Election Day 2012

 Finally, it's election day. This should put an end to the political ads , the finger pointing, and the rest of the name calling. Personally, I don't know why anyone would want the job. You're limited by Congress but also blamed by Congress for not "fixing things". You're judged by the public, mainly on hearsay, not facts. You receive advice from your Cabinet and military leaders. If this advice is misleading, you're the bad guy. Why would anyone want to be in that position? The thing that I find most disturbing is the finger pointing. This country didn't break in the last four years. It's been breaking slowly many years. In 2008, under Republican leadership, our economy tanked. There is no quick fix. In 1993, under Democratic leadership, NAFTA was ratified and jobs fled America like rats on a ship. Many common factory jobs don't exist here anymore and they didn't disappear in just the last 4 years. The cost of living in the USA forces wages higher so manufacturers look for cheaper ways to produce their product. Some go overseas and some go out of business. Technology has replaced as many jobs as anything else. Machines have replaced people in all aspects of life, even at home. Machines don't require breaks, days off, sick days, or vacations. Machines don't complain, they don't search for short cuts, and they don't sue their boss for their own careless stupidity. But , go ahead and blame the President because things aren't like you want them. Elect a new President because he says he'll make things better. I side with Ebenezer Scrooge and say " BAH HUM BUG". The system is maintained by the rich and for the rich, and they don't see any need for change. President Obama stands for and with the common man, the middle class, and the poor. I for one hope that the country stands with him today. He's not perfect, but he doesn't hide from his responsibility either. His religious beliefs have never interfered with his job. He can't change his parents and neither can we. We are what we were born. I don't see him as a black man, nor do I see him as a white man. I don't see him as Muslim or Christian. I see him as a human being trying to do a thankless job.

Still Growing

 Once again I've failed to keep up here. A week ago, on 10/12, Mother Nature lowered the boom on us. We hadn't had a frost yet, but on that night it went beyond frost. It dropped all the way down to 22 degrees. The growing season pretty much ended there. The covers that I had over the squash didn't save them. Nor did the covers save the peppers or the eggplant. It just got too cold. So now I'm left with the clean-up and prepping for next year. But wait a minute, I still have some of the garden still growing. The broccoli  and brussel sprouts are still producing. The swiss chard and celery are still producing. So aren't the carrots, fennel, and the beets. Let's not get in a big rush to dig up everything. As I rake the fallen leaves from my yard, I add them to the garden as mulch. Even though the grass doesn't need it, I mow the lawn twice a week to help grind up the leaves. I have also found a couple places to get composted manure, best of all, for free. I planted my garlic the other day and maybe tomorrow I can plant some spring flower bulbs. We have about 200 mixed bulbs to plant. We have daffodils, tulips, crocuses, and irises along with some others that I can't name. If I can get them planted and keep the squirrels away they should be pretty along the one side of the vegetable garden. Add a little color to things before the vegetables take center stage. I have to get started on the rest of my fall projects too. I need to get a small shed built using pallets. I will use this to house my lawn tractor and my garden tools. I going to use a clear plastic roof on this shed so that hopefully I can use it as a greenhouse in the spring. I'll have to see if the plastic holds on the roof. Time will tell. After that project is finished it will be time to re-model the tiller to be a tow behind the tractor model. Winter won't be that long after all. Before I know it, it will be time to get seeds started in the house and get ready to do it all again.

Baby its COLD outside

 I know it's October 9. I know 40 degrees isn't really cold. I know it's going to get worse. But I don't have to like it. There, that's off my mind. Now I can get down to business. Yesterday I worked on extending the growing season. I bought a roll of 6mil clear plastic and fashioned 2 greenhouses using the frame of an old tent that we have. Hopefully these will keep the frost off and hold some warmth in. They are quite low so I will have to lift them up in order to water and check the plants. I covered several pepper plants that are full of peppers and blossoms. I also covered the okra and eggplant for the same reason. Some of these plants are just starting to bare fruit while others just keep producing. The squash that I covered still has 11 squash growing and still has blossoms. We never get tired of fresh vegetables so the longer I keep them alive, the more fresh vegetables we can have. Since the middle of May when the peas ripened, we have had something out of the garden for supper every night, except for the few nights that we ate out. Tonight's garden addition to supper will be a garden salad. The last tomato from the garden and a head of iceberg lettuce from the garden will be the stars of the show

In the planning stage

 Everyday brings with it new adventures. Some things remain the same, while others are completely different. Things have been strained between my son and I, and I didn't know why until today. I thought he was mad at me, but instead it bothered him to see me when I wasn't doing well. So I guess I will just have to stay healthy. Sounds like a good plan to me. My garden for 2013 may not be as easy to fix. According to many articles I've read in the past week I will need to do a lot of prep work before I plant again. I will need to break down the heavy soil that I have by adding  mulch and compost to it. About 4 to 6 inches in depth should give me good soil to work with. Then keep adding another inch or so each year after. The clay soil here holds the water on the surface allowing mold and fungus to grow and infect the plants. It also takes longer for the soil temperature to rise and the temperature of the soil drops faster too. Plants have a hard time reaching their full potential when the soil is actually holding them back. By adding the mulch it will create a better growing environment. The soil will be more porous, allowing better drainage and a better root system. Because the soil will be drier, it will warm faster and hold the heat longer. This will deter the growth of fungus and allow the vegetables a better chance. By adding the compost and manure it will promote the growth of good bacteria. This good bacteria is needed to eat the bad bacteria that lives in the heavy clay soil.
 I'm planning on a bigger and better garden for 2013. And if I do a better job of planning and planting, I might be doing less work and getting a better harvest. My first task will be to make more space available for the garden. Overcrowding was a problem this year. The plants need room for air movement and sunlight, all the way down to the roots, especially tomatoes. No tomato leaves will touch the ground in 2013. I will be paying attention to air circulation to ensure a dry soil surface. I think I will plant everything in raised rows or hills to help control the moisture and air. Time will tell.
 

