Early September Garden

 I was not too excited for the Labor Day weekend.  First, we were invited to a cook out event (not my favorite, as there is very little healthy food), and two, my husband made several plans, where I was hoping for some finishing touches on projects and some good ol' R & R.

We decided to visit a produce stand to pick up zuchinni (ours produced very little with the drought), another dozen ears of sweet corn (frozen on the cob this time), some plums, cucumbers, and local honey.

First dig - about 5#.  I wasn't even going to plant the potatoes this year, but threw them in the ground willy-nilly.  We were both shocked, because I did not water them heavily during our drought.  

One haul of hot peppers, and the jalapenos are hot this time around.  Hot banana peppers had zero heat.  I bought the plants from a different place, and I really think they were not labeled correctly (sad for us).

We have enjoyed fresh salsa, as the tomatoes provided.  The serrano peppers have flavor, but were not "hot" so I used them in the salsa this year, along with the hot jalapenos.

Bell peppers are the star of the garden this year.  Second picking, as the red ones were just starting to turn red.  Third picking brought in 33 more bell peppers.  

It looks like a lot of bell peppers, but it's not even half of what we harvested last year.  I freeze them diced and use them in all of our meals over winter and the following spring.

We enjoyed some of those bell peppers for breakfast.  I first started making these last year, but this time I remembered that there is too much milk added with the recipe, so I have written down my notes for next year.  The recipe calls for ham, but I used bacon this time, and added green onions from the garden (also has spinach in them).  Very good too.

Other ideas for you are baked bell pepper rings.  They are like onion rings, but with bell pepper slices, and baked.  Recipe is online if you google for it.  You can also bake stuffed bell peppers, or freeze them stuffed for an easy dinner.

New  recipe tried.  It's from Slender Kitchen.com  online.  It is delicious mix of ground beef, thai basil, green onions (herbs I grow), asparagus and other ingredients, served over cauliflower rice.  I will add an egg, cooked over easy the next time I make it.

Green beans and yellow beans started to get rust on them at the first part of the month.  The August storm flattened the plants, and they never recovered.  Most remained laying on the ground.  Not a great year, but we got some of the beans.

I found one rotted spaghetti squash, and very few pumpkins in the squash this year.  The drought has really affected the growth of the garden (despite watering).

Deer have found the apple trees, and are seen often enjoying the ones on the ground.  However, when I went out to check on the trees, the raccoons and squirrels found a way to bypass our homemade tree baffles, and they ate every single apple on the tree (raccoons are notorious for this).  We were lucky last year.  We plan to work on a new baffle for next season.

I literally watched a raccoon try to get up the tree right after we installed the tree baffle, and could not, so after that I never really thought about it.  We have yet to check the pear trees.

As for the deer this year, I was preparing coffee one morning, and caught a young deer eating our hydrangeas.  I then went to the other side of the house, and found two more adult deer lingering (but not eating the garden).  They have been very active the last few weeks here.

The weather has been very cool for the past weekend (low of 44 degrees), but we are going back to the 80's, and thankful for the extended "summer" weather.

Speaking of trees, we planted a plum tree years ago when we first moved here, but it died.  I bought some plums from our local produce stand, and baked a plum crisp for the first time.  Delicous!

On a whim, I talked to my husband about planting two plum trees and a few quince trees.  We have not planted anything yet, but quince trees are difficult to find locally.

We hired a grand newphew to cut down brush around the barns, trim trees and other outdoor work, but that lasted for one day, and for about 1 hour.  He never returned.  Looks like I will have to try and find another person.  I honestly don't know how I canned all season last year, and got outdoor work done.  I haven't canned a thing this season, and I am still busy with freezing bell peppers, pickling banana peppers (fridge style), and freezing jalapenos.  I hate to even say it, but the older I get the less I enjoy doing all this garden work.   

I know it's important for us to have freshly grown goodies, and stock up for winter, but I lack the "motivation" this year.  Especially with the grocery store prices so high right now, it's hard not to stock up with what is growing in the gardens.

I have yanked the cantaloupe plants.  They are done for the season.  I am currently pulling all of the green/wax bean plants as well.  

