Garden Update....Meh

 If anyone is interested here is how my garden is doing.

These photos were taken on June 12th....

Green Beans plants on the left, baby  Bok Choy on the right.

The barrel of lettuce going gangbusters.

12 Tomato plants about halfway up their cages.

And 4 Collard plants hanging on.

And the same plants on June 21st.....

The Green Bean plants now have buds and blossoms.  The Bok Choy bigger and needs thinning out.

The seeds planted on the other side of this bed never germinated but there are a few volunteer Morning Glories up over there.

The tomato plants are now about at the top of their cages and there are many blossoms hidden among all the greenery.

The Collards are much bigger and starting to flourish.  One Green Bean seed sprouted in this bed but none of the Yellow Squash germinated.  There are also 3 volunteer tomato plants coming up now in there.

I didn't photograph the lettuce barrel this time.  It's doing well and I harvested my first crop of lettuces this past weekend for dinner one night.

In the front bed a nefarious chipmunk is digging plants up.  So far he/she has taken out a Celosia plant, a Pansy plant and 1 of the Sunflower plants we grew from seed.  The only things it's leaving alone are the Coleus plants.  I read that chipmunks will eat Coleus.  Weird.  I guess this one doesn't have a taste for them. ;-)

I scaled back our gardening efforts this year due to no enthusiasm for it lately and focusing on getting the house ready to sell instead.  If the house sells before the harvests come in we've done all this work for nothing so that's sort of squelched my desire for gardening.

Are you growing anything?  How is your garden doing?

Sluggy

Recently Garden Activity

Here are a few photos from my garden taken in the last week.

One of the first normal sized tomatoes we have.  It's about to turn red and I'll get Hubs to harvest it tonight when he gets home from work.
We have lost at least 4 other tomatoes to a deer who has discovered our garden.......

More telltale evidence of the deer.  Our garden is not deep so he can lean in from the short fence and reach the bean vines on the deck railing and chomp away at them....

The tomato plants are dying back now and the Summer squash plants are getting powdery mold and also dying off but the morning glory vines are still going great guns.

The collard plants are doing better now that other plants are dying back and giving them more sunlight.  The Japanese beetles seem to have fled as well so the new collard leaves aren't being eaten, meaning there may actually be something to harvest of them come the first frost.  ;-)

The front flower bed has been growing like gangbusters!
You can see in this shot that we have tomato plants in that bed.  We didn't plant tomatoes in there this year.....they are all volunteers!  And they actually have tomatoes on the plants now so if the bunnies and the deer don't find them, we may get some to turn red and harvest.

We planted Coleus as well as that are those spikey flowers(can't remember what they are called)in this photo in this bed this past Spring.
We planted those same spikey flowers last year in here as well.
Well we could have saved some money not replanting these spikey flowers this year since they seemed to have reseeded themselves and we have TONS of these spikey flowers all over this bed!
It's very vibrant and colorful out front this year.

The Coleus as well have gotten HUGE in the bed this year.  Some of the leaves on these plants are as big as my head!  That's what lots of sunshine will do for ya......
The Coleus has finally gone to seed out here and I may try to collect seeds this Fall and start my own plants next Winter.

Just a close-up of some plantings.

The first normal sized tomato harvested on Friday...........

My mater and bean face....what I picked 24 Aug. but hadn't shown yet.....lolz

Another big squash I picked last Wednesday.....Hubs picked another smaller squash on Sunday but he didn't take a photo of it for me.....

More green beans last week...........

And yet another handful of beans later in the week.....

The harvest total is a bit off since Hubs hasn't been weighing the produce he picks and I don't have the paper I write the weights on up here with me.  My guess is we are up to 12 lbs.?

I haven't been outside in 3 days due to the foot issue and I really want to get out there and check things out.
Maybe tomorrow.

Sluggy

 

Of Feet, Floors, Flora & Furniture

Not to moan again but I can hardly put weight on my left foot today so I am heading back to bed shortly and taking a pill for the pain as the last one I took this am is wearing off.  First to feed and put out the doggies though.

I got the garden eggplants breaded and cooked this morning, so I just have to throw them together with some mozzarella and sauce later and bake it off and we will have achieved eggplant parmesan.
Rah.

Yesterday our beagle, Cherry, had surgery.  She has had a large fatty tumor on her side by her hind leg and it started impeding her movement last week so we had it taken off.  The vet also removed a much smaller fatty growth on the opposite hip/side and a new growth on her tale at it's base.  The tale tumor concerned the vet(might be cancerous)so we had him send that one off for biopsy.
But Cherry is home and being her old silly self again.......

And there goes another $589 we weren't expecting to shell out this month.  Sigh.

Yesterday was beastly hot here so I was/am glad that the new a/c system is working again....yah!!