Fall has arrived

 With the arrival of fall comes new chores. As the garden is winding down, I can now add debris removal to my duty roster. The picking of vegetables has slowed down so I don't have as much processing to do. Now as some of the plants die, I find myself still quite busy in the garden removing dead plants and cleaning the area. Everyday I also learn that I could have done a better job in the garden overall. I have never looked at gardening as anything more than an edible hobby, until now. As a dairy farmer, my goal was to produce as much milk as my cows could, without using drugs as a production aid. To achieve higher production, I needed to do a better job of growing, harvesting, and processing quality feed for the cows. Now, looking back on this years garden, I realize that I should be using some of the knowledge that I have about growing a crop.Getting plants to grow isn't all that hard. Getting plants to grow and produce a larger crop will take knowing what that plant needs to get the maximum harvest. What are the plants nutritional needs? What diseases are they suseptable to? How much water and sun do they need? Before the seed goes into the ground in the spring of 2013, I will know the answers to these questions. I hope to increase my harvest without increasing the amount of labor. Do the same job better and enjoy it more. Learn to grow a garden without any chemical help. I need to learn how to control bugs using a natural repellant. These are the goals that I have set for my garden of 2013.
  Now I know that winter will not be dull, I know it will be a time of learning. The internet makes it easy to find the information so I will have no excuse for not learning what I want and need to know. It's time for me to become a gardener, not just someone who has a garden.

Garden Thoughts

 As I'm making tomato sauce I'm thinking about next years garden. It may seem silly but if I plan things now, while the mistakes I made this year are still visible, I may be able to do a better job next year. I know for sure that I will need more room. I really over-crowded this years space. I also have to do a better job of protecting my plants from bugs and disease. In the past, I always relied on chemicals, especially when I was farming. Now I know that these chemicals are killing us and polluting the earth. It's time to learn a newer and safer method for growing food. Others have done this so I'm sure that I can also learn. They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well, I'm no puppy but I'll never be an "OLD" dog. This winter I will spend some time online doing research about new, safe ways to control issues in the garden. I used a baking soda and dish soap mixture this year for spotted leaf mildew. I was pleased with the results although things would have been better and the results better if I had started using it sooner. Everyday is a learning experience. We just have to be open minded and accept this new knowledge when it's presented. Then we need to learn how to use this new knowledge apply it to our own needs. Growing our own food is fun and we can control what goes into it. So the "no-brainer" for me is, grow it safer using more natural preventative methods to produce safer, healthier food. No chemical sprays. No chemical additives. I may not be 100% green but every bit helps.

Elaine's Birthday

 Today is Elaine's birthday.  The other day I asked her what she wanted for supper and what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday. She said she would like chicken baked with mushroom soup over it. I had planned on having chicken that night for supper so it was already thawed. We decided to have her birthday dinner on Monday night instead of tonight. Then she told me what kind of cake she wanted. She didn't want a homemade cake or pie. She didn't even want strawberry short cake. She wanted a store bought cake with lots of icing and roses.. So Monday night we had chicken and store bought birthday cake. Tonight we will have pizza and blueberry cobbler.
 The last 14 months have been a little rough. I wasn't doing well health wise and then Elaine started having problems too. We struggled through the fall and winter as my strength and stamina returned slowly. Then in late winter we learned, what we had feared, that Elaine had cancer and would need surgery. Now here we are, both of us have had another birthday. I'm feeling much better than I did a year ago and Elaine has had her surgery and recovered. And best of all, the surgeon was able to remove all of the cancer and Elaine is doing fine. Life is full of challenges and obstacles that we have to deal with. We know what we have dealt with in the past. The mystery is what the future holds for us.
  I know what's in store for today. I have okra to freeze, sauce to make, and a pizza and blueberry cobbler to bake. I better get started if I'm going to get this done.

Making Improvements

 My garden did quite well this year. I think it could have been much better if I had used my head a little more. I have been a farmer for most of my life but I didn't use that knowledge when it came to my garden. If I had gotten a soil test done at the extension service, I would have known that my garden needed lime. I always did soil testing on the farm, why didn't I even think about it for my garden? When planting crops on the farm,  seed spacing and row spacing was always considered to prevent overpopulating. I planted some things in my garden way to close. This caused lower production, smaller vegetables, and in some cases, latter blooming caused by lack of sunshine. I also made some other silly mistakes. I say silly because I know better. The soil here is somewhat heavy. Root vegetables do well in loose soil. All I had to do was take my hoe and loosen the soil every once in a while. Just like cultivating a corn field, it will slow down the weeds and loosen the ground so the roots can grow. I did this in the garden, just not often enough. My biggest mistake was planting things to close together which made it hard for me to work in between the plants. This also created a problem for sunlight to get to all the plants. The taller plants shaded the smaller ones reducing yields. I know better, just never thought about it when I was planting. Another big mistake was during the dry spell in June and July. I needed to water the garden every night and sometimes in the morning too. The problem came because I have village water here. With the hot and humid weather, the water authority increased the amount of chlorine they were using. Vegetables don't do well with a lot of chlorine. I need to make a rain water collection system and install a filter on my household water system..
  The most important thing that I learned from this year's gardening experience was THINK!!  Don't take things for granted, pay attention to the plants. These plants know how to survive in nature. With the right help these plants not only feed themselves, but they will feed us too. I need to put my experience to use and not ignore what I know to be the proper way to do it.

