Digging in the Dirt

Not much going on. Stayed in the City this weekend. Made yogurt yesterday. I wanted to dry some sage & oregano as they are going crazy in my whiskey barrel planters but we had errands to run in the afternoon & I just ran out of time. I did try a new Tart recipe ... Beet, Goat Cheese & Onion from the spoonfulblog.com.

It was very tasty but extremely time consuming to make. I had made the pie crust dough earlier in the week & had it in the fridge. Otherwise that would have added even more time. I am not a beet fan. I really really want to like them but just don't. I had received some Chioggia beets in my Veggie Bin last week and decided to make the tart. The linked recipe calls for separate tartlets but I only had a large size. I just increased the amount of goat cheese & used onions instead of leeks.

Other than that, we have an area along our driveway that is bare & we decided to put in daylilies. Found some on Craigs List & we drove to the 'Northside" this morning to pick them up. We decided on a white variety for along the driveway & some red ones for the end. We wound up with 33 plants which took about an hour to get in the ground.

One of the peace  lilies in the front.

My sister had given me three large peace lily plants from Brooke's funeral. One is placed on  my back porch but I really didn't have room in the house for the other two so we planted those in a shady area in the front yard. Hopefully they will make it.

On the other garden front, none of my herbs sprouted when I originally planted them. I chalked it up to my seeds being old. But, I really need basil throughout the summer so I decided to try again. Just in case the seeds were old I put a lot of seeds in each TP roll. Well wouldn't you know it, they came up like gangbusters this time! I gave away one roll & transplanted the rest this afternoon - 60 basil plants. Yes, you read that right ... 60. I had to double up on many because I ran out of small pots. I also transplanted 12 dill, 10 parsley & 8 thyme. Someone had also given me some tomato tree seeds that is supposed to be a perennial. Yeah right. I've never heard of them but of course I have to give it a try. I had 4 seeds, 3 came up so I transplanted those as well. We'll see what they do. All are back under the grow light right now.

Garden update: Just went outside to harvest some more Chinese Cabbage & Broccoli seed & noticed something new.

I rescued this butternut squash from the compost bin a couple of months ago & just stuck in down in one of the whiskey barrels. With the warmth we've been having, it has really taken off the past few weeks. Upon looking closer, look what I spotted.

The original squash was also in one of my Veggie Bin deliveries over the winter. I'm 95% sure it isn't an Heirloom but is probably organic. can't wait to see what it will do from here. There are 2 or 3 smaller blooms on it as well.

Greg bought this Himalayan Salt block from a Groupon that he found. You are supposed to put on a cold grill or oven, heat & then cook on it. We are going to try some cod on it tonight. Will post on how it does.

That's about it. Oh, except we got a call that our Driveway at the Country House is almost finished. We can drive on it but it will need a top cover of some sort. We're thinking maybe the least expensive way to go will be concrete aggregate if we can find some.

Beavers, Over Grown Garden Plot & Worms

I wanted to grow some worms so I found a guy to buy them from (The Worm Pin - you know instead of a King Pin). Yes, that's exactly what his business card said. Anyway, I bought them from him & he was very passionate about worms. I had read up on what to do & the instructions were basically all the same but not very detailed. I had some old 18 quart bins that I used. It just wasn't working very well. I have two of these bins with proper holes drilled but the worms just didn't do very well in them (yes, I had covers on them at the time). They didn't completely die but they weren't frolicking either.

Enter in a new friend! I gave her a few plants since hers had died. She saw my pitiful setup & took pity on me. She built me a worm hotel just like hers. It's the same basic principal but much more compact. when I get ready to add another layer (I want 3 processing bins) I'll take pictures. Keep your fingers crossed these do better.

We went to the Country House this past weekend. The grass & weeds are definitely growing. These pictures show three weeks worth of sun & rain.

