Random Thoughts

Well, it really sucks when you get used to doing something, and then can't. Still no luck with the Blogger app for my phone, so I guess it's back to getting the photos off of my camera.  I just hate that extra step I have to take. . .

The vegetable garden is really taking off, and I made some home made marinara sauce with the bumper crop of tomatoes the other day.  Just chopped tomatoes, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar and I let that cook up until the tomatoes started to fall apart.  I then put that through a food mill to get the skin and most of the seeds out and simmered the remaining liquid until it had reduced by about a third. Salted to taste, and it was really, REALLY good.  My husband commented how the taste does not compare to store bought spaghetti sauce.  The only downside was that I did not have enough to can, so next time, I will wait until I have a large stash in the freezer.  I had been reading up on tomatoes in my copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living, and I saw that you can freeze whole tomatoes until you have enough to make a big batch. I will give that a try.

I got dinner going rather late yesterday as I had a migraine for much of the day.  I saved dinner by cooking a whole chicken (purchased for $2.50 when on sale) in my pressure cooker with a splash of lemon juice, several dashes of dried minced garlic, pepper, some Montreal Steak Seasoning and a bit of soy sauce.  Cooked that under pressure for about 30 minutes while I chopped up several zucchini from the garden and pan fried that with garlic powder, salt and pepper and some Italian seasoning.  The chicken was falling off the bone at the end of cooking.  My husband is on a low/no carb diet now, so that's all he had.  The boys ate it along with some leftover mashed potatoes from the other night. So the total outlay for dinner was only $2.50!

I realized yet again that I need to utilize my pressure cooker more often.  It makes tough cuts of meat tender AND cooks it faster than conventional cooking. If I remember to do that, it will help reduce our electric bill.  Our house is all electric, so it adds up after a while.  Need to find more recipes. . .

The food mill was a splurge item for me a while back.  I had been coveting one for a LOOOOONG time.  I had a $50 gift card from Williams Sonoma, but the All Clad mill I wanted was over $100.  That's more expensive than any of the pots and pans I own. Do I get it or a cheaper model that was mostly plastic?  I decided to go for quality because I knew I would be using it a whole bunch once I had enough tomatoes to can the surplus.  Though I still cringe when I think of the cost, I have not regretted the purchase. It is a joy to use, and has 3 interchangeable disks. I made some vegetable cream soup with it when I first got it, and it was so velvety smooth without the addition of cream.  My husband taught me that if you need a tool, one should always go for the best you can afford so you don't have to replace the item over and over.  In the long run, it's frugal.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

How Does My Garden Grow?

Why, very well, thank you very much!  In fact, it is really coming along swimmingly.  This is a photo of my butternut squash plant and the baby squash forming behind the squash blossom.  The length of the squash here was about one inch long and about as thick as my pinky finger. 

As one new to the joys of gardening, this being only the second year of trying to grow vegetables, there is something really magical about seeing things grow.  It is akin to the wonder of watching your children grow and reach different milestones in their lives.  Last year, I got my garden going a little too late, and the only thing that grew were the Chinese bitter melon that only I like to eat.  Texas gets very hot quick, so we have to get the plants in the ground early in the spring to get them established so they can tolerate the heat.  The tomato plants last year did not do JACK. I planted them too late and even though it is a heat loving plant, it just was too hot and I did not get A. Single. Damn. Tomato.

Anyways, here is the same plant only about a week later:

Here, the squash has grown to about 3 inches long and has plumped up some.  The photo does not do it justice.  It is so shiny and very pretty with its' pale green vertical stripes.  I saved the seeds last fall from a store bought squash.  I planted six seeds, which is probably too much, now that I see how the plants are growing.  The vines are starting to fill out and there are numerous babies on each of them.  I think I'm going to have a bumper crop if the critters stay away. <knock wood>

The beds are filling out.  I realized, being the novice that I am, that I needed to do something about the paths.  The weeds keep growing almost over the beds, and I'm always ever cautious of the snakes (yes, we have some on occasion).  This winter, we plan on cutting down at least two diseased trees in our yard. At that time, I am planning on renting a wood chipper so I can then recycle the wood chips to use as a mulch cover for the paths to keep the weeds under control.  But until then, I have to deal with the tall weeds in the paths that the lawn mower can't get to.