No Excuses

  I've been neglecting my blog for almost 2 months. It's true, I've been busy with my garden, canning and freezing this year's harvest, but that's not an excuse. That's why I planted a garden and that's a lot of what this blog is about, my daily experiences. So here I sit, at my computer, telling you what's happening in my life today in central New York.
  I can't work in the garden today because it's raining, so it's time to get caught up on other things, like housework. I'm doing laundry and making tomato sauce for supper. Actually I'm making zucchini Parmesan with the sauce. The tomatoes are still ripening and the squash are still  producing. The beans are done but what a crop they made. I have 8 gallon bags full of beans in the freezer plus we have had several meals with beans this summer. I sold some and I gave some away to friends. 2012 was a good year for beans. The fall peas are starting to pod and the fall beets are doing well. The garden of 2012 isn't done yet.
  This spring I bought 25 strawberry plants. I planted them in a poor location so I've been transplanting them. I'm up to 64 plants and still have more to go. I'm looking forward to the 2013 strawberry crop. I also bought a Doyle's blackberry plant that is supposed to produce up to 30 gallons of berries. Mr Doyle told me that I might not see 30 gallons a year, but if I followed his instructions, I would get over 20 gallons for sure. Time will tell.

  My latest project for the garden is building a greenhouse using my old 10'x20' tent frame and covering it with 6mil plastic. Once that is done, it will be time to build a tow behind the tractor roto-tiller. I bought an old tiller that has a bad motor. Now I'm building a drive system like the PTO on farm tractors so I can hook it behind and run it off the tractors motor. Finding affordable parts is the challenge, but I will keep looking. As I make progress on my projects, I will get pictures to include to show what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. The why of the project may be a mystery to some but to me it's simple, it will be fun to do.

Memories

 Every once in a while I just drift away to what I call my "happy place". I know it's not real but in some ways it is. This happy place is full of my memories. Times in my younger days, times of better health, and just times of pure fun and enjoyment. Our heads are full of such places, some we remember fondly while others may bring a tear to our eye. Either way, these memories are what has made us what we are today. Yesterdays events helped shape today and all of our tomorrows to come. I hope that I never forget being at my grandparents farm and walking down the lane to the swamp. Here amongst the cattails was the spring where the cows drank. In the spring of the year there was always a crop of pollywogs in the water and us kids would watch them grow into frogs. I don't know who owns the land now so I haven't walked that lane in almost 50 years. The barn and all the farm buildings have been gone for forty years and my grandparents house has been gone for at least 10 years. I'm not sure if the horse chestnut trees along the driveway are still there or not. All I know is that in my memories everything is still the same as it was and us kids are in the meadow playing baseball. At the house that I grew up in, I can still see my grandfathers old guernsey  cow standing on the hill under the apple tree. And there is gramp in his garden on top of the hill. Memories. As long as I have my memories, things that have long since changed will return as they were 50 years ago when they were here, alive, and well. Our past lives in us because we are a product of our past. As I can pickles today, I'm reminded of my grandfather in his garden years ago. Maybe I'm carrying on a family tradition by gardening. Canning and freezing the vegetables that I grow is not only going to save me money , but it's helping to keep my memories alive.

It's finally RAINING

 In the last 3 days we have gotten about 2" of rain. This usually wouldn't be cause for a celebration but this year it is. That 2" of rain is more rain than we have seen all together since the first of June. I'm grateful for the rain that we have received because I know there are places where rain is needed even more than we did. The weather has been changing over the years. This change has sparked many arguments over the cause . My belief is that the change may be caused by 2 factors. One is man's blatant disregard  for his surroundings. We have raided the earth of it's natural resources and replaced them with trash. We keep burning fossil fuels and adding to an already polluted atmosphere. Then we complain about the price of these fuels. Then when an earth friendly power source is mentioned, we the people who want cheaper power, complain about scenic pollution. They have built several wind farms in my area and it's sparked several arguments over noise and scenic pollution. These wind mills aren't noisy at all in comparison to these huge power turbines at power plants like in Niagara Falls. And as far as scenic pollution goes, the power lines needed to transport the power from point A to point B, are a nuisance to those whose land they cross to bring power to those who are complaining about the new systems. Humans want their cake but want to eat it too. Humans don't care if their wants and needs are an inconvenience to someone else. As long as they have what they want all is right with the world.
 The second reason for this change in the weather, once again this is just my opinion, is the normal progression of the earth and the rest of the solar system. If the earth didn't go through a process of change, we would still be living with dinosaurs and many other extinct species of plants and animals. We know that change happens constantly throughout the universe so wouldn't we be crazy to think that the earth and our sun weren't going to ever change? We have 4 seasons because of the earths position with the sun. Maybe we are just a bit closer to the sun than we were 100 years ago. Is there a way to measure exactly how close we are and is the angle exactly the same? I don't know the answers to these questions nor do I know if anyone knows for sure. All I know is that things are changing and we as part of this universe had better get used to that fact and be ready to adjust our lives to new conditions.

Just keep plugging away

 Sometimes it seems like I'm making no progress at all. We are 4" short on rainfall for the season so it's water the garden twice a day in hopes of saving the crop. So far, so good. I've been able to pick and freeze both green and wax beans, peas, and squash. The tomatoes, cukes, and lettuce are on the way to getting ripe. Then just for more excitement, last Monday I developed an infection involving my dialysis. Every time I get a bad cold, as the cold germs are leaving my body, I get an infection. So now, as I shell peas and slice beans, I can do a treatment laced with antibiotic. Just one more adventure to embark on.
  My garden this year has been quite successful. The only 2 vegetables that I tried to grow that I had problems with were celery and parsnips. I should have looked into how to grow celery before I did almost everything wrong when I planted it. The parsnips on the other hand, have me confused. I've never had problems growing parsnips before but this year has been different. The first planting of parsnips didn't germinate very good so I made a second planting. The second planting was even worse. I've got 6 parsnip plants in an 8" row. Maybe my seeds weren't all that good, I can't find any other reason for the poor germination. Oh will, I'll try again next year
  Sunday night I made fried chicken with a twist. I sliced chicken breasts into strips, dipped the pieces in egg then flour, then fried until crisp and brown. Now the twist. In a bowl I melted !/4 cup butter. Then I added some minced garlic, a bit of cayenne pepper, and some mustard dipping sauce and mixed it all together. I added the chicken to coat then placed the chicken on a rack on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper will catch the drips so they don't cook fast to your cookie sheet. Then I put the chicken in the oven at 425 degrees for about 7-8 minutes, then turn the chicken and let it cook for 5 more minutes. I may hurt my arm here patting myself on the back because I gotta tell ya, IT WAS DAMN GOOD!!!

