Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Wandering Wednesday

Enter if you dare!
 It's been a really cool summer here. We've yet to reach triple digits around here which is pretty unusual for the end of July.  I'll take it though.  It's sprinkling now and the weather man's calling for rain up to two inches this afternoon and evening with temps in the 70's today.  Crazy!!

I don't think the tomatoes know exactly how to act. I haven't been covered up in them like I was last year. I noticed yesterday there were some more blooms set.  I haven't been able to put up any salsa yet, I keep waiting till I have enough tomatoes to make a big run of it.  I just want to be able to put up 12-14 quarts for the year. 

Random Lilly Picture

 I've been making up some Ro-tel with the tomatoes that are getting overly ripe. I really don't like doing them that way because there's really no consistency of taste between the batches. It's just that I'm not getting enough ripe to do a big batch yet either. It looks like after the rain clears out and it dries up a little I should have enough for them. One thing I do have plenty of is peppers.

Speaking of peppers I went out yesterday and picked almost a five gallon bucket full of jalapeno's, Serrano's and hot banana peppers.  There are enough still left out there in the garden to fill another one. I've got a couple of trays of each out in the dehydrator right now.
Another random flower picture for Sandy
It seems every year we get a flood of peppers.  Of course that's because I've been buying the plants rather than starting them from seed.  I've had very little luck starting peppers.  And when I buy the plants they come in 4 packs.  Which means we end up with enough peppers to feed the incoming masses of illegals flooding across the Texas border.

 I've been thinking of talking to the Mexican restaurant in town to see if they might be interested in buying some Serrano's and jalapeno's.  I've got two jalapenos plants that are putting out these gorgeous large peppers just right for stuffing. 


We need  to do some grilling soon so I can toss some stuffed ones on the pit.  Yummy!! Which reminds me...  I need to start saving the ones that are turning red so I can make some more chipotle peppers.  Those really turned out well last year and I've only got a tiny bit left from last year.

I didn't plant nearly as many onions as I did last year and now I'm regretting it. We use tons of onions around here and I find that I've not planted even 1/4 of the onions we need for the coming year.  Why?  I just wasn't paying enough attention to the time of year it was when I was able to find the onion sets. Before I knew it they had all disappeared from the feed stores and even The Evil Empire.  I'm hoping they'll show back up again for a fall planting but I don't really think they will. 

  I don't know why but folks around here just don't really plant fall gardens.  Weird, really. But then who am I to talk.  We haven't planted a fall garden since we moved here. It is hard to drag myself out in the sweltering heat we usually have to plant anything.

This year just might be different!  I planted another row (100 ft) of purple hull peas yesterday and have planted more lettuce and some spinach. 

 
 Once all the vine type plants keel over I'll work on getting some things in those areas.  It shouldn't be much longer as most are starting to die back already.

The corn did ok this year. It just takes so much room for so little corn.  We aren't big corn eaters around here anymore because most all corn these days is GMO.  I'll leave that discussion for another day. 


My dad sent this seed to us and has been growing it for a long long time.  It's wonderfully sweet and juicy.  We put up 8 bags (2 cups each) of cut corn and about 30 whole ears in the freezer.  We also found out that the rabbits LOVE corn.  I wish I'd have taken pictures of them devouring it.

OK that's enough to bore you to death for now.  I sit down sometimes and can't think of a thing in the world to write about.  Then once I start I can't seem to stop!  I've got some cucumber chips drying and they should be about done.  I've not done them before and am curious to try them. If they turn out good I'll let ya'll know!


27 comments:

  1. Now that is not boring at all. We all sit here, read about all your hard work in the garden. Being the sympathetic souls we are.....we all take a break, with a cold beverage.....as we share in your endeavors.

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    1. JPD I'm so glad that you are enjoying yourselves. I would hope that at least you will raise a toast with that cold beverage and drink one for me. I'm hoping you aren't sharing my endeavors by pointing and laughing!!! ;-)
      Sci

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  2. SCI,

    Hey girlie......love your flowers. Are the pink ones lily's too?

    I am so loving this weather, were expecting rain tomorrow too. This surely helps with not having to use water on the property.

    Is that all squash you have next to your bucket of peppers? Your local restaurant may snatch up all of your peppers.....give it a shot :-)
    Jalapenos are delicious on the grill stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with bacon YUM!!!!