One thing I noticed since getting the large tires in the yard is how much I like them.  Yes, they are ugly to look at but I really don't care about that.  This backyard is not visible from the street or prying eyes of neighbors looking in, so aesthetics is not that important.  What I like about them is the fact that the plants are elevated almost twice as high as the those in the wooden raised beds.  That makes for easy weeding and harvesting.  It is very easy on the knees if all you have to do to is bend down instead of kneeling by the bed.  (I guess I'm not as young as I think I am. . .) 

The other day, I gathered the first of the tomatoes and jalapenos and made some homemade pico de gallo.  I chopped up the tomatoes, jalapenos, a bit of onions and tossed all that with a bit of salt and a splash of lime juice from a bottle.  Let the flavors meld for a bit in the refrigerator, and voila!

The. Best. Damn. Pico. De. Gallo. EVER!  It was divine with some tortilla chips. My husband and I made a light lunch with just that. 

All of the tomatoes I used were sort of funky looking, and I think if my garden was a commercial operation, they never would have made it to the store.  But they tasted better than the ones from the store, and it really made me realize how much waste there must be in a commercial farming operation that can only sell perfect looking vegetables to the grocery stores. Food for thought, literally.

How does YOUR garden grow?

Almost There

The flower bed I started working on last weekend is almost done! I had to purchase additional resin edging to keep the dirt in place so it will not drain out through the cracks in the decorative rock "wall."  It was backbreaking work bringing in the dirt to fill the bed, one bucket at a time from the backyard because I don't have a wheelbarrow yet.  I mixed in some horse manure for good measure and planted three flats of impatiens I purchased at the nursery that was on clearance.  I probably will buy a few more flats to fill in the rest of the bed, or some perennials, I have not decided yet.  But it is wonderful to see some color in this corner of the yard. 

It has been very dry in Texas, we only had one rainfall in close to two months where I live.  The rest of the state is doing a lot worse.  You can see that the lawn is looking pretty sad as a result.  That is my next project when I have the energy.  Thinking of a cottage garden here eventually so my husband and I will have something to look at when we are relaxing on the front porch.  That project will have to wait for the time being, as it is getting almost too hot to do any work outside.  I was soaked when I got done filling the bed with dirt yesterday.

As I was watering my potted plants that I keep by the front door, I saw this little guy:

Amazing how the lily leaves can support his hefty figure!  Just kidding.  (Reminds me of the GEICO gecko though.)



I can't wait for the lilys to bloom, the stalks with the buds on it has been growing for some time.  I'm expecting then to bloom any day now.

Gardening Update

My vegetables in the garden is coming along, some faster than others.  I am fortunate that I can plant the seeds and seedlings in the ground a lot earlier than some other people as technically, I live in the sub-tropics.  Most of the plants here were planted in early March through early April.

The first of my produce from the garden:

I was at a loss on what to do with such a small amount of green beans.  I steamed them for about 5 minutes and served them alongside the grape tomatoes as an appetizer with some wasabi mayonnaise.

I had been planning to buy a persimmon tree at the nursery, and when I went over, the fruit trees were on sale @ 50% off. I purchased a peach tree also and planted them both in the side yard where we are in the process of creating a fruit orchard.  We have a bit more space, so I may go get a couple more trees next payday. The trees are hard to see in the photo as they are not much more than sticks with leaves.  I wonder how many years until they start producing? There is a Japanese saying that says, "peaches and chestnuts in three years, and persimmons in eight." I don't know how old these trees are, so it will have to be a surprise.

The pear tree in our backyard has fruit growing on it.  The tree was (I'm assuming) planted by the former owners. We are going on our 4th year in this house, and this is the first year this tree has borne any fruit.  I think the fertilizing spikes we have put into the ground the last two years are finally having an effect on the tree.  It will be wonderful to harvest the pears when they are ripe, and it will be a good opportunity for me to learn the can home grown produce.

I never grew anything prior to last year, and this is all new to me.  I must say that I am quite enjoying seeing things grow.  The butternut squash I planted from a seed from a store bought squash and saved the seeds from is even blooming and growing baby squash.  Same with the acorn squash.  It is really quite wonderful.  If only the critters will stay out of the beds.  I think the squirrels are using my beds to hide stuff in, as I often see small holes dug up in the dirt.

I'm Pooped!

