Green Beans with Gorgonzola & Grinding Grains

I was surprised to find a bird nest, in the rose bush along the path from the driveway to the house.  Another sweet surprise.  I've had a grain grinder for a number of years.  It's a hand grinder, and let me tell you, grinding enough grain to bake bread is a workout.  J has been pondering for some time how to electrify it.  He tinkered and tweaked over the weekend, and we now have an electric-powered grinder.  Hooray!  I'll be baking bread, and some whole wheat chocolate chip cookies today to celebrate.

Our green beans are just about finished, but I harvested just enough from Mark and Meredith's garden to make this new recipe, which J & I both agree is a keeper.  I found it at What's Cooking America.

Grilled Green Beans with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette

6 cups lightly salted boiling water
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
1 tbs olive oil, divided
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 tbs firmly-packed brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp chopped fresh basil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add the beans and partially cook for 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Drain the beans in a colander and immediately immerse them in an ice water bath to stop from cooking; drain and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 tsp of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, gorgonzola, brown sugar, garlic, green onion, thyme and basil.  Cook just until the ingredients start to combine, approximately 7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Toss the green beans in the remaining 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Lightly grill the beans on the grill approximately 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from grill and toss in the warm vinaigrette.  Serve immediately.  Makes 6 servings.

As is often the case, I didn't follow the recipe to the letter.  I used blue cheese in place of gorgonzola, 1/2 of one of our smallish homegrown yellow onions in place of green onion, and organic sugar in place of brown.  I couldn't see firing up the grill for 1 to 2 minutes, so cooked them in the wok.  Still perfectly delicious!

Green Bean Goodness

Today was a beautiful day.  A good portion of it was spent outdoors, shelling crowder peas and lima beans, and doing a bit of embroidery.  I'm loving having the windows open so much of the time.  One recent night, I awoke to hear the cries of two coyotes, and the call of a barred owl- "who cooks for you".  I am grateful to live in such a place.

I was on a mission this year to find one or more recipes that made me glad to eat green beans.  Here is the first one.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Roasted Green Beans with Onions and Walnuts

1 lb green beans, stem ends snapped off
1/2 medium yellow or red onion, cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
2 medium thin-sliced garlic cloves
1/3 cup toasted chopped walnuts

1.  Place rack in middle position; preheat oven to 450 degreesF.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Spread the beans and onions on the baking sheet.  Drizzle the beans with olive oil and use your hands to coat the beans evenly. Sprinkle beans with 1/2 tsp salt, toss to coat, and distribute in an even layer.  Roast for 10 minutes.
2.  While roasting the beans, combine the balsamic vinegar, honey, thyme, and garlic slices in a small bowl.
3. After the beans and onions have roasted for 10 minutes, remove from oven.  Drizzle the vinegar honey mixture over the beans and onions.  Use tongs to coat evenly.  Put back in the oven and continue to roast until onions and beans are dark golden brown in spots and beans have started to shrivel, about 12 to 15 minutes longer.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Transfer to serving dish, sprinkle with toasted chopped walnuts and serve.  This recipe came from Simply Recipes.

The Summer Garden & Cucuzza Squash

Hello, friends.  How have you been doing these July days?  Last week, I planted seeds of beets, cabbage, kale, broccoli, and collards.  The beets were direct sown, and were Detroit Dark Red and Cylindra.  The others were started in pots, and were Russian Red, Premier, and Dwarf Siberian kale, Early Jersey Wakefield and a mystery cabbage, Green Glaze and Vates collards, and Green Goliath broccoli.  The lettuce planted in the pond garden last weekend was Salad Bowl and Dark Red Lollo Rossa.  I received free packs of sample HP papers, thanks to someone sharing on The Prudent Homemaker.  While using a $3 off $20 produce coupon, I found organic peaches for $2.49/2# (usually $3.99), and found cherries at another store for $3.99/#.  Some of the peaches were frozen for future smoothies.  We've had some nice, large tomatoes, including this whopper that weighed 1# 11 oz.

I decided to plant a few more potatoes, using ones that had worked their way above the ground before harvesting, and had started to grow little leaves, as well as ones starting to sprout.  I'm doing this as I come across them when gathering for dinner.  I wish I'd thought of it before we covered them up in their storage spot, but I saw mention where there was still time to get a harvest, even if only small potatoes.  We love potatoes, and more can only be a good thing.  Water from washing lettuce was used to water plants.  A bin of shredded paper was emptied into the compost.  The pups were bathed in the outdoor shower with homemade dog soap.  Their beds were washed, and dried on the line.  I sold a set of antique dishes for my friends on ebay.  There have been lots of apple and pear drops, so I've been gathering many of them.  Some of the damaged apples have been chopped for the pups and chickens.  I'm thinking of making a batch of applesauce with them.  No sign yet of the pond lettuce germinating, but soon I hope.  

