If you can't beat them, eat them

Modern Farmer.
It's a farm journal I get that I like a lot.
It is both informative AND quirky, which seems strange, but they do it very well.
If you want to check them out, here is a LINK for you.

Today's issue
Modern Farmer: The If You Can't Beat Them, Eat Them Edition.

Slime Fight: How to Manage Slugs and Snails

By Brian Barth on May 6, 2015

BLAAAAHHHHH!

and

Blahahahaha!

July's Bounty

The yard and garden have plenty to offer these days.
And thanks to a couple of plastic owls I have hanging in the fruit trees, all the fruit is ours this year!

Snail Trouble

I made pesto for dinner tonight.
Lots of basil in the garden these days, and it's just too hot to cook, so pesto is the perfect dinner.

I picked it all, brought it in, washed it, stripped off all of the leaves, and loaded it into my food processor. A triple batch. Then, as I was cleaning off the garlic I spotted this in my sink.

Yep, I jumped! And yelped. Not that I am scared of snails mind you. On the contrary, I am a wicked snail killer. But good grief...a snail in the sink. That's a first. And completely unexpected. It must have come in on the basil. (And yes, my old porcelain sink always looks like that. Trust me, it's clean.)

Now here's the thing. I understand organic. I understand home grown and hand picked and perfectly imperfect. And I KNOW that bugs crawl around on stuff. And I am okay with that. But the possibility of a second snail in the blender with the basil...oh boy. That is a whole different matter!!!

Fortunately, I had not blended it yet, so out it all came...basil, oil, parmesan, pine nuts....all of it. For a good sifting through. For peace of mind. For verification. For edibility.

And all was well. Unless you count the snail. Things didn't go well for him. He got a free ride in the garbage disposal. YIKES!
And yes, if you must know, I am now a little freaked out about the garbage disposal!!

Harvest Season

It's that time of year again, and the garden is busting with its bounty.
The tomatillos are  are practically marching themselves into the kitchen.

And that can mean only one thing. Chile Verde!!
And then it means chile verde omlettes.
And chile verde chicken quesedillas.
And green enchiladas.
And oh yum-yum all winter long!

And so it continues...

Remember when I was fretting day and night over that little mama squirrel with a nest of babies? (Memory-Refreshing link here.)  And when my friends gave me some good solid advice about squirrel management? (More memory-refreshing here.) And the apricot debacle of 2012 (again with the refreshing.)

Well I now have another reason to regret that foolish choice, and here it is....

We were at Spring Market in Portland when this happened. These cherries don't usually ripen until Memorial Day weekend, so we had plenty of time to get home and get them netted. But, the squirrels apparently like them pink-ish and sour.

Now this probably was a combination of squirrels and birds, but you can bet those darn squirrels were in the mix. Does anyone know where I can get an owl? A big hungry one???

L is for...

Lilacs

One of my all time favorites!

Too Many Peppers

We have had an absolutely endless Indian Summer here on the central coast. And when I say endless, I mean endless! We are looking at the end of October and we still have temperatures reaching 80 degrees.

All that heat and sunshine has kept the garden growing like gang busters. I have been ignoring my peppers since I picked right after we got home from vacation because we had so many then, that  I was totally swamped. Here's a little flashback in case you forgot:

There were a couple hundred peppers in that one picking. And now, here we are again:

Oh boy! Peppers galore.
Does anybody have any ideas? I have already roasted, pickled and poppered to my limit.
Or better yet, does anybody want some? Please??!!

Home Again

We had a house-sitter taking care of our home while we were gone. A very responsible one. One who may or may not be related to us. He was supposed to take care of the chickens, keep the plants alive and harvest the garden for himself.

As you can see, the harvesting plan did not work out.

So, I have a day of cooking and canning ahead of me. Thanks goodness it is only supposed to be sweltering today!

Day 6: More Gardening

Here are a few unusual beauties.

And here are a few beautiful beauties.

My guy said that if he was a garden, he would be this one.

I said that I would be this.

Explains a lot, doesn't it.

Day 6: Montreal

We made a trip into Montreal with the intention of seeing it all. But, it took us 3 1/2 hours to get there, and then we had to pop back into the US to tie up a few loose ends, so the day got a little tight. We did get to enjoy a chunk of the botanical garden, but seriously, this is by far the biggest and BEST one we have ever seen and we only just scratched the surface.

This is post is especially for you, Becca. Enjoy.

It appears that you can bonsai anything!
Let's do it!!

The Heart of the Season

We are right in the heart of harvest season, here in our little corner of the world.

And that means we are also in the heart of canning season.
Today it is all about tomatoes and tomatillos.

Maybe tomorrow I can trade my jars and rings for a needle and thread.

Put Up

This week's canning is done!

I ended up with 22 quarts of tomatoes, 9 quarts of Italian tortellini soup, 13 rice bowls (packed into pint jars), 1 gallon of roasted anaheim peppers, 4 pints of pickled jalapeno rings, 1 pint of pepperoncinis, 2 quarts of chicken stock, 2 dozen zucchini muffins and 2 dozen zucchini mini-muffins. Whew!

This is my first time freezing unbaked muffins, so I really hope that it works out like I think it will. I did surf blog-land to find out how other folks were doing it, which is one of the best things about the internet...A wealth of experience at your finger tips!!

