Parsley outside my backdoor!

El Niño, La Niña,  whatever, I forget how it goes, but I think that due to the oppressive heat we had this Summer, we are having a very wet Winter.  Or maybe the wet Winter is a harbinger of a mild Summer to come?  I don’t know, but we have had rain near ’bout every four days ’round these parts all Winter long!  I’ll try not to complain because I know we have it very easy in the Winter.  This is our time to shine!   We seldom get snow, and when we do, it’s hardly anything to worry about.  Also, the rain we’ve gotten lately is sorely needed.  So, I’ll try to not sound too whiney.  OK?  I’ll try.

Never buy plastic fencing, even though it’s cheaper than the wire fences.

BUT!

I’m really sick of the mud, and the kids being in the house so much.  See, one of the trade offs that Texans are so proud of is that even though we huddle indoors listening to the humm of the a/c for most of the Summer, which, by the way, lasts about eight months here, the pay off comes in the Winter when we can enjoy the truly mild (yesterday the high was 79°) field trip weather.  Perfect for going to the Zoo, or bird watching, or cleaning up a long neglected backyard!

I’ve had it with the rain and the resultant mud, and we have mud!  After our record breaking heat and drought this past Summer, there is no lawn, just mud Mud MUD!

Rabbit cages, clothes lines, and dirt lawn – it’s the Redneck Tri-fecta!

Today is a great day.  It’s sunny, dry and 50°, so there is work going on out back.  If I had focused on laundry instead of rabbit breeding this morning I might have even hung some laundry on the line.  That’s ok, first things first.

Tomorrow the forcast calls for more mud in the form of rain AND snow.  I have my doubts about the white stuff.  My kids have still never even seen it, and likely some of them doubt if it’s a really and truly real thing.  At least we’ll enter into this weeks wetness with a cleaned up yard!

Right this minute it’s 70° out and I actually feel warm from all the work I’ve been doin’.    Even so, it’s a bit cool in the night, so I have decided it’s time for soups and stews.

Lentil Stew is on the stove bubblin’ away.  Chicken Stock is in the big crockpot crankin’ up for an overnighter.

I didn’t really plan on doin’ the stock today, but while I was in the kitchen makin’ the lentils I happened on lots of stock components just lurking about in my fridge and freezer.

I’ve been diligently saving up stuff like chicken bones and veggie ends in ziplock bags in the freezer, and it just so happens that Hubs has a sore throat.  All that added together caused stock to be started in my crockpot.  It’s kind of a kitchen sink affair.  Mostly it’s whatever looked good while I was searching.

Soups and stews are so easy, and so ever-lovin’ good for us.  It’s pretty cheap eats and goes so well with a nice loaf of homemade bread.

The highlight of my day happened while I was going out back to see if the laundry was dry yet.  I happened to glance at the (long neglected) herb garden that is next to my back door.  The one I gave up on a couple of months ago when the garden hose couldn’t combat the 105° afternoons for 3 months on end.  Well now, since it’s been raining so often, like every other day, some of my old dead herbs have resurrected themselves.

I’m so happy!  I love to cook with herbs.  I love to cook soups and stews with herbs.  But the best thing is cooking soups and stews with fresh, home-grown, organic herbs!

Oregano!

Parsley!

Linked to:

• Tasty Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Crockpot Wednesday
• Works for me Wednesday
• Slow Cooking Thursday

And, boy, are my kids characters!

Between the 100° afternoons that just won’t go away, and the looming stage 3 water restrictions (which, of course, means a rate hike) we are taking out the garden.

And since we’ve decided not to plant a Fall garden, this is it for this house.  No more gardening here at this location.

Pulling the plants was the easy part.

We plan on taking the cinder blocks with us when we move, so they need to be neatly stacked out of the way where it won’t be so tempting to climb on them and break them.  Apparently, cinder blocks are heavy.

As I understand it, soil is also heavy.  Dusty is hauling some of the wonderful garden soil out front to spread around on the “lawn.”

Dusty, Tex and Tex’s friend are working very hard, tryin’ to get it all done in one day.

It kinda feels odd to see this going on.  Feels kinda wrong.  But, at the same time, it feels like progress!

Now, it’s time for me to go make these hard workin’ characters some quesadillas!

Slim is so happy that I was able to adapt the squash muffin recipe to fit within the new, healthy, sugarless, whole wheat parameters of our new diet.

Preheat your oven to 350° and spray oil in 24 muffin cups.

You’ll need:

• 2½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t sea salt

——————————————-

• 1 cup honey
• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup butter
• 2 t vanilla

——————————————-

• 2-3 cups squash, grated

Mix the first 4 ingredients in your large bowl and set it aside.

In a medium – large bowl cream butter and honey, add eggs one at a time, keep beating, add vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together.  Now fold in the squash.  Judge how much squash to use by the moisture of the batter.  It should be the consistency of any other muffin batter.  Sometimes squash is very moist and you’ll use less.  Sometimes the squash is more dry and you can use more.  Just use your own judgement on that part.

Spoon the batter into oiled muffin tins and bake at 350° for about 20 minutes.

This recipe is Slim’s favorite way to eat squash.

Here’sw your link back to Real Food Wednesday!

As usual, the weeds are tryin’ to take over the place.  I’ve been pullin’ weeds daily.  The weeds that are actually in the bed are not too pervasive, it’s the ones around the cinderblock and in them.  We’ve got 3 different varieties that are thriving.  fortunately they pull out fairly easily, it’s just a matter of catching up on it.

Tomatoes are coming along, lots on the vine but none are ripe yet.

Squash is producing pretty well.  I expect to be over run with squash in about a week or two, and then it’ll be done.  This one is a volunteer that just started making flowers.