    Look at all that corn, you did good with growing it. It's hard to get corn to really grow around here or at least where I'm at. I have a few stalks just about ready to harvest, their organic seeds from Baker Creek. I'm hoping they turn out okay!!!

    Are you having problems with birds targeting your garden this season? We were doing okay with netting on our tomatoes, then I gave some of the plants a hair cut (cut them down) and forgot to cover back the tomato plants with the netting, the damn birds nailed most of my big beautiful tomatoes.

    Sending hugs to you and Mars, and scratches for the cats and dog :-)
    Sandy

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    1. Sandy,
      Those pink ones are some that I really like. They were here before we moved here and grow every year to last a couple of weeks. The Orange day lillies unfortunately just last a few days and are gone. The pink ones grow on a straight stalk and have no leaves, just a stalk sticking up out of the ground. It seems to me that there must have been a flower lover who lived here once. Of course I'm only guessing as there is no real way to know.
      I've been enjoying this rain. It's been more like a sort of a mist since yesterday morning and they say it will stop this afternoon. Looks like they really had no idea what they were talking about though because they were calling for an inch or two. I have to remind myself that T Town is fourty miles northwest of us so I don't call the weathermen very accurate to our situation.
      You spied the squash!! hehehe Well it IS squash the problem is that it's a pile of that "orange" squash that is tough to cut, much less eat. I've been doling it out to the rabbits and the chickens. Not all the rabbits actually like it though so the getting rid of it is taking longer than expected. It seems most of the yellow squash has this weirdness. I've been able to get enough good stuff to fry, steam and bake but not enough to can. I've got a couple trays in the dehydrator but need to do a few more trays before all the plants succumb to the squash vine borer knock them all off day by day.
      I just love stuffed jalapeno's! Cream cheese and bacon yummmmy. To bad the bacon is over 4 bucks a freaking package and heading higher. grrrrr....
      The corn was Mars' to mess with. He was worried that they might not have been grown close enough, but they were. And boy are they tasty!
      You know it's funny. We have a wide variety of birds who live around here. Knock on wood but they have never targeted anything in the garden except bugs. Sorry to hear they are enjoying yours so much!! Especially those big beauties!
      Hugs to you and yours and a belly rub for the Mr Bean.
      Sci

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  3. Unfortunately, growing your own (especially corn) is the only way NOT to get GMO anything.

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    1. Gorges,
      Sadly you are right. I've heard figures that have the amount of GM corn grown in the U.S. at up to 90% of all corn grown. Why is it that countries around the world have been saying NO to GMO yet we are inundated with it. In the feed we give our livestock to the very food we eat, it is everywhere. I can't imagine that there are folks that still think it's some sort of conspiracy, and yet there are. *sigh*
      Sci

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  4. Sci - we see how you are... you only blog for us when its raining outside! :)
    Love to see the pics and hear your adventures.. I remain envious :)
    MapDude

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    1. Mapdude, of course I only blog when it rains! lol that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Not much in the way of adventures I'm afraid. It's terribly sad that you have a "black thumb" my friend. Do you still have those raised raised beds? It's never to late ya know.... or you could just pick up a magic marker and color your thumbs green! You guys work to hard anyway, ya'll need a vacation.
      Sci

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  5. Please do let us know about cucumber chips. I have been wondering how they would taste.

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    1. Cristy,
      I'll do a post on them in the near future. Although I will say I tried a couple while I was pulling them off the trays.
      Sci

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  6. I'll be interested, too, about the cucumber chips. I am going to have tons and am always looking for another way to preserve them. Your garden looks fabulous!

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    1. Susan,
      I hear you about new things to do with the cucumbers. You can only eat so many pickles! I'll have a post up in a few days about the chips, until then I'll just say Yummy!
      Take it easy,
      Sci

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  7. I gotta know.....how do you keep your garden weed free? The weeds kicked my gardening butt this year and big time! Your garden is doing a whole lot better than mine. It has been terrible for the past two years.
    Tiffany

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    1. Hi Tiffany,
      As far as the weeds go, I spend a ton of time pulling them. When we started this garden spot 3 years ago it was terrible. Bermuda grass is truly evil. We've been digging all that out every time it pops up. If it gets too bad Mars will till it up and then we go through it and pull or dig every weed (including the bermuda) out. He's also been tilling around the edges of the garden so we'll have like a barrier. It's taken a bunch of work but it gets better easier every year. We've been blessed with a very unusual garden season too. Much cooler temps have made it so much easier to work out there and we've not had to actually water much at all this year.
      Sorry yours has been so terrible. Hopefully it will be better next year.
      Sci

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  8. Beautiful. You've worked wonders, Pretty Lady.

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    1. Stephen,
      Thank you so much. I've missed you terribly and am so happy you are back. I hope all is truly well with you and your sweet wife.
      Sci

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  9. Your garden is still beautiful. I need to pick my peppers and I bet I have as many. The peppers have went crazy. I have 45 tomatoes and I have picked one tomato.
    I never have a fall garden either. I think by the time I have canned and done everything I just don't want to play outside anymore. It all looks wonderful though.

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  10. Farm Girl,
    I guess the peppers are loving this summer as much as I am. We've been blessed with amazing weather this year but everything got a late start. I really haven't been swamped with canning like I have the past couple of years. I've felt exactly the same way about putting in a fall garden. It's hard to get the "want to" in 100F temps.
    This year though I've only had one canner run of green beans. They are just now looking like they are going to really take off. Same with the other beans and peas out there. So I'm thinking I'll take a shot at a fall garden this year.
    Sci

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  11. About the onions: couldn't you use seed trays to start seeds about now? A packet each of red, white, yellow and sweet (Vidalia I guess for you). Then transplant into your garden in late fall for a crop next year. And then in Jan/Feb do the same for a fall crop. Got to be cheaper than bulbs or sets. By the way, I really enjoy your blog. Jeff

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    1. Hello Jeff,
      I hadn't really thought about trying to start them from seed. I've always been a bit intimidated by it. Probably because I've heard they aren't easy to start. I think I have some onion seed that came in a survival seed vault (can't remember the name of the company) as a gift a few years ago. I don't know how long the seed are viable but it can't hurt to try them anyway.
      Thanks for the suggestion! I think I'll dig them out of my seed stash and see what happens.
      Drop by anytime, Coffees on the stove and the cookies are on the counter.
      Sci

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  12. Have you canned any peppers? My friend cans jalapenos with water and some she pickles. She can use them all year long. I've never done it cause she gives me some!;)

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    1. tammielee,
      Peppers? But of course! I've run out of pint jars early this year (which is what I like to put up peppers in the best) So I've had to use quart jars. I don't like using them for peppers because Mars has at least 3-4 different kinds open at the same time. *sigh* Most years I'll plant at least some sort of sweet peppers like banana peppers. I didn't grow any this year. Just a couple of different kinds of bell peppers. Those I dehydrate and use once the fresh ones are gone. I'm going to be drying some of the peppers in that big bucket today.
      Thanks for stopping by!
      Sci

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  13. I have those flowers. Each stem has five to seven blooms. I have 36 stems in one flowerbed. They have three names--Naked Lady, Resurrection Lily, and ) Drat it, I forgot the last name). Naked Lady comes from the fact that there is no foliage when they bloom. Resurrection Lily is because the foliage completely dies back and practically disappears and then the one lone stem comes up, seemingly from a dead plant. Hmmm, maybe you already knew that.

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    1. Linda,
      Girl I want to thank you so much for letting me know what kind of lily's those are. I think they are so cool! I love how they just shoot up out of the ground. And they last several times longer than the Day Lily's do. And I like them even more knowing the name of them.
      Thanks and have a good day!!
      Sci

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  14. I love Ro-tel. I use it on lots of things, but I never thought about making it at home. I go over to North Carolina, to the discount grocery store, and buy it by the case. I can usually get it there for between ten cents and twenty five cents a can. I have to buy a good bit when they have it because it doesn't come in that often.

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  15. Harry,
    I am a ro-tel fan too. Last year I decided I would put up my own since we love it in things like a big pot of beans, etc. I really wouldn't know what in the world I would do without it. lol That sounds like one heck of a deal on grabbing your's!. Some things just go better with a bit of heat- yeah?
    Sci

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  16. Sounds as if you are as busy as myself.... garden looks great!

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