I’ve been working a little bit most days to try to keep caught up on the piles of produce that our amazing garden is producing right now. Some days, though, there’s more than a little bit that needs dealt with. Yesterday was one of those days. While I work, I always take the time to admire the flowers. This delphinium is one that Rob started from seed in the greenhouse for me. It is my favorite flower right now!
I started by picking what I could find and added it to the considerable pile that was already in the house. (This is the raised bed in the side yard. Most of what I picked was from the main garden.) I got about 6-7 zucchinis, a bowl of regular tomatoes and some cherry tomatoes. I harvested yellow bush beans, purple ones and a handful of green ones from the pole beans. I snipped off the basil was that was going to seed, trimmed it up and left the bushes to grow another crop.
It was a bit overwhelming, so I just started in, and tried to process as much as I could.
I used all that basil to make pesto. I will pop that out of the ice cube trays today and put in a baggie to stay frozen and easy to use. I filled 3 ice cube trays, plus had a little more which I spooned onto a cookie tray to flash freeze.
I processed the beans, with another bag from 2 days ago, into dilly beans. The dill is producing well, right now, so I’m happy I can pick it and use it as needed.
The third project I got done yesterday was 5-1/2 pints of crushed tomatoes. There were enough to do something, but not enough to do a big batch of anything. I just went ahead and made a small batch because we could not use that many up before they went bad.
The cucumbers have been producing lightly and I did these 2 pints of pickles a couple of days ago. There weren’t more ready yesterday, but I’ll check each day as they grow quickly once they set on.
I got a few jars of beets pickled last week.
The broccoli is almost done producing. I blanched and froze a large pot of it the other day. That took care of the last few large main heads and a bunch of side shoots. Now, all that’s left is tiny side shoots. I’ll give it a few more days and if it really is done, I’ll pull it out.
This past week, I also got a jar of bread crumbs preserved. I was given a loaf of gluten free bread, which I did not like. It had been around a while and was very dry. I laid it on a cookie rack on top of a cookie sheet and let it air dry for a few days. Once dried, I pulverized it in my little smoothie maker/blender. Now I’ve got an entire jar for free!
There’s still lots growing out there in the garden and I”m looking forward to putting lots more away for winter in the next week and beyond! I do love this time of year:)
One of the things that has been keeping me super busy is that I am working quite a bit more than I used to. One of the super fun things I get to do right now at work is make milkshakes! They are a super popular item this summer. I’ve been getting ice cream at a super low price ($3 for a carton) and just making them at home. When I was little, I thought milkshakes were such a mysterious, special thing. Now, they are still special, but not mysterious. Put ice cream in my little blender, add milk, blend. squirt whipped cream. Add sprinkles. Done!
We went peach picking a couple of times.
I canned 14 quarts.
I made 6 quarts of peach pie filling as I was completely out of that.
I told people to eat what they wanted and I froze the rest.
As you can tell, I am canning/preserving less this year of many things. I have a large amount left over and my freezers are very full. I planted less in the garden, am u-picking less and preserving less so I can work on getting some of that used up this year.
The funny thing is….the bean patch did not get the memo. My 5 short rows gave me 45 pints and 7 quarts canned, around 10 quarts frozen, and numerous bowls to give away. We also ate as many as we could hold.
Let’s not even talk about zucchini. I’m just glad my relatives and friends are still talking to me. They have been given so many! I froze a bunch, and we’ve been enjoying it, as well.
I pulled most of the beets. I have more growing, but these were the ones that were ready. I have never seen a beet as large as the one in the middle. I wasn’t sure if it would even be good, but it was super sweet and tasted great.
We ate a lot of them and I pickled the rest. I ended up with about 7 or 8 pints.
Because I am struggling for freezer space since I’m getting so much produce, I pulled out a turkey, had Rob cook it on the BBQ and made broth from the bones.
I also pulled all the beef bones I could find from the quarter beef we bought last fall and made beef broth and canned it.
The beans are now all pulled up and fall crops are planted. We have more beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, boc choi, cabbage and snow peas I planted yesterday. I have a second crop of cucumbers, zucchini, beets and green onions I planted a few weeks ago on the upper right of this photo.
But, even in the midst of it all…Papa has the time to take the little man down to Costco for some pizza and hot dogs. It has been a busy, but very fun summer so far!