Purple beans are producing.  The mysterious Asian long beans are making a really pretty vine, but no beans yet.  Green beans are just starting to produce, we’ll have some with dinner tonight.  

We pulled up the pintos and planted more green beans in their place.  Hubs and I didn’t like the flavor of the pintos.  The kids thought they were alright.

Cukes and cantelope aren’t producing yet.

Peppers haven’t set any fruit yet.

Onions are growing.

Herbs are thriving.  Lemon Balm will someday take over the world.  I wish the mint were as aggressive.

The secret of the organic method is compost.  I’m so glad that Tex and Hank are strong enough to turn the compost piles now.  We are the largest family on our street and the only ones whose trash can isn’t full at the end of the pick-up cycle.  Love that compost!

Don’t forget to vote in my a/c poll.  It’s in the right sidebar at the top.

Here’s your shorcut back to The Garden Club.

My littlest Cowboy, Slim, is an enthusiastic gardener.  He loves his plot of straight-neck squash.

Today he found a bee down in one of his squash flowers, doin’ the job God gave him to do for our squash plants.

This cracks me up, see the green air-soft BB?

I just think it’s really cool that he cares so much about the squash.  He’s always over there checking things out.

On a very different note, my hubs is coming up on a governmentally important birthday and is getting mail about medicare supplements EVERY DAY!  I had no idea there were so many businesses out there that sell that kind of insurance.  I should have started saving all that junk mail from the beginning.  I could have opened my own piñata factory. (get it? all that paper?)  Anyroad, he got one today that was note worthy.  What you need to know about my hubs is that he is the most fit person I know in the over 35 age category.  Only he’s turning 65.  Really, very fit.  He works in a warehouse and is on his feet 40 hours every week, plus a little overtime every week.  Plus all the after work errands (and putting up with me has to be fairly stressfull.)  So, Tex and I had a big laugh when this came in the mail today.

Hubs is about the last person who needs one of those!  

On the other hand, I may need one soon if Richard Simmons doesn’t lighten up!  I keep thinkin’ it’s getting a little better while I’m doin’ it, then afterwards I wanna lay down and die, but I’m just too stubborn!

Go buy a packet of lettuce seeds and plant ‘em right now.  I’ll wait.

Painless, inexpensive, organic salads will be at your very fingertips in just a few weeks.

Painless because you can plant lettuce in containers and set them at a height that is pain-free to work at.  Come on, you know that’s the #1 argument against gardening, the sore back and the hurting knees.

Inexpensive because the seeds are $1.79, the soil is $1, watering one or two pots of lettuce is negligible on your water bill.

Organic, well, just don’t put chemicals on it.

Water it when it needs it.  Inspect it for disease or infestation when you water.  Pick off any invaders, have your Pirates smush ‘em on the sidewalk.

Plant a loose leaf variety and harvest the outer leaves as they mature.  This way you leave the plant intact to continue to provide salad for you and your family.

The recipe for Homemade Ranch Dip/Dressing is a click away.

Here are your shortcuts back to The Garden Club and Food on Fridays and The Little Green Project.

Lots got planted, watered regularly, but weeded only a little.  Some of the cinder blocks still need to be re-positioned, but on the whole we are pluggin’ along.

A lot of what looks like weeds in these beds are my sweet onions, and that makes me smile!

Garden #1 - purple beans, bush

Garden #2 – green beans, bush

Garden #3 – cucumbers, pickling

Garden #4 – pinto (or red) beans, pole (volunteers from the compost)

Garden #5 – Asian long beans, pole

Garden #6 – tomatoes, roma

Garden #7 – squash, dixie hybrid (crookneck)

Garden #8 – squash, dixie hybrid (crookneck)

These two are the worst gardens we have.  Weeds are bad here, and ants own the place. 

Garden #9 – peppers, bell

Garden #10 – peppers, bell and tomatoes, roma

Garden #11 – carrots, danvers

Garden #12 – canteloupe (not planted yet, we forgot to buy the seeds)

I won’t bore you with a photo of that, LOL.

Thyme, put some in all of your soups and stews, it’s wonderful!

Mint, this makes my world go ’round, put some in your tea, hot or cold.  Go on, it’s good for you!

Sage, everybody say STUFFING!

Chamomile.  Got crabby kids?  Give ‘em chamomile.

And this is what it’s all about, isn’t it?  A lovely bean.  All green, and tall for his age.  Just fascinating!

Now, y’all head over to The Garden Club to see everyone else’s gardens.  Be sure and tell her how much you admire her Garden Club button, my Pirate, The Cap’n, made that.  :D

And Here’s a shortcut to Heavenly Homemaker’s Little Green Project.

True Confessions of a Lazy Gardener

It sure is a good thing Carri @ Home of the Peterson Clan is starting a Gardening Linky on Fridays!  It’s called The Garden Club.

Otherwise the current condition of my garden would be a private matter.  Hey, Carri, why is this a good thing?  This Garden Club?  Because look at these pictures!  This is embarrassing!

Some teenagers and a hubby should do something about this!

Actually, my Very Dear Hubby had already planned on getting the garden ready and planted this Saturday.  

Pretty sure my part involves bringing him and the Pirates tall glasses of iced tea and saying sweet things like, “Wow, cool composting, my darling!”  AND “Wonderful weeding, boys!”  AND  ”Perfect planting, fellas!”

And then I’ll serve them a delicious Spaghetti dinner and put Pirates of the Caribbean in the DVD player after they’ve all had a shower.
 

Come back next Friday and see what massive improvements have been made.

For now, go back to  The Garden Club and have a look at what gardening efforts others are making.

And since gardening is such a frugal thing to do, here’s a link to Frugal Friday.

And since gardening is green, here’s a link to Heavenly Homeaker’s Little Green Project.