It's Raining

 For the first time in 2 weeks it's raining, a nice gentle,soaking rain. For the last 2 weeks it's been hot and dry here. When it's 95 degrees here, it's hot. Then you add the humidity and stuff starts to bake. I know it gets hotter in other places and the humidity is worse, but dang-it-all, it's been hot.The lawns are all burned brown and if people don't water their garden, they won't have one. A vegetable farmer on the hill behind me has been watering his whole farm. He hasn't got line enough to reach his pumpkin patch so he hauls tanks of water there. Once in the field, he can then run lines to water the pumpkins. I've been watering my garden twice a day. If I don't, the plants wilt and look like they will die. Wilted or dead plants don't grow much for me to pick and eat. As it started to rain, I could almost hear my garden take a sigh as it soaked up the rain. This rain is coming just in time to give my cucumbers a boost. They just started blooming so it shouldn't be long now. Everything is coming along well. The only complaint that I could have is that I'm not fast enough to keep up to the garden. But all in all, I'm not doing to bad at keeping up. I've already got more beans and more squash in the freezer than I had last year. My garden is doing just fine and I'm doing the best I can to keep up. So far, so good.

Round 2 has begun

 I just finished picking the first round of peas on the week-end. Those crazy pea plants have already blossomed for the second time and are already forming pods. I've never seen the second blossoms before and I didn't even realize that they would blossom twice. I know that string beans will blossom twice but even beans I never seen blossom so soon after the first picking. I'm not complaining, I'm just astonished by what my garden is doing. Having time to work in the garden really makes a big difference. I can't wait for my tomatoes to ripen now that my romaine is starting to head. The iceberg is still leafy and hasn't started to head but it will soon enough. Maybe the iceberg, the cukes, and the tomatoes will all ripen together so I can just pick-a-salad when I want it. My herb garden is coming along, except for the rosemary. The basil smells so good. Soon it will be time to pick the garlic as the stems are starting to turn brown. The thyme and the green onions are also coming along well. If nothing else, I've had a good time growing my garden and hopefully we will get to enjoy it throughout the winter.

Happy, Happy, Happy

 Did I tell you I was HAPPY? My garden is making me a happy man. I've been busy picking and freezing beans and squash. Plus we have had something out of the garden for supper every night for the past 2 weeks. Let me say it again, I'm happy. The peas finished just in time for the wax beans to start and as the wax beans slow down, the pole beans are coming on. The squash are producing the first good crop of squash I've had since moving here 8 years ago. I also harvested some greens today for supper tonight. The tomatoes are just starting to blossom so they will be coming along in a couple of weeks. If I have some luck, the tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers will all ripen together. I can taste fresh salad already. Still picking strawberries as they ripen but Elaine and I eat these as fast as they ripen. We may be " Two Old Fat People", as we were once called, but we are really just two big kids when it comes to strawberries from the garden. It's time for me to get back to cooking and freezing. First I'll blanch and freeze the beans, then I'll start frying zucchini and freeze that also. Suppers this winter are going to be good. I'll have many more options than I've had in previous years.

Freezing vegetables from my garden

  The last thing I need to worry about is, do I have enough vegetables to freeze or not? The answer is almost always YES. I picked some string beans this morning, the first ones this year. There is only 3 cups of beans but they will go in the freezer nicely. When I freeze my beans, I blanch them and cool them immediately. After they have cooled and drained, I put the beans on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. After they have been in the freezer for about an hour, I take them off the cookie sheet and put them in a gallon size freezer bag and put them back in the freezer. The beans are frozen individually so I can take out as many as I need for a meal and as more ripen, I can add to the bag until it's full. I save morey on seperate bags and I have very little waste because I only have to take out what I need. I do this the same way when I'm freezing brocoli, brussel sprouts, fried eggplant, and fried squash. This system works on almost all vegetables that you are freezing and it cuts the use of salt and cuts waste. Now I have to get cooking beans.

Finding time for everything

  Maybe I bit off more than I can chew. I want to start building some new items for our Etsy shop, but I haven't been able to even get near my tools in a couple of months. I have stuff piled up on the porch that needs to be sorted and put away. We want to have a yard sale in August so all that has to be sorted. And my garden is starting to ripen so vegetables will need to be picked, processed, and stored. Jobs will need to be prioritized and I will have to keep going. Let's see, clear and warm today with rain tonight. If I work in the yard and garden today, then I can work on the porch tomorrow when things are wet. Sounds like a plan. Now the hard part, sticking to it. The worst part of all this is I can't even pass the blame on to anyone else. It's my mess on the porch in my shop area and it's my garden. It sounds insane but I asked for this and created this mayhem myself. Oh well. It's time for me to stop whining. Get of my fat butt and get to work. Time is wasting and time is money, don't I wish it were money. Time to be boss again and take control. Get things done. No complaints. Get it. Got It. Good. Now get going.