I turned all my ripe tomatoes into pizza/pasta sauce this week. That is one of the most time consuming things I preserve, but also one of our favorite things to eat.
I shredded and dried zucchini. I also did get some thyme and basil dried and sorted out the thyme stems from it and put it away. I have been organizing my food storage a little when I have a few minutes.
We are going into a heat wave this week and it’s supposed to top 100 degrees for several days. I’m not sure what that’s going to do to the garden, but likely nothing good….
I was able to get most of the newly planted veggies to sprout, so if I keep them well watered I will hopefully keep them alive through the heat so I will have fall Lakeside spinach, Marvel de Seasons lettuce, Joy Choi Boc Choi and more. You may notice I put old lettuce leaves over the carrot row in hopes they would hold moisture in. They still haven’t sprouted. Neither have the green onions or snow peas.
The Quick Start cabbage, Pinetree cabbage mix and Hybrid broccoli blend are coming along nicely. I watered them this morning before church and just did it again this evening. They were already dried out. There’s also lettuce in there.
This basil has been cut several times. It’s lookimg a little heat stressed but I’m hoping to make pesto again. I’ve frozen several ice cube trays full already this summer. We love, love, love it!
I’ve also been weeding. I gave this raised bed a complete re-set. I pulled old snap peas, lettuce, an amazing pile of weeds and put strawberry runners back up into the bed. They had grown down below by the concrete! I left some cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. I will add lettuce when it cools.
I’m pretty far behind with my weeding but I won’t get much done this week. We will be helping at church every morning because it’s Vacation Bible School week. Rob and I are in charge of the snacks again this year. We have a team and pre-packed 160 paper bags of prizes and snacks today after church. We are now set for 80 kids Monday and Tuesday, with the ability to quickly pack more if needed. We will finish packing bags later in the week once the numbers stabilize.
I need to run up to another county one day to do some judging for 4-H food preservation and it’s going to be quite hot. This is a good week to do those other activities because I would absolutely not be weeding in the heat anyway?. What I have done has been in the very early mornings and has taken me quite a few days to accomplish, as I just do a little each time I can.
We went to a small local parade with my sister and family. Both grandsons were able to go and they enjoyed the big trucks and rescue vehicles. My nephew was super excited about getting things at McDonald’s. We were on the sidewalk by it. So he kept going in there and buying food for the babies….we didn’t need to do lunch! He had it covered.
I am having trouble with my computer. I’ll do my best with my iPad.
I am spending much of my time these days picking and preserving food from the garden.
I first inventoried my canning. I counted every jar and arranged them logically. Then I knew what I needed to can.
My sister gave me peaches and I canned them. I made jam and froze some as well.
I’ve canned and frozen green and yellow beans and pulled the bushes. I still have pole beans so we’ve been eating them fresh and will until frost. I will can a few more later when my sister has extra.
I’ve done a half batch of sweet pickles and a very few dills. I have lots left over.
We are eating zucchini frequently and I froze a few packages I have made zucchini bread often as well.
I pulled all the beets that were left from the spring planting. We ate lots, shared some and I pickled the rest.
I picked lots of tomatoes and need to start processing them. I need pizza/ pasta sauce and enchilada sauce. I also need whole tomatoes so there’s lots to do as they ripen.
There is more produce out there so I just try to do a little bit each day and more on days when I’m not working. I’m getting there!
We have had 2 good pickings of peas so far. I grow Maestro bush shelling peas. This year, I got them planted in March and now they are ripe. They like cooler, wetter weather, so I’m glad I got them in when I did.
The first picking was smaller, and I filled 4 baggies. I use quart-sized Ziplock bags and fill them so they lay flat in a larger freezer bag. There is no where near a quart of peas in each bag because we use much less than that amount each time. I also want them flat so I can break off a chunk when I only use a very few peas for something without thawing the entire baggie.
Yesterday, I filled a small bucket, a large Tupperware bowl, and then grabbed 2 plastic flowerpots from the planting table and filled those, too. Rob and I both shelled until we needed to go to a grad party, then put the rest on ice to wait until that evening when we were home again.