Here is my new favorite recipe for zucchini muffins. I think that they are the best ones I have ever eaten! Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Zucchini Poppy Seed Muffins:
2 c flour
3/4 t salt
3/4 t soda
1/4 t baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c oil
1/2 c buttermilk
3/4 t vanilla
3/4 t cinnamon
3 T poppy seeds
1 1/2 c of zucchini
Bake in regular size muffin tins at 400 for 18".
(Of course, I used a very generous measurement of zucchini. And whole wheat flour-Prairie Gold, which is THE BEST whole wheat flour in the world. It is grown by Wheat Montana . You can check them out here.)

Happy Baking.

The Day's To-Do List

The morning's harvest.

Well, not the tomatoes. We have no tomatoes.
Plants....yes. Green tomatoes....yes.
Red, ready to pick and eat tomatoes...no.
These tomatoes are a gift from my mom.
Thanks a million, Mom!

Now, my day is going to be all about "putting up" all of this produce.

Giant zucchini and Armenian Cucumbers.

I am thinking soup, bread, rice bowls and salad.


Pepperoncinis.

I am thinking pickled, like Mezzetta.


Bell Peppers.

These will just go into the fridge for my guy's AM omelets.

Green Beans.

I am thinking soup and rice bowls.

Jalapenos.

Definitely pickled, for future nachos!

Yellow Squash.

Yep, soup and rice bowls.

And this guy....

Well, he is gonna keep me company.
I have worked with him before. He is an excellent helper.

And in case my guy Jason gets tired, my boys Troy and

Eddie are waiting to jump in an keep things moving along.

Turns out, good help isn't all that hard to find after all!

I didn't anticipate this....

I have two lemon trees.
I've had them forever. Ok, maybe just 7 or 8 years.
But look at them. Scrawny. Lemon-less. Unhappy.

I have tried lots of different things to make them happy.
Fertilizer. More water. Less water. Different locations.
And nothing seems to help.


But I am not one to give up. Not on lemon trees. So I am off and running with
Plan Q.

I have recently moved them out to the big new garden. And when I say that I moved them, what I mean is that my guy moved them and I supervised. I am an excellent supervisor.

Now, it is all sun, all the time. That seems like a good plan.
But the best part of the plan revolves around a story I heard from a friend's mom.

It seems that she too was living a lemon-less life. Pitiful trees that produced nothing or close to nothing. But then one year she had a freezer fiasco and everything in it thawed and spoiled before she realized it. She had a LOT of mackerel tucked away in there. Mackerel that she had shipped home from Russia when she was out visiting family. Because you just can't get good mackerel in America. But now, it was all spoiled. So instead of letting it go completely to waste, she took it all out and buried it under her lemon tree. And KA-BOOM. That lemon tree was transformed into a super-tree, producing grapefruit sized lemons for the next 10+ years.

So, I decided that this was the plan for me. But where in the world was I going to get a freezer full of spoiled Russian mackerel?? Hmmm..... Then one day as I was contemplating this fish dilemma, I saw two high school boys that we know pull up in a big red pick-up truck and load up my guy's kayak. Hmmm.....I happen to know that both of these boys were born with fishing poles in their hands. And they obviously had some sort of arrangement with my guy. Hmmm....I was starting to feel a plan come together.

So, I asked my guy what was up with the boys and the kayak. "Ocean fishing" he says. Hmmm....

"Babe, do you think the boys actually catch any fish."
"Oh yeah. Billy says they killed it last week."
"Huh...Do you think they would be willing to bring me the guts and heads and stuff?"

This is when I get the look. THE look. You know the one that says "How is it possible that this is my lot in life."

"Um, why would you want guts and heads and stuff."
"To fertilize the lemon trees."
"And who is going to do this fertilizing?"
"Well, I was thinking...you."
"Oh great."
"But listen, I would be willing to pick all of the giant lemons that we are going to be getting for the next 10 years. All by myself. You won't have to help at all."

I got THE look again and then he said, "I'll ask them."

So, sure enough, last week the boys showed up with guts. And heads. And other parts. 30 pounds of super gross parts to be exact. Oh, it was gross. And stinky. Real stinky. Hmmm...my friend's mom did not mention this little tidbit.

My guy goes out and buries them quick-like, before we stink up the whole neighborhood. But they still stink! It is like the smell is just oozing out of the ground. It is so yucky. Unless you happen to be a little black dog. In that case, it is like a little slice of heaven.

Everyday when I go out to my garden she comes with me. She LOVES to go to the garden. She races ahead and runs laps around the whole thing while she waits for me to get there and open the gate. Then when I let her in she runs laps around the rows, and rolls in the mulch, and chases lizards, and eats the strawberries right off the plants.

But now that we have that smell...well it is a whole different game. She still runs ahead, but when she gets there she just paces at the gate waiting for me.

And when I let her in, she goes right to the smelly spots. And she...



It's like she just can't get enough! It is pure doggie-heaven.
(If you come by to visit me, DO NOT pet the dog!! But if you forget, don't worry, you will have a lovely little smell all over your hands that will remind you.)

And it is not just the dog. Look at this...


Somebody else wants in. I don't know who ripped this hole in my fence but I am pretty sure I will recognize the intruder if I come across him/them. Hopefully, it is a raccoon or a fox and not another dog from the neighborhood... My poor unsuspecting neighbors.

And one more thing. Now we have flies!! We've never had flies. Not even when we had a horse. But now, it's like a plague. Who knew?? Flies prefer fish guts to horse poo...

So, all of this to say that I am starting to regret this plan. It is sorta grossing up my life...Man, I hope I get some lemons!!