More trellis's from the curb

  I have said before that Elaine and I are pack-rats and curb pickers. Our garden is full of trellis's that we picked up somewhere. The white porch rail is now a trellis for my 2nd crop of peas to climb. We picked the railing up with the idea of just using the spindles. I never took it apart, so now it has a new use. The white wrought iron railing we picked up without any idea of what we might use it for, it might have even been destined for the junk yard. But being pack-rats, we kept it and now it's new job is to give the gourds something to climb on. And that brings us to the rose bush I found in the old garden in our yard. I shouldn't say I found the rose bush, because I knew it was there, we just hadn't seen it in a few years. This spring when I first started cleaning the old garden, I weeded around the rose and cut out all the grape vine that was choking the rest of the plants. After getting the area cleaned of the unwanted growth, the roses and the peonies took off growing and reclaimed their garden. The rose bush had been pushed to the ground by the grape vine so I used 2 pieces of an old gazebo to make a "tepee" style trellis for the roses to grow up.
  All these items I am using in my garden for either decoration or to support my vegetables came from the curb. Someone's  unwanted items in the trash became a useful treasure find for us

Garage sale finds save the day

 I had posted a want ad on Craigs  List for a water-bath canner and some canning jars. I received an E-mail from a person about a mile away from my house who was having a garage sale starting today. My luck was with me, they had both sizes of canning jars that I wanted. And they had  lids. Best of all, they had the water-bath pan and rack. Now it was time to make a deal so the homeowner and we agreed on $20.00 for it all. I left there a happy gardener. Friday night, Elaine and I were discussing putting our old gas stove on the porch to use for canning when Elaine had an even better idea. She suggested using a wood fire in the fire pit. With a small fire to keep the water boiling to do the canning. I'd be willing to bet that both of my Grandmothers used a wood fire to can. They used to can meat before they had freezers so I would have to think this canning was done on a wood fire. I know the Amish can this way yet today so I'm sure that I can too. My garden is coming along quite well. The squash and pumpkins are blossoming, I should be picking string beans in a couple of days, and our 1st strawberry to ripen gets picked today. The pole beans have climbed to the top of the sunflowers and are also starting to blossom. I hope soon I will be canning and freezing so we will be able to enjoy these vegetables this winter, that is if we don't enjoy them too much this summer and eat them all like we did the 1st planting of peas. As fast as those peas ripened, I picked them, shucked them, cooked and we ate them. We enjoyed them so much, I just replanted more peas for fall. I planted about 4 times as many as I did the first time so I hope we have some to freeze. But they're just so damn good fresh that we'll just have to wait and see if any make it to the freezer

Time to stop planting

 As it is almost the first of July, I guess it is time to stop planting in my garden. Elaine and I like fresh vegetables for as long as they are available. So I plant smaller plantings of certain vegetables, but plant them several times. Yesterday I planted another small row of string beans. This makes the third planting of beans, each planting about 2 weeks apart. I have also planted peas for a third time, while I've been harvesting my first planting. My summer squash and zucchini are both starting to show fruit, so I planted a few more squash to help extend my squash season. With any luck, and if the first frost doesn't come early, I should be able to have my own fresh vegetables into September and October. Of course, now as my garden ripens, the preservation of these vegetables for the winter begins. Freezing, canning, dehydrating, and just plain old dry storing of the root vegetables. Some times it seems a bit overwhelming, but then I go to the grocery store and see the produce prices. After seeing those prices, the work of having a garden doesn't seem hard at all. And best of all, it tastes better when you grow it yourself.

Pest Problems

 I've been trying to use as few chemicals as possible on my garden, but I fear I'm losing the battle against the critters. I started my melons in the house but lost these plants to cucumber beetles. So I used some dust that I mixed in the soil to kill the beetles and re-planted the melons. My second planting was up, had their second leaves and were growing well. Mission accomplished, or so I thought. Yesterday morning when I went to check the garden after the nights storms, I found my melon patch all dug up. The watermelon plants which were about 6' tall,GONE. The cantaloupe plants which were about 4" tall, Gone. The honeydew plants which are also 4" tall, NEVER TOUCHED. Now I mixed these seeds together when I planted so the plants were mixed in the bed. This critter ate my watermelons and cantaloupe plants after sorting them out in the melon patch. Without ever disturbing the honeydew plants. Must be this thief has particular tastes which don't  include honeydew. So today I started more melons in a hanging basket. I'll let them grow there for awhile until I can put a fence around my melon patch. Even the cayenne pepper doesn't seem to bother this pest. If it wasn't all dug up I would have thought a bird did it. The way it was dug up, I almost think it was a skunk. So since I'm not fond of getting sprayed by a skunk, I'll try to be careful about how I keep it away and keep my garden safe.

The garden keeps getting bigger

 Sometimes I just don't know when to stop. I keep planting more garden. The first crop of peas are ready to pick, the second crop of peas are just starting to climb, and now I'm going to dig up some more lawn to plant a third crop. Maybe I'm going crazy, but I'm sure having fun the trip.
  Hopefully, Elaine and I can eat all year from this garden. Fresh is best when it comes to vegetables, but here in the northeast we freeze and can for winter use. I'm also going to try to dehydrate some veggies for soups and to maybe use in a dip. I've got the time and I feel better than I have in the past few years, so the farmer in me wants to grow something to eat. And besides, I'm having fun doing it.
   I started some plants in these pallets that I have stacked up. Now I'm almost done transplanting these plants and I'm planting herbs in the pallets now. Fresh herbs seem to be a hot ticket at the farmers markets so I will try to grow some for ourselves and maybe I will be able to sell some myself. I would also like to donate some of my extra vegetables, that is if I have any, to our local food bank. The food bank has helped Elaine and I a couple of times in the past few years and we would like to re-pay the favor. Who knows, we may need their help again sometime.

