Summertime, and the eating is easy

Oh, I do love breaking out my favorite zucchini and other garden produce recipes, like Potato Zucchini Bake, tabbouli, pasta salad, chocolate zucchini muffins, zucchini chocolate orange cake, caramelized onion pasta, raw beet salad, Scarpaccia, Greek Salad, black bean zucchini burgers, zucchini brownies, etc., etc. I need to pick and use parsley – I sense another big batch of tabbouli – and basil – pesto, obviously. 😋 Yep, it's summertime, and the eating (well, at least the menu planning) is easy. On top of that, the prunes are ripening; every morning I pick a couple handfuls for Rick's lunch and my breakfast but very soon I'll need to 'pick a peck of prunes' and load our big hydrator a few times. After that it will be time to start on applesauce....

Last night's lunar eclipse was fun; it started while I was in Costco visiting with my cousin after shopping and continued well past the time I got home and could stand out on our deck enjoying it.

The Oregon State Fair officially opened today, but Rick's duties as fair veterinarian started yesterday. Twelve days of getting up early and getting home late take much of the joy out of it for him, but I am looking forward to my visits. You know I'll take photos to share. But in the meantime, here are some recent photos from around the 'farm:'

'tis the season; the Western Gray squirrels are busy putting up hazelnuts and walnuts

Bernadette and her flashy daughter Broadway

Broadway 'playing dead,' with Bernice, one of her twin daughters, looking on

a pretty start here the same day of the horrific flash flooding in Nepal/Tibet😢

The next couple months are starting to develop a travel theme. The last time I visited my mom was last September near her birthday, and I am feeling the need to visit her again soon. I'd get to see my sister and her family plus my friends in the Lincoln, NE area, too, adding to the draw. Next, a dear friend of mine who lives in Kauai has long urged me/us to visit. I was hoping we could make that happen back in June for our 42nd wedding anniversary, but there was hemming and hawing at this end (Rick seemed inclined to take our adult son along), then our friends put their house on the market, and I thought our window of opportunity to use their ahana unit had closed. Turns out we might yet be able to make that happen! It would be the first true vacation (with no continuing education or family obligations attached) Rick and I will have taken since our honeymoon, and the thought makes me a bit breathless. Then, at the end of October an Israeli acquaintance is traveling here to see the sights and attend the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. The weather has usually turned at least somewhat wet by then but we are going to get in some hikes through Oregon's natural beauty regardless; I am looking forward to the cross-cultural experience. Goodness, after that we'll be well into the lead-up to the holiday season!

Speaking of a fiber festival, I continue to play with fiber here. I liked the yarns I shared in my last post so much that I flick-carded some washed colored merino locks someone gave me so I could ply it with my remaining blue silk singles:

That's it for now from . . .

Digging in the dirt

Since we're getting a few summery days followed by a chance of rain this weekend, I decided to make the garden priority #1 today. I untangled the irrigation tubing and laid it out, noting the need for replacement parts. Then I planted the poor basil starts that I bought at least a month ago and kept forgetting to put in the ground. Next I planted hills of Red Kuri winter squash (thanks, Mama Pea!), zucchini, yellow straightneck squash, and burpless cucumber, followed by the two packets each of bush beans and sugar pea pods I bought this year. I still have lots of lovely tilled soil to work with and some Red Garnet yams that are sprouting, so I'm going to try rooting some slips to plant for the first time.

I had 'help.' Brian grumpily consented to pound in t-posts for my sugar pea trellis, and these two 'supervised' part of the time:

Two days ago Rick finally disconnected the power arm of our non-functioning electric gate so that it can be closed manually. With the perimeter a bit more secure, I decided to turn Poppy loose while I worked in the garden and hope for the best, and she enjoyed the freedom to snoop and chew and torment Chuckie immensely. Oh, and dig:

"Whaddya mean, my nose is dirty?"

