Wednesday is my new friday...

   This is one of my Egyptian walking onions.  They are all beautifully coming to heads and twirly-whirlies, getting ready to put down roots and make more plants. The spinach has bolted, which means that it too thinks it's time to go seed.This is really the first part of the growing season in the central part of the country, but the weather has been way goofy, first cold too long, then very hot, then cool again...then we limped into spring and now the trends are a little more normal, except for way too much rain. Lots of growing things out there, and mostly adapting well to the goofiness. It was 95 yesterday, and only gonna hit about 78 today. Okay by me...I opened all the windows and turned on all the fans.  Blow out the stink and energize the house with the sweet smells of honeysuckle  and all manner of goodness.

 These are flowering Red Pontiac potatoes. My favorite potato in the whole world. Except for the fingerling Ruby Crescents.  We have about a 25 ft bed of these babies. They don't overwinter as well as the white potatoes or russets do, but we almost always manage to get them all eaten before we lose too many to rot.  I don't think I had to buy potatoes this past season until about April. And then I have only bought maybe 15 pounds, because I do still have sweet potatoes left, and am using them more and more.

  One of my 'maters.  I have a dozen plants that will be used for salsa and sauces and good ole diced tomatoes and okra.  (And yes, there are a dozen okra plants as well).  Not sure, but this might be the Nebraska wedding tomato.  Never seen it before, just liked the name, lol  I have a tray full of eggshells dried and ready to go around the base of the plants. Hopefully tomorrow or Friday I'll get that done. I have the gallon jar of voodoo juice sitting out on the back porch in the sun...cooking.  It's full of dried jalapenos, onions and onion skins, garlic and garlic skins and cayenne and dish soap. And water. It'll be ready to spray by Friday, and I'll give those squash bugs what for.

  And finally, this is my pepper bed. It has several kinds of bell peppers and 6 jalapeno peppers as well.  Someone (who obviously doesn't know me) asked me recently why on earth I had vegetables growing in my front lawn. I sweetly replied that it was for the same reason I had fruit trees growing in my front lawn. Because it's stupid not to. I have some great areas hither and yon around my place that are perfect for growing. I take advantage of that. My front "lawn" also has blackberries. And peaches. And apples and cherries.

  I don't need no stinking lawn.


  I have some marinara bubbling away in the kitchen, with the last 10 meatballs from the last batch I made soaking up the sauce. I'll quick cook a little pasta and the Irishman can have spaghetti and meatballs for his supper. I put lots of onions and garlic and bell peppers and basil and oregano in it and the smells permeating my little house are heavenly. There's the leftovers from the big salad I made yesterday in the fridge and that should satisfy his manly appetite.  lol  Maybe this weekend I'll make a big batch of meatballs and get them in the freezer, as I love having them to fall back on. The recipe I use (sort of) is on my food blog. I am quite guilty of not writing there for over a year. I need to get busy.

  Alrighty then. It's about time for me to finish up the odds and ends that are going on here and get ready to take the ride down to MissB's house for the evening. Then I'll have 2 days off and I'll love every minute of being at home, piddling in my gardens, and cooking. The Irishman is taking a trip up to see his dad in Wisconsin this weekend, so I'll be on my own for a few days.

  Well...on my own with 2 dogs and 8 cats and 5 chickens and a dozen fish and my cockatiel.

  Enjoy your blessings!



Namaste.

Harvest Home...

  Up early, trying to beat the heat...picked about 30 pounds of mostly Roma tomatoes, which I will grind and sauce tomorrow.  Picked a few big ones too, one of which I cut in to for a bacon and tomato sandwich on Italian herbed wheat bread I made last night. One slice covered the whole sandwich!!!  It was heavenly.

  I dug probably 10 pounds or more of Red Pontiac potatoes,  they are gorgeous. Picked another 7 or 8 pounds of green beans..will can again in a few days.  There was a small amount of okra and several cucumbers. I'm going to chop some of the big cukes today and can sweet relish.  I think I will dry some more of the smaller ones, as I was real happy with the way they turned out.  Picked a few peppers, but not many. The plants are loaded though, and the fruit is glossy and healthy and firm. Picked a few jalapenos too, and will make some fresh salsa tonight.

  And...it's only 10 AM.  lol...

  I have to go to Miss B's  at 1 and stay til 5.  She's been going through lots of old things and "finding" papers she's never seen before. Of course, she has seen them...she just can't remember.  This is really an experience for me, as all my grandparents and parents have died at relatively young ages, and I've not dealt with this up close much. It's horribly sad...she'll have little moments where she suddenly "remembers" that her daughter died in March or that her husband died last month...and she starts to grieve a little all over again...assuming she did grieve in the first place. She is losing herself,  little pieces at a time. 

 The Irishman is gone to a meeting and I stayed behind to work in the garden. I startled (or was startled by) a beautiful huge long grass snake when I was digging potatoes. I finished the one side of the long bed and declined to do the other side. Let the wildlife guy do it. lol  The a little further down, I found a long snakeskin he had just crawled out of. It was still soft. Watching snakes shed their skin is remarkable, if you've never done it, I hope you get the chance. I watched a big rattler go through the process once. I was mesmerized. Rattlesnakes intrigue me anyway...

 Had another big storm last night..the days have been brutally hot and humid, with temps in the high 90's and heat indexes at 114.  No playing outside in that much, lol.  But the rain and sun have been good for the gardens. We are going to have a stellar harvest this year. That's a good thing, as the pantries are looking a little bare. I need to get out there one more time this morning and pull the seed tops off the big basil plants as they are starting to bolt in the heat. They are about 3 and a half feet high and beautiful. I'll be pulling them up to dry soon. I want to get a planting of beets in this week if I can figure out where to put them. I also need to check the edamame to see if any of it is ready to pick. I know nothing about the times of things on that. A couple of days ago, there were pods. Gotta watch it....

  OK--busy morning and have to run to town for cat food. My kitties are indignant that I've run out of canned food.  I say, let them eat cake. lol

Namaste.