Pioneer Woman at Heart

On the pro side of no rain, what I had weeded is stayed weed free.  On the con side of it, I had to water one day and weed another day.  It was like concrete. Oye.  This is one corner of the potatoes.  It's a total mess. On July 18th, I started weeding them.  Sadly, all the tops had browned and the potatoes I checked were about 1 inch round.  I continued to weed, not giving up, and hoping the next rain would revive them. A few plants still have green on them, so I continued to weed.  you know I'm not one to give up unless it's obviously just not going to yield us food.   Yeah, as the days passed by, and the weeds came back (after that photo), I started digging. Here's what we got. Dinky is this summer's word.    A complete fail.  We planted 15# and harvested 15.43#.  The heat waves, despite watering, caused the plants to die off way too early.  Such a waste of money and time. I will be buyi...

As soon as daylight hit, I noticed these ladies were out wandering.  And later a 4th.  Hm.  Daughter didn't do a head count, but they are all there.  Whew! The new handicraft adventure I wrote about (several months ago) is still on the list, but delayed.  It may be a winter project.     Puffed pear pancake was enjoyed for an after school snack vs. breakfast.   Again, I used 2 pears. Apples would be delicious in this too.  Although I only have one kiddo in school, it's the perfect time of day to make a sweet treat, and double it as a dinner dessert.  And utilize our homegrown pears.  Right now, organic apples are $5.99/bag (3 lb.), so I am patiently waiting on a sale.  I am hoping our apple trees produce next year.  The herbs are getting full attention this week.  Sage was dehydrated. Rosemary was also dehydrated.  More to do this week yet. I spent yesterday digging up pota...

Pre- Thanksgiving (while still s ick) , I used King Flour's recipe for soft white dinner rolls, I substituted home grown potatoes for the instant potato flakes (thanks to some advice from an avid bread baker). I let the mashed potatoes cool, while the butter came down to room temperature, and took to filing away my last "file" pile. Using the directions on King Flour's blogpost, I divided them into 16 rolls, and froze them.   How did they turn out? Well, I forgot to take a photo, but they did n ot ri se enough.  I'm wonde ring if I should have t ha wed them in t he fri dge the night before vs. the same day we ba ked them.  Anyone have t ips on this.  I used my dehydrator to help them rise too. 

I've been looking for a complete book on herbs, medicinal and culinary for a long time now.  I am pret ty sure there is n't a "compl ete" book prin ted, but this comes closer than some others I've read through.  It's pret ty thick too. Our library only has a 1996 edition of this book, but it's pretty close (but not yet complete) to a good resource.

My ladies have been slacking in the egg production department lately.  Considering the amount of feathers out in the run, I'm guessing they are molting. The weather is now cooling down at night, but the forecast for the end of the week is in the upper 80's again.    I'm so glad I got my garlic planted this past weekend.  One more thing off my list. Wood splitting has resumed.  Thank goodness.   I was getting worried.  Although the dead trees are still standing (patience is a difficult thing). We need about six more good Saturdays to finish it up.

The snow we got on Monday melted, and was replaced with rain two days later.  The temperature went up one day, then back down the next.  It's raining as I type this, and they say we may get snow again today. Only in our state, the kids say.  March is finicky at it's best.  Walking dogs in mud is not so fun.

I'm late in posting today, but for a good reason. I got no sleep last night.  No big news, right? I tried to sleep in, but that did not happen.  Youngest missed the bus and next oldest is sick.   Anyway.... I was on the phone with Oldest Daughter. The good news?  She did not have the flu last week.  The bad news?

I am afraid to dig into more boxes, as I have found another dishcloth I need to finish crocheting.  I must have taken it camping, along with other "go-to" projects. Here is the latest development ~  Before

The only reason I am up this morning, is to locate the school's transportation number and cancel the bus today.  Both kids that ride it are sick with fevers and whatnot.   As luck would have it, the school was calling me as I was calling them, and they closed today due to snow and bad roads.  Traffic outside, is moving extremely slow. As for me?  I woke up at 4am freezing cold.  I knew at that point I was the next to get the sickness (that our 15 year-old brought home from a sleepover).  My temperature was 101.4 and I am not feeling so well.   

I took this photo Monday morning.  Winter has officially arrived - rain, freezing rain, snow and bitter temperatures (but not as bad yet as last winter).   Yesterday, although a bit cold, the sun was shining and there was a pretty good wind out there. Larger towels were dried in front of the wood stove. I've sort of been hibernating and ever so slowly finishing up some crochet and knitting ventures.   I took this crochet project camping in August of 2014.  I found it in a bag in my closet while cleaning. . . .

I spent about three hours pulling monstrous size weeds from the garden, just so I could get to the potatoes.  Mission somewhat accomplished.  I have about six feet left to dig up yet.  There is nothing worse than leaning down to pull a weed, only to be poked in the eye by five foot foxtail.  Ouch!  And the kids thought they'd get to eat at the table this week, ha ha!  Not.  That photo only shows a portion of them.  My goal is to get all of them dug up before I even start canning the rest.

Although I  took Saturday off, yesterday I was busy with preserving (again).  The tomatoes are once again back in the kitchen.  As soon as I free up table space, I fill it back up. Yesterday, Hubby and two girls went out to pick tomatoes, while I worked on another batch of canned tomato sauce. Once I had that reducing, I went outside, but did not have intentions of sweating through my clothes again.   I did.  I ended up helping Hubby dig up one entire row (long rows this year) of potatoes.  I think we ended up with maybe 30 pounds.  Less than expected (should have gotten 3 x that amount), but still a good amount.

I would have a ph ot o of our finished dish, but it was de voured.  L iter ally.

If you are wondering if I've been keeping up with my own family as well as items to sell, I have on some things, but not so much on jelly and jam.  We go through many jars during the winter, due to kids packing school lunches.    I canned 2 batches (6 pints and 4 1/2) pints of blueberry jelly, but that's not enough for my family for the winter.  These jars will be gone all too soon.  I am told now, that they prefer blueberry over grape. This year I was lucky to get 20 lbs. of blueberries this late.  They are out mid-July around here, and next year I will have to be more prepared.  We really need double that amount.  I blanched and froze 3 quart bags of tomatoes, with the help of my 15 year-old.  Canned 20 - 1/2 pint jars of Peach Jam. Canned 4 more pints of Sweet Pickle Relish. Canned 6 pints of our first canned salsa. The last two years I have made "fridge" salsa. This recipe was the Jalapeno Salsa recip...

(before baking) Yesterday we tried two new recipes that used honey.  They were both delicious.  We are keeping both recipes, but cutting the bacon drippings in the potato salad down to a minimum.  They were both very good. 

  I'm dehydrating potatoes this year. I have a 4 tray Excalibur dehydrator.  I filled those trays up in no time, and will have more to dehydrate during the next few days.