   Yesterday I was looking at the garden, particularly at the greens. The beets that I cut 3 weeks ago were coming back in stages and so was the swiss chard. I also had some turnip greens that needed cutting. So after I cut them, I needed to do something with them. There wasn't a lot of greens so I cooked them up and drained them well, chopped them up, then mixed them with a pint of cottage cheese. I cooked some large shell pasta and then stuffed the shells with the cheese and greens. I added a little sauce and into the oven went supper. One of these days I'm going to hurt my arm patting myself on the back, but supper was good.

Once again, Elaine is right

 When you're wrong, you're wrong and that's all there is to it. For the last few years now, Elaine has wanted to have a yard sale to get rid of some of our "extra stuff". Some how, some way, I've always managed to put it off. It's time to have a yard sale, I surrender, I was wrong. That stuff needs to go. It's upstairs just collecting dust and of no real use to us anymore. Some of it needs a new home. We have stuff left over from when we had a store. That was 10 years ago and the stuff is still in boxes from when we closed. We have clothes that we could only dream of fitting in again and guess what, thanks to time, some are back in style. It's scary to think about how much craft supplies are upstairs. And then there are the boxes and buckets of construction supplies that I had when I was doing Mr.Fix-it type jobs. Change a light fixture today and fix a leaky sink tomorrow. It's amazing how many general supplies I used to carry in my old truck. I never knew what I would need, so I tried to have a good stock of supplies so I could do the job without having to go for parts. Now all this stuff needs to be brought downstairs, cleaned, and sorted. Then we need to pick a date, advertise our sale, and make some of this stuff disappear. Make it go away, take it away, whatever.
  You were right dear, we should have sold this stuff before. But as I have said before, "BETTER LATE THAN NEVER".

Getting ready to harvest some of my crop

 The peas are covered with pods that are starting to fill out. The beans have blossomed so they will be forming pods soon. The strawberries are starting to form berries after the blossom. And now, today, the summer squash has started to bloom. I'm getting excited with the coming of a crop. I can already taste some of these fresh vegetables. Growing up a dairy farmer, I was always excited by planting a crop, watching it grow, and then harvesting what we had grown. It's a good feeling. We work alongside "Mother Nature" to keep the food chain intact by providing for our families and others. We also face a few challenges from Mother Nature along the way. Hard storms, high winds, drought, bugs, and varmints. Squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits are always helping themselves to a meal so I use cayenne pepper to discourage them. This works well and is organic and non-toxic. The bugs are a little tougher to get rid of. Snails and slugs are deterred by sand but some bugs I can't control well enough without the use of a chemical dust . All in all, things are going quite well. Soooo......LET THE HARVEST BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Middle of June already

 Where does the time go? Blink your eyes and you'll be amazed at how much time has passed. Elaine is doing well with her recovery and it looks like she will have no future problem from this. The garden is also doing fine. The peas have blossomed and are starting to form peas and now the beans and peppers are blossoming. I don't like fresh peas but Elaine can have my share, she loves them. I will pick some more lettuce for supper tonight. I'm having a good time with my garden this year. I seem to be able to handle the heat better than in the last few years. And my garden helps to occupy all this extra time I have since I'm not working, and it makes me feel as if I'm doing something instead of just sitting around. After living a pretty active life before I got sick, I was really quite bored with just sitting around doing nothing. We'll call this my "garden therapy". It keeps me busy and I can eat the results.

Time to make Cheese Puffs

 Elaine is making good progress with her recovery. Yesterday she said she was starting to feel like herself and she had her first good nights sleep since the surgery. Her appetite is coming back and she is much more alert. There is no reason to rush it or push too hard. She just needs time to heal, and I aim to see that she gets the time she needs.
 Yesterday I beat the rain and got my sweet potatoes planted. I have never grown sweet potatoes before so I'm learning as I go. If I do right by the plants, they will do right by me. Everything else is growing fast and fine. Our strawberries are blossoming and if it stops raining long enough for things to get dry, I have greens to pick and lettuce to transplant. I started more herbs and some more flowers in the house today. I also started some asparagus from seed. These will take 2 years too grow before harvest, but it will be fun to try to get them to harvest. I need a little challenge once in a while. The first sunny day, I will take more pictures of the garden and the trellises that I made. I think it all came out looking pretty neat.
 Now it's off to the kitchen to make some cheese puff snacks. We keep these on hand for a quick snack. These are real simple to make. All you do is melt 1/2 stick of butter over low heat, add 1 diced onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic, diced. While the vegetables are cooking, dice a loaf of crusty bread into 1/2 inch cubes, and set aside.After the onions have softened, add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard and stir. Now add an 8 oz pack of cream cheese and stir until melted. Next add ! and 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and again, stir until melted. Now add ground black pepper to taste and turn off heat. Fold in 2 beaten egg whites, then dip the bread cubes until coated, and place on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the cheese puffs from the baking sheet to a zip-loc bag and put back in freezer. When you want a cheesy snack, place as many as you want on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees until brown and bubbly, then just set back and enjoy. I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network.

OK for now

 Elaine had her surgery on Friday. The doctor feels confident that he removed all the cancer and that she should be fine after recovery. We both took a big sigh of relief when he  told us the news. For now she is a little sore and needs help doing simple things, but that's what I'm here for. It's my turn to help her heal instead of her helping me.
 It has been storming almost everyday now for the past week. Here, we have been getting hard rains and wind. Not far away, they have been getting the wind, hard rain and hail. I can deal with the wind and rain, but that plant striping, garden wrecking hail I want no part of. Man has always complained about the weather and probably always will. It is never just right for very long.
 My sweet potatoe vines came in the mail yesterday, so before it starts to rain again, I'm going to go try to get them planted. Maybe I'll get lucky.

