The Garden Runneth Over...

When we got back from our family vacation cruise to Mexico the garden had completely exploded. There was some of everything to pick. We picked the green beans and put some more in the freezer.

A day or so later we pulled beets and I baked them. I find that baking the beets gives them a better flavor and is not so messy. Boiling them leaves the stove covered in beet juice. After they had baked at 350 for about 90 minutes, I let them cool and then slipped the skins and hubby sliced them and put them into jars. We put a sweet pickle brine over them and popped them in the refrigerator. They will taste so good in a few weeks and we will keep some to have through the holidays.

We had enough small cucumbers to make a crock of dill pickles. We pulled dill from the garden and I gathered grape leaves from the vines. The hardest part is getting everything washed and packed in the crock. Then we pour in the cooled brine and wait. In four or five days they will be about half cured and we can start sampling them. I think they are best at about 10 days and then we put them in jars and into the refrigerator. They last in there for quite some time. We picked a few ears of corn but they are not quite mature. In a week or so we will try them again. The tomatoes are starting and soon they will be no stopping them. This garden has become a full time job!

Bear, Coyote, Mountain Lion. No Lie.

We had something happen here on our road that is cause for concern. Three llamas were attacked during the night. At first it was thought it was a mountain lion but after having the tracks looked at by a vet, they now think it was a pack of dogs. Hum...I don't know, but I had a mountain lion leap across the road in front of my car. Ron saw a coyote with a cat in its mouth early one morning on his way to work. We live in a rural area with a canyon and water close by so it attracts the wild life. Opossums are common. Last week we saw a skunk trundling across our patio at about 10 pm. He was really cute and later the aroma let us know he was still close by. I never found evidence of what he had sprayed but something sure got hit. Earlier this year we had a bear on our road. I can't imagine what will be next!

Johnny Loves ...

Johnny has recently been anxious to go into his dry lot. Now, usually he would rather not go over there because it is only sand. The dry lot is our attempt to keep his weight at a reasonable level. Left to his own devices in the pasture, he would eat 24/7. Well, something changed and he was eager to come off the grass and go to the dry lot. Seems the apricot tree that borders the dry lot is dropping ripe fruit and Johnny just trots over there and gobbles them up. I was worried about the pits but after watching for a while I saw him rub his mouth against his lower leg and the pit fell out. That explains that stuck on stuff I was trying to get off his leg when I was grooming him! Animals just amaze me. So much for our diet plan for Johnny!

Green Beans in the Freezer

The veggies just keep coming. About every other day we pick several baskets full. After sharing with our neighbors, we still had a heaping basket of green beans. So, we decided to put some in the freezer.

We snapped off the ends and blanched the beans for two minutes in boiling water.

We shocked them in ice water for a few minutes until they were cold.

Then we drained them, dried them and put them into freezer bags. Its a lot of work and I am sure glad hubby was helping. But now they are ready to pull out sometime this winter and we will certainly be thankful!

Zucchini Bread

I took several of those zucchinis and made two loaves of zucchini bread. I included raisins and walnuts and it makes a very moist and delicious bread. I put one in the freezer for later and we are eating one. It's a wonderful night time snack. My cousin reminded me of the fake apple pie my mom used to make using...you guessed it, zucchini. I am going to try that soon!

Patsy

Patsy is our little terrier mix dog. My folks adopted her in 2000 when she was about 4 years old. She is a little ball of energy and her tail never stops wagging. Since both my folks have now passed on, she lives with us and hangs by Ron like glue! She loves to run to the mail box when the mail lady comes because she gives her dog bones. Thank you mail lady...you are a highlight in Patsy's day.

Garden Produce

I haven't given you a picture of all of the garden rows for several weeks. On the fourth of July, the corn was well over knee high. I have seen some tassels and tiny ears developing. Hubby loves to stand in the garden and water things. It is soothing to the soul. I pick green beans, snap peas, yellow squash, zucchini and dill every other day. Looking forward to tomatoes, peppers and of course, the corn!

Happy 4th of July

Stir Fry

This was dinner for tonight. I made chicken stir fry with all these veggies. The pea pods just exploded into a great harvest. I didn't realize how many were ready until we started picking. The cucumber, kohlrabi and dill went in the salad.