Answering some questions

Thank you for your kind comments about our deck.  It was one of the things about our house that I fell in love with when our Realtor showed it to us.  The couple who lived here before us both had large extended families and this house is rather small so they built a big deck and replaced the sliding glass doors with French doors... lovely!

The two smaller tables are there quite by accident.  I wanted a large picnic table when we moved here but they were just too expensive.  Then Stephanie bought one of the small table sets when they first visited and we bought the other small table set later.

As it turns out, they have been very easy to work with, much better than a picnic table would have been.  God's provision was better all along.  ;)

While land is no longer what I would consider cheap (as it once was), it is still reasonable compared to other parts of the country... thus the big yard.  The above two pictures show the view from our front porch... and people wonder why I have a Big Foot fetish (even though I am assured there are no Big Feet around here except Victoria's).

Remember my winter view?  There really is a barn across the county road!

Now, about other comments:

Thank you so much to everyone who orders through the Amazon widget (either mine or another blog friend since I do have dear friends who also have a widget).  I was able to get a birthday gift for Faith (DVD) and a belated birthday gift for Anna (Pat the Bunny) this month.  Sometimes I use it to build my homemaking library and other times for family gifts.  Thank you!!!

I forgot to say that the Possum Pie recipe calls for chopped pecans and pecan halves but I almost always use only the chopped or leave them out if I don't have them (nuts are getting so expensive).  I have also used Cool Whip instead of real whipped cream if I am in a hurry.

I plant bush beans by seed all summer, until I have used the entire package of seeds.  I read in one of my gardening books that the writer liked to sow seeds for bush beans every two weeks through the summer.  I planted a few more seeds about two weeks after the initial planting. 

The "new" raised bed with the Early Girl tomato plant, green beans, and one pathetic green pepper plant (it did not like all the rain)

Then I planted a few seeds in the new raised bed my husband built in June (along with an Early Girl tomato plant which only takes about  50 days to harvest). 

Today I hoed the area where the cabbage was and will plant green beans there within the next couple days (the next time I give the garden a good drink of water).  They should give me a harvest next month.

While I am showing my garden, look at these moss roses!  I absolutely adore moss roses but I've had a hard time growing them at the edge of the forest.  They are happy here at the end of the raised bed, especially since it stopped raining every day.

The marigolds are happy, too... for the sunshine and the heat.  After I finished harvesting mint and lemon verbena today, I was not as happy with the heat as the flowers.  But the sunshine was nice.

By the way, I noticed when re-checking comments that I have had 15,555 comments so far.  Wow.  I had no idea...

The herb garden in late June

 

I love the way the herb section of my garden is looking this year.

Most of my perennial herbs made it through a rough winter.  Only one of the lemon verbena plants was lost in the actual herb bed but the remaining plant is so large, I didn't try to grow another.

Everything looks fairly healthy although the constant rain has not been good for any of the garden (I had to throw away one of the kale plants today, it had started to rot).

The basil is growing near the tomatoes (somehow I did not get a picture).  They are just now beginning to grow nicely but definitely could use more sunshine.  I didn't replant rosemary this year... so far.  I'd still like to plant some herbs in containers.

Oh, and I planted lemon balm near the house, I'm hoping it grows there like ground cover.

Rober's Lemon Rose sits in the front and middle with lime, peppermint, and lemon meringue scented geraniums on the porch.  They will at times be moved out among the others to receive full sun.

Rose scented geranium grows in the bird cage

The scented geraniums are doing great in containers this year growing on and near the front porch.

The apple mint covers half the bed.  I pulled out runners this spring that started into an area I didn't want it to grow.  Mint grows so well in our area that it is one of the state's main crops. 

This year I've already harvested the leaves twice (by cutting them back).  I decided to dry most of the apple mint to use as tea later.  To make the tea fresh, I just wash it and then stuff a couple handfuls in my teapot... cover with boiling water... and let it sit about ten minutes.  That easy!

There is a great segment about making mint tea in the West Ladies' herb DVD... which I highly recommend.  I have watched it over and over and plan to watch it again soon.  The Amazon link is... here.

After I harvest the herbs, I wash them really well in the sink and then let them drain.

Then I place them on a big towel and roll it up to absorb all the extra moisture.  This time I let them sit overnight that way since I didn't have time to work with them until the following day.

They dry hung up in the little bathroom where the shower stall is used for storage.  I have had four or five hangers drying herbs at one time (years past).

