Believe it or not, we have one million volunteer tomatillo plants that are overloaded with fairly small but ripe tomatillos. They are easy enough to husk– even 1-handed– so today I will pick a few pounds and later this weekend, Mr. Big Food will turn them, along with some of our thousands of Hungarian and
Spied the first little one walking from L-R (E-W) across the Range. The the mom came across Then came the second little one. The little guys still have spots. Saw one of them late morning hanging around the side yard. Could be only the fawns were feasting on the okra; would explain why none of
Took them two days to finish off the blackeyed pea foliage– you can see the remaining stems in the left corner. I never would have believed they’d go for the okra leaves. Word to the wise. When you ask, “What won’t deer eat?” And some seemingly knowledgeable person rattles off a list of deer resistant
This is the big attraction right now. Zinnias. Tons of them, all volunteers. Randomly scattered all about. Butterflies galore. Stupid hummingbirds (don’t get me started). And silly little upside down goldfinches. I will let them go to seed and they will come again next year.
Originally posted August 2016 As I mentioned earlier, I cobbled together this recipe from several sources, though the basis is from the little cookbook that accompanied our countertop electric ice cream maker. WATERMELON SORBET 3/4 C water3/4 C sugar3+ sprigs of fresh mint1 Tbsp grenadine2 1/2 lbs cubed watermelon1 Tbsp lemon juicemint or other garnish Make a
Mr. Big Food just retuned from cutting the Range, Southwest, and Hidden Pastures. He proclaimed, “Still growin’ down there.” I walked to the sink, pointed with my cast arm and said, “Look!” He got a big ol’ grin on his face and said, “Oh s^*t! Looks like we’ll be freezing more peppers!” Little know fact.
A few days ago two-handed me would have considered picking the blackeyed peas in there a nice little gardening challenge. I would have welcomed the opportunity to exercise some of my family-famous agility. Today one-handed me considers picking blackeyes rather problematic. Mr. Big Food offered to help by going into the thick of things. “Can
The Bermuda grass that was smothering the Liriope is under control– not eradicated, just very much under control. Nothing else is but I am partial to that edge of chaos look. Tumbling over the Liriope and some sedum are a couple of blackeyed peas. I think I planted three seeds. There are baby blackeyes! Unfortunately,
This is a newly hatched tomato horn worm. Lord knows I’ve seen hornworms, but I’ve never seen a freshly hatched one. It hasn’t even eaten enough to change color yet! The small black egg is where it’s from. The cream colored egg has not yet hatched. I can see the horn in the top two
SueK just commented, asking why I don’t just plant/scatter the pods? Good question. I know just where I’ll try that after they do the October bush hogging. Interestingly, it’s not the pods that fall to the ground, naturally. The seeds fall out of the pods. We’ll do the botany lesson some other time, though. If
Originally posted July 2015. You can never have too many pickle recipes. PRIZE WINNING BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES Makes 5 1½ pint jars 16-20 medium cucumbers, sliced ¼ inch thick10 small onions, sliced1/3 C canning saltIce cubes3 C vinegar2 C sugar2 Tbsp mustard seeds2 tsp turmeric2 tsp celery seeds1 tsp ground ginger1 tsp peppercorns Combine
I mentioned at the time that they would form very attractive seed pods. And so they have. All of the patches had gotten a bit unwieldy this year so I set out to pull it all out and cut off the pods so I could save the seeds and sow them elsewhere. Plenty have already
Originally posted July 2015. I believe I might have told you not to plant the whole packet of cucumber seeds. “When cucumbers are plentiful, put up a batch or two of crunchy dill pickles. They’re great for sandwiches and to garnish potato, tuna and other salads.”—The Garlic Lovers’ Cookbook (1980) GARLIC DILL PICKLES I Makes
I’d had three stalks of day lilies on the dining room table for about a week, and then pitched them before PEOPLE came out Sunday. It was actually quite a head-turner walking past. Poof! Treasure in the Trash. Take it where you find it. CLARIFICATION: They all looked dead to me when I threw them
I’ll be posting a few pickle recipes over the next few weeks. ‘Tis cucumber season, after all. This one was originally posted July 2020. It’s a good one! BH AND G DILL PICKLES AND KOSHER VARIATION FOR EACH QUART ½ lb 4 inch cucumbers (5-6)3-4 heads fresh dill1 tsp mustard seed1 C water½ C cider
What a morning! I’m whooped. Mr. Big Food and I worked together on the Shortcut to the Hidden Pasture. It’s really The J-Man’s job but, you know, The J-Man doesn’t live here anymore so we have to do what we have to do.
Lovely, isn’t it? Daughter C planted gladiolas in her garden several years ago. The kitchen window in the Apartment over looks the garden. She staggered the planting so they’ve been blooming for a few weeks now. All different colors, too. Always something to look at if you live in the Apartment! Or take a walk
A few days ago, I posed a question to SueK and JoBeth, both of whom are Country Mice. So Country Mice, if you had the opportunity to advise a City Mouse who is considering changing his ways, what would you say? The premise was that “current events are prompting some City Mice to reflect on
For the past three or four mornings I’ve been cleaning up the front beds. Long term objective is low to no maintenance appealing shrubbery with the never ending volunteer flowers. Meanwhile, as the gardenias, hollies, and Italian cypress have not achieved full size there’s space, so I plant blackeyes and okra in there. They will
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