Rob ended up shelling out all the rest himself because I got caught up in another project. Then, I dumped them in a pot of boiling water to blanch them and set the timer for 3 minutes. After that time passed, I fished the peas out with a hand-held strainer and put them into cold water to begin cooling immediately. After they were cool, I put them in 1 quart Ziplocks.
We got 9 baggies this time, bringing us up to 13 so far. In a couple of days, there will be another picking, but it will be smaller again. We will then be ready to pull the bushes, enrich the soil and plant some late summer and fall crops in their place. Pea plants are a legume and fix nitrogen into the soil. We still feel we need a little more compost in the area when we plant a second crop.
Last year, I planted fall broccoli and cabbage where the peas were. I think I will do some more of those a little later in the summer, but may add lettuce, snow peas and possiblybeets or carrots, if I find I need them.
I’m delighted to have this project well onto its way. It’s very time-consuming, but the finished product is very, very tasty and good. I already have more peas frozen then I did last year altogether because there are more peas in each baggie and I’m getting more baggies. So, of course, that makes me happy with my yield.
I never stop anyone from eating peas, and if we run out, I’ll buy a bag at the store. But, that being said, most years we have enough with what we grow. We don’t use very many in a year.
I like to put them in tuna-noodle and turkey-noodle casseroles. Sometimes I pop a few into a soup or stew to brighten it up. We occasionally eat some in a pile on our plate, but that’s more rare for us. There are a couple of other recipes I add a few peas to, but I can’t remember them right now. No matter. When I do remember, I will have some peas to put in those dishes.
This week, I went to a U-Pick strawberry patch, all by myself:). I know he would have enjoyed it, but I was so glad he wasn’t there when I saw the (seriously) 150+ people who were swarming the field. I got enough for a batch of jam and some to freeze for smoothies and some to eat fresh. It was hard to find ripe berries, actually. After seeing the people come and come and come, I could see why. I may try again soon, or just make out with what I got.
I think Malcolm is trying to wink at Papa. He loves “bahberries.” In fact, I stepped outside for a minute the day I brought them home and came back only to see the floor littered with little green tops–he’d eaten as many as he could grab. We got those picked up and I turned my back and …….yep! We had to clean the floor again. I’m so glad he didn’t get sick.
The garden still takes quite a bit of time each day. It’s growing so well, as are the weeds. We are eating lettuce daily and sharing with many. The peas are almost ripe. I mean they maybe would plump up if a certain little boy wasn’t out there stripping off any that look like they are growing….It warms my heart to see him enjoy them so much and like Rob says, “He’s eating vegetables, we can always buy a bag of peas at the store.” I’m pretty sure we will get a big batch one of these days–it will be beyond what he can eat.
We are harvesting a few snow peas every couple of days and my cilantro is bolting. I’ve been using the lower leaves anyway in salads and marinades. I will pull that out and let the next planting be used very soon. I put more seeds in the ground but have none yet. I may need to replant.
The compost heap on the right has been emptied completely. I’ve been working on it for a while and now we have started dumping new scraps in there. I have side-dressed the celery, some cabbage and cauliflower and some onions with part of it, as they were struggling where they were. These 3 buckets are all that’s left to disperse and I have plenty of places that could use it. There’s never enough compost! There is one more bin that needs emptying on the other side of the garden.
Malcolm has spent hours and hours working on this project and pouring his buckets all over the place. It’s so cute! I’m glad to have this bin finally empty and he still has another bin to get into in a different place. Otherwise, he just digs holes in the garden. That works, too.
We went to the library this week and watched a preschool show. We also signed up both Malcolm and my nephew, Jake for summer reading.
It was party week. We attended a graduation ceremony Friday, a grad party Saturday and a birthday party Sunday afternoon. I haven’t cooked a whole lot this past weekend.
I did make gluten-free hamburger buns early in the week. They came out great. I made pulled pork sandwiches for us and the college group I cook for weekly. I used extras for sandwiches a few times.
We loaded up on $1.99/lb boneless-skinless chicken breast and thighs today. 3 packs in all. I froze them in meal-sized portions. I popped some Mexican-inspired marinade on some of the chunks to use tomorrow for SW chicken salads for the college group and some to freeze. Milk was $1.29 for 1/2 gallon so we got 2 of those. There were sausage rolls for $1.99 and those kielbasas for $1.99 each. I grabbed a few of those.