The dried herbs shown above were all prepared for storage after I took this picture.  I'll talk more about how I do that another time.  The herbs which were drying further in the towel are now happily hanging on this hanger.  :)

Many thanks to Carolee from  Carolee's Herb Farm for her gift of some scented geranium plants.  She took a chance to send some plants and they survived the mail and the heat!  I am thrilled with how they are growing.

The garden in late June

I told you it was growing!

 

I experimented with where I put the tomatoes this year (while at the same time rotating them).  I knew they would grow okay at the one end of the bed but was not so sure about the the two closest to the tree.

The above picture will show you what shade does to a tomato plant.  The one on the right is leggy but at least it is growing.

The one on the left is the exact same plant, planted at the same time but it sits under the tree limb.  Next year I'll go back to planting items which will grow nicely with some shade.

The green beans are growing.  You can't really see it here but the seeds I planted for the second round of beans are sprouting in the middle of the bed.

The kale and cauliflower are both huge.  So far the cauliflower is okay but we've had such a hot spring, I only hope it continues to do well.  I've already harvested some of the kale (which has grown okay for me this year and in the past with heat).

I was pleasantly surprised to harvest one cucumber already.  :)

I love seeing everything grow!  Tomorrow I'll show more of the herb garden.

Good enough

It's rather remarkable what one learns while gardening.  I guess that's why Jesus gave so many parables about the entire process of raising food and tending animals... it gets to the heart of... our heart.

Recently I was talking to the smallest of the tomato plants in the raised bed which receives shade.  I had removed the tall green structure from it to use on the cucumber plant which was growing nicely.  Very much a case of "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

However, I was telling the plant that I will buy another large tomato cage when I could budget for it and apologizing profusely for having it grow with no support at all when my eyes happened to land on the three small tomato cages I had thrown in the corner of the garden last fall... after their failure to support those heirloom tomato plants (which were huge).

As I looked from the droopy plant to the unused and imperfect cages, the thought entered my mind that sometimes good enough is... well... good enough.  While I do not really honestly consider myself a perfectionist at all, I do prefer the right equipment at the right time.  But in this case when they are not in the budget... good enough is better than none at all.

So, I brought the best of the cages over to the raised bed and centered the small-ish tomato plant in its' middle and pressed the cage into the soil.  I placed the plant's new growth on the areas of the cage where it could be supported better and it seemed that plant grew a few inches right then and there!  It now had some support and didn't seem to mind that it was not as tall or important as the other plants... good enough was all it needed.  :)

I must admit that stayed with me since then, I even told my husband I had learned a lot about the concept of... good enough.  For I believe we (especially Americans!) are constantly being told that good enough is another word for giving up or even failure.  It must be the biggest and the best and the perfect or whatever it is should not even be considered.

But when one is trying to do anything on a budget, then one needs to do the best they can and remember that there will be times for... good enough.  Just ask my tomato plant.

The garden in early June

I'm a little late getting these pictures posted.  It just amazes me how much the garden has grown in one week.  I'll update the pictures in a week or so.  But all the heat and rain have caused the garden to triple in size (or so it seemed) since these were taken.

Either that or there was some radioactive ray gun aimed at them... or perhaps I've watched to many SciFy Channel marathons lately.

Those are marigolds and zinnias at the end of the raised beds, an idea I swiped read from Manuela's lovely blog.  Actually, I steal get a lot of ideas from her for house and garden.

 

I should go through my pictures and show the timeline of our raised bed garden, which was built entirely when we had "a little extra" money to work with.

The first spring, hubby built the fence and two raised beds (the small bed for the herb garden and the first rectangle bed).  Then later the same season, he built the second two raised beds, which look like one long rectangle in the pictures.

This year we were hoping to extend the garden but didn't have enough funds to accomplish it... so we concentrated on purchasing a few much needed support structures (purchased with a surprise gift from a friend).  If there is one thing I've learned these past few years, many veggies really need those supports to grow properly.

Those very tall red tomato cages came from Lowes, who has them in multiple colors.  I'm hoping they provide better structure than the smaller size cages I have been using.  I'm also trying the green structures shown, one for a tomato plant and the other for a cucumber plant.

This year, he also built another raised bed structure in a corner of the raised bed which was not being used.  He spent part of yesterday taking our wheelbarrow to the dry creek bed in the forest for soil.

The owner of that property gave him permission when we first built the raised bed to take the soil (free soil helps a lot).   As you can tell from the above picture, we still need to budget for mulch on the ground!

We add compost to the soil when possible.  This year I used an organic fertilizer in two of the beds (I'd already planted the green beans when I bought it).  Since we use soil from the dry creek bed, we do have to hoe the weeds quite regularly but I have this wonderful old hoe that is perfect for a raised bed garden and I actually enjoy getting out early in the morning and attacking those weeds.  It's easy when they are tiny... 

The structure has been keeping out critters so far.  It is very simple, as you can tell from the "gate".

I love the way the garden is looking these days.

Books, baking, and a continued harvest

 Sweet Annie and Italian oregano drying on the yellow pantry

I was asked what sweet Annie is and my answer... the most delightfully fragrant herb I know, that often stirs up memories which bring tears to my eyes (quite often used for wreaths).  A favorite family outing was a trip to The Feast of the Hunter's Moon each Autumn.  It was one of my favorite days of the entire year, especially when both kids lived at home and we were still a family of four.

We would park the car at one of the locations where a fleet of shuttle buses drove people out to the location of the Feast and back all day.  As one of my annual souvenirs, I would purchase a fresh sweet Annie wreath or swag to hang in my home... the aroma at times a little overwhelming on the bus ride back to the car but just perfect in a room or on the front door.

Throughout the year, I would often rub my fingers on the sweet Annie when walking by... memories of dulcimer music, hot cider, and cool smoke filled afternoons mixing with the fragrance of the herb (smoke as in lots and lots of wood fires).

I let my Sweet Annie go to seed last year (not smart if you want to bring it inside as it loses the seeds everywhere).  However, it reseeded itself where it had been growing, too.  Thus... the surprise of the herb growing this spring even though I had not planted it.

I'm drying the sweet Annie and Italian oregano in the kitchen since I don't plan on using them for anything but decoration.  The lemon verbena (and a few other herbs) are drying in the postage-stamp size bathroom off the family room that is rarely used (and often dark).  This is the same room where I use the shower as a pantry for nonfood items (an idea stolen borrowed from Manuela).  These herbs will all be used for cooking or tea so I want them to retain quality... thus, the dark-ish room.

 As for the harvest... the above picture shows us the results of time in the garden this morning.  Lots and lots of green beans were picked, two yellow tomatoes (which really are more of an orange color), parsley to use in a recipe, thyme to dry, and two different mints to use as tea.  My Roma and the heirloom tomatoes are beginning to see a touch of red!

 The first real "artwork" we bought as a married couple...

After months of reading English novels, I have been enjoying light stories (except for the aforementioned sinus infection month of June).  I have finished Brunstetter's Merry Heart and started the second in the series (Brides of Lancaster County) during a rest this morning. Since all four books are in one volume, it will be easy to read one after the other.

Finding a new recipe is much akin to striking gold in this family.  At the end of each Wanda Brunstetter book is a recipe found in the reading of the story... in this case, a peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie (I used chocolate chips).  When I finished the book, I realized I had all the ingredients so immediately went to the kitchen to do some baking.

Oh, my... they are a delicious combination of peanut butter and chocolate.  I tried them out on my picky cautious eater and waited for his opinion... definitely two thumbs up... especially with a large glass of cold milk.  I wonder if these will bring him home from campus on weekends?  :)

The recipe will make its' way to the recipe blog soon.  I have many recipes to post when I get time.  I need to sit down for an afternoon at the desktop computer and get the recipes posted... someday... when the siren song of the garden is not calling.  But I do plan to post the promised peek-a-boo stew and the cookie recipe soon.

In a perfect world...

If I had my choice, I'd own a small farm... my husband and I would be very healthy and able to do most of the work... my son would want to be a farmer instead of a computer scientist... and my grandchildren would live close enough to visit the farm on weekends.

I pass gorgeous farms when driving on the highways and byways of my county and I covet.  Especially those with white farmhouses and red barns... tall fields of corn... cows... horses... more cows... and a large veggie garden near the house.

Long ago I made the decision to live life as it is and not as I want it to be... to a certain point.  For there are plenty of options within the parameters God has ordained.  Edith Schaeffer talks about this a lot in her books... that we are not to complain about what we do not have while doing nothing with what we do have.

I cannot sit at home longing for acres of produce and a John Deere tractor while letting the sunny section of my yard remain as grass.  In one year... with a severely limited budget... we built and planted the small veggie and herb garden. 

All it took was a little research online and in books, setting aside a portion of money my husband earned working the usual two weeks at the bookstore last winter and this spring, building the fence and two small beds last spring, and building another two this year... and planting.

All done a little at a time when circumstances and budget allowed.  The hardest part of the entire process... making the decision to "go for it".  God does give us the desire of our heart, we only need to not look at the perfect dream but what part of that dream is available right now.

A basket of herbs waiting to be dried

This morning I enjoyed checking the garden after yesterday's soaking rain.  I gave the herb garden a haircut while chatting with Stephanie on her way to a Connecticut beach. 

There was some puttering around on the deck on the way to the house to put back what was taken down before storms hit yesterday... and time was taken to cut back the sweet annie (which surprised me by coming up again this year near the house) to dry with the other herbs.

Just enough for now with what is given in time, energy, and finances.  Not perfect by any means.. but good.  I must admit to a constant struggle between the perfect desires of the heart and what is available at the time.  But I think that is common to mankind. 

The difference faith makes... the knowledge this world is not all there is.  Our hearts long for Eden but we are to do the best we can on this sod called Earth.

Herb mystery solved

It's Italian oregano!  The little plastic thingy was still there... albeit within the jungle I call my herb garden.

I did a little research online and Italian oregano is a hybrid of Greek oregano and... ta da (the reason it looks a little like marjoram)... sweet marjoram.

 I had no idea this oregano is somewhat rare.  I bought the plant at my favorite nursery, which has all kinds of amazing herbs available each spring.

The best article I found about Italian oregano is... here.

A bouquet of oregano

My oregano has been growing so fast, it developed lots of flowers long before I used any of it. 

Yesterday I decided to clip it back (ohhh... the beautiful aroma!) and use some of the "clippings" as a bouquet.

Next year I will be certain to build something my vines can grow up.  This watermelon plant has taken me completely by surprise!   

Enjoyed the holiday

 We had a very quiet 4th of July at home.  I was still recovering and even Christopher stayed home all day on Sunday.  Dad went to church but was home the rest of the day. Although I could hear many neighbors celebrating with fireworks, I watched the national fireworks display on PBS in the cool of the air conditioning.  :)

 I had already decided Monday would be our official grill out day with grilled skirt steak, "cooked to death" green beans, potato salad, and Cherry Cheesecake Pie for dessert (that recipe... here).  It is my husband's favorite dessert.  I usually keep everything for the cheesecake in my pantry but this time I didn't have any cherry pie filling.  I did, however, have some canned cherries.  :)

I had never cooked skirt steak before (much less grilled it) but I saw it grilled on a cooking show recently and I had to try it since skirt steak is very reasonable.  Wow, it was delicious.  I will definitely be grilling it again only next time I will use it in fajitas.  The only thing special I did with it was to rub in some Tony Cachere's creole seasoning about an hour before grilling.

My kitchen dish drainer has been full for days, lots of dishes to do!  Yes... although I own a few sets of gorgeous china, I use colorful plastic for my day to day dishes.  It all started when I had a little boy and a husband... now I have a young man around and a husband.

I was out early this morning watering the deck flowers (which all look quite miserable) and the garden.  It is already very hot and humid again... and getting hotter.  I gave the garden a very long soaking mist and watering, now it looks happy.

Today's harvest?  Green beans, mint, lemon verbena, and kale... which continue to all sit in the basket as I am too tired to wash them.  Hmmm... I wonder if the green beans will have a minty flavor if they stay there long enough?  :)

So much to chat about right now... cooking and gardening and decorating and books... and cats.  That will all have to come later.

The garden in early July

I thought some people might enjoy seeing the way the garden is growing.  Thanks to all who gave gardening suggestions, I can use all of them!

I am slowly recovering and enjoying the brief days of gorgeous temperatures and humidity before the heat returns this weekend.  My Martha side wants to clean, clean, clean... my Mary side reminds me I just came through a serious illness.  Mary is winning most days.  :)

The tomato plants look like they are going to grow as high as trees!

This picture (above) is what the baby watermelon plant looks like now.  I was wondering if it would grow since this part of the garden gets a little shade... I'd say it looks just fine.

I've said before that this garden all started with just a conversation between my husband and I as we talked about researching a raised bed garden.  It is one of the best yes-es we have ever decided to go through with.  Our property is not perfect for a garden, being at the edge of a forest... but we found one area that gets some good sunshine.