When it rains, it POURS

  Yesterday was very humid and 90 degrees. I knew it was going to rain when I walked outside at 7AM. I just didn't know when. I watered the garden good, early in the day hoping that the plants wouldn't burn. I had other things to do outside, so I started in on getting things done. By the time the junk man got here at noon to haul away my old pick-up, my clothes were soaked with sweat. After he left I got cleaned up and into dry clothes just in time for it to start pouring. How it did come down. Not a passing shower, but 2 hours of downpour. I thought we were getting the worst of it, but I was wrong. North and east of us got the same treatment as we got, plus, they got hail. This hail ranged in size from 1" to almost 3". The news had pictures of these giant hail stones and pictures of the damage. Houses, cars, and trees suffered lots of damage in this latest round of Mother Natures Fury.
  There is an old saying that goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." I don't know who ticked Mother Nature off, but I do wish they would stop. There is another old saying,"If Mother ain't happy, nobody is."

One man's trash is another man's treasure

 I guess Elaine and I are pack rats. We used to ride around on trash day just to see if someone threw out something that we could use. Over the years we have picked up lots of different stuff. We picked up 2 wooden steamer trunks one time and now they are in our living room with the tv on top. Our neighbor was putting her couch out for trash so I got it from her and a matching chair. This couch and chair were like new, she just wanted a change. Our house is full of things we picked up.
  My garden is also starting to fill-up with recycled material. I use one neighbors lawn clippings for mulch. He always piles his clippings in the brush between us and told me I could have all I want. I scrape the fresh clippings off the pile and have nice composted mulch to use. When I have all I need, I push the fresh stuff back over where I dug, and next time I dig in a different spot.
  We picked up an old, steel, child's bed years ago. It has been leaning up against the back of our house until now. The two end pieces of the bed now have our peas growing up them and the side rails are a trellis for the sweet peas to grow up.I have an old, steel gazebo that I am fashioning into a trellis for cucumbers and another piece for pole beans. We also have 3 wood and steel benches around the lawn, compliments of others on trash day. We have to sit on something outside, and free-cycled feels great.

  Here is a picture of the bed and the peas.

First Harvest of 2012

 Thursday I picked the loose leaf lettuce and Elaine and I had a fresh green salad for supper. It was really good, but not as good as what I picked on Friday. On Friday I cut my beet greens, cooked them with some linguine, then I coated them with a mixture of some butter, extra virgin olive oil, a few drops of balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and grated cheese. My stomach is still thanking me this morning. It tasted that good. I like patting myself on the back sometimes, but I always enjoy a good meal(that's probably why I weigh as much as I do).
  I still have more plants to put in the garden but I will wait till after this heat and humidity pass. I lost about a dozen plants this week due to the weather so I'll just wait a few days. I have the plants outside so they can adjust, I just don't have them in the direct sunlight constantly like they get in my garden.
  Next week will be hard to get much done in the garden with the holiday on Monday and Elaine having surgery on Friday morning. If all goes well, she won't have to stay in the hospital but only time will tell.

Just plain busy!

 The past week has been crazy. First the rain held everything up. Then it was sunny but had doctors appointments. Trying to get the garden work done and the plants transplanted in between rain drops was getting a little rough. Then came the real heat with the humidity and this weather brought along the hard down-pours with it. Some of my plants baked in the heat and some didn't survive the rains. The rest are doing fine so now I remember why I started so many and weed out the weak. I will have nice fresh garden greens for Memorial Day and some radishes for a salad. Next week I will have to hope that the garden doesn't need much attention. We have to be at the hospital at 5:30AM on Friday for Elaine to get ready for her surgery. The doctor feels he can remove all the cancer and that Elaine should be able to come home the same day and make a full recovery. The doctor won't know for certain until surgery. Only time will tell. Before it starts raining, I want to get the melon plants in the ground so I'm off. Back to the garden.

Fast paced Garden

 This past week-end was warm and dry so I worked as much as I could in the garden, planting, weeding, and preparing for plants. I had started the pumpkins and melons in the house to give them a head start. Here in central New York you have to give some plants a bit of an edge on Mother Natures growing season.They were getting so big that I was afraid they were going to break so I planted all the melons, squash, and pumpkins. I will just have to cover them if the weather calls for a late frost. I will keep the tomatoes and peppers in the house for another week before I plant them. The beans and peas are growing like weeds. Everything is up, it just needs some more warm weather to make this nice soaking rain we have had work to our advantage.
  Elaine and I are pack-rats. If we go for a ride and see something on the side of the road that we might use, we stop and pick it up. We found an old steel child's bed that is now being used as a trellis for the peas to grow on. I also saved a fancy steel gazebo frame that was being thrown out at a house I was working on. This steel is now the trellis for my pole beans and the smaller parts I'm using for the cucumbers. As the old saying goes,"One man's trash is another man's treasure." I almost always had a garden, but never had the time to have some fun with it. Now I have the time to do some things to make it easier and possibly grow a better crop. At any rate, I plan to have fun in my garden this year. When I get the trellis' built and standing, I'll post some pictures.
  The rain is supposed to stop tomorrow so I hope I can work in the garden . The strawberry plants came yesterday and need to be planted ASAP. We will have fresh salad greens and radishes for Memorial Day. The lettuce and other greens will be ready by then. Fresh, tender, and tasty. That's what makes all the work worth  while. Gotta love it.