Eggplant, stewed tomatoes and tomato juice were canned last week.  I made soap using the stove for the first time this year.  Sales have been slow, so I hadn't made any since April, when the woodstove was still going occasionally.  Thankfully, sales are picking up a bit.  Last week, I harvested cucumbers, yellow squash, eggplant, tromboncino, tomatoes, basil, blueberries, and green beans.  I went through Swagbucks for a purchase, which will give me $5 cash back, used a $12 reward, and will get another 10% back in rewards.  I mended a small hole in the watering can with epoxy.  The carrots and beets have started coming up, and quite a few kale, collards and broccoli are up, as well as another cucumber.  The first two chanterelles were gathered, and used in a veggie scramble.

The first two cucuzza squash were harvested.  I checked in with my Sicilian family, and they recommended making pasta with tenerumi and cucuzza.  I watched the video as well on YT, and found out, traditionally the beans inside larger green beans would have been used, but this was changed to black eyed peas in the US, in this particular recipe at least.  I found one large green bean with five beans inside today, so I threw it in, along with the homegrown canned peas.  I figured out what was making holes in our peppers, and causing them to drop off... slugs.  We have a bottle of beer we were given that we don't care for, so it will be used as slug bait.  I may also crush egg shells, and place them around the plant.  I'd love to harvest some peppers.  We're grateful for the good rain we had last week, and are hoping for more this week.    Wishing you a lovely week.

Canning the Harvest & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I enjoyed a smoothie for one breakfast, and made vegi scrambles several other days.  Our squash was used in them, and peppers and green olives.  One day I added a few chanterelle mushrooms.  Another day I added a few sprigs of lambs quarter.  It's nice to be expanding my breakfast repertoire.  I harvested and canned cubed pickled beets.  Another day, I canned a mix of purple pole and red noodle beans. The purple beans turn green in boiling water, but the noodle beans hold their color, which is nice.  I originally bought cubed beets from Big Lots, and love them in salads, so thought I'd make my own.  I harvested lavender, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow and tromboncino squash, blueberries, purple pole beans and yard long beans.  The tomatoes are starting to ripen, cherry and the larger ones.  Oh my, you sure can't beat a home grown tomato.  I'm looking forward to having my first tomato sandwich this week.

I gathered eggs, and shredded paper and cardboard.  A pan of egg shells was crushed, and added to the compost bin.  I braided the majority of our red onions.  They're a little wonky, but they should work fine.  I mended 3 pairs of J's pants.  Yogurt was made.  I continue to walk with the pups for exercise.  One night, I made Italian squash with corn, focaccia with our red onion and rosemary, green beans, and cucumbers  in vinegar.  One cucumber got missed when I picked.  It was bigger than we like, so I cut it in half, and gave it to the chickens.  The pups are getting grated veggies every night, a mix which may include squash, cucumbers, apple, carrot and cabbage core. 

 Another hornworm and a few tomato worms were found in the garden, and given to the chickens, as well as lots of Japanese beetles.  Getting little in the way of greens right now, their yolks are paler, but they sure are getting plenty of protein.  I tried a new cabbage slaw.  Laundry was dried on the line.  I found a nickel.  Cucumbers, eggs and beans were shared with a friend.  Many orders were made and powder coated this weekend.  We had a really awful time with powder coating, for some reason.  Doing the same thing I usually do, most turned out splotchy, and had to be redone, one or two more than once.  J even redid some, and they were still splotchy.  We were beginning to think it was a bad batch of paint, but we used a different batch of paint, and still had issues.  We may just need to chalk it up to another 2020 challenge.  I'm seriously hoping we don't have a repeat of the issues the next time I paint.  It's enough work and time, without having to redo them. 

On the way to close up the chickens one evening, J saw a rainbow, and called me out to see.  I love the sense of hope in a rainbow.  This is the first year we've ever had to deal with deer in our garden.  We've been using a product called I Must Garden, recommended by someone who used to work in a garden store.  It seems to be helping.  I dug a few potato plants last week, and was pleased with the harvest.  We hope the remaining plants will match it.  A few of the lettuce have germinated.  We lost power during a storm one night, right at bedtime, so I began reading one of the books on my Kindle.  Wishing you a most lovely week.

October Days & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I picked lima beans, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, tromboncino squash, green beans and lettuce.  J cut more firewood after work one evening.  Some time back, I bought several pillows from thrift stores, intending to recover them.  This week, I got around to sewing the covers.  I had to piece together fabrics to make it work, but I'm happy with how they came out.  The fabrics were all on hand, including chenille a friend had given me, used for two of the backs.  The other fabrics were thrifted.  I turned one of the pillows around in the pic, to show the chenille.  It seemed a soft and appropriate fabric for a day bed.  They're simple envelope covers, made using these instructions.

I went with a friend to an antique mall where friends had booths, but bought nothing there except a locally made lip balm for J.  After that, we stopped at two thrift stores, where I purchased a cotton sheet ($2), two very thick, high quality like new cotton towels ($3.50 ea), a cashmere sweater ($3.99), and a fleece vest ($3.50).  I finally got around to planting some lettuce seed in the cold frame beds, though it may be too late for them to do well.  We're eating from the bought lettuce plants, though they've all bolted and are a bit bitter.  This is the first time we've had fall lettuce bolt, but then, it's been an unusual year.  I picked up two library books, and have been enjoying them.

October page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

The rain water was low, so I went to the laundromat.  I brought some lima beans to shell while waiting there, and had a nice conversation with a gentlemen and a little girl.  I shared shelled beans with the man, and the little girl wanted some unshelled ones to take home.  Neither her mother or grandmother had gardens, but we talked about how she might plant them.  I brought the laundry home, and hung it on the line.  I've been dealing with a check engine light on my car for several weeks.  After I had them diagnose the code at the auto store, J suggested I run fuel cleaner, and then a tank of premium gas.  The light came back on, so he replaced the part the store suggested, which he found online for 1/4 of the cost the store was selling it for.  The light came back on, and another diagnosis gave the same code, so J suggested I change the gas cap, and after several days, the light came back on again, but then it quickly went off again, and stayed off through an entire tank of gas. Here's hoping it's fixed.

turmeric on the left, with Callie photobombing

One evening, J  & I transplanted some collards and cabbage we had grown from seed.  We also planted a bed of winter salad mix.  Soon, I need to harvest the turmeric, which I plan to use for dyeing fabric.  I prepared the last of the green beans (the rest are growing out for seed), a salad with our lettuce, cucumbers, and pepper, and made fritters with leftovers.  This time, I used the last of the eggplant spread, a squash, tomato, onion & basil dish, and lima beans which were mashed first.  They turned out pretty well.  I saw the last hummingbird on October 1, so believe they've flown for warmer climes.  A batch of yogurt was made.  After an appointment, I visited three thrift stores in that town.  A cashmere sweater and fleece vest were $6, a pair of pants for J was .50, and I found two vintage brown transferware plates to add to my fall dishes for $2 ea.  We've had too many commitments this fall to have a hayride, but these will be used for future hayride meals.

I stopped at a local garden center, and bought a dozen pansies.  A dinner of Pasta Norma was made, with our eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and herbs.  The chicken coop was cleaned, and mint was harvested to put in the coop.  The coop cleanings were put on a pile, and will be added to the garden in the future, once it's had time to break down some.  I planted the pansies, some next to the walk by the house, and others near where I park.  Most of the tomatoes being harvested are pretty small, but there were three that were of good size, so I made caprese salad, to go with the leftover Pasta Norma.  Did the usual composting, washing plastic bags for reuse, and shredding paper and cardboard to add to the compost. 

custom metal water filter stand to be secured in an RV

On Saturday afternoon, we headed out of town for J's 40th HS reunion.  Before we left, J finished up the last of three orders, and I cleaned and powder coated them.  One order was a custom stand, built for a couple that wanted to secure it in their RV.  There are tabs in the back, which are not visible in the pic.  We love working with customers on specialty items.  I had picked around 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of lima beans on Friday, and took them along to shell while we were on the road.  The reunion was 2 1/2 hours away and at night, so we booked a room at a B&B, which was lovely, and the innkeeper is interested in my soap for her B&B.  We arrived home to some blessed rain, which we're so thankful for.  The lettuce and winter greens are coming up nicely.  Soup was made with our tromboncino squash, tomatoes, garlic, basil and homemade broth.  Have a great week, friends.

Mushrooms, NC Zoo & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I spotted the first cinnabar chanterelles along our creek bank.  They're pretty small, so I'm going to leave them alone.  I've signed up for a mushroom class in a couple of weeks, and hope to learn a few more to harvest safely.   I got the toaster oven out, and have used it several times in place of the oven, to cut down on heat in the house.  J went to help a neighbor with a piece of farm equipment, and came home with freshly dug red potatoes, and 13 ears of corn.  I used 6 ears for dinner, and froze the other 7 as whole kernels.  I blanched the gallon bag of lima beans, and froze them.

It's something I often forget, but I remembered to log in my walks and weight for balance rewards at Walgreens, which increased my rewards by $2.  Waldorf salad was made with our apples.  The last of the sweet potatoes were boiled.  Leftover corn and lima beans, with cucumbers and tomatoes, made this meal homegrown and local (corn) except for a few minor things.  I harvested thyme, and am drying it for winter use.   The lima bean shells for dye experiment was a fail.  They imparted almost no color to the water, after boiling an hour or more.  They'll make fine compost though.  Pasta sauce was made with our tomatoes and tromboncino, rosemary and basil, and cucumbers and tomatoes went in a salad.

