Friday, March 28, 2014

Doesn't this look yummy?

One of my online friends just shared this recipe from Skinnyms.com and I just can't wait to get my garden growing so I can make it too!






Classic Cucumber & Tomato Salad
Ingredients
  • 2 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, slice in half lengthwise
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • Kosher or sea salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoons fresh Dill
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard (I used Grey Poupon Country Dijon)
  • 1 teaspoon honey or pure maple syrup, optional
Directions
In a large salad bowl combine cucumbers, tomatoes and onion. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over cucumber mix, toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Yum!
Cherlynn





Thursday, March 20, 2014

Have you ever....

Have you ever gotten so busy you don't know which way is up or down.  No clue what day it is or where you are at?  Well that's me right now.  I keep thinking things will settle down but things keep piling up instead. 

The ground has finally thawed out so it's time to start dealing with the cold weather garden stuff.  I plant my garlic in the fall and it's starting to pop up now.  I planted my peas a week ago and know when they start popping up its time to get serious out in the garden.  I had a friend years ago who lived in Idaho and every year in February  she'd put on her boots and grab a hoe and head out to the garden.  She'd pick where she thought the peas should go and take the hoe and start pulling the snow away.  When she got a nice row uncovered she'd start poking those pea seeds in and then rebury them in the snow and wait until they popped up.  I thought she was crazy but they always popped up when it was time.  I don't go to such extremes but I do try to plant my peas when the ground starts to thaw just a little.  I was able to work with the first inch or so and now I will wait to see how soon they start popping up.  Pea seeds just know when it's the right time and never rot like other seeds do.  It makes for a good indicator on when to start planting your cabbages and broccoli and start with lettuces and other cold crops. 

I just checked today and its thawed down a good 8 inches now so the garden season is just about here and to tell you the truth I'm not ready. I didn't try growing my own plants this year.  To tell you the truth I don't do it very well so just decided I'd buy my plants from the Amish this year.   I need to order in head lettuce seeds and still haven't gotten around to it.  Local selection is poor and we eat lots and lots of salads.  We really love the butter lettuces added into the other leaf lettuces.  Hopefully I can get them ordered this coming week or I'll be stuck with the local selection.

We have the fence row on the front of our property to clear out.  We had neglected it for over 10 years so it's become quite a chore.  We use a product called Tordon to spray on the red cedars and black locust trees and that kills them out so they don't re-sprout. Being retired, clearing out fence rows is not exactly the things I want to deal with but we do short sessions each day and it should be done within the month.  We've checked the other side of our property that was done last year and got sprayed with Tordon and we just saw 2 little red cedars trying to grow so it was easy to go back and cut them down and spray them again.  After we get it done it will become a regular spring job to keep a check to cut anything out and spray it so we never have these big messes again.  Many people move out to the country and don't realize how much work you have to do to upkeep the property. 

We are looking for ways to make these big jobs easier to deal with.  The black locust and red cedars spread quickly.  You cut one down and 5 others will grow in it's place.  The Tordon was a great blessing to have so we can keep them from spreading. 

I'm trying to reduce our animal population.  I'd rather not be stuck home all winter just to take care of the kids dog and cats.  My oldest son is taking most of our chickens and the rest will die out of the next few years or if I get tired of them I can always butcher them.  I figure if we get down to just the pets I can find homes for them or a least some one who can take them for a few months in the dead of winter.

We also discovered our furnace no longer works.  We use a pellet stove and just have the furnace as back up in case we are gone longer than a day.  We always turn the pellet stove off when we leave.  I've kept the furnace on it's lowest setting just in case it ever got really cold in the house.  We decided to check it at the first of the year and found out it had a low pressure shut out and wouldn't come on.  another thing to get fixed before next winter.

And then there are all the quilts I'm working on.  I need to get photos sized to 3.5 inch squares and I'm not bright enough to do it.  My dear daughter has promised to tackle that project in the next couple of weeks.  

May you have a blessed week!
Cherlynn
brchbell@yahoo.com

Monday, March 3, 2014

One very fast post

I'm in the middle of trying another gluten free pizza crust and I will do a blog soon on this topic but today I just wanted to tell you all about on online gardening article I just read:  http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/14018.     Jim Kennard lives in my area and has an awesome school in Gallatin, Missouri to teach gardening skills.  He goes all over the world teaching the Mittleider Gardening course.  He is so in demand because this system works not just for a few but everyone.  The flavor in the vegetables is beyond description and the bounty of the harvest is amazing.  So please take a few minutes and go read the article.  He mentions LDS Prepper who has a ton of videos on youtube and other sites to learn from.  Make this year the year you grow a garden the neighbors will be pea green with envy!

Blessings,
Cherlynn
brchbell@yahoo.com