Hello. Just a short post today. I should have taken a "before" photo, but I forgot. I guess you can call this the "during" shot.  This bed by the tree was VERY overgrown. I had some plants there that's been there since we moved in that looked like some sort of iris, but the dang things have never bloomed. I just got tired of looking at them without the flowers. The bed was also overgrown by weeds and downright ugly to look at.  This area is in plan view when my husband and I sit on the front porch, so I'm going to see if I can plant something, ANYTHING, that will bloom, preferably a perennial so I don't have to mess with it year in, year out.  I want color! That's the minimal requirement.

The rock enclosure is a recent project by "moi" with some stones left over from the previous owners' landscaping project, so it cost nothing, as was the black weed barrier that you can see a smidge.  I plan on filling the bed with the soil we had delivered for the vegetable beds and the horse manure so whatever I end up planting will have a good chance of surviving. 

But right now, I'm pooped, so I'm off to shower to cool down!

The Garden Update

The new (old) tires have all been planted.  The 5 we found along the side of the road also had horse manure mixed in while they were being filled with dirt.  It will be interesting to see how the plants in those beds compare to the beds in which I used commercial fertilizer in.

The peas are sprouting:



The eggplants (aubergines) are starting to bloom:

But I'm quite not getting why there is such a discrepancy in the growth rate of the Golden Beans in this bed.  Notice it gets taller on the left side of the photo? The beans are all from one bag of seeds, planted in the same bed, with the same soil and gets the same amount of sunlight. As far as I can tell, the bed is level.  Anyone have any clue?

Roadside Treasures

My husband had a hernia surgery last Wednesday, and was under doctor's orders to be moving around instead of planting himself in bed as conventional wisdom used to be back in the day.  Two days after his surgery, he decided he needed a walk.  We went out for a leisurely stroll along a lonely stretch of road right outside our neighborhood:

This road has a VERY deep ditch along its' side to control runoff from the rain (in Texas, when it rains, it pours). Anyways, we were strolling along, and found a big, fat tire in the ditch. I said to my husband that the tire looked like it was the same size as those we made raised beds with. I decided we could use more vegetable beds, so we should come back and get it 

As we continued on with our walk, we found not one, not two, but 4 more tires of the same size along the road, meaning we found 5 tires total.  On one level, that was fine by us. We could sure use them. But on another level, it really made us mad. For crying out loud, doesn't whoever threw away those tires know that we LIVE here? Why do they think it's OK to dump tires along the side of the road? REALLY?  Talk about lack of civility and common courtesy!  Not to even mention that they are trashing our planet!  Sheesh! (Breath in, breathe out. . . OK,  I think I'm done venting. . .)

We sent our sons off to retrieve those tires after we got back from our stroll.  They were not all that happy about it, especially after they got home.  They were complaining that the tires were HEAVY, and they could barely get them lifted into the truck bed.  My husband asked them if they stacked them up in the driveway. The answer was negative. When asked why, they said all they could do was roll them off the bed of the truck, and that if they had not done so, that I would never have been able to move them!

When I went out to check them out, I understood why. These tires were even larger and heavier than the tires from my son's truck. The three guessed they were probably dump truck tires. When I measured them, they were fully 42 inches across. They will make sizable beds, and all for FREE!

We also found a sizable patch of wild blackberries. We went out later to pick some. I think they will be in season for at least several more weeks.  I washed them quickly and put them on a sheet pan in a single layer to freeze in the freezer.  That way, I don't have to worry about them going bad. I will probably make blackberry cobbler and blackberry dumplings (my husband's favorite childhood dish). If I get a sizable stash, I may even give a go at making blackberry preserves.

We also went back later that afternoon to dig up some of the blackberry plants to replant them in our garden.  Don't know if they will take, but at least it's worth a try, and it was free. Can't beat THAT!  So all in all, it was a good day, even if I got really pissed off at the sight of those tires initially. . .

That's a Lot of Horse Sh*%!

Quite literally. Really.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought even 5 years ago that I would willingly drive 20 miles to go get a free load of horse manure! But that's exactly what we did today so we can improve the soil quality in our raised vegetable beds.  With the ongoing drought in Texas, the manure was really dried out, and we are going to have to wet it down and mix it in with our compost pile before we can use it, but I know I can look forward to a bountiful harvest next year once all this crap, literally, is mixed into our dirt.  Tomorrow, we have to shovel it out of the truck bed. Oh joy. . .