There you have it.  The lastest garden news.  Drought weather, lack of rain, lack of produce, and strange temperatures.  I will try to get another post up as the month ends.

Early September Garden © September 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

This and That

I decided to stop in for a chat, but my post ended up sort of long.  I apologize in advance, ha ha!

Hard to believe that we are nearing the very end of August.

The garden(s). . .

What happens when your barn cats have expired, and either field mice or chipmunks find your beans.  Good reason to have a solar electric fence if you don't have a good rodent control.  

First good haul, but not even close to last year's harvest.  I'm thrilled to get what we do get.  I brought in another 3# the other day too.

Bell peppers are rolling in, and they are about 1/4 inch thick.  I don't feel this particular pepper smells as good as the type we grew last year, so I will looking that up in my garden journal for reference.  Taste is important too.

Meals have been based on what I brought in from the garden.  It has been nice to have fresh canteloupe for breakfast.  We haven't grown fruit in the garden for several years (due to space).

We literally sliced our very first tomato August 27th.  The harvest has been that bad for the tomatoes, but only because the rabbits ate down the first planting (that garden is fenced now).

Canning?  Zero canned this year.  So far, anyway.

The chickens . . .

Due to my husband's other obligations, we have made zero progress on the new chicken coop. 

Handiwork . . .

Thanks to the free evenings by myself (due to my husband's obligations), and with little from the garden to can/freeze or dehydrate (combined with awfully hot weather), I have gotten my crochet hook out.  I just have not been in the "mood" to even crochet at all lately.

I crocheted us a new kitchen dish scrubbie, as my current one was wearing thin.  When I purchased the yellow netting, the clerk shorted me on yards, so thankfully I had netting scraps to stuff it with.

I have also finished another crocheted lap afghan, using a mix yarn in my yarn stash.

Home Repairs/Cleaning and Organizing . . .

-Master bathroom was completely finished.  Other than a few small things like replacing the broken toilet paper holder.  I do plan to install new "under the sink" mats and cabinet shelf liner.

-I have been purging the "office" room (slowly), so we can eventually rip out the old carpet.  It is a small room, but we have a lot of books and writing materials to purge.

-a little at a time, I am going thru stuff in my utility room.  I've purged this room and prepared it for new paint so many times, and it became the dump station for everything while working on other rooms.  I may be pushing this room to next year, or moving it on the to-do list for winter.

-garage clean up is still in limbo due to hot weather.

-purchased clothesline to install a new one,  as my old one is wearing down.

Herbs/Winter Prep . . . 

-dehydrated thyme for cooking, but it also comes in handy for a medicinal tea if anyone gets a bad cough or whatnot.

-started oregano oil for medicinal reasons, and for cooking.

-dehydrated sage for meals and for sage tea, and we have plenty of sage tincture for treating sore throats if needed.

-froze a batch of Thai basil pesto.  I have started a propagation of Thai basil to grow indoors.  Here's hoping I am successful.

....if you are still reading

Self-care. . .

We finally got back to hiking, and got two in the books.  There is still intentional exercise going on here as well, and of course healthy meals/snacks.

I'm looking into making a new homemade skincare (lotion) product.  I continue to make homemade hair detangler (with marshmallow root), homemade toner (with butterfly pea flower, and homemade face serum (using homemade rosehip seed oil).

The weather . . .

We recently had a heat wave come our way, and with no rain.  the temperatures soared up to 100°F.  There are reports of drought all over the area.  I've only been watering what I feel will produce more harvest.

The same evening of the hottest day, we had a severe, and unannounced storm roll in.  The wind was no joke!  Power outages, trees down, and debris everywhere.  Luckily, our power stayed on.  Many towns had destruction, and many people lost their gardens.  Oddly, what's left in our garden was not harmed.

This and That © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Yarrow ~ Tea

 Back in the June fo 2024, I waited patiently for my yarrow to spring forth flowers, so I could brew up a tincture. 

In the end, I ended up putting both catnip and yarrow in one tincture, for a experimental mix for bug repellant spray (for us).