She was pretty good about staying out of the garden at my request, but started excavating just outside the east garden fence. When I had finished planting and was ready to head in for a shower, I had to hose her off first. She didn't like that at all and struggled enough to work her way backwards out of her harness, but I managed to snag her collar and finish the job (after which I really needed a shower!).

Now I need to finish making supper. I'm trying an amalgamation of two recipes (here and here) from links that blogpal Debbie sent me. The seedless watermelon chilling in the fridge will be the perfect finale on this warm day. It's our first watermelon of the season; the chickens will be delighted to get the rinds.

Oh; while I've been relishing the last beautiful bearded iris blooms, the white flags snuck up behind me!

Feeling good about today's progress at . . .

Lemons into lemonade, so to speak

This morning while doing chores, I waded through a shallow sea of crunchy maple leaves. Then I got to the Ram-ada Inn lot, which is a leaf-free zone. Why? When one falls, it's food! My sheep love maple leaves like people love chips.

Then I had a thought. Why waste time, effort, and petroleum products cleaning all those leaves off the driveway? Why feed hay when there are leaves aplenty? I just had to think up a way to keep the sheep down where the leaves are, so they didn't find their way to my flower beds or rhodie bushes (see scary story here). I had a rare morning at home, so I dragged some panels across the lower driveway and let Browning and Bart out to happily munch.

Then I took Lance out for a short ride. When I got back Browning was yelling because Blake was out. How he got out and why Browning didn't is a mystery; fortunately, my ram is a mellow fellow, easy to catch, halter, and lead. I put the boys back in the Ram-ada Inn lot for the time being; but I will try "leaf turn-out" again.

Speaking of food, this morning for sandwiches I opened one of the jars of half-sour pickles I made using the recipe from Susan's blog. They are bright green and crunchy, with good flavor after one week. I will definitely be making more of these. The only drawback is that they must be kept in a frig, and mine is small and FULL. I might try canning a jar along with my lacto-fermented batch sitting on the counter to see if I get a satisfactory shelf-stable product.

This afternoon I needed to make dishes for two potlucks. I headed for the local farmer's market, better know as my garden, and got cukes and tomatoes for this salad, rhubarb for crisp, and harvested a few ripe peppers while I was at it. With Brian's help at the cutting board, the recipes were quickly prepared. We're eating good in the neighborhood!

That's it for now from . . .

In my garden

In spite of our unusually hot, dry summer, some vegetation around Boulderneigh is doing well. The hostas in my island bed are getting a little bigger every year, happy in the shade of my biggest Japanese maple. They are just beginning to flower:

The dahlias growing along the sunny edge of the island bed are also happy. This photo shows all three of the varieties that have bloomed so far:

Our vegetable garden is doing well, too. Brian harvested a gallon of bush beans for me this afternoon, and there's probably double that in snow peas for him to pick tomorrow, while I pick tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and sweet peppers. I'm going to try a couple jars of Susan's Half Sour Pickles; we are on our last jar of the dills I canned two years ago. I'm going to make this salad to take to a neighborhood picnic on Sunday, along with deviled eggs and this scrumptious-looking dessert (although I might have to add a few raspberries to make it pretty as my rhubarb is mostly green). And we will be eating a LOT of green beans and snow peas!

That's it for today from . . .

Fresh on Friday: It's zucchini season!

Not yet in my garden, but Rick has been bringing home zucchini from clients' gardens. Fine by me; it's good stuff, Maynard!

So I had two overripe bananas on my counter that needed to be used, a couple big zucchini to shred, and muffins to make (Rick favors muffins and fresh frozen fruit for Friday night suppers). I googled "zucchini-banana muffins" and found these. They looked good, as did these when I followed the link in the first recipe. So I made the muffins for tonight and the brownies for a picnic tomorrow, along with this (Rick brought home some lovely small zukes, too) and this (from red potatoes freshly dug out of the same client's garden and herbs from mine). Oh, I also made zucchini patties for Brian's and my lunch today. I'm no food photographer, but here are the dishes in order of mention (except for the patties):

Now go wipe the drool off your chin. You're welcome. ;-)

That's it for today from . . .