So, I've now tried cleaning the dishwasher both with lemon kool aid, and without.  I can see no benefit to using the kool aid.  It looks exactly the same after it's been run through, and wipes down just the same without it.  I expect results may vary based on your water.  A dinner of our eggplant, green beans, leftover sweet potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers was enjoyed.  Elderberries were harvested, and a quart of tincture started.  I had a slow day shop sitting at a pottery shop, and was able to wrap three batches of soap, and do a little reading.  Our fall greens were doing well, until flea beetles started attacking them.  They were started in a large metal container on concrete blocks, a long way from the ground, so we were rather surprised to have flea beetles there.  Go figure.

kale seedlings, before the flea beetle attack

After work on Friday, we picked up our GD, Miss S.  We stopped at one restaurant, and after 20 minutes without any acknowledgement, we left.  At another restaurant, after a long wait, we had dinner.  I thought I might take her to hear live music, with possibly another stop or two on Saturday, but she was adamant that she wanted to stay home and sew.  Who could argue with that?  She made her Mom a heart stuffy from scratch while I mended some items.  She wanted to fix her own breakfast of eggs and cheese, and made a batch of hummus with minimal help. We did a garden harvest, picked a bouquet, and visited the chickens a couple of times.  She enjoyed strewing the cherry tomatoes to them, seeing the young chicks, and collecting eggs.  She helped cut cucumbers for asian cucumbers, and fed the pups.  J worked some more on our solar hot water, and she and I took turns assisting him.

Miss S and I joined another grandmother and GD at the zoo.  She has a membership, which allowed us entry for free.  While the girls had fun in the kid zone, my friend and I were able to catch up a bit while keeping an eye on them.  We all enjoyed a picnic with foods brought from home after visiting a couple of animal exhibits and a carousel ride.  Harvests from the garden include cucumbers, tomatoes, tromboncino squash, green beans, lima beans, a few apples and hazelnuts, a pear, and herbs.  My PC crashed and burned Sunday morning without warning.  I'm looking at refurbished ones to replace it with.  J thinks running the videos on swagbucks probably contributed, so I'm thinking I will stop doing those.  The hardest thing about a new computer will probably be redoing my soap labels.  I did save the earlier ones on a disc, but all the new ones will have to be redone.  Ah well, it could be worse.  Wishing you a beautiful and bountiful week!

Resilience

Hello, friends.  I hope you are doing well.  J recently visited family members in Eastern NC.  His Mom sent him home with several things, including canning jars, which I was delighted to get.  I put some of them to use right away, in canning vegetable broth and eggplant.  Before canning, I set aside a little over a pound of eggplant to try a new recipe, and it's a keeper.  I harvested a large amount of basil, and made batches of pesto, then froze it.  This week's harvest included green peas, eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, and the last pawpaw, which was used in a fruit salad.  While canning tomatoes one day, I shelled peas while keeping an eye on the canner.

The next day, I canned peas and recanned broth.  I've been having lots of seal failures the past couple of weeks.  When I've redone them with different jars and lids (but same brand), I get the same results, which makes me think it's the lids.  I had started using some no-name canning jar lids we got, and am not having a great success rate with them, so J placed an order for a brand with high ratings.  A pan of GF bread ends was turned into bread crumbs.  The chickens get the two banana peels from my breakfast smoothie in their mash, but if I also have a lunch smoothie or freeze bananas, and have additional peels, I've been putting them in a jar with water, to turn into fertilizer.  Every few days, I water different plants with the liquid, and usually put the peels around rose plants.  On Sunday, I got the windows washed, all but the one with diamond panes in the bathroom, which doesn't lend itself to using the squeegee.  I am still loving that system, which only requires a couple drops of soap and water.  No spray bottles or rolls of paper towels, and it's so much quicker.  It will soon be time to bring in all the house plants, with a forecast of temps in the 40's, so now the windows are ready for them.  

  

With this second round of green beans planted from our seed, we've gotten some noodle beans mixed in.  I've just been cooking them together in the wok, which I think makes a pretty dish.  I am so very proud of my niece.  She returned to her Asheville home this weekend, to begin helping hike food and water into inaccessible areas.  She's an avid hiker, used to carrying a pack, so this seems the perfect fit for her.  I've not mentioned this before, but a few years ago, she had signed up with the Peace Corps.  She was talked out of going, due to family dynamics I won't get into here, just hours before she was to board the flight taking her to her assignment in Africa.  It broke my heart for her, and hers too, but she's resilient.  I hope this is helping heal her heart, in her desire to be of service.

Forget-me-not

I'm not sure how much of the Helene aftermath is still in the news.  I've been keeping up with what's happening on Facebook and various Youtube channels.  It's hard to comprehend how bad things actually are.  Some of the more heartbreaking news I've seen is a family that hiked 22 miles... 11 miles out and 11 back, for supplies, as there is no access.  They were able to have a family member provide an ATV, so they will no longer have to hike that distance.  Another was of an elderly woman, crying as rescuers reached her home, having seen no one for eight days.  A story that had me bawling was about a church in Fairview, the little community we just returned from.  Two hundred people were found in the church, none of whom had had anything to eat for 6 days.  Can you imagine?  Update: it looks like the story about the church may be a story passed along that is not true, but you don't have to look far to find other stories of suffering.  Hold your loved ones close, and stay well, friends.  