This bed is the one we just covered w/paper then added leaves, poo & straw/hay. I thought the paper was to prevent the weed from coming up! Once I was down on my hands & knees inspecting these weeds I realized that most of this was oats sprouting from the poo that I had put down. I didn't have time to compost it before adding it so I'll just have to tackle removing it until it's broken down into compost. There was also some bermuda (boo!), & other weeds that birds had obviously 'dropped'. I was expecting the birds leftovers but was surprised about the horse poo. What I added to my compost bins broke down quickly & beautifully. Oh well, live & learn, no harm no foal(sp?).

As I may have mentioned before, this property was last used as farmland. That patch of trees in the above picture are the only trees ON property. There are several along the fence line but none on property. We need shade in some form so we have slowly been buying trees to eventually give us shade at various points. One place we wanted some shade was down by the pond. I have always loved weeping willow tress so we decided to put 3 down there. We bought more mature tress (aka more $$) so they would have a jump start on the shade thing.

Earlier in the week I get a call from my Dad (he was up there for about a week) that one of the willow tress was 'down'.

This is what it looked like last year (it had been in the ground for 2 months & doing great).

This is what it looked like when we arrived.

I propped it back up. The stupid beaver that decided to 'chop' it down didn't realize that it was attached with wires to stakes to keep it somewhat straight in the wind & he couldn't carry it off. He picked what he could off of the left side of the tree, while on the ground.

Here's his handy work. A lost cause ($$ down the drain).

Oh well, my Dad placed blocks around the other 2 & hopefully they won't try to get them as well.

Plus, Greg & a couple of cousins went out around dusk & displaced at least one of them.

We think there is at least one more & an otter & a gator in the pond. We have to have spend more time up there! Plus, we have at least a hundred turtles that have moved in. Not to mention the 6 or 8 rabbits up by the house.

We have a wild kingdom around there!

The driveway is moving along slowly but you can almost drive the whole way. We'll need to add a top layer of gravel or something to keep it from washing away with the next storm. More on that later.

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.

Comstock Ferre & Sandwich Bread

This past week, I was in Hartford, CT on a business trip. Had a bit of sleet & snow & of course, cold. Everyone up there is pinning for Spring very badly. I'll admit the snow in the woods & parks was beautiful but I wouldn't want it in my backyard in March either!

While there, I took the opportunity to visit  Comstock Ferre Seed Company in Wethersfield, CT.

They are a very old company (selling seeds since 1820) and were purchased by Baker Creek a few years back. It's so nice to go in there & just browse.

Wouldn't you love a couple of those seed bins?

They also have a nice selection of antique garden implements & I wish they marked what everything was. I just had to use my imagination. The seed selection was sparse but I was able to purchase some seeds to add to my inventory.

Overall, had a great meetings with happy clients, nice dinners w/my travel companion & travel wasn't a hassle.

After getting home late & realizing that I had not asked Greg to water my veggie plants, so I watered them at midnight & then not getting to bed until around 1:30p this morning,  I decided to stay home today. After the morning conference calls, what to do, what to do? Experiment with more bread making!

I purchased a Pullman Loaf Pan last year but was too intimidated to use it.

This pan makes a uniformly shaped sandwich bread so I decided to try a recipe today.

Bread cooked.

Out to cool.

Hey it worked! I'll let you know how it tastes after breakfast tomorrow.

I also gained another follower while I was gone. Cherie Campbell decided to hit my follower button. Cherie, it doesn't appear that you have a blog, but if I am mistaken, please let me know.

Glad to be home! Tomorrow we are headed to St. Augustine to purchase a few vegetables at our favorite produce stand ... County Line Produce, just outside of St. Aug. & then off to the farmers market at the Ampitheatre & last but not least a bit of lunch at our newest favorite restaurant - Gas Full Service (no website, FB only). They serve only local food (meat & produce) & are excellent!

Expecting rain this weekend. Plan to catch up on blogs while it's raining on Sunday.

I was Homesteading Hannah for the Day

I was home from work today & decided to do a few things.

Dehydrating - I had received more carrots from the CSA & also dug up some from our garden (about 10 or so little fat stumpy ones). I also had some green bell peppers & cubanelles that we weren't going to eat any time soon. Also had a 1/2 bag of frozen peas I wanted to try.

Yogurt - I was out so I bought a 1/2 gallon of raw milk yesterday on my lunch hour.

Plants - Needed to start hardening them off.

Laundry - Every time we go to the Country House, I get behind in laundry as Saturdays are generally laundry day around here.

Bread - We are out, so instead of buying I decided to make some.

I got up a little late, around 7:00 (hate the time change). And, here was my day ....

- Made coffee & fed the cat(s). One is ours & another just eats here.

- Took out milk for yogurt. Took out chicken breasts to thaw for dinner.

- Washed, peeled & sliced the carrots. Started the water to boil, to blanch.

- Washed, seeded & de-veined & sliced the peppers.

- Rinsed the peas & put on a towel to dry.

- Blanched the carrots & spread on a towel to dry.

- Got dehydrator out & arranged the veggies on all 9 trays. Turned on for 6 hours.

- Warmed milk to 180 degrees (watched carefully so it never boiled). Let cool to 110 degrees.

- While milk was cooling took plants out of rack & put on patio table to harden. Noticed they were a bit dry & had some bugs flying around. Watered dry plants & tried to spray my homemade concoction of garlic, cayenne, diotamacious earth & dish detergent. It was stopped up so started straining process through a coffee filter.

- Took out & chopped frozen veggie for worms.

- While waiting for concoction to strain, tempered leftover yogurt & mixed into the cooled milk.

- Put yogurt in containers & filled mason jars w/hot water & put in a cooler.

- Concoction still straining so I warmed the whey from the last time I made yogurt & made the bread with it.

- Put bread in a bowl to rise.

- Put strained concoction back in sprayer & sprayed plants.

- Fed worms.

- 45 min conference call.

- Warmed & ate leftover lunch.

- Divided bread dough. Rolled out 8 herb rolls for dinner (w/dried herbs from a few weeks ago) & put in a baking dish to rise. Rolled out 2 loafs & put in bread pans. Put one in fridge & left the other one out to rise.

- Cut tops off beets (from CSA as well). Took turnips out of fridge (from CSA 2 weeks ago).

- Another 45 min conference call.

- Put loaf of bread in oven. Checked dehydrating veggies.

- Took compost material to compost bin & added leaves.

- Took bread out of oven.

- Started taking veggies from dehydrator. All done except the peas, put those on for another hour.

- Cut chicken breasts in 1/2, seasoned, made a marinade & put them in to marinate for a couple of hours.

- Peeled & cut up beets & turnips. Seasoned & sprinked w/olive oil.

- Strung beans for dinner.

It's 6:00 & I just realized I never started even one load of laundry. And, I still need to make dinner, take plants in, put dried veggies in mason jars, drain the yogurt & put in containers. Glad Greg is home so he can help!

In addition to keeping up with the dishes, I did stop to heat & eat leftovers from the night before (pork tenderloin w/sauteed squash & onions). But, it has been one busy day! I guess that's what I get from trying to do it all in a day. I should have washed, peeled & sliced the veggies last night. That would have saved at least 1.5 hours.

Regardless, it was a productive day!

I felt like Mama Pea, Leigh, Jane, Canned Quilter, Mary Ann, Michelle, Sandy & kymber all rolled into one. I don't know what I would do if I had animals to take care of too!

p.s. We did make some progress on the garden over the weekend. Got the blocks straightened (a relative term) & the hay bales torn down. I'll post on that separately.

Putting the cave before the cheese & It's not a Squeezo but ...

No new news on the Garden Prep, Driveway or In-laws move. Weather & life have gotten in the way. We have had over 18" of rain at the Country House since we started the driveway (about 4 weeks ago). We should have put it in last summer when there was an 18" deficit ;)

I decided to test re-hydrating a few of my carrots. It works!