I spent a good part of yesterday out on the back deck painting 8 long strips of crown molding.  I was trying to get that finished before Gary the handyman showed up to install it.  I got 2 coats on it all and Gary never showed up....figures. lol

But the floor guys were back yesterday(Tuesday) and they finished laying the new bamboo floor in the dining/living rooms.....

And the finished product.....

Now we have to get new baseboard moldings, paint them and wait for the floor guys to come back to install that(as well as the crown moldings laying on the floor).
I also have to touch up spots on the new paint job where the flooring guys marked up the wall(about 18" from the floor)while laying the floor. ugh.

I also picked a nice mess o' beans yesterday from the garden.....

I added this to the mess o' maters, more beans, broccoli and eggplants I picked last weekend.....

The broccoli has already been made into soup and most of the maters have been peeled and cooked down so I will can them tonight after dinner.  I also need to blanch and freezer a lot of the green beans as well.
The tomato crop this year has been phenomenal!  The plants haven't grown leggy and tall but have been heavy with fruit.  No blight this year and the rainfall has been even enough through the season that we don't have many of those split tomatoes you get when the rainfall is uneven throughout the Summer.  Our neighbor has commented on how much we have grown on the plants and is angling for some freebies since he never does well with his maters.  He's a great guy so we'll have Hubs walk some over to him tonight while I finish up canning/freezing what I need to do.

I spent a chunk of time yesterday while resting from painting the molding and sitting in the a/c house looking at area rugs online.   I have one for the living room but I need to pick up one for the dining room but after viewing about 5,600 rugs my eyes started glazing over.  I didn't see anything that I loved that was a reasonable price but then again, I am not really sure what I want in that space yet.
So the search for the perfect dining room rug continues.....

Speaking of dining rooms......Salvation Army showed up with their truck this morning at 8:20am to take away my oak dining room table/chairs and buffet.  It was time to let it go and move on.  I admit I was sad to see it go(though I did want it gone)as I bought that set in 1988.  The top of that table still didn't have a single scratch on it after 25 years, 3 kids, and a heluva lot of Holiday meals.
The style fit into our first home well but it was never really "my style" and I am anxious to find something that is a better reflection of my tastes.  I hope someone finds many more years of enjoyment with it.

Off to feed pooches now and rest my foot.

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

This is the "Gotta Use Up Stuff From the Garden" Week.

 

Here's what was planned last week--

 

Sunday--BBQ Chicken, broccoli & cheese casserole, tossed salad, corn on the cob
Monday--raw  veggies, crackers, cheese and sausage(Sonya Ann had packed us some snacks and that was dinner)
Tuesday--Chinese food again!
Wednesday--Eating out
Thursday--Eating Out
Friday--something from my freezer TBA
Saturday--something from my freezer TBA

 

Everything above was eaten as was written.  The days where a specific food was not mentioned went like this....
Wednesday--Local Restaurant in AltaVista, VA
Thursday--Truck Stop Diner outside of Harrisburg, PA
Friday--Burgers, Steamed Broccoli(from garden)
Saturday--Leftover Meat Sauce over Rigatoni, Tossed Salad(w/garden cukes and toms)
  

As for food spending last week.....We didn't do ANY grocery shopping while on the trip(some alcohol procurement did happen but that's from the entertainment budget).  We left #2 Son $40 cash(plus $35 from a rebate check we finally cashed, so $40 out of my August food budget) and $10 in McDonald's bucks(the cost of which was accounted for last year).

Then we hit the grocery store on Friday after we got back from the trip and spent $34.48 on $48.11 of regular retail foods.
So my food budget spending from 8/11 to 8/23 was $74.48.
This means I am at $266.81 spent so far in August.  I have $133.19 left in the budget for the next 6 days.

 

Food waste last week.....bad.....real bad!  #2 Son didn't eat ANYTHING that was here that needed to be eaten.  Luckily I did remember to remind him to put some of it into the freezer(the garden tomatoes and the smoked pork I made).  I had to throw out melon, spareribs, a small amount of coleslaw and rice when I got home.  We tried to eat down what was in the fridge before we left but I thought #2 Son would at least eat the ribs.  *sigh*

  

Leftovers going into this week?  Some rigatoni, and lots and lots of BROCCOLI from the garden!
We also have green beans, cukes, eggplant and more tomatoes coming in, so the order of the meals below will depend on what is harvested and when.

Here's this week's meal plan---
 

Sunday--Broccoli/Chicken Quiche
Monday--Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Fresh Baked Bread
Tuesday--BLT Sandwiches(garden tomatoes)
Wednesday--Eggplant prepared some way?, Tossed Salad
Thursday--Broccoli Casserole, Caprese Salad(garden toms)
Friday--Green Bean Stirfry, Roasted Potatoes, Leftover Quiche
Saturday--Leftovers

On the shopping list......hubs picked up half & half and swiss cheese on Sunday morning already, but I still need a small hunk of Velveeta, sandwich bread(at the bakery outlet), fresh mozzarella, potatoes and more salad greens.
There is a sale on bacon this week as well which I'll end up taking advantage of. ;-)
I'm figuring about $50 food spending this week.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy. 
  