August Garden Harvest

Hello, friends.  The organic oats I recently ordered came in, and my husband picked them up on Monday.  Golden Paste was made for the pups.  Tromboncino squash and beans were shared with a friend.  We were gifted cucumbers, and shared beans with two more friends.  Another two rounds of elderberries were gathered and dried.  The week has been very hot, with lots of highs in the 90's, and very humid.  After the morning walk, and chicken and garden tasks, I devoted the majority of two days to number crunching and paperwork, enjoying being in the a/c.  I was woefully behind on paperwork for SoulSeeds and my checking account.  Now it's all caught up, as well as bookkeeping for J's business.  That feels like a big relief. 

 

While in town to get groceries, I stopped to check out the food at Marshall's, and got raw honey, olives and a lb. of walnuts.  At Aldi's, I bought avocados for .69, some pecans and other groceries at the usual prices.  I stopped at the library to return The Four Winds, and picked up The Paris Library.  Gas was .10 less than locally, which saved .75.  I then headed to visit with my sister, who is healing well.  While there, I borrowed an extra fitbit she had.  Several years ago, a friend who had a fitbit walked with me, and calculated his steps were around 3 miles.  Well, it turns out it's less than that, at just over 1.5 miles, so my two daily walks are only 2 or so miles, instead of the 4 I thought they were.  I wore it most of the day, and when I took it off, it registered 6.4 miles on just an average day around the homestead.  A full shredder bin was added to the compost.  

Noticing spikes of dock seeds, I harvested several, with the intention of cleaning and using them in baking at some point.  With rain in the forecast, I planted the marked down marigolds and blanket flower.  Except for one in the window box at the SoulSeeds shop, I planted the rest around cucumbers, squash and eggplant, as it supposedly helps them grow.  From the garden, tomatoes, beans, yellow squash, a pepper and eggplant were harvested.  Apples, hazelnuts, figs and pears are also being gathered as I see them.  Our new freezer is set up.  I brought all the food from the outside refrigerator/freezer inside, and unplugged it.  I used baskets I already had to organize the freezer.  Another round of potatoes that needed using were steamed, and two jars of beans that didn't seal were made into garlicky green beans.

We'd gotten so dry here, I noticed wasps, ants and yellow jackets fighting on the beans, I suppose for the moisture.  Interestingly, I didn't notice anyone bothering the bumblebees.  I spied a large praying mantis on them one day.  Laundry was hung on the line two days.  Warm up water and dehumidifier water were used to water plants and for flushing.  One night, I made a dish which used jasmine rice with our canned butter beans.  This, with sliced tomatoes, was good on a hot night.  As I'm finishing up this post Sunday night, we're getting a heavy rain, which we're so thankful for.  There wasn't much sleep last night, due to one of the pups and some other reasons, so I'm pretty fuzzy and think I'll end here.  I'm sending thoughts for a peaceful week for the world and you, friends.  Be well.

Labor Day Sweetness & Frugal Accomplishments

Last week, I canned my first red noodle beans.  I used the same instructions as green beans, and was happily surprised to find they kept their purple color during canning.  I made pasta sauce with our tromboncino squash, tomatoes, tomato broth & basil.  For a breakfast, I cut up and enjoyed one of our pears and pawpaws.  While in town for work, I ran errands.  After picking up an order at Lowes, I checked the marked down plants, and bought creme caramel & garnet coreopsis, a large red lorapetulum, yellow hypericum, and large kaleidoscope abelia, all for $24.  These will help fill in some of the new areas around the drive, and near the house.  I charged my phone while I driving.  Just pennies saved, I'm sure, but such an easy way to save a few.  I walked with the pups for exercise.  I'm joining in with Frugal Accomplishments today.

prolific red noodle beans

Laundry was done with homemade soap, and dried on the line.  I transplanted the two types of cabbage and collards from one big container into smaller pots.  I want to give them a better chance when planted into the garden of surviving whatever has been chewing on the direct planted seeds.  We harvested our first cantaloupe & enjoyed it.  The chickens enjoyed the rind and seeds.  I picked and shelled lima beans, butter peas and field peas.  Before going out of town, M gave me some walnuts, eggs & a 2# block of cheddar cheese.  I bought groceries, including organic bananas & strawberries, and lemons at Aldi's.  Our Aldi's will soon be closed for renovations for 6 weeks.  It's a tiny one, and they will be adding on an aisle.

I had a birthday last week, and enjoyed several days of celebration, including receiving a large bouquet of roses from my stepdaughter, dinner with friends at a favorite restaurant, dinner at another lovely restaurant with family, a visit to a botanical garden, and gelato.  If the photos from the botanical garden came out well, I will share them in another post.  With temperatures cooling, we've been able to open the house up at night.  I made yogurt, hummingbird food, & kefir.  We enjoyed salads which included our tomato, cucumber and carrot.  Besides the various beans, I harvested tomatoes, cucumbers, pears, hazelnuts & okra.  I continue to gather zinnia seeds as I find dried flower heads.  I bottled and refrigerated the sauerkraut I started some time back, and find it very tasty.  I've been shelling some of the red noodle beans that got a little bigger than I like, saving the beans to cook up and adding the shells to the broth bag.

