Pioneer Woman at Heart

  We finally got rain on September 22nd, and it just kept coming, and coming.  The hurricane rolling in by Florida is bringing us much of the rain our way, forcing us to cancel our third  planned camping trip.  There was no point in hauling the camper over an hour away, only to spend the entire weekend inside the small camper (there was not much to do in the area indoors either).  No campfires, no campfire meals, and no hiking.  I was pretty sad hitting that "cancel" button. (husband's packed breakfast with daikon root hashbrowns) One vegetable I did not get to plant this garden season - daikon radish.  I am however experimenting with it in recipes, and actually grating it for a healthier hashbrown, and using it cubed in place of potatoes in some soup recipes.  I have yet to make kimchi, but it is still on my list. New to the garden this year, and new to us - Mashed Potato Squash. One mashed potato squash came off the vine, so I brought it in a s...

  I'm not sure who is happier when all the canning supplies go back in storage. . . my husband or myself, ha ha!  We got very little canned this year.  In fact, I only canned ketchup and tomato sauce.  Very strange garden year this year. The majority of our own tomatoes were very very small.  Most likely due to the second planting (rabbits ate the entire first before we fenced it), and the drought we are having.  I was gifted enough tomatoes to can what I did this year. The hot peppers are nearing the end of the season, and if you have been following my blog, you read that our "hot" banana peppers were not hot this year.  I yanked the plants and pickled the rest for the season.  These were not canned, but will last 3 months in the refrigerator. I bought us a new tool for when we stuff jalapenos, or when I need to de-seed any hot peppers.  Call it being prepared for the next garden year, as we decided to freeze the jalapenos this round of pick...

                                        The sauce comes out of the center piece and into a pan (white part), and the "trash" comes out the left side and I put a pot there to catch it.  It's the seeds and peelings of the tomatoes.  Basically, anything sauce made, I do not have to de-seed or remove peels, as this hand cranked machine does it for me. However, I always assumed it was doing it's job well the first time. (second time running it thru) I have no idea why no one, who uses a sauce maker, ever told me this tidbit!   I always "assumed" that my sauce maker worked well enough to give me the "goods" when saucing anything.  Wrong!  Run your "trash" thru the sauce maker a second time to get the most of those tomatoes.  I am still using my old sauce maker, as the new one has not arrived yet, and boy did I get more doing it twice.  I found out about t...

  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.  T...

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 o...