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

MIA The Last 5 Days.....What's Up?

Not to worry....I've been here but busy and not really chatty. 
Working on the End of August financials and trying to get everyone back into a school year routine.

So then the high school gave the kids a 4 day Weekend.  Oh, thanks for thwarting my evil plan school district!  I really appreciate that......

Hubs took the day off too so we took a ride to the Farm Stand on Friday and loaded up on ingredients for making Pepper Relish.

A bushel of peppers, 25lbs. of onions, 1 watermelon, 1 cantaloupe, 6 cucumbers and 2 zucchinis later I am $31.50 more broke-r.
But look at all those beauties.....


Friday was all about the opening football game of the year.  "Our" team hosted the #1 team in the conference so the Band had a bigtime food concession going which Hubs worked.  It wore him out so Saturday was spent icing muscles.lol  #2 Son worked hard at staying in formation during the marching band performance.  The Band was great, the football team?....not so much.....not that I care about football..... ;-)
Daughter helped me grocery shop on Friday.....let me rephrase that.....Daughter helped me overspend my grocery budget for August on Friday.  There, that's more accurate. lol

Saturday while Hubs was recuperating from his concession ordeal I had a Canning Day!  I was making Pepper Relish year.
This is such a labor intensive process that I like to make enough to last 2 years so I only have to do this every other year.  It would be great if someone around here would help out with this.
They are all great consumers of this product but as soon as I drag out the equipment and produce, you can't find a one of the family to take part in the creation of this heavenly foodstuff.
Why is that?

First I had to chop all my ingredients into tiny bits..............

I about filled a 5 gallon bucket with bits!  Next time stirring it with a boat oar rather than a puny little wooden spoon might be smarter on my part.

I must say that now that I have a food processor this part of the process only takes a quarter of a day instead of the full 12 hour day it use to take me when I had to do it all. by. hand.  That used $8 processor I won at the Church auction 2 years ago is paying for itself bigtime now!lol

Then it's time to salt the veggies and let the moisture leech out for an hour while I get the syrup ready and the jars and lids sterilized.
Cook down the liquid, plop the relish into the jars and boil in a water bath canning pot and you get this......

I ended up with 11 quarts, 1 pint worth.....

That's a 2 year supply with enough leftover for my sister in-law's Christmas gift.
The quart sized jars in back are for her, though 3 jars won't last her much past Feb. since she likes this stuff so much she eats it straight outta the jar with a spoon!
Ick.

That and a nap was basically my Saturday.
What a production!

Sunday I was up extremely early and took some photos out on the deck while my morning glories were open.

I haven't bought morning glory seeds in years now.  I just let the volunteer plants wither and drop seeds from their pods each Fall and every Spring I get beautiful new flowers.

 You can see the fuzzy ass of a bumblebee in that center bloom.  He was not amused at having his posterior photographed and let me know it when he came outta there! lol

 I'll miss these beauties in a few weeks when they start dying off.....sigh

I accompanied Hubs to an indoor flea market later Sunday morning so he could check out a New Age store there.  He decided to take the bypass as a "short cut" to get there.  Of course, he didn't know where to get off the bypass so the "short cut" ended up taking us on the scenic route through about 3 little towns, as we went waaaay past where the flea market was held on our "short cut".  I just turned my head to the window and rolled my eyes silently at the passing scenery.  Men.....

We went early before the heat got bad.  I got some exercise walking around and a new bumper sticker for my car.
We also picked up some COC at the FM and had it with our burgers, dogs and potato salad at our Sunday evening cook-out.

Monday was spent on more garden chores--Hubs had picked a huge amount of green beans on our vine plants the last few days.  He surprised me by blanching and bagging them all while I was napping Monday afternoon.  He filled 5 freezer bags.....thanks honey!

 I cut up, bagged and froze the rest of the red bell peppers, I didn't use in the relish, for use later this winter.
1 bag of diced peppers and 4 bags of slices.

We also got a few swims in, in the pool and some tomatoes picked.  Lunch on Monday was BLTs using fresh tomatoes from the garden. 
Horror upon horrors though when I saw that we were down to our last three packs of bacon in the freezer....EEK!
I haven't loaded up on bacon in ages.

Now I'm on a quest for a bacon deal.
Ya know.....it's always something, isn't it?

Tuesday's dinner was suppose to be Alfredo Primavera but I substituted Stuffed Green Peppers and Stuffed Zucchini for dinner.  I had a leftover Zuke after making 5 loaves of Zucchini Bread and I had 2 green bell peppers put aside from my bushel of peppers I bought to make stuffed peppers for Hubs.
I just forgot to put the peppers meal on the menu.  We'll bump something else on there off later in the week.

