"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.

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Garden Going In ~ Rain ~ Prayer Request

 

The garden is going in now, but it feels like slow motion.  So far, I am doing the planting by myself (thanks to my husband's once again eye rolling work hours).  I have gotten all the tomatoes in, but feel we should buy a cherry or grape tomato plant.  I put my tomato stakes in when I plant, as it keeps the animals out.  We don't have fencing for all the gardens this year.  Solar lights also keep the deer out of this garden.

I got all the hot peppers planted.  I'm not sure the habanero will make it, but I guess we'll see.  It never does great starting by seed, as it needs much more heat.

I had planned to get all the bell peppers in today, but the rain arrived last night, and it rained the entire night, leaving everything very wet.  It's a good thing for all that is planted, but will put me behind a bit on the rest of the garden.  We scaled back from 100 tomato plants to about 52 this year.  Next year we will scale back on the jalapenos.  

May is fickle around here.  It was 80°F yesterday and will be a cool 67°F today (but too wet to weed or plant).

Nothing exciting on the extreme clean front, other than I cleaned the air fryer.  First, we never would have had one.  The story is, that Mom had this one from Pampered Chef.  She said it was too big for her, so we bought a smaller one for her and exchanged.  We do not like this one.  We'll most likely look around for something else, but this one is too big.  It also, has trays and not the buckets.  The only nice thing, is that the door comes completely off to clean.

I will be drinking some nettle/ginger tea today.  My allergies apparently didn't like my full blown day outside yesterday.  Do you have a go-to for a natural medicinal remedy for allergies?  


Prayer request:

A co-worker of one of my brothers who is battling stage 4 cancer.  He went through 6 months of chemotherapy, and was doing great, and some tumors where completely gone.  However, he has suddenly gotten sick, and has a rapidly growing tumor on his liver.  Please pray for Jerry.


Friday, May 19, 2023

Dehydrated Oregano

 

Tip:  I drop my hydrated oregano (and other herbs) off of the dehydrator tray, and onto a piece of waxed paper.  I gently take the dried leaves off the stems.


I hold each side of the waxed paper, and with a canning funnel in the top of a quart canning jar, slide the dried herbs into the jar.


I do not crush the dried herbs.  I wait until I am cooking and then crush what I need.  It helps them retain flavor longer.


Another tip:  Check those lids you get on anything you do buy.  I saved a lid from a jar of organic mayo we bought over winter, and it fits perfectly on my quart canning jar.


It's a task, but I wash and dry all the trays before dehydrating another food in the dehydrator.

Happy Harvesting!