We passed up the $5.99/package tator tots. Seriously? It wasn’t even a big package. We got 10 lbs. of potatoes for about $5.
I’m already having an easier time stretching my time between grocery store trips, due to the abundance of lettuce in the garden. I’m also still loaded up with home-canned food and things I froze last summer. This is a wonderful time of year to be cooking and there’s so much more growing out there. I love it!
I was given several loaves gluten-free bread. I decided to make some crumbs from part of it. I chose the loaf that seemed like it was getting a little hard and dried the slices. Then, I used the food processor to make crumbs. I had trouble getting even crumbs–some are extremely fine and some are still small chunks. I’m happy to have them no matter what they look like. I froze the rest of the loaves that were in good shape and composted the other one that wasn’t. You can see dried apples in the background of this picture. We are still drying them whenever we get time to do so.
We had a family party to celebrate birthdays in January, February and March, but mostly just to get together. I chose a tropical theme, cooked some food and people brought food as well.
I made a teriyaki-lime chicken that tasted delicious.
I also made pineapple-shrimp fried rice. Those were the two dishes I made to go along with the tropical theme. I’ve only made this once before, and I loved it, again!
I colored the frosting on the cupcakes a coral-orange tint and they looked festive, too. We held the party on Sunday afternoon, so I was gone all morning at church. I got almost everything ready on Saturday so I could get lunch on the table as soon as possible once I reached home. Even the veggies were cut up for the fried rice (Thank you, Rob), and I peeled the shrimp, so all I had to do was quickly stir-fry the shrimp and veggies and rice and was done very quickly.
I made all of our meals at home this week, and cooked a little for others, as well. I used some medium-sized eggs for deviled eggs, and used this teeny-tiny jar of mayo in there.
I also threw in some home-dried chives. I notice the chives are starting to grow, so I will have more very soon.
I took every single item out of the kitchen refrigerator, washed down the shelves and drawers and put most of it back in a better way. I was ruthless when I sorted and if it was very old, tasted terrible, or almost gone, I either repurposed it, or tossed it. I hadn’t gotten around to cleaning out the door the last few times I’ve cleaned it, and it was time! Bottles and jars were just stacked in on top of other ones in there, and now they are not. I put some items in baskets in the fridge, such as little yogurt containers. They have been falling out and frustrating us all. All tortillas are in a basket now, keeping them from slipping around, flopping all over, or sliding out at the worst moments. Now they can’t, as long as people remember to put them back!
Right after I cleaned it out, I went shopping and actually had room to put away the new groceries without pushing things around! Ahhhhh…… I also had room for party food.
I got out of Safeway for $39. To do this and get what I wanted, I downloaded several store coupons on my phone. Along with the small ones, I had a $10 off $50, and $10 reward, a $10 baby club coupon, and $24 of Bottle Drop money. I purchased boxes of soda pop, 2 boxes of diapers (over 120 total), fruits and veggies, and other things I needed for the party, such as ice cream, which, in the end, I forgot to get out of the freezer…..
I had coupons for several free items, such as a package of frozen ginger, a box of biscuit mix, non-dairy cheese (our daughter likes that stuff), and a box of kid’s instant protein oatmeal packets. I had 3-4 shopping bags full, plus the 2 boxes of diapers and sodas. I was happy with that.
I ordered from Azure Standard this week. I get bulk, healthy food from there. Cocoa powder has been difficult to get around here, except in pricy, small containers. Even at the restaurant supply store, 5 lbs of cocoa powder was about $60 when Rob went in there and checked the other day. Costco had none. I got 5 lbs for around $23 from Azure. I got 10 lbs of raisins. We have burned through 5 lbs. quite quickly. Now let’s just hope my little raisin eater doesn’t decide he has a new favorite. There were other yummy items in my order, along with a few non-food items.
Rob found some more small jars at the thrift store for 25c each. I have a lot of jars, but we do give away a few of the small ones at Christmas time, so we need a certain amount of replacements each year.
I cut the bottom off of a lotion container and got several more applications of lotion from the inside of the tube.
My mom came over and we made flatbread together. Since we are both gluten-free, we made a triple batch and both froze some for future open-faced sandwiches, pizza crusts or just eating. She also helped me fold many baskets of laundry, along with some other boring, but necessary chores:). Most of all, we had fun visiting!
