July 31st

 

Mornin'

This little guy reminded me that,

even at my advanced age,

I have unanswered questions.

Like...

Why didn't that guy give that poor horse a

name after riding through the desert?

Why didn't that other guy just consult his 

watch instead of asking "does anyone

really know what time it is?'

Or how about the woman asking if

we know the way to San Jose?

Get a map!

Stevie Wonder asked "isn't she lovely?', but

he's blind, so we get that one.

No, I don't know who wrote the book of love

or who let the dogs out!

I'm not lonesome tonight either.

I don't even know what it's all about, Alfie.

The Beatles asked if I want to know 

a secret, sure and I promise not to tell.

I also don't believe in magic or know

how much that doggie in the window costs.

There may be someone who is actually

afraid of Virginia Woolf and knows the

actual location of Waldo or the perpetrator

who framed Roger Rabbit.

Then again as these questions remain 

unanswered, we may never know

whatever happened to Baby Jane either.

Answers! 

We need answers!

😁

***************************************

Minew says, Hi!

Harvests this month...

Sweet peppers, cucumbers,

and eggplants.

Cucumbers

Dried herbs,

basil, oregano, thyme, sage,

Thai basil, and rosemary.

More peppers.

I dehydrated some to turn into powder.

It's great on salads and sprinkled on meat.

Basil

Oregano

Coreopsis

Mother of Thousands,

with her babies.

Gardenia

**************************

We've noticed a plethora of 

Dragonflies of different colors.

Did you know that,

temperature and food quantity

determines some colors in dragonflies?

Also, the older the insect, the deeper the color.

Younger ones are much paler.

Notice the 2nd picture is a pale blue,

where the 1st is a vibrant red.

The red dragonflies are always mature males.

They can live up to 6 months.

**********************************

Confounding Things:

Since we're on the unanswered questions,

Why is it, when you walk barefoot,

it seems like you always walk into

 a door or a coffee table leg?

Are they sneaking up on us  

just to mess with our exposed pinky toes? 

Is it a conspiratory theory?

The pain takes a couple seconds

to travel from the toe to the brain.

This allows you to immediately think

that, "Oh, that wasn't so bad' which then 

turns into an excruciating pain

that has you with an out of body experience!

OUCH!

*****************************

My grandson took this 

last weekend in Jesuit Bend.

Beautiful!

Thanks for reading 

💗💙💚

June 29th

This is a picture from June 2nd.

Our harvest has been going great so far.

Those are our potatoes (russet and purple),

 cherry tomatoes,

cucumbers and eggplants.

I've made 10 quarts of tomato sauce

that I froze.

I also dehydrated a lot of eggplant,

and cucumber.

Most of the eggplant that I dehydrated

I blended to a powder that

I add to ground beef to 

enhance the flavor.

It's also great sprinkled over salad.

I think the rain has helped the crops

to remain productive. I hope that'll

keep up!

This is the last of the potatoes for now.

I peeled and boiled some to dehydrate.

So, in essence, I made my own instant potatoes!

Tomato sauce in the making.

I add a bit of salt, bell peppers, oregano

veggie stock, onions, garlic and olive oil.

Then I let it slow cook for about an hour.

I turn off the heat and allow it to cool

before using an immersion blender

to make a creamy sauce.

Literally everything in it is homegrown.

A smaller amount of veggies to make 

tomato sauce.

Purple potatoes.

These unique guys pack a punch.

They have 3 times more antioxidants

than white or yellow potatoes

and less starch.

It's the starch that converts to

carbohydrates, so all in all

this is a healthier potato.

I dehydrated these to use as

mashed potatoes later.

Thats a jar of purple potatoes!

2 jars of herbal/veggie blend.

I've been busy!

This is from June 15th.

Cucumbers, Peppers, Tomatoes 

and Eggplants.

This is the harvest from June 28th

I've harvested herbs too.

They usually are used immediately in

cooking or they get dehydrated

for use in my herbal blend.

