Danged chickens!!

You all know how well my gardens have done and how proud I am of the work that I have put into them... Well, yesterday I was in the garden pulling tomatoes off the vine when I found SEVERAL mostly ripe tomatoes that were eaten almost to the stem... Apparently my dear, GRRRRR, hubby had turned a bunch of his young chickens loose this past week and now they are spending the day scavenging in my garden!! Now, my daughter and I have to get them caught again OR I will continue to lose produce! Ugh... He is lucky I love him or I'd just shoot 'em!! LOL

Recipe: Crockpot Chicken Terryaki & Veggies

I made more of that reduced sugar terryaki sauce I posted a few days ago... Instead of beef this time though, I poured it over boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I'd cut into about 2" wide strips and placed in the crockpot. I also cut an onion in half and then each half into quarters and added that to the pot and sprinkled it all with Everglades Seasoning. I poured a whole batch of the terryaki sauce (about 1 1/4 cups) over top of it all and set it on high and left it to cook.

About 4 hours later, I added some fresh green pepper strips, cored and quartered a couple of fresh tomatoes, and also chopped up a couple of large carrots and added those. I gave it all a good stir, pushed the recently added veggies down into the liquid anywhere they stuck out, and let it get back to cooking! When it was all done, I served it over white basmati rice. This was scrumptious! You must try that sauce over your favorite meat! I am really enjoying tossing in all those FREE fresh veggies from the garden!

Garden Bounty!

After spending a week at the county fair running a concession wagon, I finally got a chance yesterday to go through my garden looking for goodies to eat! I was thrilled to harvest yellow squash, cucumbers, green onions, tons of tomatoes, peppers of different varieties, and green beans.

And, check out these squash! They are a foot long!

The last thing I picked were the beans... These are Kentucky Wonder pole beans--my absolute favorite bean...
Aren't they gorgeous!! They were the only real protein in my veggie dinner last night. We had fresh corn on the cob from a friend's garden (mine isn't ready yet), these beans cooked in the pressure cooker, and cut up a fresh 'mater (tomato) to round out the plate. It was a red, green and yellow masterpiece! I wish I'd snapped a pic for you all!

I also have pumpkins that are just about basketball sized and string beans a-plenty! I need to get to the store this week and get some canning jars and some rings for my old jars...

Garden Progress 5

I gave up on weed control! I was so far behind the line on it after 4-H camp was over. I finally managed to get all the weeds pulled and then I spent an afternoon spreading about 15 bales of hay as a mulch cover over the whole garden to try to keep the weeds at bay from here on out. The garden looks really nice now too! I still need to do this to my second garden where I have the onions, pumpkins, watermelon, cantelopes, squash, and cucumbers.

In the meanwhile, as I spread the hay out, I noted that several of my corn plants were knocked to the ground as if a DOG has rolled in that part of the garden! If I figure out who did it, they are going on the tie-out! LOL

4-H camp is behind me, now the garden is a jungle!

We had a blast at 4-H camp and the kids were great. It was a pain driving back and forth each day (not to mention expensive), but it was worth it for these kiddos. Now, with camp behind me, I am faced with a yard that needed mowing desperately AND a garden that was so grown up with weeds that from a distance you couldn't even tell where the rows were!

I spent Saturday mowing grass. I mowed all but the front yard and we're talking about over 3 hours pushing a mower up and down and around. No way in heck could I have done that preop! Hubby was home Sunday, so no mowing then. Monday was spent catching up on email and such plus some household chores--laundry, dishes and more... Tuesday was more catchup work but outdoors stuff. Mandy finished mowing for me (only the second time she's mowed this year!). I spent over 2 hours bent over in the garden pulling weeds... Again, no way I could have done it preop! 200 pounds ago, I couldn't even have a garden, let alone mow or pull weeds! I sat and watched everyone else do things that I'd often wish to do myself. Now, I go do them! No more spectator sport living for me!

I answered a set of poll-type questions today over on OH and one of them was something about doing something different this summer. It got me to thinking. Mandy has been hinting pretty strongly (like hitting you up side the head with a shop hammer!) that she'd like to go to 6 Flags this summer. You've probably seen their latest ad campaign--6 Flags, more flags, more fun! Well, I've been thinking about the fact that I can actually FIT in the rides now and perhaps might even enjoy it. I haven't done an amusement or theme park in at least 9 years now. I may just try to plan an overnight for the two of us or maybe even me, her and her Dad and see how it works out... I really don't think my hubby would care for it as he absolutely hates crowds, but it would be fun for me and Mandy to go off together. Hubby could hold down the fort at home and that would allow us to get a room and not have to drive right home after spending the day in the park.

If we don't do that, we will probably hop a plane to Florida for a few days of visiting family. There is one airline (Allegiant) that is offering $69 one way fares from WV to FL. We may just have to do that and let hubby take care of his own animals for a few days! LOL Either way, we'd be doing something different for a change!