Although we do not have the necessary channel to watch the Super Bowl, our son added an app to our t.v. and he, Allison and Rob were able to watch most of it. Since changing to all internet-based t.v., using the Fire Stick from Amazon, we have saved a lot of money from what we used to pay for cable, even with paying for a couple of add-on apps, such as Disney+.
We would have been just fine without watching the big game, but it was so nice for Rob to be able to watch it. When we first got our sons, Rob thought that would be a fun thing to do with them. I thought it would be nice to have a tradition of making brownies every Monday night since that was when they showed football at that time. I would make the brownies every week, and sometimes snacky foods for dinner and they would turn on the football game. They would eat the brownies with the rest of the family, and snacks, and………… take off to play:). The girls had already made it clear they were interested in brownies, not football, except occasionally. So, it’s fun to see it come full circle and have the son want to watch it……and as far as I know–NOT eat brownies, although there were some:)
This week, Rob dried 2 batches of apples. He removed all of the apples that were stored in the drawer of the camper and turned them into delicious dried apple slices. With all the apples we were blessed with all fall and into early winter, we decided to preserve some of them before they became shriveled or rotted. The ones in the fridges are still in good enough shape to peel and slice in the peeler. The ones in a box on the outside porch are starting to get too shriveled and soft for the gadget to work, but they still taste great and I plan to make more applesauce.
He had lots of willing help, especially for turning the handle and eating extra apples.
We had some frosty, cold mornings. We enjoyed both the gorgeous frost on the leaves of the ivy and the sunny skies later in the day. There was a beautiful sunrise one morning–I could have looked at that all day, if sunrises lasted that long!
We took our grandson, niece and nephew down to the carousel on day. It is very inexpensive, so we let the kids ride twice. Malcolm was brave enough to get out of the wagon, where he sat the first round, and onto a horse–one that did not go up and down, for the second time.
He finally got brave enough to wave at Papa.
Of course, the big kids are old pros at the carousel, and love it any day, any time. After that, we went to the park and they all played. We were having such a good time, it took quite a while before I finally noticed Malcolm still had sandals on because we had gone straight from the pool at the YMCA to the carousel! By that time, he was quite wet from the equipment, his toes were cold, and we took them all home for lunch, with him yelling and screaming to stay— all the way to the car. Clearly, I was the only one bothered by the lack of proper footwear and the wet pants. Thankfully, I had snacks, so it all ended well. All the kids had a blast. It was a fun day.
I continued cleaning small areas. One day, I worked for about 15 minutes in my room. I didn’t get very far, but the area I did clean looks great and I got a lot of dirt and dust cleaned up from that area, which was under a dresser and under some shoes. We did another couple of areas at other times.
We (mostly Rob) planted celery, more green onions, and a few other items. Some things are up already, which is encouraging. I hope to have him take photos and show you all progress there one day soon.
Rob had a birthday this week. He wanted to drive down to the beach for the day to celebrate. We did that Friday, as we were working on his actual birthday. It rained a little, and the wind blew, but overall, it was gorgeous for a winter day at the beach.
Neither Papa or Malcolm cared at all if there was a little rain! Rob got Mac this super cute “fireman” rain coat at the Union Gospel Mission store for under $7. It seems like brand-new and kept him dry on this day. We took snacks and drinks, and Rob and Malcolm got chicken from a store and we all got French fries from a restaurant–I had a salad and Lovana had fish tacos. After we had gathered our food items from the various locations, we all had a blast eating our goodies and watching the ocean from a lookout point!
On the actual day of Rob’s birthday, I had some help with the cake. Malcolm and I made and frosted the cake. Jake supervised and consoled us, saying that Malcolm’s extra huge handful of mini chips there on the top looked just like a sideways heart and went with the cake just fine! We were trying to get the mini chips on the sides and the sprinkles on top, but such is life when you are two:). Most of this delicious cake is in the freezer, but we enjoyed it’s richness before I cut it up, layered it between waxed paper and froze the rest.
I experimented some more with my air fryer. I got it last Christmas and haven’t utilized it as much as I wish I had. This was parmesan chicken and was delicious with our home-canned pasta sauce and green beans. I used a fresh mozzarella log we got for 99c during our recent trip to the scratch and dent store, so it was affordable. Rob saw the same logs of cheese for around $7 elsewhere. This one was short dated, but I used it up right away.