When J finished the custom table we sold online, we packed and weighed it, then searched for the most economical shipping.  We have been burnt badly in the past by different freight companies charging us significantly more than they quoted us, and even UPS has added $25 to the charge from what we were quoted online.  As every table is different, and we don't know the exact size until the layers of various packing materials are added, it's difficult to know what to charge a customer before building it, especially when the quotes can't be trusted.  We were pleased and relieved, after the final freight company and UPS quotes came in quite a bit more than we charged the customer, that Fedex came in significantly less.  It's my shop policy to refund any shipping overage, and I'm happy to do that.  It's just nice to know we won't be paying any shipping out of pocket.

a garden friend

I harvested parsley, and froze it using Margaret's log method, which has worked very well for me in year's past.  I harvested basil, & for this batch, pureed it with just enough water to blend it, then froze it in an ice cube try.  The house smelled like herbal deliciousness.  I froze an earlier batch of cubes this summer, using oil instead of water.  Other than one or two picked on the way to see the chickens, we've not gotten any concord grapes this year.  The birds have been eating them as they ripen.  Happily last year was a good grape year, & I froze and canned some juice.  I took 3 pints of grape juice from the freezer and made jelly.  I made a batch of Simple Soap, which uses my homegrown herbs of calendula, comfrey and nettles.

This article, shared here, is rather discouraging news regarding bar soap, showing convenience matters more than the mess we leave behind, in some minds.  I'll always prefer simple & simply packaged products, over mass marketed items in plastic.  On a positive note, the triclosan in many antibacterial products, which in studies has been shown to be an endocrine disruptor and a possible carcinogen, has finally been banned from products, never having been proven helpful nor safe.  A sign of true progress in my mind. If you feel the need for an antibacterial product, I've enjoyed using this safe, effective and natural brand for several years.  The small spray bottles make good stocking stuffers, and can be bought in bundles of 6 or 12 on Amazon and elsewhere.  The uplifting thyme scent is a lovely added bonus.

There was almost 1 1/2" of rain in the gauge after Hermine blew past our coast.  The plants look visibly perky after the long dry spell.  Whether it was the change in weather or some other reason, I woke up one morning with a bit of a sore throat and stuffy nose.  To support my immune system, I took some homemade elderberry syrup and fire cider.  These had me feeling better in no time.  I cut a bouquet to enjoy in the house.  The rain had knocked over one of the many branched sunflowers, so I tied it to the fence with twine.  Every few days, I find 3 or so little hazelnuts and add them to my small pile.  We've been keeping our eye on one of the watermelons.  The plan is to harvest and enjoy it for our Labor Day celebration today.  I wish my U.S. friends a celebration that is simple and sweet!

A Coastal Getaway

Our view

Hello, friends.  Last week, J & I took our long awaited trip to the NC coast.  Before we left, I froze figs, green beans, eggplant and tomatoes, and J planted the beets I started from seed.  Hopefully, they're large enough to not get eaten, unlike the ones I started in the ground.  I've begun saving seeds from the purple podded pole beans.  We brought food from home with us, and I made hummus to take for my lunches, to have with our sweet peppers and cucumbers.  I requested several books from the library, and took two with me on vacation.  Dinners brought from home included rice and butter beans with sauteed tromboncino, fried potatoes, peppers and onions with salad, and pesto and pasta with salad.

Though I love our little room and kitchenette at the beach, the kitchen has just the bare basics.  Being a vegan, gardener, and homesteader, I spend a lot of my life chopping vegetables, and a knife that isn't much better than a butter knife makes me a little crazy.  I laughed, thinking we are "those people", who bring our knives with us on vacation.  We brought a 5 gallon bucket of lima beans, and another of field peas with us to the beach.  We shelled the lima beans the evening we arrived, and enjoyed some for dinner that night, with rice and squash.  I got another laugh wondering what our housekeeper would think of our trash can filled with bean shellings.  Bet they don't see that too often!  We both did a lot of reading, on the beach and the balcony.

We shelled the peas another evening, and occasionally lost one down between the balcony floorboard cracks.  There were men sitting outside on the floor below, and we wondered if they even noticed.  Their talking never seemed to skip a beat, so hopefully not.  We did our usual thrifting one day.  J found lots of work clothes, which he sorely needed... pants, warm vests, and thick flannel shirts.  We took a day trip to New Bern, the original NC capitol, and enjoyed touring Tryon Palace and gardens, the original governor's home.  There are things we weren't able to see that day, and would love to go back.  I didn't think to take photos in the palace, and all of these are in the Kitchen building.  I have an affinity for old historic sites, and really enjoyed touring it.  We also thrifted there, and I had better luck, finding some canisters to turn into compost crocks, a lovely set of handmade cards, and a large zippered bag of cross stitch fabrics for $5.99.  I purchased a pattern for a gift some months ago, and needed fabric for it, so I should be covered, and may end up selling some fabric to recoup my cost.