Top - dehydrated / Bottom - looks just like the original!

On another note, it's windy & COLD. If it was just cold I would be a happy camper. But, the wind makes it miserable. Woke up to 33 degrees w/wind gusts 16 -20 mph & it's supposed to be 28 tomorrow morning. I know that's not anything like many of you guys are dealing with, but for us here in the Southeast, that's COLD. But it's going to warm up to normal, in the upper 60s w/lows in the upper 40s, the next week. I like those temps & am looking forward to Spring but dreading the heat & humidity that comes afterwards. My little seedlings are growing & the plan was to start hardening off this weekend but with the cold temps, I'll wait to start next week.

This was a typical week for me ... Estate Sales Thursday at lunch & Friday afternoon. I try leave work around 3:00 on Fridays & if there is sale nearby, I'll stop. Found a mini muffin pan & 'like new' blanket at one -- ho hum. Then went to one at a very eclectic house where 2 nice gentlemen used to live. There was life sized Betty Boop in the foyer, Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in 1 bedroom & Adonis like memorabilia in another bedroom. However, the kitchen had a lot of nice items, all priced too high (this particular vendor isn't apt to discount unless it is a REALLY high dollar item). I didn't need a Kitchenaide 620 mixer. This particular model sells new for around $800 & they had it listed for $445. I guess that would be a bargain to some, but like I said I don't need one as I already have a lesser one that works just fine for me.

While I continued to browse, I came around the other side of the kitchen & I saw it! It's something I have had on my Craig's List items for quite some time & NONE ever show up. I even mentioned that fact over at  5 acres & a dream a week or so ago. Well, there she stood,  the same brand that Leigh has (but w/o the strainer attachments).

It's a Roma & I got it for $20 & if it's been used, you can't tell. Woo Hoo! 

Now the bad news. I know when I see something that I think will get good use I should just go ahead & buy it (if it's a decent price). I've lost too many deals by not acting quickly. Well, I happened to notice a dial gauge on a pot in a partially closed cabinet. I pulled it out & it was a 21 qt. Presto Pressure Canner! It was one of the older models but was in great shape. It didn't have a price. The vendors were busy & I was on my lunch break so I walked away w/o finding how much they wanted. Told Greg about it & he said that we should ride back over there Saturday morning. We did, & it was gone ;( Oh well, they probably wanted $75 for a $110 item. 

After the Estate Sale we headed to my bosses house. He just remodeled his kitchen & had an old wine cooler that he wanted to give me. Yes, I said give me! 

I have a smaller wine cooler that is stocked w/wine so didn't really need another one for that purpose. But, I have been reading about cheese making & have learned that if you don't have an actual wine cave, root cellar or continually cool spot to age cheese, that a wine cooler will work great. So, even though I have never made hard or aged cheese & I don't have a source for milk yet, I have a place to age my cheese when I do get around to making it. Plus, the price was right this time.

Lastly, we are yet again making meat stock. This batch is the best yet. I used frozen meat pieces, leftover pork roast, porkchop bones, ribs bones & of course chicken bones. We cooked it in my roasting pan for about 28 hours, cooled, skimmed off the fat, warmed & canned 12 pints this morning. 

I put Tattler lids/rings on 2 of the pints as a test. The only real difference in instructions that I can tell so far, is that you tighten the outer ring as soon as you take them out of the canner. Crossing fingers that they work as advertised. Of course, the real test is the 2nd, 3rd, etc. uses in the future.

I also saved all the bones I had used & put those in the crock pot, covered w/water last night. Today, we are trying our hand at making mock demi glace with that bone broth. We started with about 2 quarts of triple strained bone stock & it has been simmering for about 6 hours & reduced by a little more than 1/2. It doesn't seem to be thickening though, so we'll see. Probably not enough marrow left in the bones.

It's marinated ribeyes, twice baked potatoes & roasted asparagus for dinner. Going to cook those steaks quickly, cause it's windy & COLD outside.

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.