I strained it and used it to make the every changing recipe that Mountain rose herbs keeps changing (on their website).

You can read about the bug/mosquito repellant here on my blog.  Original post is here, but their link no longer works.

(dried yarrow on a screen)

We have added powdered yarrow to our "medicine chest" of remedies.   We learn something new every year.  

We have already used macerated yarrow for a bleeding cut, and it is said to be great for wound healing.  If you haven't read up on yarrow, you really need to.  According to Learning  Herbs,  yarrow is also great for treating a fever.  In the past, we have grown and dried feverfew, but we now dry yarrow. 

Yarrow salve?  I may be making some if we get enough yarrow before fall ends.   I have also seen videos where a person simply removed yarrow leaves and rolled them up in his hands, and rubbed them all over his skin as a natural mosquito repellant.  I have not tried that, because I feel you get more from your plant making the tincture for your bug spray. 

Here is a video from Learning Herbs to give you more information.

I'm just now learning about yarrow tea and syrup.

Note:  I have mine growing in pots, as it spreads very easily, but we also have it growing wild near one of the pots (cut the flowers to prevent spreading).  Be sure to know what yarrow is, as other plants can look like it.

Speaking of teas, we found a new evening tea that we love!  It's by Bigelow teas - Sweet Dreams (Non-gmo).  It contains chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint leaves, rose blossoms, spearmint leaves, "spice" have no idea what this means, and orange blossoms.

It tastes better than the Traditional Medicinals Nighty Night Organic tea, and the Bigelow tea is much less expensive.

However, like everything right now, the price is higher now.  I plan to grow my own chamomile next year, and hopefully figure out a mixture to make a homemade evening tea.  The flavors are very nice together.  We do not like the taste of valerian nor a few other "sleepy time" teas.  

It's a gorgeous 54°F fall feeling morning today here, and it won't last.  I posted about how there always seems to be a "cool" few days in August, and we are now getting them.  The weather won't last however.  We heat back up to the 90's this weekend.

Yarrow ~ Tea  © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Pie Pumpkin Puree ~ New Recipes Tried ~ Medjool Date Treat ~ First Cantaloupe

We finally got one evening of rain here.  I'm not sure how much more we'll get from the cucumbers, but they are almost all dead plants at this point.

The jalapenos are rolling in, so I have plans to bake us a jalapeno cheddar frittata for breakfast soon.  I also have plans to try a new hummus recipe (Jalapeno-Avocado).

I've been trying new tea infusions, and have included some new ones and excluded some we didn't like.  I found that yerba mate iced in the early part of the day is delicous with nothing else in it.

Once again, there are locals stealing, cars getting broke into, and in one small town, a person walked through the woods to break into a house.   

I have discovered something new!  I can substitute pie pumpkin puree for mashed bananas in a zucchini muffin recipe.  I have only made the recipe a few times, as we lacked the zucchini (squash bugs).

I did not know I could swap the pumpkin for the bananas, and I am blown away how good it tastes in the muffins.  I hope to try it in other recipes.

(You can read about pumpkin puree making last fall HERE)

Is there a book that is specific on recipes with either use pie pumpkin puree in recipes or with information on what you can swap pumpkin puree for?  I know you can use it for eggs, oil, and butter in baked recipes too.

I'm curious if other squash can be used in place of pumpkin puree (in case there is a year without a harvest).  For example, sweet potato, butternut squash, or roasted acorn squash.

My husband is not a fan of bananas, so I was thrilled to learn this swap with the pumpkin I froze last year.  By the way, the pie pumpkin we planted has been the best, but I only see about two on the vines this year (again squash bugs galore).

The recipe is online by Real Food Dietitions - Gluten Free Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I'm not trying to go gluten free, but the oat flour in this worked great.  You can use all-purpose too, but I was trying to make them diabetic friendly for my husband.  I have to tell you, that the pumpkin puree muffins were more moist and we loved them.  I tossed in some chia seeds in both batches too.