We had planned to eat dinner out three nights, but with the meals being disappointing, not to mention much more expensive this year, we decided to skip the third night.  There was enough left to make another meal of potatoes, peppers and onions, and salad.  After we got home, I did a cursory pick of the garden, and found quite a few Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley.  J did a last picking of the peas, and disced them in over the weekend.  He also began tilling in the sweet potato vines, and came up with a great idea for the winter.  I've been using sweet potato leaves in my morning smoothie, as they're such a mild green.  He suggested I try potting one to overwinter in the house, and harvest from it.  While I won't have the quantity I have now, I'll be glad to have some fresh, mild greens to harvest over the winter, and will definitely try it.    

After getting home on Friday, I made an easy pasta meal, using our herbs and veggies.  On Saturday, I made lentil soup, which used some of the carrots I canned this summer.  A new eggplant recipe was tried on Sunday, which included tomatoes and chickpeas, and we liked.  While we were gone, I won a T shirt from an Instagram giveaway, and may use it as a gift.  With night time temps dipping into the 40's, I switched out the summer & winter linens.  The bed was stripped, and the mattress cover and pillow covers were washed along with the sheets, and all was dried on the line.  The winter quilt was aired on the line before replacing the summer one.  Though it's washed in the spring, it gets a bit musty smelling while being stored over the summer.  The mattress cover was coming apart in places, and was mended.  It's organic cotton filled with wool, and was rather pricy, so I want to keep it going as long as I can.  That's all I'm remembering at the moment.  Happy Fall, everyone!

A Proper Summer & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  I hope you've had a good week.  Last week, I went through Swagbucks for 6% back on a purchase of business cards.  I drove a friend to an appointment.  While waiting in my car, I read one of my free Kindle books.  He is given $60 by the VA for travel (it's 1.5 hrs each way), and he passed that on to me.  Just last week, someone asked my favorite melon, and I replied honeydew, though they are rare to find in this area.  On the way home, I stopped at a co-op on the route, and they had honeydew melons!  Though not cheap at $4.99, I bought one, and it was delicious.  I saved seeds, which we can hopefully get to grow here.  We have melon challenges here, with watermelons in particular ending up a teardrop shape, and rotting.  We'll keep building up the soil, and hoping.  With our beets and one of our apples, I made apple beet salad.  I used our noodle beans, red onion and thyme in a roasted bean dish.  Our asian cucumbers and sliced tomato rounded out the menu. 

I boiled eggs for the pups.  J cut up a watermelon, and gave the chickens the rinds.  A bin of shredded paper and cardboard were added to the compost bin.  Dried lemon verbena, oregano and thyme were added to jars.  More chanterelle mushrooms were harvested.  Those that weren't eaten were dried.  Garden harvests last week included tromboncino squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, noodle beans, lima beans, apples, pears, figs, hazelnuts, basil, chives, and spaghetti squash.  I canned tomato juice, tromboncino squash, and tomatoes.  With the latest recommendations being 85-90 minutes, depending on who you read, to water bath tomatoes, I have been pressure canning them instead, at 25 mins. per quart.  The tomato skins were dehydrated, along with some extra chives.  The extra tomato juice from canning tomatoes was strained and saved in the fridge.  I used homegrown dried mint in a batch of peppermint, rosemary and eucalyptus soap.  A small amount of lemon balm was harvested and dried for teas.  

Our tomatoes, cucumber, basil and oregano were used in a pasta salad, along with black and green olives and hemp seed.  A tomato pie was made, with our tomatoes and herbs.   The pups were given chopped veggies with their dinners, whatever needed using.  It varied from cucumbers, beans that are a bit mature, tomatoes, carrots with wireworm damage, and squash.  I cut back on their kibble a little when they get their veggies.  While J was in our local community, he picked up a library book for me, saving me the trip.  I mailed a check for deposit, as we weren't sure when we'd be in town again.  It's worked well several times while we've been in lockdown.  On Friday, I went through our winter squash patch.  There were several dead vines, and I ended up harvesting 14 squash of different varieties.  Batches of yogurt and hummingbird food were made.

Fritters were made with leftover squash and green beans, and frozen corn. Our pears are abundant this year.  I used one in broccoli salad.  Most are the cooking type, so they'll be put in storage until I can figure out what to do with them.  I picked a basket full most days.  I'm thinking of dehydrating some of them for snacks.  There was a gift I needed to deliver, for a friend's son's wedding.  While there, we went on a glorious boat ride.  The day started cloudy, but ended up being gorgeous, and much cooler than it's been.  There's something so soothing about being at the water.  Perhaps it's in my genes.  My Dad was a Navy man, and I grew up on Long Island.  My paternal grandmother lived on a tiny Irish island, and my Italian maternal grandparents and Irish grandfather all lived close to the sea before emigrating.  All I know is it feels like a proper summer, now that I've had a boat ride.  