In the Garden

 It's finally stopped raining so today I work in the garden. I have to get the ground ready and transplant plants that I started in the house. Some of these plants are getting to big for the pot that they are in and now are falling over.I grow my plants under a "natural light" or "full spectrum" bulb and boy how they grew. Some of these plants I will have to put in bigger pots and still keep them inside for another couple weeks until all chance of frost is gone, the rest are ready for outside.
  I tried Cayenne Pepper to keep the squirrels away and found it to work pretty good. Someone else told me that squirrels hate Marigolds, so I will put out a few around different spots in the garden. If nothing else, they will add some early color to the garden. So far, the plants that are outside are doing well. In some cases, they are actually growing as fast as the weeds. We should have radishes in a week to 10 days. The early lettuce should be ready by Memorial Day, the peas soon after that. With the price of produce in the store, I can't wait to go to the backyard and pick something for dinner. I miss being on the farm and growing almost everything we ate. We always had a garden, we raised our own meat and eggs, we only had to go to the store for staple goods like salt and flour. But that's a life style that's not as common as it used to be and my health won't let me work like that anymore even if I wanted too. I guess it's called progress.

Marinade

 I promised a marinade recipe, so before I forget to tell about, here it is.
                  In a bowl I mix:  1- teaspoon garlic powder
                                            1-teaspoon onion powder
                                            1- teaspoon salt
                                            2- teaspoons ground rosemary
                                           1/2- teaspoon black pepper
                                            1- teaspoon paprika
               Mix these dry ingredients together before adding the wet ingredients.
                        now add:     1/4- cup honey mustard barbeque sauce
                                            1/4- cup your favorite barbeque sauce
                                             2- teaspoons Dijon mustard
                                             1- tablespoon soy sauce
                                             1- tablespoon Worcestershire sauce  
                                             2- tablespoons balsamic vinegar
                                             1/2- cup ginger ale (yes, really ginger ale)
                  Mix this well. I put the meat in a zip-loc bag and then pour the marinade in, zip the bag and just push things around a little, then I put it in the fridge. I try to let the meat soak up flavor overnight, but 3-4 hours works well. When I get ready to cook, I use the remaining sauce to baste with as it cooks. Make sure when using the extra sauce to baste that it gets thoroughly cooked because the sauce has had raw meat in it.  I have cooked on the grill, in the oven, and fried using this marinade with good results.I have used this on pork, chicken, and beef  and we have been pleased with the taste and the tenderness of the meat. This makes enough for about 2 pounds of meat. The measurements for the ingredients are just what we like, maybe you will want more or less of one thing or another, make it to suit your taste. I have also used fresh garlic and onions instead of the powder, it just depends on my mood.
    Let me know if you try this and what you think of the taste. Tomorrow it's back to crafting.

Hints from a House Husband: Catching Up

Hints from a House Husband: Catching Up:  Things nave been a little heck-tick around here for the last few months. Health wise we have both been struggling with problems but I guess...

Catching Up

 Things nave been a little heck-tick around here for the last few months. Health wise we have both been struggling with problems but I guess we now have an idea about what is happening. I have an iron deficiency and Elaine has uterine cancer with surgery scheduled for 6/1. The doctors feel that the cancer hasn't spread so it shouldn't be a problem but they won't know for sure until the surgery.
  On a happier note, the garden is coming fast with all the warm weather we've had. Peas, lettuce, swiss chard, and beets are all coming good. The plants that I have started in the house are taking over. Everything is growing well and will be ready to transplant soon. I'm planting a much bigger garden this year with the hope of selling some of my extra veggies.
   I got a shock the other night while cooking supper. I was making fried fish and I used bread flour instead of all purpose flour for the coating. The coating cooked up lighter and fluffier and had a fantastic taste. It was the first time that I had ever used bread flour for anything other than dough but it certainly won't be the last. Last night I fried chicken the same way. It came out light and delicious.
  Tomorrow I'll tell you about a marinade I made that gave a new name to roasted pork.

 Last summer my garden had some really good things going on and some not so good. My beets didn't do well, only picked enough for one meal for the 2 of us. I bought some beets at a farm market, cooked and froze them for this winters use. Then I tried something that I hadn't done before. The beets that I bought still had the greens attached but they were wilted badly. I filled the sink with cold water and I let the tops soak over night. The next morning the greens looked good so I sorted out the bad ones, blanched and froze the good ones. I had never frozen greens before so I didn't know what to expect. Well, Elaine and I have been enjoying greens all winter. They aren't quite garden fresh but I do have to say that they are close. At any rate, they are pretty darn good. This year I will have to grow more greens like beets and swiss chard and freeze more. Winter is long and those greens go good with almost anything. Shhhh.... even had some greens on pizza.Shhhh........

 Sitting here , eating lunch, and watching Bugs Bunny. Can it get any better than that? Of course it can, but this isn't a bad way to have lunch is it? I have to finish up 2 orders from last week and get them in the mail this afternoon. I've got my work around the house done for today, except for making supper. Do I deserve a break? You bet I do, even if I'm the only one who thinks so! Oh well, break is over and it's time to get my customers products finished and packed for shipment. Don't forget to check out Etsy.com

Etsy

  If you haven't ever checked out ETSY.com then you don't know what you're missing. Etsy.com is home to thousand's of shops, the greatest share of these shops are handmade products. There are also some vintage shops and some craft supply shops. All kinds of handmade items can be found here. Jewelery, fashion accessories, food, and home decor. Hand painted items, photography, knitting, and crochet. Thousands of talented artisans creating and selling their products. Many of these artisans will custom create a product just for you, all you have to do is ask and provide them with the specifications you desire. We have a shop on etsy. You can see our shop @ http://www.etsy.com/shop/OldTimeCountryCrafts . Another place to find home decor ideas is @http://www.stylishhome.com/Community/StylishHome-Current/Home-Makeover-Catalog. We are a group of etsy shops who have gotten together to make this catalog. Please check it out and tell your friends. It's fun to build something, but it's more fun to build it and sell it to someone else to enjoy.