I still need to make pickles and cut up the watermelon we got at the farm stand.  That will be on today's agenda.  I'll also be making Lemon Crisp Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I don't know what's gotten into me......I'm all Betty Freakin' Crockerish suddenly!

Sluggy

Garden Update

One of the 2 types of green beans we planted have finally yielded a small crop.
These are GoldRush variety beans....

No, they are not ailing, they are suppose to be yellow-green in color. lol  I'll be cooking these tonight.

And in the bed out front we picked these over the weekend....

4 good sized squash. 
I grilled 1 last night for dinner(cut into slabs for Hubs and I)but have 3 left.   Tomorrow we'll have a fish fry and I'll fry up some slices of squash too.  It's like fried zucchini but yellow.

And speaking of zucchini(how can you avoid speaking of zucchini in the Summer?!)......here is what I made last week for dinner one night.....

We call it Lemon Chicken but the proper name is "Lena's Chicken".  This recipe comes to me by way of an old friend of my mother's.  The origins past there are unknown.

It's Chicken thighs dredged in flour and lemon pepper mixture(either the no salt variety or a mix of salt/no salt ones), then pan fried until the skin is browned, but not cooked all the way through.
The veggie is a mix of onions and zuke slices with a can of tomatoes(use crushed or whole) in the pan you browned the chicken in(after you pour the leftover oil out).  Put the chicken back in on top of the veggies and put a lid on the pan.  This simmers covered for 45 min. while you fix your rice separately.

Then eat it.  It is a mighty tasty way to get rid of all that zucchini if you are tired of fried zuke and zuke bread.

I need to thin out my Collard Greens soon.  I'll probably do that this weekend and use the thinnings to make a small batch of greens.  The young leaves will be more tender but they won't be as sweet as letting the first frost get to your collards before you pick them.

The tomatoes are quietly doing their growing thing.  The peppers and salad are not.  We are still waiting on the other variety of green beans, the Romano ones, to bloom.
It's been a very weird Summer in the garden.

Sluggy

This Year's Garden...1st Update

I know I haven't blogged much(if any!)about our garden this year.
I don't know....I guess I am just not much 'into' the garden this year.

Here's a shot of the side bed from April 30th when we were just getting to cleaning out the beds and prepping the soil....

Usually we have nothing to harvest until mid July at the earliest because of our climate/zone.
Well, the 2 weeks of unseasonably HOT weather in early June sped up the rate of germination and growth a LOT!
We've been picking radishes for weeks!

I've got them coming out of my ears at this point.lol

And here is a shot of the same side bed taken two weeks ago....

A few tomato plants, some squashy/cuke type plants(I don't even remember what kinds....see what I mean about I'm not into it this year!lol) and a few bean plants.

We are having a devil of a time getting the bean plants to grow.  We've planted different kinds(bush and vine type)in all the different bed locations with little success.  Hubs sewed some into the wooden barrels also and those were doing great!
Until a critter found them and had a munchfest. bleh

 Hubs thinks one of the resident bunnies is decimating the bean plants since we know that the bunnies have jumped INTO the wooden barrels in the past.  But if the bunnies are doing this, explain why just the tops of the bean plants are being eaten, like someone taking a weedwacker to the plants and leaving the lower/bottom foliage and plant intact?  I think it's a taller animal, like a deer, walking through the yard and eating the tops of the bean plants.
Either way, our bean plants are not going to produce any beans this year.  *sigh*

Doesn't this shot look very lush and promising?
It is.
But it's all WEEDS not veggies!lol

And we got our first blossom on the eggplant plants 2 weeks ago.  See the lavender flower on the left in the photo?  I don't know if it will produce a fruit however since I haven't see any bees around yet to pollinate stuff.  The tomato plants in the backyard bed have golf ball sized tomatoes as of this week so I know the bees are around.
I hope I don't have to resort to playing bee and go from bloom to bloom with a paintbrush on the eggplant and squash blossoms. ;-)

Here's something I do that you might find unusual.
Lettuces are an early Spring crop.  You are suppose to plant it early and it dies back by mid summer usually.
Since we can't plant an early crop of lettuces/greens while the weather is still coolish here due to our climate, I sew the lettuce seeds among the cuke and squash plant seeds at the same time I sew the cuke/squash seeds.
This way, by the time the weather gets too warm for the lettuces(the hot weather that makes your lettuce wilt, dry up and die), the squash leaves have grown large enough to shield the lettuce from full sun.  The lettuce continues to grow well into August.

Here's my squash type plants....

 But move the leaves back and look closer....

 See my salad greens!

That's my diversity garden bed. 8-)

How is your garden doing?

Sluggy