Fresh on Friday

I'm not a food photographer (meaning I don't usually have the time or inclination to "stage" a photo shoot), so you'll have to trust me on this. Today I've made white currant/boysenberry/
marionberry crisp with fruit from our garden, One-Pot Kale Quinoa Pilaf with kale and chives from our garden and one of my last lemons from my MIL's yard in AZ* (both for church potluck tomorrow), zucchini patties with zucchini from our garden and eggs from our hens for lunch; and will be making zucchini chocolate chip muffins with more of the same for supper tonight, along with more berries from our garden. Brian is outside picking green beans as I type. This is my least favorite season of the year weather-wise, but the blessings of food from our garden and orchard and henhouse help make up for it.

Of course, not all our eggs are found in the henhouse these days; Perch is still out and about during the day. Earlier this week I tasked Brian with searching out her "nestbox," since I hadn't found any eggs from her yet.

He had seen her in the ivy at the base of this tree, so he looked there and sure enough, tucked out of sight were three eggs!

This morning I saw her there for the first time (now that I know where to look), which is when I took the photo above. Do you see her? Here's a closer look:

Besides eggs, currants, berries, zucchini, kale and chives, here's some other Fresh on Friday things:

I tweaked the settings trying to capture the true color of this dahlia

Have a great weekend!

*My MIL has made the decision to relocate here permanently, so our source for fresh, organic citrus will be no more. :-(

That's it for now from . . .

Don't drool on your keyboard...

Approximately half the pumpkins waiting for processing

Every fall I look for good deals on winter squash so I can freeze puree for use in recipes throughout the rest of the year. (One of our favorite recipes for this is my adaptation of Farmgirl's Spicy Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins, which I make with our own dried cherries instead of raisins, all whole-grain flour, and less fat; mmmm....) Well, yesterday I was blessed with an abundance of free sugar (pie) pumpkins; wooHOO! Unfortunately, freezer space is in short supply here this year thanks to berries (our own, and the 155# of blueberries Rick decided we needed to pick at a client's farm), dried prunes (which I'm still dehydrating), and the various and sundry things we use that I find on sale and store there.

What to do? Obviously, it's time to learn to use a new-to-me tool.

I got this pressure canner from a church member for $10 years ago but have never used it. Water-bath canning and I are old friends; pressure canning intimidates me. Don't ask me why; I use a pressure cooker for beans all the time. (Oh yeah; it's that whole BOTULISM thing!) ANYway, the canner came with a new rubber gasket and pressure fitting thingy; I have no idea if the old ones are bad and need to be replaced, or if I can just dive in and use it as is. (I tried to remove the old gasket and it didn't want to cooperate at all.) So I'm going to dive in and prepare a seven-pint batch; I think I can find that much room in my freezer if the pressure canning fails this time around.

Speaking of Farmgirl Fare, this weekend I tried another of her recipes that was a smash hit. I needed something to take to a potluck picnic yesterday and had just enough zucchini remaining to make a double batch of 100% Whole Wheat Coconut Zucchini Bread (this shows just how much I trust her culinary talent; I'm confident enough to double a recipe I've never tried before!). We had one loaf for breakfast and I took the other to the picnic. Oh MAN; there is not a CRUMB of that delectable stuff left! How unfair is it to have discovered this recipe at the very END of zucchini season??? Waaaahhh!

Thankfully, we are not yet at the end of fresh tomato season; the other recent addition to my recipe box from Farmgirl is just as "musty." I made another batch last Friday; Brian was a great help this time by cutting up all the tomatoes for me.

Now he and I are off to peel and cook pumpkins. We'll be having curried pumpkin soup – another favorite winter squash recipe – for supper!

Happy October, from . . .