Garden Progress 6--getting seeds in

The weather has been gorgeous this weekend! I did manage to get the green beans, corn, and carrot seeds planted today... Still have tons more to get done and I think I need to have another plot plowed to do it all! LOL This garden is already about 27' wide and almost 50 feet long. It just isn't big enough for all I want to have! I need another plot to do my watermelons, pumpkins, and cherry tomatoes!

I still need to get the strawberry roots planted too. I can't wait to walk out into the yard and pluck a fresh, ripe strawberry off the plant and eat it!

Garden Progress 5--plants in the ground!

I've been trying for a week now to get those danged plants in the ground and the weather just has not cooperated! First it was too cold. Then it rained for days on end. We were supposed to have a sunny start yesterday and turn to rain with rain till about now today (early afternoon) and then sun again for the later afternoon. Well, I got around to planting stuff at about 2:30 pm yesterday. I planted tomato plants. I planted cabbage and broccoli plants. I looked at the clock. I looked at the sky. It was getting darker, but no rain yet.

Mandy said, "It's going to rain!" I said, "It isn't raining YET!!" So,we plugged on... I planted lettuce plants. I planted pepper plants. Drip. Drop. It tried to start raining, but held off a bit while we gathered our stuff and got everything stored away in the house or on the porch... We were safely inside and I was busy complaining about how badly my lower back hurt before the rain ever really got started. I was bent over in that garden for FOUR hours! My lumbar spine, where I have the degenerated discs, is still killing me almost 24 hours and a Vicodin later! My arms are sore. My thighs hurt. Who ever thought gardening could be SO much work! LOL I guess those are muscles I just don't use often enough... I waited till I went to bed last night to take the Vicodin though as it is a strong one (strongest that them make). I knew it would help me get to sleep and it did just that!

We had quite a bit of rain last night and again this morning, but the sun is up now and all looks good!

Reaping what you sew...

With garden plans readily under way, I am taking some time now to get my canning gear in order again. I used to can years and year ago when I still lived in Florida. I did mostly tomatoes as they were so readily available and we used SO many of them. I probably canned in the neighborhood of 250 pounds of tomatoes a year. I did it all with a water bath canner though and not a pressure canner. Mom used to pressure can veggies all the time and she passed her canner on to me a few years back. It has been gathering dust and in need of a replacement sealing gasket. And, as I've not had anything TO can, I have never bothered with it. Now, with the garden prospect ripe in my mind, I realize I need to get this gear back in shape! I actually own two Presto pressure canners. I have a model 7-B which is a 16 quart pressure canner and a model 01/CA21H which is a 21 quart pressure canner. They both need new sealing gaskets. Both of them have a lid handle broken. One of them needs a side handle replaced. I have only one rack for the bottom and only one weight to go on top! SO, I went part shopping and found great deals from an Ebay dealer with good prices, free shipping on items after the first item, and good feedback scores (99.8 percent positive with over 74,000 auctions under their belt!). Who is this great seller, you may be wondering??? The name is BuyItNow. They had everything I needed but the rack--including a replacement blade assembly for my Krups blender! How cool is that! LOL Now, just got to PayPal them once the combined invoice comes by email!

Next, I've been poking around the internet looking for information on using a pressure canner since the books for these canners are LONG gone! I found good info on Presto's site. There's info there on both water-bath canning AND pressure canning various foods. There's also info on canning high-acid foods and low-acid foods at the Ball website (jar manufacturer). There is a nice short piece on the Univ. of GA website on Preserving Food as well. The Ball site has some canning recipes listed.

If anyone cares to comment on what they can and/or how they do it, I welcome the help!

Garden Progress 4?

I wish I had more to report... We've had SO much rain this last couple weeks! Rain is good, but it has come with chilly temps as well. And, with all the rain, I've not been able to get anything planted yet. I lost my little Roma tomato seedlings. Everything else is hanging in there... I have about 40 Mortgage Lifter tomato plants that are already about a foot tall and starting to get very root-bound in those little plastic trays. My pepper plants are about 6 inches tall and so far are okay in the trays. My cabbage and broccoli plants were too root-bound and I had to put them into single cups to carry them through till I can get them in the ground. My lettuce plants are starting to look a bit sorry... I've GOT to get those things in the ground this weekend or I'll lose more of them. SO, that is the plan--rain or shine... We're supposed to have some sun early on Saturday and then rain in the evening and again on Sunday morning. Then, it is supposed to clear up Sunday afternoon and be nice on Monday and Tuesday with sunny, clear skies and temps in the 70s. Hopefully by Tuesday, I'll be able to report that all plants are planted and I've gotten seeds in the ground too! Wish me luck!

Garden Progress--rows hoed!