I made egg flower soup twice. I slipped in some tofu for added protein. This is a new recipe to me and it was SO good. There was sesame oil, garlic powder, turmeric, seasoning salt and ginger in there, along with pepper. It was slightly thickened with cornstarch.
The first time, I used some chicken broth in a carton I had been given and the second time I used bone broth I boiled from some Costco chicken. I put in less egg the second time. I split the 99c tofu brick I got from the discount store and split one can of diced water chestnuts between the two batches. As I have previously mentioned, I am not a tofu fan, but Rob is. I have to say, I liked it in this soup. (I am not canning this. I just used a jar for storage in the fridge.)
I did can these, though.
We were blessed with more apples again this past week. It seems that no matter how fast we eat, we cannot use up all the good food we have been given this year. My sister had a large crop and generously shared. Rob’s sister works at an apple orchard each fall and gets free apples. Somehow, those apples keep ending up at our house over the past few months. Yum!
I decided to do some applesauce with some since they are still nice. Why wait until they aren’t to face the fact that we can’t eat them all fresh? So, I did 10 pints of applesauce Saturday. I picked out the worst looking ones to use up. It’s going to take off some stress during the canning rush next summer. Win-win! I also made a small batch of chunky applesauce this week we are eating fresh. Lovana made an apple crisp. Such a nice problem to have.
Last, but not least….I have a budding mechanic on my hands. He decided his lawn mower was broken and turned it over and proceeded to “fix” it with his toy hammer. This guy landscapes with his bubble mower, repairs equipment and works for applesauce. Now that’s the kind of help we all need!
Recently, Rob found a good deal on potatoes. They were a little over 20c/lb. He bought several 10-lb bags, as I asked him to do, because potatoes have been over 50c/lb around here. I’ve seen them for about $4.50/10 lb bag and higher the last 2 weeks. This has been a steady price for several weeks now, and this is fall–a time where potatoes are usually less expensive due to the new crop.
We ate mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, diced and fried potatoes. I canned several quarts and many pints of potato chunks. I made potato salad twice. They were huge bowls and I shared with the college group and served it for my sister’s birthday.
I set 20 lbs aside in the garage, in a cool, dark, dry place, and put one bag under the sink, which we’ve mostly eaten up by now. I checked them this morning. Much to my dismay, they weren’t looking great. It’s no bargain to pay less for something if you let half of it rot…a person might as well pay the full price for fewer good bags, but obviously, in this case, we didn’t know they were going to go bad quickly. Normally, they last a long time when stored in my garage.
I didn’t want to can any more potatoes, so I got creative.
I made a pot of potato soup. It’s very simple. I just diced potatoes and one onion and cooked them with salt and pepper in some water until the potatoes were soft. I mixed some cornstarch with milk and added that and cooked until slightly thickened. Then, I stirred in some cheese and it was done.
I baked 4 potatoes that looked good.
I peeled and parboiled over 1/2 of my big pot full of potatoes. I left them whole, and cooked for about 10 minutes. Then, I grated one tray full. I then froze that flat in my chest freezer and will transfer them to a baggie when hardened up. They are hash browns. The internet gave several choices of how to keep them from browning, and this is the method I chose.
I took the rest of the parboiled potatoes and grated them into my largest Pyrex mixing bowl. I had about 2/3 of the bowl full of shreds. I put in 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, 3 Tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 flour, 1/2 tsp Xanthum gum, 1-1/2 teaspoon salt, a dash of Cayenne pepper, and a dash of regular black pepper, and mixed it all up. I formed into little “tots” and fried in hot oil until brown on both sides.
This was a mixture of several recipes I found on the internet. Many of them had cheese, but I didn’t want to add that at this time, as my purpose was to use up potatoes!
We ate a bunch, and I am freezing 3 containers for later. I will either bake in the oven until hot and crisp or use my air fryer to warm up. If this is something we end up using and liking, I may experiment with cheese, or more cayenne, not cooking before I freeze, and many other ideas I have rolling around in my head. But, for the first time, I followed what most recipes advised, and we’ll see how we like them! The ones we ate fresh were SO good!!!
There is still a partial bag of potatoes that will need using up very soon, so I have plenty more to experiment on….if I hurry:)
