Garden and Tidbits Mid-August

The start of August regarding rain. . .

I do not have a rain gauge here, but I will be getting one for next garden season.  The news finally called it a drought, but said lots of rain was coming.  We had a tornado warning, and a boat load of rain with it, but that has been all we've gotten this month (so far as of today August 14, 2024).

The squash bugs were infesting all of our squash.  Do you have a sure fire solution to organic pest control for squash bugs?  We have tried Captain Jack's organic garden dust, and we have tried organic neem oil spray.  

We may not plant squash next year, in hopes to eradicate the nasty varmits (squash bugs).  It will mean no squash at all.

I don't know what continued to eat the greens, but the neem spray did not keep it away.  Just when it was looking great, it started looking like this.  Frustrating for sure.

(2 1/2# that I had planned to can into hot pepper mustard sauce, and I still had another 1# to freeze that day)

On a positive note, the hot banana peppers produced a nice harvest.  However, I gave one to my husband to taste test (he loves hot peppers), and then I tasted it.  It was not hot at all. It tasted like eating a green pepper.  We had purchased the plants this year, and from a new produce stand.  I am wondering if they labeled them wrong.  Anyway....

I decided to not waste the days picking (good source of vitamins and fiber), and made easy pickled banana peppers.  I did not use gloves, as they did not "taste" hot.

The next hour my hands were burning.  Did you know you can submerge your hands in vinegar to remove that painful hot pepper burn in your hands?  It works.   

Somewhere in that mess of hot banana peppers, there was an actual hot one.  I don't know what is going on with the hot peppers this year.  Last year, they were too hot in taste.  Crazy how one year can be so different.

The jalapeno peppers produced in mass amounts, I have yet to go pick them.  They have somewhat gained some heat in their flavor.  They are definitely not as hot as they were last year, but tasty.

The green beans started to roll in too.  I picked enough for dinners, however not enough for freezing. Picked our first bell pepper August 12th.  The cucumbers are starting to form strangely (not pollinated fully?) and the plants look terrible.  I'll take what we get. By the way, the Fresh containers I bought last year work great to keep cucumbers fresh in the refrigerator.  I'm so glad I bought some. 

We are getting a few more zucchini and yellow squash, but not enough to freeze any of it.  Last year we go so much, we could have had a road side produce stand.

New to the garden!

Mashed Potato Squash

I planted something new in the garden - mashed potato squash.  Have you heard of it?  I never heard of it until last winter, and bought the seeds.  I have not found one person who has grown this squash nor eaten it.  

The winter squash plants are trying their best to hang on, but for some reason, the acorn plants only produced one acron squash (last year we got 3).  I will buy seeds from another source, or just buy them next year.

If you are still with me, ha ha!  I apologize for the long blog post today.  I guess I'm feeling chatty, as I am enjoying this absolutely beautiful 58° weather this morning (first thing out of my mouth "it feels like camping weather").

The bathroom shower tile floor is done!  It did not get completed without headache with this guy.  He did do a nice job, and for the first time in 16 years, the shower has a finished tile floor.  

Why it took so long?  Raising a lot of kids can put jobs way down on the priority list (or even off the list).  It's the only room with tile too.

Anyway, he left messes that I didn't see prior to inspecting his work.  We however, are glad for the shower to be done, and that room is soon to be checked off the project list.  I  just need to do a full floor tile/grout cleaning, and touch up paint that this guy chipped of the wall trim (yes, an eye roller).  

We have sort of started the garage clean out too.  On days we have time, we are focusing on removing what we don't need/use or haven't used for years.   Progress is better than no progress.

Until next time . . .

Garden and Tidbits Mid-August © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Modge Podge of Events (or lack of events) and This and That

I apologize in advance for the length of this post.  I honestly, didn't think I'd be back so quickly with a post at all.

The home project list continues.  The master bath is not checked off the list just quite yet.  We have made progress, but the shower tile floor is dragging on.

My husband hired a brother of a friend to replace the tile floor to the shower.  First, good luck getting the guy to come on the day he says.  He canceled three times.  I was about to google YouTube and install the floor myself. 

He showed up (after canceling again, after coming out for a quote), and literally asked me if I had a trowel for the grout.  Literally!

