This and That (picture heavy)

Not too much going on lately. Greg & I had the crud back to back but are now on the upside & feeling better. Garage fridge went on the outs (making a whole bunch of noise) so we decided to replace it with another used model. The old one was over 30 years old so I guess it stood the test of time. The new one looks like someone didn't like it very much but it works well (so far, knock on wood). And, it was only $250 & the same size as the old one so it fit in the same space.

We decided not to head to the Country House this weekend since not much has happened on the Driveway & no real projects to work on there. The last time we were there we did get the rest of the blocks somewhat straightened out & straw put on all of them. Not the best picture but there are 2 asparagus beds on the left & nine regular beds done. What a workout!

Got the tomatoes & peppers planted here at the City House, gave a bunch away & still have a few left over. Gave some to a friend near the Country House & he in return gave me some lettuce plants & some hybrid tomato plants. He also told me I could raid his compost pile anytime I want! I need to work on the asparagus beds so the next time I'm there I will get a load & top them off.

Several varieties of tomatoes in assorted pots.

Lettuce from a friend (there are actually 2 of these containers)

My herbs are doing well in the whiskey barrels.

Sage

More sage, oregano &  I think a butternut squash rescued from the compost pile.

On the food front I found a recipe for Baked Avacado Fries from Baked In. Her picture are much better than mine. Still need to take that food photography course. Regardless, they were delicious! And they were even good warmed up the next day.

I also got around to baking The Canned Quilters Cinnamon Flop recipe. I don't have an 8" round cast iron pan (only have a 6, 10, 12 & 14 rounds), so I made it in the 9" square pan. It was a little thinner than hers but still very very good. This is something that will definitely stay on the keeper list. It's easy to make & not too sweet.

Made roasted carrots, brussel sprouts & parsnips recently. In addition to being pretty, they were very tasty as well.

Also, bought a box of tomatoes from a farm down south & finally got to use my Roma Food Mill. It worked great & is definitely a keeper. Much easier than a plain old sieve. Almost as messy though.

18 quarts of sauce which reduced to 9 - frozen for now.

Also bought 40 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts from Zaycon Foods. If you haven't heard of this company, they sell directly from farmers to consumers out of trucks usually in Church parking lots. You order ahead of time & they schedule delivery on a certain day & time. They just started delivering to our area. The breasts are fresh, not frozen & were delicious. I decided to can the majority.

7 qts, 16 pints & 3 1/2 pints for tasting.

We had one meal from the fresh ones & decided to try one jar of the canned We made chicken enchiladas, which were very good as well.

As you can see, even though we were sick, we still ate like kings & queens. Got to keep up your strength you know!

Greg saw this at Gander Mountain recently & thought I would like it. If you can't tell, it's a Lodge pot holder/trivet. Yes, those are teeny tiny cast iron pans on it. Love it!

Lastly, we found some food grade 55 gallon barrels on Craig's list for $25 & picked them up yesterday afternoon. They are dark colored (will hold water well) & have screw on tops. We may go back to get a couple more.

It's raining here which will make for a lovely lazy Sunday afternoon. Hope everyone has a great weekend & still crossing fingers for spring to finally show up for our Northern friends.

I'm full & I even culled this year!

OK, I'll admit it. It hurts me to toss even the tiniest of seedlings. I want to give them a chance since I lovingly planted them & (in my mind) they are trying so hard. But, I realized that this year I just had waay too many seedlings & not enough room, so I culled. I had saved tomato & pepper seeds & also had leftover seeds in the packets.

Sorry for the bad pic. Southern light streaming in!

My plan is to plant one from the seed packet & one from saved seed (SS) to compare the plants & harvests. I have German Cherry, Reinstaldt Grape, & Park's Whopper tomatoes. Along with California Wonder Pepper that I am experimenting with. Plus, I planted a couple of new (to me) peppers (an Orange & a Yellow from Baker Creek). Plus one new tomato - Homestead from local seed supply store.

Even with culling I still wound up with well over 90 plants! I'll give most to friends since I don't have enough room here in the City & not ready for the Country. I've got to keep experimenting, right?

Full growing rack!

Not so much luck with my herbs. The only thing that came up were a few Cilantro & Flat Leaf parsley plants which got transplanted. No basil or thyme even came up. I'll take another stab at those.

I let my broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage & romaine from the 'fall' garden, go to seed but wasn't having any luck actually getting seeds ... until yesterday. I finally had the romaine get a few of the dead flower heads get that puffy white stuff & sure enough there were seeds in there! Boy, I need better light & better sight to do much lettuce seed harvesting. I think I got about 1/8 of a teaspoon from 4 or 5 heads.

The broccoli was flowering but I couldn't tell if it had 'gone to seed' until yesterday when one of the separated plants had these on the top. Are these broccoli seed pods?

Sure look like it to me. Note: My Seed to Seed Saving Book is at the Country House & I keep forgetting to bring it home. And, I just haven't made the time to search the internet.

Nothing is happening with the Chinese cabbage or cauliflower & I may have to give up on those as I need to prepare the beds for the spring planting. Plus, I've read that you shouldn't let too many Brassicas(sp?) go to seed at one time.

Our cat (Rister) decided to lay in the area of one of the beds that I had covered due to the cold weather this past weekend. Carrots, onions & leeks under the cover, w/garlic in the uncovered area.

Just taking a nap

What do I hear?

Since we were going to have a hard freeze, I decided to cut back my already growing herbs - Rosemary, Oregano, Sage & Thyme (very little). I dehydrated them on Saturday, Sunday & Monday & wound up w/ 1 qt. + 1 pint Rosemary, 1 1/2 pt Oregano, 1/2 pt Sage & 1 few tablespoons of Thyme.

Also had a couple of bananas that were reaching ripeness & decided to make banana bread using the small pans I had recently bought at an Estate Sale (4$ for 20 of them!).

On another note, moving In-Law's porch & extra buildings is proving to be more difficult than expected. But it is, so we'll deal with it. Should have everything (even the Crepe Myrtles) out of their current location this coming weekend, crossing fingers & toes.

The Driveway at the Country House was cleared but it has been raining almost every day since. Too wet to work. There are 2 VERY wet spots that will need to be filled in & the one over the actual branch will also need a large culvert installed. Plus, they are estimating 30 - 50 loads of dirt will need to be brought in! It all just sounds like much more than we had estimated cost wise. But, it has to be done, so something will be pushed aside until later.