Over the weekend, my daughter and son-in-law were here. Hubby was also home. Between me, my daughter (not the married one--she's prego!), and my son-in-law, we got the rows hoed! While my original plan was to get at least 10 rows, we ended up with 12 the full length of the garden and then 2 more that were about half the length of the garden. SO, now i have to revamp what goes where! The garden is about 27 feet across the end closest to the camera in that pic. It is about 47 feet long on the left side and almost 50 feet long down the right side. The two short rows are in the back, right--along the woodline. I think that is where I'll put the pumpkins!

Garden Progress Update 3

Today's progress is meager, but progress no less! I got seeds started for my cherry tomatoes and for cantaloupe plants as well. I have about 75 cherry tomatoes started and about 35 cantaloupes. I also cut a couple of barrels in half for strawberry container gardens. Now, I just need to figure out how many plants I can put in each of these and whether or not I have enough! I put about 100 pounds of potting soil in each half-barrel...

Garden Progress Update 2

I continue to progress towards my garden for the year... Today, I picked up seeds for
cherry tomatoes
carrots
cukes
pumpkins
cantaloupe
green beans (another variety)
yellow squash
corn

I also got strawberry roots and yellow onion sets. And, I got a flat of lettuce (9/10 of it was romaine and the rest was iceberg).

I still need seed taters and green onions. I think that is it!

I decided to put my strawberries in containers. I have some 50 gallon plastic barrels here that I'm gonna saw in half and use as 25 gallon planters. So, I picked up 15 bags (40 pound) of potting soil as well. SO, time to start working up the rows in the garden and cutting down those barrels!

Garden progress update

I spent Weds afternoon pulling stalky weeds out of the area where my garden is to be. Then, later Weds afternoon, the guy showed up with the tractor to plow it for me. I went on Friday and picked up some of my plants. So far, I've gotten the following:
peppers--sweet/bell, chili peppers, and jalapenos
cabbage
broccoli
tomatoes--roma and regular

I also got seeds for the green beans (tenderette) yesterday. This week, I'll pick up some romaine lettuce plants (they had them at the grocery store on Friday, but I was waiting to see what the nursery had). I will also pick up seeds for cantaloupe, corn, yellow squash, and cucumbers. I still need seeds for either cherry or grape tomatoes (LOVE those babies as a snack or in salads). And, I've got to get some onion sets too and get those in the ground ASAP.

I'm still up in the air on whether or not to do the following:
strawberries (because of needing to order the plants and the struggle to keep the critters away)
carrots (we feed a lot of carrots to our rabbits)
potatoes (don't eat many)
pumpkins (probably both a jack-o-lantern type and kershaws for pies and such)
gourds (for bird houses next spring)

I thought about some sort of herbs but haven't a clue where to start. I don't use a lot of herbs in cooking, so it would mean being able to explore what I could DO with them if I grew them... I welcome suggestions on that one! (hint, hint--leave me a comment!)

Gardening Season Is Upon Us!

Being in West Virginia, we still aren't past the possibility of frosty mornings, but that time is approaching soon! It has been years since I've had a garden. Why? Because I was not able to properly tend to one and no one else around my home was interested in anything other than eating whatever came from the garden. They couldn't be bothered to pull weeds, water, etc... That was just too much work! And, it wasn't like they were the ones who had to try and make the grocery budget stretch to cover fresh produce! LOL SO, this year I approach gardening season 200 pounds lighter than the last time I had a garden. I am physically able to hoe, rake and tend a garden and I am SO looking forward to all that great fresh produce and the exercise gardening can be. Last year, I was fortunate enough to get some tomatoes and beans from a good friend and some from a family member, but it wasn't nearly what I would have been getting from my own garden. We could eat fresh veggies ALL summer in this house and it is an expensive endeavor to purchase them from the local grocers.

This year, my biggest hurdle in the garden will be keeping the deer out! I've got a great area to use that was part of our horse pasture, so it has already been well fertilized. I have access to my brother-in-law's roto-tiller, so no issues there. All I need to do is start buying seeds and put up the electric fence. What are YOU planting? Here's my shopping list for seeds at this point:

veggies--
tomatoes (both for slicing as well as cherry or grape varieties)
cucumbers (for salad use as well as for pickling--been 10 years since I made pickles!)
green beans (usually pole)
yellow squash
pumpkins
lettuce (probably romaine)
peppers (bell and hot)
perhaps some cabbage
okra
CORN!!

root veggies--
carrots (my rabbits need them!)
potatoes (probably just some red ones)
onions (green, red and white)

fruits--
cantaloupe
strawberries
maybe blueberries

I need to determine what I need to make good salsa... Anyone got a recipe? I know tomatoes, onions and peppers, but need to figure out more specifically which varieties of each work best for good salsa. And, I want to make and can my own spaghetti/marinara sauce as well this year... I hope to find some good recipes for both the salsa and the marinara sauce!

We will also be purchasing and planting some fruit trees this year. I have meant to do this every year for the 8+ years we've been here and it just never has happened. This year, things are different. It WILL get done this year even if it is just a couple to get me started!