Garden Projects

Inspired by Kate's post at Living the Frugal Life, I built myself a Native Bee box yesterday with some scrap pieces of lumber I had in the garage.  Here it is, hanging from the fence post in the back yard by my vegetable garden.  I've never heard of "Native Bees" until I read her post. I Googled it, and read some more about it.  I was not aware that honey bees are not native to the U.S. and most native bees are solitary bees who live out their lives alone other than to mate to lay eggs for the next generation.  The hardest part of making it was drilling all the holes for the bees to lay eggs in.  The battery on my drill kept dying, and I had to wait until it was charged up again.  I'm looking forward to seeing if my "condo" will attract winged guests!

The irony is that right after we closed on our house, we had to pay a bee expert to remove three bee hives that had been built inside the exterior wall while the house sat vacant for two years.  My husband and a contractor had an unpleasant close encounter when they were discussing a job.  They were poking around the roof line, and disrupted the bees who immediately became angry and started to swarm.  I've never seen two grown men running so fast!

When the "bee guy" showed up, he removed the siding on the outside wall and grabbed the hive and shoved it inside a plastic garbage bag. He then cleaned the area as best he could of the honey and sprayed some sort of chemical where the hive had been.  He promised that although we might see stray bees for a while close by, they will not go in to try to rebuild the hive because the bees do not like the chemical.  He said most of the bees followed the hive into his plastic bag, and they will be relocated into a hive box in a commercial bee operation.  Even after 3 years and a power washing of the exterior wall, you can still see the dark spot left by the dripping honey below where the siding was opened up to reach inside.

Anyways, I did not have a 4 x 4 lumber, so I used three short pieces of boards and screwed them from both sides top and bottom.  After the holes were drilled, I added another scrap piece for the roof to protect the hole openings from dripping water.  I promise to post another photo when the "visitors" have checked in!

You can't tell from this photo, but the other recent project was to plant some raspberry plants along this fence. I got them on clearance at the garden center a couple of weeks ago.  I purchased 12 plants, and threw one away by mistake because they look like a dead piece of stick! I had just made a big pile of weeds and vines I had pulled up to clear the area to plant them, and then promptly threw one of the plants onto the pile by error. I tried to find it, but it was a classic "needle in the hay stack" situation, and I gave up. Sooo, I only have 11 plants. Hopefully, they will start putting out new shoots sometime soon.



Victory Garden in the Making!

Last year I got my feet wet with two raised beds, this year I'm expanding to eight beds!  I may add four more later, since we still have a lot of dirt left from the truckload full that we got delivered because it's cheaper to purchase dirt that way.  Not quite sure yet. . . My compost was not quite ready to add to the dirt to amend the soil, so I'm going to have to add commercial fertilizers this year. Hopefully, they will be ready by fall so I can mix it in before the fall planting.  I'm fortunate to live in an area where the winters are relatively mild and can grow some crops even in the dead of winter.

It's been a lot of work just getting the beds ready.  I had to drill 22 holes in each of the beds in order to hammer in big, fat nails to keep the beds in one piece.  It was a lot of work, to put it mildly.  It made me all sore the next day in places I never imagined I had muscles! The beds are all planted now except for one bed.  We also might plant some corn in the area of the yard around the front of the photo.  That is, if we can get our hands on a tiller somehow.  Digging up the grass by hand will be too much work for me since the weather's already turning rather warm.

Hopefully, we will have tomatoes, onions, beets, butternut squash, zucchini, yellow summer squash, spring onions, radishes, peas, snap peas, beans, kohlrabi, watermelon, eggplant, lettuces and bitter melon.  Bitter melon is a Chinese vegetable that looks like a wrinkly, deformed cucumber that is very, very bitter.  It's one of those things that you either love or hate, with nothing in between.  I love it.  The rest of the family doesn't. But,  since I'm the one tending the garden, I'm going to grow it again.  It is costly to make a trip to the Chinese grocery just to buy the stuff. It did very well last year, enough to put away the sliced surplus in the freezer.  I am just now eating the last of last year's bounty.  Apparently it does well in the US because it has no native pests that will attack it.

I still need to plant some cucumbers and perhaps some potatoes and eggplant in the last remaining bed.  It will be interesting to figure out what does well and what doesn't.  I wish I had discovered the joy of vegetable gardening earlier, but that's life.  Not only will it allow me to save a ton of money on produce once the beds start producing, It is really quite fun to watch the plants grow, sometimes even under your nose when you have not been paying attention. 

Will post more photos when the seeds start to sprout!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5