Pioneer Woman at Heart

Today, we were blessed with a green pepper.  Cherry tomatoes are starting to turn red, and 2 zucchini are just about ready to pick.  I transplanted a lot of green onion, flat leaf parsley and more chives.  I worked mainly in herb garden #1 today, weeding, thinning, and cutting some for dinner.  The Kohlrabi is about ready in a few areas also. I pulled more lettuce to top our bean burritos (which are made with dry pinto beans and onions).  The red onions we have grown are delicious too.  I also weeded a flower bed, and thinned some, placing them into several other flower beds.  I dug up a pink cone flower and planted it up by the southeast corner, near a small lonely bush.  I added a perennial (I have yet to correctly identify, and will post a photo when it blooms) and more forget-me-nots. I noticed that my gladiolus are about to start blooming soon.  I can't wait to see them when I sit on my front porch. I haven't had them in my flower ...

We did it! Finally! After we picked (mostly by my son) 10 cups of wild black raspberries, we now have 6 pints of homemade canned jam! Every recipe was different, and every source we checked on how long to process the jars had different measurements and times. We cannot wait to enjoy our hard work. We all participated in it and it's 6 jars of jam I don't have to buy at the store, and it is much healthier by making it with fresh berries. What a blessing it was to find fresh berries on our property!

My 13 year-old daughter was actually bored yesterday. She cut up a watermelon, cut hearts, dinosaurs and other shapes using cookie cutters,

Finally.  Rain arrived.  The thick, sticky air is much more tolerable today.  Although it is still raining, I plan to visit the garden today.  I have my eye on 3 zucchini that would make a nice dinner tonight. Thank you all for helping me identify plants and pests.  Our goal is to be self-sufficient, and not have to run to the store for items we can grow or provide through dairy animals etc.  We don't believe in chemicals on or in our food either. It's been an interesting start with this journey.  Many people think we have lost our marbles and that the grocery store is the best invention every.  Other people think we chose a way of life that is too much work.  We now have about 6 cups of wild black raspberries.  We have located an entire are of berries and can't wait to pick more.  Making jam will be a fun and good experience for us.  Espeically with berries I didn't have to buy.

We are enjoying more delicious wild black raspberry pancakes today.  Made with preservative free whole wheat flour of course. If we can muster up the energy to pick 8 cups of berries, I will make homemade jam for the first time ever.  The weather is sweltering hot today.  My eight year old was covered in sweat, picking berries, before 10am.  The humidity is horrible today, so rain should be on it's way.

We have these small orange worms on our potato leaves. They are eating away and I keep picking them off. We don't use chemicals, so that is out of the question. I tried looking these up on the Internet but nothing under potato pests comes up in my search. Any idea what these are and can I pick them off and feed them to my chickens?

First of all, let me say that I ordered this movie from the Interloan program at our local library.  I did have to wait several months, but it was free to watch.  Patience is a virtue, as they say. Of course, like any movie today, there are parts that they could have left out.  Parts that would allow this movie to be more appropriate for the younger crowd.  I did enjoy it and found myself laughing hysterically when she cooked the lobsters.  My husband laughed when she had her break down - as he has seen me during a cooking moment as well.  It was very realistic, funny, and inspiring if you love to cook. In fact, I went to the library and checked out the very same cookbook they use in the movie.  There are so many recipes that I can use with veggies from my garden.  Cucumber recipes, Eggplant recipes, and lots more. Our local newspaper tends to rate all movie reviews with a poor review.  I think they gave this one a 2 1/2 star rating (ou...