My walk in the yard this morning

Morning Glory

Crept Myrtle

Turkey made from a propane tank

Brass Bed - Strawberry plants are behind flowers

Zinnia - they look so vintage as they are dying

Zinnia

Zinnia

Black Eyed Susan

Gerber Daisy

This is a sweet potato vine growing in one of my

compost beds.  I had 2 sweet potatoes that we did not eat and

they started sprouting...so I buried them in the compost

early in Spring. Did you know if you put a sweet potato

in a jar with water a plant will grow. 

Great project for kids.

Cotton is growing in the field in back of sweet potatoes.

Marigolds

I call this a trumphet vine

Bell Pepper plants - lots of small peppers are still

on the plants

Eggplant is still hanging in there.

Hope everyone has a really great week!

Maxie

Toadstools in the back yard

I opened the back door

this morning and was greeted by toadstools..

the round one above was not there yesterday...they seem to

grow overnight...and so perfect and such detail..this one (above)

 looks like a fried egg

There's an abundance of skinks this summer..they are

quite friendley and will pose for the camera

We were eating last night and noticed that the cat was

looking at something through

the window...at first we thought it was

a snake in the shrubry but it was a skink. 

We have blue and black flourescent color ones too.

Looks like they are

finding plenty to eat..they appear to be quite healthy.

Harvesting the fruits of our labor

I made some pickled okra yesterday..my sister requested it to give to her grandson.  Why does the okra float to the top after processing...I packed it so tight before pouring the brine in. This has a clove of garlic, few mustard seeds and celery seed in each jar and the brine is water, vinegar and salt.









                                                                                  

Butternut squash growing in compost

Potatoes growing in compost...in the very back of the potatoes near the concrete block are two butternut squash plants. The potatoes will be gone long before the squash need the space to spread. The compost pile is about 15 inches deep. No shovel was needed to dig the potatoes and the compost required very little water to produce a healthy plant.  If you have a compost heap that is not turning to black compost as quickly as you think it should, cover it with black plastic. The heat from the sun speed up the process. Do not add any raw veggies to it during this time. I almost spent a couple hundred dollars on a compost drum before I tried the black plastic...the latter was much cheaper. They are really easy to start...you will be surprised at what you have when you start saving all the raw excess of vegetables.

This is our harvest of butternut squash...plus we have already eaten 6. This basket full weighs 34 pounds.  We had 4 plants...the most productive vines were planted in the compost pile. We have three compost bins going, each at different stages of decomposition.

The garden has been a really big success, but I could not have done it alone...my hubsand tills the soil and helps plant and lay out the plastic between the rows and once in a while I can get him to help me pull weeds and cut okra.  Love you!! and thanks for all your help.

The garden is at the end of producing, there's still a little okra, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers and bell peppers, but only involves a little of my time...I am glad to return to crafting...time is just flying by.  When I start seeing fall crafts other bloggers have made, I know it is time for me to get busy.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I have been working on ....

our garden approx 30' x 50'

Amelia Tomato Plant

I counted over 30 tomatoes

they were just hanging in clusters

will plant this variety next year

Fig tree

The figs have just started ripening

I have to pick them slightly green.... the birds

 will eat them when theyare ripe. They will continue to ripen inside

on the counter.

A creature (skink) in the garden. I was getting compost

with a pitch fork from one of our compost piles

and I noticed that the compost fell through the pitch

fork, which it usually comes up in clumps. I tried 3 times

and it kept falling through and them all of a sudden

I saw about 30 eggs that looked like bird eggs, and then

a big skink crawled out.  They were skink eggs..never

seen skink eggs before.   I hope

I did not disturb them so they will not hatch. I carefully

covered them with compost and hoped for the best.

Okra bloom..we have two 50' rows of okra and

it will produce til fall. I have never frozen okra because it always

turned out slimy, from the ice crystals that form.

This year I am trying a new way  to freeze it...

called "dry blanching"  Slice okra and spread out on a

cookie sheet and heat in a 350 oven for 10 minutes..

cool and pack in freezer bags.

Squash pickles..did 15 pints of these..

they taste like bread and butter pickles

Also processed 12 quarts of squash for the freezer.

Pina Colada Jam

made with zucchini

very tasty

made 3 pints

Zucchini Relish

made 2 pints

Salsa...11 pints and 6 quarts

Everything I canned is processed in a boiling water bath from 15-30

minutes, depending on the size jar. Also, everything except the jam has

vinegar as an ingredient, which also acts as a preservative. Tomatoes have

a high acid content, which is also a preservative.

If you would like a copy of any of the the recipes, please email me.

They are from  a Canning and Preserving cookbook by Taste of Home.

                                                       I made this Hello Kitty Annie for my

granddaughter Jadyn.

Annie is wearing a dress made from Hello Kitty fabric with

rick rack around the bottom of the skirt. 

I have added a tiny pearl necklace and stitched around

the top of the shoe with pink embroidery floss and then

added  tiny pink bows.

This little patriotic pig that I named Maxwell

The lining of the vest and

bow tie is a navy background fabric with

tiny white stars..and patriotic rag balls

I made several of these standing rabbits at Easter

I decided to dress this little guy in patriotic attire.

The vest has flags and stars and 4 red-white-blue star

buttons and the lining is navyblue background fabric with tiny

white stars. He is holding a rusty bell. He stands about 19" tall.

Pattern by: Sweet Meadows

Spinach from our Fall/Spring garden.  This is the first

time planting spinach..will definitely plant again.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Made 3 quarts and 3 pints..our friend gave us the cucumbers..

I planted seed 3 times and they never germinated...

guess they were old

I will be picking butternut squash  and making fig preserves next week.

There is no picture for this story..but it was pretty scary while it was happening.

All last week, every time I would go in the back yard this mockingbird would start squawking

and swooping down on me.  She did have a nest, but the babies came out 2 weeks ago.

Anyway, she did this all week long..I would carry the umbrella just to keep her off me.

Then Sunday afternoon my husband was sitting in the swing in the back yard and all of a

sudden he saw something move to his left about 10 feet away.  Now my husband really does

not deal with any kind of snakes very well and mainly all we have are oak snakes. And my I add we

live in the country surrounded by farm land.

Well this was no oak snake...it was a rattlesnake...over 5 feet long with 5 rattles.

Well, when all was said and done,  I started thinking...Sunday when I went to the clothes line

4 times...the mockingbird would sit in the dogwood tree and squawk at me..she was just about

4 feet away....and that's where the snake was.  I think the snake was in the yard all week

long and she was warning me. When I did some resarch, I found that rattlesnakes

will stay in an area where there is food..i.e. rabbits and  mice,  and living were we do we have

those...field mice and rabbits..and there were baby rabbits in this particular area.

  This week the back yard is peaceful and quite...no squawking

mockingbird and hopefully no more rattlesnakes.

What do you think...do you think she was warning me...do you have

a similar story?

Red-Headed Woodpecker

I have been watching him/her in the yard for a

couple of weeks and finally got one picture

from 60' away (not very

good quality). Males and females

are the same colors. That is a

pecan in his/her mouth.

Everything is coming up...

RADISHES

A friend call and asked if I would like some radishes...he said

he was bring a handful..than handful weighed

2 lbs 12 oz...so I decided to make Radish Relish

which is so simple...and tasty. The raw radish is spicey

but the relish has a sweet taste.

When we have planted radishes, there is always many more

than we can eat or give away and this is an easy recipe to

use them.

4 cups stemmed radishes

2 large celery ribs

1 large red or sweet onion

2 tsp canning salt

1 cup sugar

1 T mustard seed

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 T prepared horseradish

Chop radishes, celery and onion in food processer or

finely chop by hand. Mix remaining ingredients and add radishes

and allow to stand 3 hours.

Bring to a boil in large pot and cook 10 min.

Pour into hot jars leaving 1/2" head space. Adjust lids

and process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

Yield 2 pints

Very easy

Food Fraud

I read an informative article this morning on food fraud...foods we thought were good for us...milk, olive oil, juice, honey, baby formula, spices - here's the link for the slideshow.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/food-fraud-hoax-grocery-store_n_1439995.html#s889320&title=Spices