Shell peas ~ Icing the Chickens

Our shell peas are done for the season.  Sadly, we did not get what we should have due to lack of rain.  

Speaking of lack of rain...everyone is on edge here at the homestead.  Not sure if it's just the heat and drought, or what's going on in the world.  Lots of agitation, anxiety, depression, mood swings, and lack of patience.  I know I am tired of all of it.

I've been icing the chickens.  They are so hot they are panting in this heat.

Random Tidbits ~ Fruit Trees ~ Car Shuffle ~ Peas, Bacon and Prosecco

Something new for the homestead - three rooster door pulls.  Love them!  They went on the master bath cabinet doors.

Something harvested at the homestead - stinging nettle.  I filled the dehydrator, but will need to cut more for "greens" for the freezer this spring.  

I took a walk out to the fruit trees.  I am happy to report that all trees have buds, and the peach tree has teeny tiny pink blossoms about to bloom.  I'm thrilled to see most of the fungus is gone on the plum tree, so my homemade neem spray is working.  My elderberry trees actually have leaves on them already.  The grape plants are budding, and I will have to buy one grape plant to replace the one that died last year.   

We are still playing the car shuffle.  Daughter's car is not fixed.  We now know the problem, but the other problem is the labor involved.  It's about an 8 hour job with her engine.  We got one quote of $800 or $900.00.  We then located another person who might do it, and they did not want to mess with it.  Finally, we found one other person, and hope we can finally put an end to this car shuffle.  I can't run to the store for stamps, chicken feed, etc. And some folks in this house have bad memory (not saying who, ha ha!). Although Vet-Tech-Daughter texted me and asked if she could pick anything up for me.  That was nice of her.

Update on the car shuttle.  I wrote this post last night, but Hubby worked over, so he never got home until after 8pm.  He rolled in with a flat tire, in the pouring down rain.  And, the guy called him back about Daughter's car  -  estimate $1,000.00 (more problems than we thought).  He's calling around for a new engine.  Daughter just paid off her car too.  Sigh.....the kids that have moved out have the other half of our garage filled.  Yeah, so changing a tire isn't going to happen in the rain.  And Daughter has exams and is driving my car.
 

Before roasting

After roasting

. . .using up a bit of last year's rosemary.  I love to cook with it.  It smells like a real Christmas tree and that makes me happy.

I made Giada's (recipe is online) Peas, bacon and Prosecco (Italian white wine).  I loved it.  Just one more way to cook my peas.

And who doesn't want to try a new wine with dinner?  

 

 Pork chops with homemade condensed mushroom soup. Mmmmm!

 

Parsley Pea Pesto

I made the mistake of turning on my TV in the middle of the day about a week ago.  I am addicted to watching "The Chew."  Sigh.  I cannot, cannot do this....I thought I would just take my tea break a wee bit early.  Pretty soon my breaks will be on the porch with nature and no electronics.


Anyway, I turned it on and immediately had to make the pea pesto and pasta dish they made.

I had one box of Einkorn whole wheat pasta I wanted to taste, so that was my choice of pasta for this dish.

Honestly, I didn't measure.  Once you get the hang of pesto, you may not either.  

What a brilliant idea.  So good too.  Parsley from the garden, garlic from the garden, peas from the garden (if I can ever get enough to freeze), etc.  

Delicious! 

My motto this year, in addition to our family motto on my blog.  

 

It's Cooling Down!

My future goal is to have enough space for a good supply of sweet potatoes in a root cellar.  We are finding ways to swap out white for sweet potatoes more often, but I still like my red potatoes.  

Although a lack of rain is getting me a bit worried, I am keeping things watered.  The green onions looked terrible, but I found enough to whip up another sweet potato salad to go with our dinner (or be the dinner since the temperature was 91 degrees out).

First Homegrown Shell Peas

While checking the garden I saw one plump shell pea pod.  I picked it to see check the size, so I know when to start picking them.  We even tasted these gems of goodness.  I can't believe I haven't grown them before, but you can't grow everything.  Or can you?  Hopefully, in a few more days, I'll be blanching our first shell peas for the freezer.  I took the pea pod out to the goats, to see if they would like it, but they all turned their noses up. 
 

The berry picking continues.  I should have enough to start canning jam.   Looks like a dry day today, so maybe weeding will continue.  I saw one jalapeno on one plant yesterday, but no green peppers just yet.  One zucchini plant is dying.  Hopefully the garden will have the chance to completely dry out and catch it's breath.