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

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.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Feverfew ~ Catnip ~ Canned Hot Pepper Jelly

The rain went right off the radar on Tuesday.  Not a drop.  Rain on the radar on Wed. went right off the radar as well.  Sigh.  I had to pick and choose what would be watered, considering the well isn't getting filled up.





I finally got some feverfew put into the dehydrator for winter tea if needed.  I'm hoping if we get rain, I can dehydrate more (it's in a pot vs. the ground).



Once that was dried I loaded it up with catnip.  I make catnip tincture as an ingredient for my bug off spray.  I will also make some catnip pillows for our cats and Mom's cats if I have enough for both.  I want to make my tincture with fresh catnip.

We love hot pepper jelly (now that I know how to really make it hot).  We love it as a go-to snack for gatherings or snacking.  It's great with cream cheese on a cracker.  I couldn't find hot cherry peppers, and did not grow them this year.  I used habanero, serrano, hot banana, hungarian wax, and jalapeno.  We'll taste this in a few weeks to see if it's a good as last years.

The sunrise is quickly moving to the south.  Sigh.  I'm not even ready to pull root veggies (if they even survived this drought).  Just another sign we need to start winter prep.

I overslept again.  Gonna down some nettle/oat straw infusion later, but first I have some work to do.  I forgot to marinate chicken, so dinner is a change of plans, but I need to stick to my list today.  I totally missed some things yesterday.  It's gonna be a very hot above 90 degree day.  Praying we get rain.


Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Canning




Got another batch of Cowboy canned.


Canned a batch of taco sauce.  Makes my heart sing.  Haven't been able to do this for the last two years.  I you can with anything (tomato) sauce related, you know they are long days.  The end result is so delicious.  I can it in 4 oz. jars because that is enough for one meal for all of us and nothing is wasted or needs used up.  I can only fit 11 of them in the canner, so I put the remaining 1/2 pint in the fridge.  We'll be eating tacos or taco salad this week. Taco sauce from the store has corn syrup, corn starch (all gmo), and other preservatives.  So worth the time to can.  I'm hoping the other tomatoes ripen together so I can do tomato sauce next.

I didn't have time to bake a breakfast for a grab-n-go for all of us either.  I was so exhausted I overslept this morning.  I wasn't even up to kiss my husband before he left for work this morning.  I'm taking the day off today.  We expect rain anyway.  We did get a short shower of rain yesterday thankfully.  I was literally so exhausted I crocheted 6 sc and put it away last night.

See ya' in a few days.  Hopefully super powered from a day of rest.  Not sure if I will fall plant green beans.  I'm exhausted.  I do miss the taste of them already, but we have a 3-4 day window to get them in the ground before the temps lower.  Not sure fall planting will happen this year.