Sigh.  He came and gave us a quote, and said he had the "tools" for the job, and he had experience.  My husband even told him that we know nothing about installing tile.  He also mentioned he didn't bring his tool to cut the tile.  Huh?  He knew full well what the job was - install a tile shower floor.

I am not one for someone to waste my time, so it's been aggravating on my end.  We have also discussed the events of this guy several times already, and won't be hiring him again.  Brother of a friend or not. 

Less than two hours after removing all the old tile, he asked of my husband left him any money.  Really?  He hadn't even finished the job, and barely started the job.  He said he was out of gas, and needed "gas" money.  Not our problem, as we hired him to do a job, and the job pays when it's done, not before.  

The guy is a "talker" too, so I busied myself in the kitchen, so he'd get the job done.  It literally should have been done the same day, but was not.  

I went out to the garden to pick green beans, and he literally followed me out there.  He followed me to the garden hose, where he had already turned it on and never turned it back off.  He wanted to ask me about which way we wanted the tile.  Seriously???  We hired him, because he had experience with tile.  While I was rinsing the mud off  my muck boots, he was getting his cell phone out to show me is rose bushes.  Do you see my aggravation in all of this?

So there I was, trying to message my husband while he was at work, and asking questions, so the job would be finished.  Tick, tick, tick, there went the clock.

Hiring a decent person who is going to get the assigned job done is almost impossible these days.  Anyway, he is to come back to finish the job another day (he told me one day, and told my husband a different day), but with his history of not showing up, we may be hiring someone else.  The tile has been broken in the flooring for years, and was put off for other expenses.  We just want this job done, and finished the right way.  

We shall see if the tile floor gets finished, and finished correctly, or if I will be googling Youtube/hiring someone else.  If he's really that "broke" he'd get the job done to get paid. Stay tuned. 

My husband had a family member bring heavy equipment one day, to move the new coop and finally move the ladies into it.  It never happened.  Poor planning.  The weather was very hot and humid too that day, but poor planning.  There are things that need done prior to moving it (moving it was not in the early plans either), and were not completed, so another full day of no progress.

My husband has had some crazy, long work hours this summer too, so that hasn't helped with any progress overall.

(one small potato that got washed up from a bad storm)

August 6th was the first time we got to enjoy eating our home grown green beans.  We should have been freezing boat loads by now, but with the rabbits eating them down twice, and replanting, it was a late start for us, and a lot less. We had a tornado warning one day, and the high winds leveled the plants.  We are happy to get what we do get at this point.

As of today, we have not even gotten a dozen zucchini.  Between the weather and the squash bugs, it's been a battle.  We've only enjoyed two cucumbers.  The pickling cucumber plants are not looking good.  Humidity = mildew.  There are tomatoes on some of the plants, but some plants are small, and so far the tomatoes are very small (about 1 1/2 inches small).

Have I canned anything?  Nope. It's kind of strange not to be canning anything right now.

I have frozen some hot peppers, and dehydrated a handful of hot peppers.

I did get some of the elephant garlic dehydrated and ground into garlic powder (bought at a Farmer's Market).  My husband asked me to save some to trial plant in the ground this fall.

I finally bought a chargeable scrub brush with adjustable handle.  It has changed my cleaning tasks in a big way.  I can't believe I waited so long.  Cleaning the shower and tub, and all the sinks, not to mention the tile bathroom floor is so much easier (not to mention faster).

I'm thinking of making my job of wiping down kichen cupboards, table and chairs, from once a week to two times a month.  

Thank you to whoever mentioned to take the frozen pumpkin puree out of the freezer bag before thawing, to get all of that goodness from the bag.  I can't even believe my brain never thought to do it that way.  A "duh" moment, so thank you do whoever mentioned that last summer.

Have we gone camping?  Nope.  Not once this year.  Yet.  We still hope to, but time will tell.  It's just been so humid and hot, and we missed the spring window with my broken foot.

Have I picked up a crochet hook?  Well, not until the last few days.  I took a long break.

Have I finished another book?  Nope. I haven't finished the one I started back in May.  Honestly, I think I picked it up for free at the library leftover book sale, and it's not that interesting.

New recipes tried?  Maybe one or two, but I have one on the try-it list.

Modge Podge of Events (or lack of events) and This and That © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart