Independance Day Week 12

IndepenDANCE because yes, it is a dance, with the seasons, nature, and the people around you.

1. Plant something – Brussels Sprouts transplants, Radish, Beets, lettuce.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Basil, green peppers, both dried. Pumpkin in freezer.

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers.

5. Preparation and Storage – Found taper candles, 98c. for 15. Yay!

6. Build Community Food Systems – Farmers market.

7. Eat the Food – Tomatoes. Dried potatoes added to stew (Yum!). cooked and mashed sugar pumpkins, with DD's help, for pie, muffins, and freezer.

8. Crafting – Crocheting (storage baskets, this time). Spinning. Sewing. Weaving practice. Basic, but still fun!

Independance Day Week 11

1. Plant something – nothing yet. Need to clear out the pots.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Watermelon dried. That will be the last one for the year.

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers.

5. Preparation and Storage – nothing.

6. Build Community Food Systems – Farmers market.

7. Eat the Food – Tomatoes. Running out of ideas for yellow squash & Zucchini.

8. Crafting – Crocheting. Trying to do more spinning – I have projects in mind that I cannot find the yarn for. Of course, I’m being real specific what I want

Starting to work through sewing pile – right now it’s a lot of hand-sewing, which slows me down.

Silly Me

I keep forgetting I can just post about what we're doing, even the 'normal' stuff. That was a bit of the idea, right? So, here we go.

One of the local stores had a Big sale on Strawberries, so I made more jam. I've now learned not to make jam from pureed strawberries - you can't tell where the foam stops and the jam starts. I now have foam above the jam, in all the jars. *sigh* Ah well. Lesson learned!

Nearly all the fabric is washed and ironed. I've got one shirt almost ready to sew, just need to cut out the sleeves. Most of my sewing right now is actually repairs - beads coming off a skirt, fixing small holes before they get bigger. Hopefully I will get to some of that this weekend.

There are piles of watermelon rind in the fridge. I've also got another watermelon on the table, and the market is tomorrow. I doubt I will process anything tonight, as the fridge is full and I'm tired. So, tomorrow perhaps.

I did get my stashes a bit better organized. Once we get that last bolt for the treadle the Sphinx is in, I'll be able to shut the table again. The Spinx has been on non-stop display for months, and while she is beautiful, I do also enjoy the 'smoothness' of everything being put away.

We did try a new recipe tonight - zucchini and yellow squash, half a red sweet bell pepper, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Italian seasoning, then steamed. Good, if perhaps a bit bland; I'll spice it up more next time (more seasoning may be all it needed; those were big squash!). Very colorful, and lovely on the plate.

Independance Day Week 10

1. Plant something – nothing yet.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Dried watermelon chunks, saving rinds. Bought strawberries on sale; made strawberry jam. Dried fresh basil from farmers market.

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers.

5. Preparation and Storage – nothing.

6. Build Community Food Systems – Farmers market.

7. Eat the Food – Steamed squash for dinner, sliced cucumbers are now a staple snack. Watermelon. Lots of sliced tomatoes. Ate some of the stew I had canned - delicious! Note to self, 1 qt stew feeds two people.

8. Crafting – Crocheting socks. Lots of crochet. Starting to work through sewing pile. Doing bit-at-a-time restorations of the treadle base the Sphinx is in.

Watermelons galore...

I've been seized by a compulsion to buy fresh watermelon every week. Despite the fact that we don't finish it that fast!

So, what can I do with all that melon?

I can make Watermelon Juice.

I can make dried Watermelon - remember Jolly Ranchers? They taste like that - Yum! Also, I'm using the rinds to make Candied Watermelon Rinds. (I can't find that recipe online: I got it from Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook.)

What can't be used for those is cubed and snacked on.

I can also make Watermelon Jelly - I just found this, and haven't tried it yet; the recipe is towards the bottom of the page.

Watermelons are a good source of:

1. Potassium
2. Lycopene
   
3. Vitamins A, B6, and C

I'm off to dice another watermelon :)

Scents of Basil

Basil - sweet, lemon, and purple - perfumed the air as I returned with my haul: Cucumbers, zucchini, more squash, an onion, Blackberry Butter for yogurt and sandwiches, hand-milled whole wheat bread (in the center), hodgepodge mini-tomatoes to delight my salads for the week. And of course, watermelons off to the side...

Balcony Gardening

I've cleaned the garden, mulched, and re-arranged. I do need to go back out and pull up the collards and cabbage - I lost them to cutworms. I hadn't taken any precautions, now I know better! And they ate them up in less than a week. Next time - toilet paper tubes around stalks, and cornmeal on the soil. Also more crushed eggshell might be a nice deterrent.

The picture shows the lettuce (since bolted) and a new parsley plant from the nursery. The wood in the front just looks nice and is essentially garden sculpture. Both of the garden stands you see were discards from others.

So, this summer I got a few salads worth of greens and a bit of chives. The fall planting will be when the heat breaks in September. I hope.


Related Links:
Self-Sufficiency Garden: Talks about gardening, including fruit trees, in small spaces like balconies and condo 'yards.' Includes specific varieties to try, and sources for them.
Journey to Forever: Very useful site. This page has links to more information and books about kitchen gardening in containers, without necessarily costing a great deal.
What to Plant Now: at Mother Earth News. Shows 8 US regions, and each region has suggestions for sowing (indoors or out) or transplanting, for March to September.
How Much Veg to Plant: at Grow Organic Food. Summarizes how much to grow to feed a family of two adults and three children, in regular garden rows, with suggestions for how much to harvest for each meal. The information can easily be used for most situations, I would think.