Making Use of Our Homegrown Produce

Hello, friends.  Though there's still plenty to do, the garden is showing signs of slowing down.  Last week, I prepped and froze pawpaws, and froze tomatoes.  I made onion powder from dehydrated onions, and dried another round in the dehydrator.  Early one morning, there was a box turtle hanging out in front of J's shop.  They had the prettiest shell markings.  I'm always cheered to see them visit us.  I harvested squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, butter beans, cowpeas, eggplant, peppers, pawpaws, and green beans.  

I made a small batch of cowboy candy with the gifted hot peppers, using a Jackie Clay recipe.  There were quite a few ghost peppers in the bunch, which got both J & I coughing.  Hopefully, they didn't make the cowboy candy unbearably hot.  I guess it depends on who's eating it.  Though I've shared it here before, I thought it was worth mentioning Disappearing Zucchini Orzo again, in case any of you still have plenty of squash to use up, as we do.  I use at least 2# of squash per recipe, use GF orzo, leave out the cheese, use homegrown herbs, and substitute tromboncino for zucchini.  It is tastier with the cheese, but we do what we must, and it's still pretty good.  Sweet potato slices were dehydrated for the pups, which finally used up all of last year's potatoes.

I harvested the first of the mature tromboncino, as their vines had died, and plan to use them grated for dog and chicken food.  Two of the mature cucuzza squash were harvested, and I've begun feeding the dogs and chickens with one of them.  Still having plenty of jars of canned green beans, I froze some this time, and also froze more figs and tomatoes.  I shared squash with J's two coworkers twice.  Honeydew and watermelon were enjoyed as late summer treats.  Some were shared as well.  We'll be enjoying these last precious days of summer, until the Fall equinox this coming Thursday.  There are 40's in the forecast the following day, to bring in cozy Fall days.  I hope you're well, friends.

The September Garden & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  On Labor Day, I prepped eggplant and okra, for my husband to grill.  We had sliced tomatoes to go with it, and made ice cream using our (toasted) hazelnuts.  It gives me such pleasure to have most of a meal come from this land.  Last week, I harvested green beans, okra, tomatoes, basil, eggplant, pawpaws, lima beans, pears and a plum.  Ironing was caught up.  I shopped at Walgreens, getting the Senior discount as well as the equivalent of over $18 in bonus points, plus a $5 off $20 coupon, just getting a few things I needed.  Laundry was done with homemade soap and hung on the line.  I shared pawpaws, tromboncino squash and cherry tomatoes with several people.  A large amount of pawpaws had to be composted, as they're so very perishable, and I just couldn't give them away fast enough.

I celebrated my birthday last week, a landmark 60.  Beautiful flowers arrived from my daughter in spirit.  One bloom was open when they arrived. By the time I returned from out of town, they were a riot of color.  A lovely dinner was cooked by J.  One of my presents was an IOU to attend a festival this fall, one I've been wanting to attend for a few years.  I'll share more about that once we've been.  While we were at the pond, J noticed a good sized Eastern painted turtle on a log.  A sweet friend gifted me this very special book, a peek of it in the top photo.  I've admired it for some time, and had enjoyed a copy from the library.  The illustrations and notations take you through the seasons.  It will be a lovely thing to be able to follow it along as the months go by.

A dear friend and I took a short road trip to Charlotte.  We attended an opening for an artist acquaintance, enjoyed a fantastic concert, and ate extremely well.  The only somewhat frugal part of the trip was shopping at thrift stores, and a discount grocery.  I was happy to find several things for my granddaughter, including rain boots and three pieces of dress up/Halloween clothing.  Favorite finds at the discount grocery were organic crushed pineapple, regular price $3.79 for .99, maple syrup, sale price $4.99 for $2.99, and smoked basmati rice, regular price $15.81 for $1.99/ 2#.

Two friends have been sharing photos of monarch and swallowtail caterpillars, chrysalises, and emerging butterflies.  Last night, I was excited to see at least 10 monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in the garden.  I didn't explore much, as I didn't want to disturb them.  Hopefully, I will spot at least one chrysalis this week.

Another order for a Berkey stand came in while I was away, as well as several inquiries, which means our vacation fund happily continues to grow.  When I returned, the garden had not been picked, and I harvested tomatoes, green beans, eggplant and pawpaws.  I didn't get to the pears or the okra, but plan on doing that today.  I'm sure a lot of the okra will be too large, but they'll make good compost.  On occasion, I open the big pods to give the inner seeds to the chickens, as they love them.  Thanks to McNibs, I didn't get a great deal of sleep last night, so it depends on how much energy I have if that gets done or not.  We've started getting rain, much needed, ahead of the storm.  We'll go over our hurricane prep today, and be ready to batten down the hatches if needed.  Be well and safe, friends!