is Timmy resting in the heat.  See that pot?  It was one that was ravaged by a raccoon (or two or three), and there are green starts in it.  In fact, all but one (horehound) are showing signs of life, despite them getting turned over so many times.

It was such a good feeling to be standing at the sink, chopping vegetables for homemade canned sweet pickle relish - the difference between patience and convenience.  Although some days convenience wins me over. I need more patience.

The weatherman said we'd get rain, and they sky surely looked like it.  We got a few sprinkles here and there, but not what we really needed.  I started the day by spending some morning time on the porch, while the kiddos slept in. I got a break from outdoor work, and canning, and cooked up some garden recipes.  First, I made Fresh Dill and Cucumber Salad (mmmm!).   The dressing for this salad uses a teaspoon of raw honey. Then I made our cauliflower crust pizzas , topped with garden delights.  Planning meals has been pretty fun this summer so far.