Small Creatures & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, J's cousin gifted us her Berkey water filter, as she wasn't using it.  It was a size up from ours, so we're keeping it, and sending ours to our daughter.  She also gifted us a pet waterer, which I'm going to try for the cat.  She rarely drinks water, which I understand is common for cats, but she said her cats loved it, so we'll give it a try.  I mostly feed the cat kibble, so I expect she could use some water.  I needed to make yogurt, but only had half the amount of milk needed.  For the remainder, I mixed up some powdered milk.  After my morning walk, I go to the garden each day, check the squash plants, often do a little weeding, and train the tomatoes.  On Monday, I saw the first tiny tomatoes.  Yay!  Every so often, we find points that previous inhabitants left here.  J found one while working in the pond garden, and gifted it to me.  I love to wonder about what their lives must have been like.

While I was powder coating orders one day, a five lined skink dropped down from the tree above, and kept me company for a bit.  It was a juvenile, with a blue tail.  Warm up shower water was used for flushing.   For a while now, I've been searching for a comfortable bra, ever since my favorite was discontinued.  The first two I tried were awful, but I believe I've found it in the third one.  It's created by Hara, is made from organic bamboo, dyed with plant dyes in gorgeous colors, and they donate a portion of profits to the Environmental Justice Foundation.  A tad more support would have been nice, but I believe comfort wins out.  Now that I'm starting to harvest summer squash, I made quinoa with summer squash, along with our chard, and a roasted radish recipe from Doug & Stacy.  I generally don't like radishes, but wanted to try them this way.  We both thought they were OK, but not great.

I strained all the jars of thieves vinegar, and put three quarts in my cleaning closet.  I had a hard time putting the 26 cinnamon sticks, which still smelled like cinnamon, in the compost, so put them in a pan to dry, and will reuse them for future cleaning vinegar.  All the overflow tomatoes, the ones that we had to stake because we ran out of cages, were tied.  A watermelon rind was shared with the chickens.  I ground wheat, so I could try a recipe for a new cake.  It's made with honey instead of sugar, and used my homemade yogurt and applesauce, so even though it breaks the no caffeine recommendation, I wanted to try it.  Neither of us likes super sweet things, and enjoyed it.  I would recommend the additional choc. chips on top.  

Healthier Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1 c flour ( I used half whole wheat/ half unbleached white)
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c runny honey
1/4 c applesauce
1/4 c oil
1 egg
3 tbs yogurt/sour cream/vegan substitute
1 1/2 c grated zucchini (I drained and squeezed mine some, to decrease moisture, & it was perfect)
1/3 c chocolate chips or chunks, optional (& more for on top)

Preheat oven to 325F degrees.  Prepare an 8 x 8 pan with parchment, or lightly oil it.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together honey, applesauce, oil, egg and yogurt.  Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the dry ingredients into the wet, just until combined.  Add the zucchini and chocolate chips, if using, and mix until just combined.  Put in pan and smooth out top of cake.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the cake no longer jiggles when lightly shaken.

If you'd like to add chocolate chips to the top of the cake, sprinkle the cake with them as soon as it's removed from the oven.  Let sit a few minutes, and then spread evenly over the cake with a spatula (mine didn't melt very much, but it still turned out fine).  Allow cake to cool on a wire rack, and store at room temp in a covered container.

A melon bed was created by J.  He dug the garlic Friday evening, and we hung it under the carport to dry.  The Japanese beetles have arrived.  I began hand picking them, and gave several rounds to the chickens.  J harvested the remainder of our cabbage.  My only excursion this week was taking the recyclables to the dump.  Earlier in the week, I tried a recipe for Pasta with Smashed Zucchini Cream.  It uses 2# of zucchini, which is a plus when the zucchini is coming in.  It was decent as is, but I'm going to try various additions in the future, to up the taste.  There was one bird caught in the netting last week, which we got free.  After that, I added more rows of bright contractors tape, and so far so good.  There have been several small creature sightings this week.  One day, I came across a tortoise that couldn't have been more than 2" long.  She was a cutie.  Another day, I saw a tiny frog on it's back on the service road.  I thought it was probably dead, but when I reached down and turned it over, it sat there looking at me.  It didn't appear hurt.  I don't believe frogs can get stuck on their backs, like some beetles do, but perhaps it got washed down the road during heavy rains the night before, and had not recovered.  Here's hoping it soon after carried on with it's day.  A garter snake kept me company for a few minutes while I was picking Japanese beetles, and my GD and I spotted an anole in the garden.  The first blackberries, thornless and wild, have been picked this week, and there are a few raspberries forming.

J and I set up a trellis for the cucumbers in the main garden.  On Sunday, our son and GD came for a visit.  We grilled our yellow and zucchini squash and okra, along with corn and chicken.  She and I gathered eggs, we took a walk, she helped me with dinner, and afterwards, while I used the seam ripper on a pillowcase I'm shortening, she created some things with pipe cleaners.  She also helped me dig holes to plant seedlings of swiss chard, basil and parsley in the ground.  Laundry was hung on the line.  J moved the large house plants off the porch to their summer spots.   He also planted several varieties of melons, and made beds for and planted black eyed peas and crowder peas.  Books have been requested from the library, including some mentioned in the last post.  I'm enjoying getting up early, and being in the garden in the cool morning hours.  There are some cooler than average temperatures coming, including a high in the low to mid 60's on Monday.  These cooler long days energize me, and allow me to accomplish quite a bit.  I'm really enjoying them while they last.  Wishing you energy to accomplish all you desire this week.