I have oregano, thyme, parsley,

Greek basil, Thai basil, lemon verbena,

sage, rosemary, and mint.

Then to dehydrate them,

I cut them and wash them thoroughly.

Then I separate the leaves from the stems,

they dry out faster that way.

************************

The flowers are blooming too!

Gladiolus and Gardenias

I had to bring some of that beauty inside!

The red throat is amazing!

Purple Sweet Potato vine

Mary's Garden

Kalanchoe, or 

Mother of Thousands.

Every single one of those

buds along the leaves will

make a baby plant.

Sedum in the front porch planters.

Echeverria with a bloom

Rose Echeverria

*****************

We are thankful that the fruits of our

labor serve to feed us.

Hopefully we can continue in these next years.

😊

**************************

When I first went out to weed this morning,

this little missy was sound asleep.

But, I should have known that

nothing gets by her.

Remember what curiosity did

Minew!

Jesuit, our resident Blue Jay

came to visit this morning too.

He was only there to

grab some unattended cat food!

**********************************

You surely can!

💖💙💚

 

May 31st

May is always a prolific month 

in our little garden!

It's also a time to make sure

we have the benefits of our

crops later on in the year as well.

I begin to dehydrate, can or cook

the veggies to preserve them.

It's also fun to come up with ways to incorporate

them in our daily meals.

All this since the very end of April!

We have several kinds of Cherry Tomatoes,

an heirloom Cherokee Purple Tomato,

Banana Peppers, Cubanelle Sweet Peppers,

Cucumbers, Onions and Eggplants.

This is a huge pot of Cherry Tomatoes

with some sweet peppers, onions and garlic.

I cook them in water, olive oil,

 and my herbal blend from 

last year. When they burst, I use

an immersion blender to emulsify

the pulp together with the liquid.

This pot equaled 2 quarts of tomato

sauce base that I froze for later use.

I also have the dehydrator running

daily with an assortment of veggies.

I dehydrate cucumbers to make chips.

We sprinkle them with some

seasoning before dehydrating

to make very tasty chips to snack on 

or add to a salad.

This photo is kind of deceiving.

Those bowls and the zip lock bag 

are 2 gallon containers!

The zip lock bag has all kinds of dehydrated

veggies awaiting the blender.

The process of making my yearly

herbal blend is to dehydrate,

then blend to a powdery consistency.

It's fun to combine herbs and vegetables 

for different tastes.

***************************

Potatoes.

Artichoke.

Cubanelle Sweet Peppers.

The new experiment,

Blackberries.

Mirliton.

Blueberries.

Lettuce.

Herb Garden.

I harvest the herbs about every 2 weeks.

Then I wash them and hang them to dry

before putting them into the dehydrator.

I guess cats love Zinnias.

Silly Minew.

This cute little plant is called Torenia.

The blooms are used in salads.

Mary's garden is still in the works.

It's been either too hot

or too rainy to complete.

Mint in pots.

Each pot has a different flavor of mint.

Dew clinging to a mint leaf.

Well, this month has been extremely hot

and wet. That's good for the plants.

It's given us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets,

and some drenching rain.

Now we pray that this hurricane season

goes easy on us down here.

*****************

Here's a very easy and tasty Eggplant recipe:

2 medium eggplants, peeled and cubed

1 cup of shredded Parmesano/Reggiano cheese

1 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 beaten eggs

Place the cubed eggplant in the microwave

for 3 minutes to partially cook it.

Remove and toss.

Nuke the eggplant again for another 2 minutes

then remove and mash to drain any liquid.

In a bowl, add the eggplant, cheese, 

breadcrumbs and garlic powder.

Combine well.

Shape into patties and place on a greased

cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes,

or until golden brown.

(can be air fried too - 400 degrees for 

5 minutes, then flip for 5 more minutes)

I used a ranch dressing,

but this would be great with

tzatziki sauce!

I'll have to make some.

*****************

💚💗💙