Do you like medjool dates?  We love a sweet treat once in a great while, and these will be on the repeat list.  However, dates do not freeze solid, so here is my tip.  First, the filling is frozen in a loaf pan, then sliced, then dipped.  I do recommend cutting smaller pieces than the recipe says, and keeping half of it in the freezer, while you dip the first half.  The "frozen" filling will go too soft to dip.  I keep our finished treats in the freezer.  As you can see, when I attempted to cut one in half, the inside is too soft to do that (even frozen).  They are delicious.  I used a non-gmo dark chocolate.  Recipe is from Clean Food Crush  - Date Caramel Bites (free recipe online if you google it).

Medjool dates are pretty expensive here, so we do have to limit the purchase, but there may be a new cookie recipe tried in the near future.

                                               

August 14th, we enjoyed our first home grown canteloupe.  We have not grown fruit in several years here.

It's still hot and muggy here, which in August is pretty much the typical weather.  There is usually one week or weekend later in the month where it's cooler, but that is about it. 

I hope you enjoy your weekend.  

Pie Pumpkin Puree ~ New Recipes Tried ~ Medjool Date Treat ~ First Cantaloupe  © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

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

Pushing Positivity Despite a Frustrating Garden Year

 

The weather is much to be desired this garden year.  We should have been picking weeks ago, canning and enjoying by now.  We literally just picked (yesterday) our first heirloom Shintokiwa cucumber (English variety).  One plant already died, the other two types of cucumbers are are not looking good.

I picked two pickling cucumbers, and have put them in my vegetable storage containers, that keep them fresh longer.  In hopes to get more, and possible just get some relish canned this year.

The humidity has been at it's worst, and with the lack of rain, the garden suffers.  The weather these next two days will be in the upper 90's, and the humidity at it's worst yet.  This morning the humidity is 92% already.  

We have only gotten green beans from two plants so far, as we had to replant twice (after we finally fenced them).

The tomatoes are at their worst ever.  They are very small, lack any production good enough to do any canning, and the beef style has yet to even ripen (due to the ground hogs and rabbits prior to fencing).  The plants are not as tall as they should be by now, and lack anything to harvest.

The hot peppers are so-so.  The cayenne plants never grew tall, and have zero peppers on them.  I am starting to get other ones of other varieties, but not sure I'll be canning anything just yet.

It's yet to be determined on the winter squash plants, and pototoes.  The acorn squash is just now starting to produce, but the plant itself looks iffy.  Again, the humidity, and the battle with squash bugs are a problem this year.  I don't see any of the delicata squash producing at all yet.

The radishes were a wash this year as well.  I planted too late.

The collards and kale never recovered from what ever was eating them, but the swiss chard is trying to hold on.

On the left zucchini and squash with onions and homemade cowboy butter, on the right camper potatoes.  We are getting a few zucchini and yellow squash, but not nearly as many as we did last year.

We are not getting many of the blackberries either.  I have to build a new bird cover, and keep an eye on them.  I have a feeling I have another ground hog or rabbit eating the low ones.  Again.

Our new blueberry bushes, planted in pots are doing well, but it will be a few years before we get many, so I purchased 10# and put them in the freezer.

We also froze 5 1/2 dozen ears of local sweet corn.  I may plant some in a few years, but this year we had raccoons.  It seems to be a rodent problem year here.  By the wayt, the tool on the left is specifically for corn hair removal, and the inexpensive bottle brush on the right works just as well.  The hack using the jar lifter to fill the freezer bags worked well for me too.

Well, it's the last day of July.  Hard to believe the entire month went by so fast.

We have however, made progress in the master bathroom.  The ceilings, all of the trim and walls are now painted.

I may be back with a garden update down the road.  Just when I tell my husband I am not growing a garden next year, I make us a salad with one stinkin' cucumber, do the happy dance after the first bite, and sigh.  Trust me however, when I say it's been the most frustrating garden year, I really do mean it.

Here's praying that August starts out with good vibes, a better garden harvest, more home progress, and fun filled adventures.

P.S. I have noticed that spam is trying to post on my blog since I have been here last.  

Pushing Positivity Despite Frustrating Garden Year © July 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart