Annie's Kitchen Garden

March 5, 2012 - Plans Gone Awry

2012-03-05T20:30:00.003-08:00

I had big plans to get in another six hour day today. As usual, I headed out to the garden at eleven this morning. Son Scott came over to help me straighten and finish setting the T-posts for the garden fence. Once that was done, he headed home, and I pulled a lawn chair out to the sunshine and started cutting the old welded wire fencing down into 1' high strips. The plan is to use the plastic mesh fencing that I installed last year. I was very happy with it, as it's nearly invisible and doesn't bend or sag. However, Annie has figured out how to push on the bottom and scoot underneath. The 1' high welded wire keeps her from getting through and into the garden beds. Just as I finished cutting all the fencing, the wind picked up and it started sprinkling. So much for finishing the fence today. I had also planned to measure and mark the garden areas onto graph paper, which was also out of the question due to the weather.

So I cleaned out the garden shed. Now the mini greenhouse is ready for the cool weather seedlings that will stay in the cold shed, under lights. That gives me the entire indoor shelving system for warm weather seedlings, like tomatoes and peppers.

Speaking of seedlings, I'd never used Miracle Gro before, simply because of the bad things that I'd read in other blogs. However, when I was ready to start some seedlings there was nothing else available on the shelves, so I grabbed a small bag. I ran out when I was about halfway through seeding the beets, and by this time the stores had stocked their garden shelves, so I bought a large bag of a "professional" type potting mix and finished planting the beets in that. Well the Miracle Gro beets are four times the size of the others. That being said, I don't think I'd ever grow beet seedlings inside again. I think they grow much stockier when direct seeded. I do think I'll turn a deaf ear to the naysayers and buy another bag of Miracle Gro for starting the rest of my seedlings.

After lunch, there was nothing I could do outside, so I spent the afternoon resting. So did Annie and Otto.....silly Mr. Granny, he thought this room was his man cave.

March 4, 2012 - Garden Progress

2012-03-04T17:35:00.009-08:00

Oh, my. As tired as I was last night, tonight I am exhausted! It was gloriously warm and sunny by 11:00 a.m., so I headed out to work in the garden. I got the entire back fence flower bed cleaned out, raked and amended with composted manure. I dug some of the garlic I had planted last October, since it was smack dab in the middle of the area we will sod, and replanted it in the small bed, next to the lettuce box, that I had prepared yesterday. I'll still have to find room for the remaining plants.

Just as I finished the flower bed cleanup, and had started raking the area where the sod was removed yesterday, both of my sons showed up. Scott was ready to help pound in the fence posts, and John planned on getting the old tiller going.

I've never had to transplant garlic plants before. From what I've read, some people have good luck and others not so much. I guess I'll find out, as they had to be moved. I trimmed the roots just a bit, and trimmed the tops, just as I do when I plant onion plants, and set them 6" apart in all directions. I think I got about 15-16 plants in this small bed.

There are still about a dozen left to find room for.

After Scott and I got the fence posts started, to mark the edge of the garden, John got the old tiller running. We bought it new, about 36 years ago. That shows you how well things were made back then. Of course, we've always kept it garaged and out of the weather.

John hit a lot of roots. He had to chop them out with an ax, and I picked them up and put them in a pile. That's an 8' 2x6 to the left of the pile, to give you an idea just how big they were.

The roots were huge. This one is leaning on a 4'x4' post.

Oops. I knew there were no gas or electrical lines back there, but I forgot about the TV cable//internet/telephone lines. You would think they would have buried them deeper! Luckily, they weren't cut. It will, however, necessitate having to make two triangle shaped garden beds, with a path in between, to protect the cables from any future digging. It also means this is where the gate will go, so the fence posts are in the wrong places! Oh well, I'm not going to make Scott move them. If it looks odd to have a 3' gate and posts in this 8' section, so be it. We're going for function over beauty in this case.

We were getting a lot more done than I thought we would! John kept tilling, I kept pulling out the roots and stacking them up.

He definitely earned his keep, what with all the tilling and chopping.

We're not talking tiny feeder roots here, people!

Many were this size.

And some were even larger!

Finished! The pile of sod in the middle is over the top of the old tree trunk. There was no way it was coming out, so I'll build a raised bed over it and plant it with winter squash.

Tomorrow the plan is to straighten, plumb and finish pounding in the T-posts, so they are all 3' high. Once that's done, I'll either put up the plastic net fencing again, or buy some new welded wire fencing. I wanted chain link, Mr. Granny didn't, and I lost the battle.

A battle I didn't lose was keeping the old east garden plot, rather than putting it in sod! I will sod the few feet at the south end, around the lilac tree and its suckers, but I will retain much of last years planting area. That means the 2012 garden will be considerably larger!

I had a rather scary incident happen today. Around three o'clock, I hadn't yet had any lunch, so I decided to take a short break to eat something. I had a leftover cube steak in the fridge, so I made a couple of slices of toast and fixed myself a steak sandwich. I took it out to the patio, where son Scott was sitting, and started gulping it down as fast as I could, so I could get back to work. I'm afraid I gulped without chewing well, and a piece of steak got stuck in my windpipe. I couldn't breath, I was panicking, and I couldn't make a noise to alert Scott to what was happening to me. I was on the verge of passing out, when I somehow got out of the chair and lunged at Scott, pointing to my throat. Of course, he really panicked! All he could do was stand there and yell "Dad, Mom's dying! Dad! Dad! Mom's dying!" Well, Dad (Mr. Granny) was in the house watching a ballgame. He has priorities, you know. By the time he did get to the patio, Scott was trying to hug me, and I was pounding on my own chest, which finally dislodged the piece of steak....and none too soon! Scott finished off my steak sandwich, while I drowned my sore throat with a few glasses of water. Scott kept muttering how he never learned to do the Heimlich maneuver, and I told him it wouldn't have done any good in my case anyway. After all, I had on an oversized sweatshirt and no bra. He would have been hugging me around my knees, thinking it was my chest!

Mr. Granny sent out for a pizza for our dinner, then I'm off for another hot soak in the tub and a few Tylenol.

March 4, 2012 - Update on Ginny

2012-03-04T09:30:00.002-08:00

I called Ginny of Gingerbread's House 7 this morning, as I and many others have been quite concerned about her. I spoke with her daughter, and she informed me Ginny had suffered a stroke while having her procedure done. She is home now, and is expected to have a full recovery. Her daughter said she would try to post something on her mother's blog later today.

I'm sure Ginny would appreciate receiving cards from us. You can email me at anniebloom1 at gmail dot com for her address. Let's send her some love and get her back with us soon!

March 3, 2012 - Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

2012-03-03T15:49:00.007-08:00

Maybe I bit off a bit more than I can handle when I decided to enlarge the garden.

Our day began at 10:00 a.m. when Mr. Granny and Scott began digging out fence posts after I'd removed all the clips and fencing.

Bryan unloaded the sod stripper and fired it up, while Kevin began rolling up the strips of sod.

They loaded a trailer with rolls of sod, and still had all of this left over. I'm thinking it would have been easier to reseed rather than try to lay all of this into the old garden area, and "somebody", I won't name names, neglected to follow my instructions to keep the sod rolls up next to the fence. That entire area will have to be leveled, so the sod will have to be moved again! I worked on leveling it with a rake for about an hour, and didn't even make a dent in it.

So....here is the garden extension. Pretty rough right now, and the old maple tree roots were so near the surface it made stripping the sod very difficult. It will have to be tilled up, and that might prove interesting what with all the big roots.

Areas like this will either have to be chopped out with an axe or made into a raised area for squash. The roots are huge, and right at the surface.

Remind me to never, ever, ever plant cosmos again. These 10-12' giants had to be cut into sections then pulled. Now what will I do with them? Too bad I don't have a chipper. Our only alternative is a big bonfire.

I put in a full day. A bed was made for Grandpa Ott morning glories. I dug a couple of buckets of compost into the soil, raked it smooth and added a mulch of grass hay. A week or so before it's time to plant the seeds, I'll scoot the mulch aside to let the soil warm up. Strips of wire fencing were tacked to the back fence to give the vines something to climb.

The lettuce bed was dug, and compost and alfalfa pellets were scratched into the top few inches. It's all ready for seeding when the time comes. A small bed next to it was also amended, mulched with hay, and fenced off to keep Annie from sleeping on it. I haven't yet decided what will go there, possibly a small herb bed.

I cleaned up and mulched the lily bed, and that pretty much took care of cleaning and prepping my "back 40", the area behind the garden shed.

Is it bedtime yet? My body aches all over. Oh, it's only 4:15. Darn. I feel like I put in a lot more than six hours!

March 1, 2012 - Getting Organized & Chicken Butts

2012-02-29T11:41:00.010-08:00

All winter long, I keep my seeds in a large plastic canister with a tight fitting lid. I store them a cool place to hopefully keep them viable season after season. Now it's time to sort out the jumble and organize the packets into my index tabbed seed box for the upcoming seed planting marathon. I really need a separate box for all the big seeds, such as beans, peas & corn, which are a bit bulky for the indexed box. Dang, I was cleaning out a closet the other day, and threw away a perfect sized decorated box with lid! I didn't even think about using it for seed storage.

Being in an organizational mood, I pulled a big plastic storage box off the closet shelf and started sorting things out...keep or donate. There were several old paintings I had done way back when, probably 35 years ago or more. Most went into the Goodwill box, but when I came across the "Chicken Butts" I hesitated. I always loved that whimsical little painting! I called my youngest daughter and asked if she wanted it, as the colors would be perfect in her kitchen. Then I emailed her a picture. Just as I had decided a couldn't part with it, and it wouldn't look too bad on my kitchen wall over the telephone, Amy called back and said "I WANT it!" Now we both want it. I decided to give it to her, but if she ever decides she doesn't want it after all, I want it back!

"Chicken Butts"

So many things in that box. So many memories. How could I ever part with.......

Dear Grandma and Gandpa . This is for evre thing you have dun for me. I love you gise very very very very much an more love

......from granddaughter Alicia, who is now nearly 18 years old, written when she was in the first grade.

February 29, 2012 - Busy Days Ahead

2012-02-29T09:07:00.007-08:00

Although I have a few February planted seedlings growing in the house, tomorrow I'll begin the marathon planting that always takes place in March. My planting calendar shows me what lies ahead for the month. In/Out refers to direct seeding....whether the seeds will be started inside under lights or outside, directly into the garden.

I've taken Ed's advise and begun to presprout my next planting of spinach seeds. It has been two weeks since I planted 12 soil blocks with Space spinach, new for 2012 seed, and only four have managed to germinate. I now have another 18 presoaked seeds resting in a damp coffee filter, keeping warm in a plastic baggie on top of a shop light.

Many of February's seedlings have been moved from under the shop lights to the laundry room window. They seem just as happy there, as long as I remember to turn the containers every couple of days to keep the plants growing straight.

Moving some seedlings cleared up a lot of space on the grow shelves for the March plantings. I've decided to go with the 6-pack cells rather than soil blocks this time around, as I can crowd more plants into a smaller space (72 cells per flat vs 36 soil blocks) while waiting for the mini greenhouse in the garden shed to warm up enough that I can move some of them out there.

February 28, 2012 - The Sun Is Shining for Granny Again

2012-02-28T08:08:00.003-08:00

You don't know how close I came to just quitting this blog yesterday. Not only was I racking my brain over the comments problem, in between sessions at the computer with multiple changes to the blog template and settings, I was also moving furniture, cleaning out a closet, dresser and desk drawers, hauling out carpet and pad scraps and keeping an eye on son John to make sure he was installing the new bedroom carpeting to my satisfaction. While fixing lunch and dinner. Mr. Granny did start the day with a surprise for me when he came in with a couple of breakfasts from Jack in the Box. It's not that I'm that fond of those breakfasts, I much prefer a bowl of cereal and some fruit, but the containers they come in make great trays for soil blocks for seed starting, and the lids are perfect to use underneath the planters on the garden windowsill!

My dear long time cyber-friend, Teresa, came to the rescue with the blogger comment problem. She asked me "Have you tried using embedded comments rather than the pop-up box for them? In case you need it, it's under Settings>Comments>Comment Form Placement." That worked! I must say, I didn't know that would be any different than the popup comment box, but it is. It gave me back the option for follow up comments to be emailed to you, as well as adding a "reply" button, which I'm loving. No more long comments from me with all those ********between them!

While I'm still on the subject of blog comments, let me mention that my Firefox browser (an older version) doesn't show the comment box at all, but the "reply" option works. I noticed Erin had a commenter (Judy) who said she doesn't see a comment box. It does show up in Internet Explorer and Chrome.

OK, now that all is well (for now), back to business. It was only 19F here this morning, and we're expecting another storm to pass through tonight. More snow? Possibly. The weatherman is predicting 58F for Saturday, so there's still a chance the sod removal for the new garden plot can take place. I want to be planting peas and potatoes in about two weeks. C'mon, Mother Nature, we're ready to garden!

February 27, 2012 - Blogger Headaches....Again

2012-02-27T13:51:00.004-08:00

Am I the only one having Blogger problems recently?

You may have noticed I changed my template today. For some reason, there is now no option to be notified by email if you get a reply to your comment. This is what my comment box (and most of those I visit) looks like now:

There used to be an option to subscribe to comments by email. That option disappeared today. In fact every Blogger page I visit is the same unless it has this type of comment box....

I played around with a new template in another (unused) blog of mine, and the it showed the lower (good) comment box. I changed my Annie's Kitchen Garden template over to the new one, but the old (bad) comment box came back....still no option to subscribe to comments. I imported this blog into that unused one and the good comment box was there, but as soon as I changed the name it went back to the bad comment box! I've cleared my cache, I've rebooted the computer, all to no avail. The only thing I haven't done is put word verification back on.

I am getting so frustrated with Blogger I imported the blog into Word Press, but not all of the comments transferred over, so I'm still working on it. If I get it up and running, and learn how to use it, I'll begin using Word Press instead of Blogger. Or maybe I'll just close this blog down and start a new one with a different name and link back to the old one. I'm too old to deal with all these recent blogger frustrations!

February 27, 2012 - Did I Say Spring?

2012-02-27T07:18:00.006-08:00

Yesterday, with visions of tomato blossoms and fresh baby lettuce dancing in my head, I felt as though spring had arrived! My dreams were dashed this morning, when I looked outside at two inches of snow on the ground. It was completely unexpected! My son-in-law, Bryan, has committed to Saturday to begin sod removal for the new garden plot. That might have to be put on hold.

Yesterday son John installed the new carpet in Mr. Granny's man cave. It looks so much better! I got such a good deal on a remnant that was exactly the right size to carpet not only that room, but a small bedroom as well! I hadn't planned on replacing that carpet, but the 12' x 29' remnant was less expensive than purchasing a 12' x 15' for the man cave alone. Mr. Granny and I moved all the furniture out of the room on Saturday, and we put down the new padding. Sunday we whimpered a lot about our old, aching muscles, and let John do most of the work. I think we'll wait for him to help move the furniture out of the bedroom today, although he moans and groans about his aches and pains almost as much as we do!

All that furniture moving and carpet laying wore Otto out.

I think I've solved the problem I was having with CAPTCHA. I've always had control over comment moderation, having every comment sent to me email. My email was inundated with spam when I removed word verification from my comments, and I was really tearing my hair out over it. Well, DUH! I stopped having your comments sent to my email! Blogger does a good job of removing the spam to a different tab, so now I don't have to look at it. I just have to publish the comments through Blogger Dashboard, rather than from my email. So.....for now at least, this blog will remain a word verification free zone.

February 26, 2012 - The Year's First Harvest

2012-02-26T17:32:00.005-08:00

Today I had my first harvest of "windowsill lettuce". I also transplanted the little onions into larger containers, and I kept the clipped tops to add to tonight's fresh salad.

The first pot gets a trim.

With the second pot harvested, we had enough for a nice dinner salad. We'll enjoy the 3 oz. of Red Sails lettuce.

I had a real surprise today. I planted four Mini Gold tomato seeds on January 26th. All four seeds germinated, and three of them had what I would consider normal growth. The fourth, however, went right to the head of the class and today, exactly one month from the day it was planted, presented me with a cluster of tiny flower buds! Is that fantastic growth or what? I just hope it doesn't drop its blossoms, which has been my luck in the past when trying to grow tomatoes inside.

February 24, 2012 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

2012-02-24T10:07:00.002-08:00

You may have noticed that I recently removed the word verification from my blog. I, as many of you have, have not been leaving as many comments on blogs since Blogger decided to use CAPTCHA in place of the more user friendly "old" word verification. At first I left my setting so that anyone could comment, with moderation....that means I get an email for every comment, and can publish or not as I see fit. It didn't take five minutes for the spam to begin flooding my email account, so I changed it to not allow comments from "Anonymous". Unfortunately, this also blocks anyone who doesn't have a Google account from commenting. Laura, from The Modern Victory Garden Blog emailed me to let me know she was unable to leave comments now, so I enabled "Anonymous" posting again. Within minutes I was sent a link to see Hillary Duff in the buff (I can't even use the "n**e" word here, or spammers will catch it and inundate me with links). I'm not interested in seeing Hillary, or anyone else, in the buff. Really. So now I'm between a rock and a hard place when it comes to comments. I lose readers if I continue to use CAPTCHA, and I lose readers if I turn it off. Can you tell I'm losing my patience?

February 23, 2012 - Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

2012-02-23T08:38:00.007-08:00

Robin is going to be so proud of me! I actually remembered to photograph a couple of meals for today's Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard, which is being temporarily hosted by Jody at Spring Garden Acre. I normally do incorporate foods that have been grown and/or preserved by me into most of our meals, but I usually forget to grab the camera. Sometimes they just aren't pretty enough to photograph. You know you all have those days when you dish up right off the stove.....don't you?

This week's meals weren't very pretty either, but they were very tasty.

Grilled turkey Kielbasa over sauteed cabbage, with buttered boiled potatoes and green beans. Only the green beans were home grown from the freezer, but.....

....dessert was a rhubarb strawberry crisp. Both the rhubarb and strawberries were from the freezer and grown in the 2011 garden.

Another dinner that didn't look nearly as good as it tasted was spaghetti topped with a pork cutlet and Mozzarella cheese. The sauce was made from tomato sauce from the freezer and home made (frozen) pesto. It was delicious! The corn, from the freezer, was locally grown (not by me).

Somebody was hoping for leftovers!

February 22, 2012 - Recipes Just Aren't the Same!

2012-02-22T19:19:00.011-08:00

I've subscribed to quite a few magazines in the past couple of years. They all, of course, have something to do with cooking and/or gardening. I've subscribed to Rachael Ray, Taste of Home, Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle and Woman's Day. An entire year of Rachael Ray gave me exactly one recipe that appealed to Mr. Granny and me. Taste of Home, which used to be my favorite magazine for recipes (I still have many copies from the late 90s-early 2000s) , might have given me a half dozen or so that I could have found on their website for nothing. Family Circle and Woman's Day weren't much better, but at least their magazines are less expensive. BH&G and Good Housekeeping are worth renewing, but not necessarily for their recipes. I still find most of them do not appeal to our tastes. Heck, let's face it.....we're old, and our tastes are old fashioned! We still like the foods we grew up with, the basic meat and potatoes. Fried chicken, pot roast and meatloaf!

Mr. Granny really started it all this morning when he mentioned how unappetizing a dish in our local newspaper's food section looked. He said it looked like "slop" to him (it was rizotto with mushrooms and smoked salmon). That sent us right into a discussion of the foods of our childhood, and sent me straight to the cookbook shelf for my stack of Pillsbury Grand National Recipes of the 1950s.

1951, 1952, 1953

1954, 1955, 1956 & 1957

I was surprised, after leafing through all of those books in my possession, to find most of the recipes were for cakes and cookies, quite a few for pies and desserts, but very few for main courses. The main courses were not the ones I remembered fondly from my youth or early years of marriage, but I sure do remember those cakes and cookies! I think the main dishes we enjoyed came in the later Pillsbury Bake Off cookbooks. I'll have to see how many of those I have in my collection.

I did mark a few recipes in the old books. Not the cookies, because I have no willpower....I am the cookie monster of all cookie monsters. Bake them and I will eat. And eat, and eat and eat. I have learned to bake them seldom, freeze them in small amounts, and (hopefully) keep my hands out of the freezer! I can pass on cakes, pies are appealing but don't tempt me nearly as much as cookies, and as much as I love yeast breads, warm from the oven, I do have some self control where they are concerned.

This was the only main dish that appealed to me in all those books. Beans (canned) and wienies, of all things!

February 20, 2012 - When Things Go Wrong

2012-02-20T12:27:00.002-08:00

When things begin to go wrong, it seems as though everything goes wrong. I even titled this post "January 20".

What to do, what to do? I've shared photos of one of my granddogs with you before. Little Kobi is so precious to us, and even more precious to the humans he owns. He's eight years old, and the love of their lives. Well, last week Scott drove to the bank, and when he got out of the car Kobi jumped out unnoticed. It wasn't until Scott got home, about 15 minutes later, that he realized the dog was gone. He went back to the bank to look for him. I guess he approached a woman across the street who said she saw the dog, and that someone in a blue van drove up, opened the door, and the dog jumped in. She was sure it was his dog, she described him and even identified his leopard print collar. Really. She saw the collar across four lanes of traffic. And actually made note of it. Scott went back later to ask her more questions, and he said it took her a very long time to come to the door and he heard several dogs barking inside. He was quite suspicious of her story.

Of course we've been driving around the area every day, and have printed out and distributed a bunch of fliers. This morning a woman called to say she remembered seeing the dog that day. She took special notice, because he was so cute and was wandering around the parking lot (she was in the bank drive through). She said a Hispanic male walked over and picked him up and walked toward the front of the bank (the direction of the house where the woman who saw the "blue van" lives). She also said there was no blue van at the bank at all, just a black car.

Shortly after the first phone call, daughter Amy (her phone # is on the fliers) got another phone call. This time it was from a Hispanic male, who said "I have your dog, and I want $500." She asked where she could meet him to pick up the dog, and he hung up. No phone number, the number was blocked. Of course, there is no way to know if this person actually has the dog, or if he'd just arrange to meet someone and then rob them. Although a reward was offered on the fliers, no amount was given. Scott did, however, post on Facebook that they'd pay $500 to get the dog back. Ha! Like he has $500....he's disabled and unemployed! (Mom? Dad? Please?)

The police were already contacted about the dog the day he went missing. Of course there's nothing they can do, other than have a record of the report, as nothing criminal had happened. They were also called after the last phone call, as this could turn into either a dangerous situation or downright extortion.

In the meantime, we're all worried sick about Kobi. Now we're quite sure it wasn't some nice family that picked him up so he wouldn't get hit by a car, or probably not even someone who just wanted him because he's cute. It's more likely someone who will try to get money for him, any way they can.

On a less serious note, the other thing that went wrong was the new living room furniture I bought last summer. The sofa and love seat (not a cheap set) had "down stuffed cushions". Well, the "down" turned out to be feathers, and they work through the fabric and poke you in the butt when you sit down. Not to mention feathers all over the living room. I finally pulled the covers off and encased the inner cushion and feathers in large plastic garbage bags. You can imagine how uncomfortable those were to sit on, besides the fact the covers wouldn't stay on straight due to the slick plastic underneath. And every time someone sat on them, the air would rush out of the bags and make embarrassing sounds. I finally decided I had to do something, so I bought a roll of some 1-inch thick stuff called Nu-Foam, which is a woven fabric that is used in cushions and such, and supposed to be better than foam. To fit inside the covers, it had to be sharp around the edges, yet puffier through the seat area where the feather filling was. That meant cut it to fit, then hand stitch it to the inner lining. A time consuming, back killing job.

I'm only on my second cushion, and there are a total of five on the sofa and love seat. It cost $50 for one roll, and there's not going to be enough to finish. I'll try doing just one side, and put a less expensive quilt batting on the other side and just make sure the quilt batting side is always on the bottom. Hardly anyone sits on the love seat, so maybe I can get by just using the quilt batting on that. I'm so unhappy with that set, I wish I could return it to the store. The store that went out of business while we were down in Arizona last fall.

February 19, 2012 - Sunday's Seedlings

2012-02-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

The new seedling rack has taken over my bedroom!

Four of the shelves now have full sized 4' lights. I bought two of them this week, which means I might not have to "borrow" the shed lights this year. Unless I get really carried away with planting, which is always a possibility. Three shelves are already filled, so the lettuce will probably be moved to the laundry room and put under the 2' light soon. Actually, it could probably go out on the front porch most days now.

I have decided to keep all four of the Mini Gold tomato plants that grew. I had only planned on trying to keep one growing inside to maturity, which will be the big one on the left (they were all planted at the same time). Now I think I might try to keep the other three growing until they can be planted out on May 1, and I'll put them in my three front planters....the ones that have always held flowers in the past. I'll plant them as Ed suggests....the tomato as a "thriller", some Dark Opal basil as a "filler" and sweet allysum as a "spiller".

The Southport White Globe onions aren't doing so great. They don't seem to have many roots, and fall over quite easily. This container was planted with 80 seeds, and I'll be lucky if half that many survive to be planted outside. The identical container, with identical seeds, never did sprout any seedlings. I finally scraped off the top layer of seeding mix so I could reuse the rest of it, and noticed two tiny sprouts. I ended up scraping that layer into a pot outside. Maybe something will eventually take off.

I should be eating fresh baby Red Sails lettuce in a week or so!

The Tall Utah #527OR, Improved celery has been thinned to one per Dixie cup. It's growing well.

Parsley, Parris Island Romaine lettuce and Chioggia beets.

More beets. This is my first try at starting them indoors. Most have been repotted into individual Dixie cups, but I'm not so sure it's not a waste of expensive seed starting mix to plant them individually like this. I probably should have done them in six pack cells and just snipped off the extra seedlings.

More beets.

And another planting of lettuce, Wild Garden Mix from Ed, just beginning to show.

Not shown:

Several Dixie cups of Johnny Jump Ups from Debbie Clegg. I was surprised at how quickly they germinated! I thought they'd be really slow, like the parsley, but they were up in six days.

24 soil blocks of Harris Model parsnips, not yet germinated.

12 soil blocks of Tyee spinach, the first one germinated today.

2 Dixie cups each of parsley and New Zealand spinach. I didn't think the first planting of parsley was going to grow, so I planted more. Now, like last year, I'll have way more than I can use.

February 16, 2012 - Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

2012-02-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

I told Robin I wasn't going to join in on yet another special posting day, as I really prefer my blogs to be impromptu and about whatever subject happens to be on my mind at the time. I even hesitate to join in on Monday Harvest, as I'd prefer to blog about each harvest on the day it takes place.

But.....I *heart* Robin and Daphne, so I will do what I have to do. I think I will change my format a bit this year by blogging daily about the harvests, then doing a condensed version of the entire week on Mondays, and Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard isn't much different than my usual "Garden Dinners" posts, so I'll try to be a good Granny and contribute on occasion. Just don't expect me to be too good!

I usually cook meals that contain something that I've grown and/or preserved. I haven't been very good about photographing my meals through the winter, I just don't have the enthusiasm for it that I do when the garden is in full production. I did, however, remember to photograph one dinner this week....

The too thick pork chops I buy from Costco have to either be butterflied or cooked in the crock pot. This time I chose to crock pot, and used home canned tomatoes and home grown red sweet peppers from the freezer. The broccoli was the last of what was grown and frozen last year, and the parsley buttered noodles were prepared with home grown and dried parsley. Not shown are the frozen (thawed, of course) sweetened strawberries that we had for desert. They taste so much more like real strawberries than those I can buy, and probably have about half the sugar.

Please join Robin's Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard and let everyone know what you are using from your pantry!

February 11, 2012 - Woe is Me

2012-02-11T10:53:00.001-08:00

I got the jury summons just over a week ago, and my term was for two weeks. The first week passed, and I was not called to serve. I thought I was home free, but it was not to be. I called in last night to find I must report at 8:30 Monday morning, when they will select jurors for an upcoming murder trial. That means, if selected, my "two weeks" of service could extend for weeks! Please do not chose me, please do not chose me, please do not chose me......

Woe is me, but woe-er is my daughter. Amy was redoing her kitchen at the same time I was redoing mine. In fact, it was she who talked me into putting the laminate flooring in the kitchen. She just finished hers last week, and it turned out just beautiful. Her floors were much prettier than what I'd installed. Then it happened. Her garbage disposal plugged up, and she kept running water into it to flush it out. It seemed to be working, but what she didn't realize was that she was just pumping all that water into the dishwasher, as it had nowhere else to go. When she opened the dishwasher, the water poured out all over her newly (less than a week) installed flooring. It went behind the dishwasher, behind the cupboards, and everywhere. She threw towels down to try to sop up the mess, which may have even worsened the problem by keeping the flooring wet. Well, it soon began lifting and buckling. At first it ruined about a fourth of the flooring, then expanded to half. They keep pulling it up, and they are still finding dampness. Needless to say, she is just sick about it. She's the one who caught her kitchen on fire last year, now this! We have nicknamed her Fire & Water.

February 10, 2012 - Granny's Rustic Buns

2012-02-10T18:53:00.001-08:00

No, no! Not those buns!

These buns! Pretty ugly, huh? Wilderness posts such good sounding meals and recipes, I decided to give her Potato Bread recipe a try. I tossed everything in the bread machine, just as she had them listed (I used 1/2 cup of warm mashed potato), until I came to the flour. Oh, dear.....it didn't look like I had three cups in that canister! Sure enough, I was at least 1/4 cup short, and not a bit more flour in the house. Oh, I had some whole wheat flour, but Mr. Granny won't eat anything but white bread. Well, of course I decided to go ahead with the recipe with what flour I had on hand. It was really soft and runny when it finished the dough cycle, so I oiled my hands and dug in. Honestly, this was as smooth as I could get them.

They were still quite lumpy looking after rising. Oh.....I had a pot of ham and bean soup simmering in the crock pot, so I removed the lid and put a cookie sheet and a cutting board over the top and put the covered rolls on them to rise. It worked great! The cutting board kept them from getting too warm.

Not the loveliest buns I ever made, but they'll do.

Oh, my...will they ever! The texture was a bit course, due to the too soft dough, but the flavor was divine. The recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks, Wilderness!

Mr. Granny was in his Man Cave, engrossed in a movie, so I dined alone at the kitchen counter. Ham and bean soup, Waldorf salad, iced green tea and "rustic" buns with real butter. It doesn't get much better than this.

February 10, 2012 - Thank You!

2012-02-10T11:55:00.001-08:00

I am rather late publicly thanking 1st. Man for The Versatile Blogger Award that he presented to me on February 1. Now I have received it once more from Mrs. Pickles Garden.

I had previously received this award from a dear blogging friend, David P. Offut, back in September of last year. For that reason, I'll not bore you with more facts about myself, which you can read here, in my original response.

That being said, I want you to know that no matter if I receive an award once or a hundred times, it's just as special to me each and every time. Some bloggers hate these awards. I have been publicly chastized for passing them on to some blogs that I especially enjoyed. I no longer follow those blogs, because I am shallow that way, LOL! I love getting the awards. I enjoy knowing there is someone out there who appreciates my blog enough to take the time to send me an award. So, thank you to Mrs. Pickles, and a belated thank you to 1st. Man. I love your blogs, too!

February 8, 2012 - Potting Up

2012-02-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

The roots of the lettuce seedlings I started for my "windowsill garden" were beginning to grow out of their soil blocks, so I decided it was time to pot them up. I looked at Walmart and Shopko for some lightweight plastic pots that were short enough to fit under the lights and wide enough to hold at least four lettuce plants. I found nothing, just tall round pots. I found exactly what I wanted in a long narrow pot at Fred Meyer, but it was $7, not including the drain tray. My ~~cheap~~ frugal self opted out of that one. Off to the dollar store, and once again I found exactly what I was looking for. A dollar apiece, I bought four of them.

They had no drainage holes, so once again I got out my trusty hot glue gun. I've ruined many pots using a drill to put in the holes, but this glue gun is foolproof on lightweight plastics.

My bathroom has become my potting shed. You know you have a problem when you have to wash the potting soil from your toothbrush before brushing your teeth! Hey, a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do when it's freezing outside!

A plastic fork, with the outer tines broken off, was a perfect tool for removing the small seedlings for transplanting.

Eight Red Sails lettuce plants are comfy under their temporary 2' light. The 4' shop light fixtures were on sale at Fred Meyer this week, for only $8.99 each. Of course, they were sold out. I got a rain check.

I have to buy some cupcakes. I don't want the cupcakes, but the bakery container that held my birthday cupcakes is absolutely perfect for securely holding these small Dixie cups. I can just pour a bit of water in them to bottom water the plants. Daughter Amy said she'll bring a dozen cupcakes for our Valentine's Day dinner......she's such a good girl. Anyway, I transplanted 8 celery seedlings into the cups, and four Mini Gold tomatoes. I wanted one tomato plant for the windowsill, so what did I do? I planted four seeds to make sure I'd get one plant. Yes, every seed germinated. What will I do with four Mini Gold plants?

The green things that are growing in my bedroom.

OK, tell me why. Close to 100% germination on these onions. They are 1-2" tall already. The very same day I took another identical container, filled it with the identical planting mix, seeded it with the second packet of the identical variety of seeds that were from the same company (Mike the Gardener's Seeds of the Month Club) that had arrived in the mail on that very same day, covered it with identical plastic wrap and set them side by side on the same shelf. In other words, there was no difference at all in the two plantings. The second container has failed to germinate a single plant! Beats me!

February 6, 2012 - A New Beginning

2012-02-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love it when you happen upon a new blogger, with a brand new house and a garden in her dreams? The other day I had a comment from Christy, at My Garden - Our Life, so on a whim I checked out her profile, which led me to her new blog. I'm all excited about following her and her husband on their venture of making their new house a home. Check it out, maybe you would enjoy the journey.

Speaking of new beginnings, I must admit I'm a hoarder. I think it was about a week ago that I commented on another blog, saying I am NOT a hoarder, but I really am. It's just that my hoard is well maintained and hidden behind closet doors. I have a hoard of genealogy papers. I have a filing cabinet stuffed full of census, land, marriage and court records. I have an 8' (it might even be 10') shelf packed with books and binders, all stuffed full of 20 years of genealogy research. Well, I had to paint that closet yesterday, and I decided it was time to get rid of the hoard. Everything, well just about everything, has been entered on the computer, and nobody in the family is really interested in taking over the collection....and I burned out on it a couple of years ago. I decided it was time to bite the bullet and drag out the trash can. I'm printing out complete books for the two grandchildren who do show a bit of interest in it, and I will retain all photos and copies of important documents, but I'm going to donate the hard back research books and everything else will be shredded and disposed of. It hurts....20 years of work looks like a lot on paper, not so much on a computer program.

I can do this. Yes, I can.

February 4, 2012 - The Man Room

2012-02-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

I painted Mr. Granny's man room yesterday. It's kind of fun to look back at the changes, although this room really hasn't changed much since my last child flew the nest and gave over her bedroom to her Dad. It's been his room since the 90s.

In the 90s it was a bit girlie, but Mr. Granny didn't seem to mind.

Around 2006 I "manned it up" a bit with the green walls and the removal of the flowered curtains.

Yesterday the walls turned to a medium beige. So far the valance is staying, as it has beige and green stripes that match the chairs and walls. I'm contemplating its removal, and possible replacement with a brown window blind.

For years he's been complaining about the glare of the light through the window as he's trying to watch TV. I don't know why I didn't just rearrange the furniture to get the TV away from in front of that window. That was where the TV cable happened to come in, but it took me about 30 minutes to reroute it to this wall. Much better for TV viewing! Mr. Granny did, however, call me in from the kitchen to tell me the light from the window was reflecting on the TV and making a glare. Sheesh, I had to drop everything to close the blind for him! You'd think he could have done that himself :-(

The next project will be new carpet for this room. I think son John and I can manage to install it ourselves.

February 2, 2012 - Oh, The Possibilities

2012-02-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

I'm definitely leaning toward the garden redo this spring. Barbie asked where the new beds would be in the garden plan I posted yesterday. I'm not planning on putting raised beds in the new area. I've opted for wide rows, intensively planted, instead. Rows that will be anywhere from 2' to 3' wide for easy reaching. I could easily make them up to 10' long. I had already made up my mind to do the same in the old (east) garden, but there the rows could only be 6' or 7' long (and a lot fewer rows). Here is a rough draft of what I could do.

The shaded area at the top left is where the "Kennel Garden" is now. The unused kennel would be moved, and repurposed as a rain/snow free shelter for the dogs next winter, with a tarp over the top, for a place to do their business right off the patio. Spoiled little things just cannot get used to rain and snow! I think the kennel will fit over the lettuce garden behind the shed when not in use. I hope so, I don't want to have to dismantle and then reconstruct it every year, and I don't want to have to mow in and around it all summer. I would use the entire 6' fence line (left, north side of garden) for climbing things, like morning glories, pole beans, cucumbers and peas. The two small plots in the shaded area would work for lettuce and spinach. I'd still have my garden bench in that corner, even though it's a dangerous place to sit when the squirrels start throwing walnuts at my head! The raspberries and strawberries would remain in their raised beds (all the rectangular beds on the left are raised beds). Squash will again be planted in the circle at the bottom left. That gives me room for a lot of 2'-3' wide beds in the new area, with 1'-2' paths between the wide rows. There would also be plenty of room to set a few pots of herbs and/or flowers.

I hope I can stay this excited about it when the hard work begins. The planning is the fun part!

February 1, 2012 - Should I or Shouldn't I?

2012-02-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

I approached Mr. Granny with an idea, and he actually didn't fight me over it! What do you think......

This is a master garden plan of my existing "North" and "East" gardens, with the "Kennel Garden" joining the two at the corner. Pay no attention to what it shows planted in the beds, it's actually a plan of my 2009 garden, just pay attention to the spaces. The red line would be the new "North" garden boundary, and much of the "East" garden would be eliminated. This would add about 300 square feet of planting area, and sod removed for the expansion would be put over in the "East" garden. There's a lilac tree there that is a constant PITA with its suckers spreading through the garden. If it were back in lawn, the suckers would be mowed with the grass. I would eliminate the kennel, the welded wire fencing and the plastic mesh fencing, and put in a 3' high chain link fence with a gate wide enough to accommodate the garden cart.

Of course, I might change my mind, but if I go ahead with the plan it will have to be finished by mid-March. It might actually be better to work at it a bit at a time this year, with a finishing date set for spring 2013. I just hate to have the garden in bits and pieces between now and then, but it would be a lot easier on the gardener.

The monster shelves in my bedroom are no longer empty. Under the lights, I have some seedlings that have sprouted. The celery, tomatoes and lettuce are all up. Parsley, which is notoriously slow to germinate, is still a no show. The two containers on the right were planted with about 170 onion seeds yesterday, when my new seeds arrived from Mike the Gardener's Seeds of the Month Club.

Lettuce seedlings will grow under lights, it's way too early to plant anything outside. Of course, a few seeds were put outside in pots yesterday, 'cause there's always a slim chance the weather will cooperate!

January 31, 2012 - Hello, Sunshine!

2012-01-31T12:57:00.001-08:00

In just a week, we went from this.....

....to this. When we left for Arizona in mid-October, all the flowers were still in bloom. I couldn't bear ripping them out, so now I have the job of pulling out all the dead ugliness of winter. Temperatures in the mid 50s and sunshine were all the motivation I needed to begin the cleanup.

That's better! The dead zinnias are gone, the leaves raked and put into the raised bed by the shed (they'll get removed, chopped and returned to the garden when I find the lawnmower), and the last section of fencing mended where the weight of flowers and snow pulled it down. There's still a lot to do, but at least I got something started.

January 30, 2012 - End of the Kitchen Redo (almost)

2012-01-30T16:32:00.001-08:00

With the exception of a few minor things, like new cupboard and drawer pulls and maybe a coat of fresh polyurethane on the cupboards, the kitchen is done. It looks so shiny and clean and so un-Harvest Gold! I must say, the beiges, browns and almond are much more restful to the eye.

I went for an old fashioned ceramic tiled back splash, 'cause I'm an old fashioned type of gal.

Remember how unhappy Mr. Granny was that I spent over $300 for a new sink, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with the old one? Now the sink is his favorite update in the kitchen! He didn't think he'd like the odd shaped tiles on the back splash, but now he likes those too. I have found I must dry off the counter after wiping it off, or it streaks. Each evening, when I clean up after dinner, I spray it (and the stove top) with an ammonia free glass cleaner and dry it with a micro fiber cloth, which leaves the surfaces sparkling clean.

I love the floor! If I had it to do over again, I'd pick one without knotholes, but I can live with it. It's so easy to keep clean. I wrap a terry cloth towel around the broom and sweep once a day, which does a much better job than the broom alone. Once a week I damp mop with white vinegar and warm water, squeezing the mop out really well.

I painted the six doors in the hallway white. It's so much brighter than those dark walnut stained doors! I still have to paint one hallway wall, where I removed and then replaced some door trim while John was installing the floor. Once that's done, I can start painting Mr. Granny's man-cave. I think son John and I will tackle installing new carpet in there once the painting is done. I have to hurry and get my inside chores done, as it will be time to garden before I know it.

January 27, 2012 - I Thought Christmas Was Last Month

2012-01-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all of you who left birthday wishes for me! You really made my day!

I thought Christmas was last month, but evidently not because Santa Claus came yesterday! Oh, I know he says his name is Ed, the gardener from Tales From the Mountainside, but I know his true identity.....he's Santa, alright. Just look what he left in my mailbox!

That's an entire garden, people! Oh, Mrs. Pickles, I think I will be Mrs. Lettuce again this year, don't you?

I sure was happy to receive the Mini Gold tomato seeds. I didn't save any from the plant I grew in 2011, thinking I had more seeds in the packet....but I can't find the packet! I'm definitely going to start a pot for the new grow shelf, and see if I can actually manage to mature a few tomatoes in the house. It's such a prolific little variety, if anything can make it inside, it will be Mini Gold.

Mr. Granny is already pacing. He says he's afraid I'm going to make my garden larger this year. Maybe not larger, but I'll bet I have more pots and buckets scattered throughout the existing space.

The new shelving unit is rather large, isn't it? I'm glad it's only going to live in my bedroom until (probably) April. I can't find my S-hooks for hanging the lights (I found the chains!), I think I used them all to attach the plastic fencing to the garden shed. Somewhere I have a new package of black cable ties to fasten down the rope lights....can't find those, either. I wonder where I put the power strip. Why am I so organized through the gardening season, and so completely unorganized at the start?

Daughter Amy brought cupcakes yesterday. She saw a cupcake container....I saw a seed starting container! Perfect for starting tomatoes in the small plastic Dixie cups!

Two of the Mini Gold tomato seeds (from Ed),that I want to grow inside to mature ripe fruits, were planted in the only two cups I could find. When I locate the rest of my stash, they will be joined by parsley and Johnny Jump Ups. That's about all I can start this early, since I don't grow my own onions from seed.

Son John stopped by with a pretty potted miniature rose bush and card for my birthday.

January 26, 2012 - It's a Done Deal

2012-01-26T12:53:00.001-08:00

Well, crap....I don't look 73, I look 93!

We watched Justin Bieber's Never Say Never. I heart the Biebs! Good heavens, his parents look like they're about 18 years old!

I got the plant shelf I wanted. I usually get what I want ;-)

We'll go out for dinner tomorrow. I already have spaghetti sauce simmering for tonight's dinner, with home made tomato sauce of course. I'll want to spend this evening putting that new shelving unit together!

January 26, 2012 - Today's Birthday's

2012-01-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

Today's Birthdays

Suleman octuplets - 3

Kherington Payne - 22

Kirk Franklin - 42

Wayne Gretzky - 51

Anita Baker - 54

Ellen DeGeneres - 54

Eddie Van Halen - 57

Lucinda Williams - 59

Gene Siskel - 66

Angela Davis - 68

Scott Glenn - 70

Bob Uecker - 77

Jules Feiffer - 83

Paul Newman - 87

Anne Jeffreys - 89

Douglas MacArthur - 132

Annie's Granny - 73

Mr. Granny wanted to take me out for a birthday dinner tonight, but granddaughter Alicyn wants to come over today and bring "10 movies" for us to watch. I hope that, in her 3-year-old world, that means no more than two movies! I know I'm in for Harry and the Hendersons and Justin Bieber's Never say Never. Two of my favorites....nothing is too deep for Granny's tastes, LOL!

I put a photo up on the computer last night, and showed Mr. Granny to what I really want for my birthday.

I know none of you would be surprised or shocked to know I would find this very attractive in my bedroom, in front of the window, with four shop lights hanging from the wire shelves and seedlings snuggled warmly beneath them. It's really the only place I'd have room for such a wide unit. In past years, I've always had my seedlings in the mini greenhouse in the shed or garage, but it's awfully cold out there, so I have to keep heat under the flats 24 hours a day. If I have them in the house, that eliminates the need for heat. It's only temporary decor, of course. By April everything could go back out in the shed.

January 24, 2012 - The Season Begins!

2012-01-23T22:04:00.000-08:00

The first garden seeds of 2012 were planted last night.

A hot glue gun, minus the glue stick, makes short work of making drainage holes in the bottoms of some plastic yogurt cups.

The yogurt cups and a bakery container were used for the first seeds of the season.

The yogurt cups were filled with potting mix and watered well with warm water. Four celery seeds (Tall Utah #527OR, Improved) were planted in each cup, and covered with a thin layer of dry vermiculite. I used the same potting mix to make the soil blocks. The bakery container held nine blocks, and these were planted with some Red Sails lettuce seeds that were left over from last year's seeds. I put two seeds in each block, as I'm not sure how good the germination will be with these older seeds. The flat containing the seeds was placed on a rope light for extra warmth.

The seeds were covered with a plastic dome to maintain the humidity. They will remain under the dome, on my bathroom counter, until the tiny seedlings emerge. They will then be moved to the laundry room window and placed under a grow light.

This is my first try at growing celery. Keep your fingers crossed!

January 23, 2012 - Where There's a Will

2012-01-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

There's a way.

I really needed some seed starting supplies from the garden shed, but the snow is still about 8" deep between here and there.

I've seen some of those cute boots a few of you wear, as well as some that are not so cute, but I've spent the last dozen or so winters in Arizona. We don't do cute boots down there! At least I didn't. What to do, what to do? Well, where there's a will, there's a way. Nothing is going to keep old Granny from that garden shed today!

Hmmmm. It's not snow any more, it's an ice skating rink. That freezing rain the other night, as well as a couple of days in the 40s and nights in the 20s have formed a crust on the snow that's thick enough to hold my weight. Getting to the shed is now a matter of just staying on my feet rather than wading through snow.

Aha! Once I reach the sunshine, I break through the crust. I still don't go deep enough to warrant wearing these fancy "boots"!

Proof as to where I've been.

This is all I could manage to carry while skating across the yard, but it's a start. The 2012 gardening season can now begin!

January 22, 2012 - Me Too! Me Too!

2012-01-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

OK, it seems as though just about everyone is posting plans for their 2012 gardens, so I need to get in gear and do some planning of my own! I pretty much know what will be planted in the North Garden.

North Bed #1 (hoop & bird netting, 3' x 4' raised bed)

30 Mixed lettuces

North Bed #2 (2011 compost pile)

One hill of 3 Waltham Butternut Squash plants, to be planted in a compost pile. Vines will eventually cover about a 10' x 10' area of the garden.

North Bed #3 (4' x 8' raised bed)

12 Sweet Peppers

*3 Corno Di Toro

*3 Quadrato Giallo D’Asti

*3 Quadrato Rosso D'Asti

*3 Red Marconi

24 Walla Walla sweet onions (for salad onions)

North Bed #4 (hoop & netting for leaf miner protection, 4' x 8' raised bed)

32 Tyee Spinach

8 Tall Utah #527OR, Improved celery

32 Walla Walla sweet onions

32 mixed varieties beets

North Bed #5 (4' x 8' raised bed)

Established Canby Raspberry bed

North Bed #6 (4' x 8' raised bed)

Established Tristar strawberry bed

North Fence (vertical growing)

Fortex Pole Beans

Green Arrow Peas

Cucumbers

Grandpa Ott Morning Glories

I haven't yet planned out the Kennel Garden or the East Garden, but they will contain, among other things, potatoes, carrots, parsnips (maybe), garlic, snap peas, bush beans, cabbages and whatever else I can crowd in there. Tomatoes will go in the west garden and along side the house on the west side, as well as by the patio. There's lots more planning to do!

January 19, 2012 - Let it Snow, Let it Snow....

2012-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Bring it on.....Granny can handle it!

January 18, 2012 - Winter is Here

2012-01-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

We woke up to the first snowfall of the season. Having spent all of their winters in Arizona, Annie and Otto have never seen snow before. Otto was scared of it, and refused to go off the patio. Annie studied it for a few seconds, then tentatively stepped into the cold, wet mess. Of course, Annie's belly drags on bare ground, so you can imagine how deeply it was immersed into the snow! She wasn't impressed, and immediately returned to the patio and back inside through the pet door. Mr. Granny had to take both dogs out front under the pine trees, so they could pee on bare ground!

January 16, 2012 - I Wish I Had Married Norm Abrams

2012-01-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Of course, I love Mr. Granny, but what woman in her right mind doesn't wish she'd married Norm Abrams? I mean any of us do-it-yourself women. The ones who are too ~~cheap~~ frugal to hire our work done for us. Thank heavens I have son John, but even with him helping I find myself hyperventilating from the time we start a project until we've finished. One thing about hiring someone to do your work is that if they make a mistake, they have to fix it on their own dollar. When we make a mistake, we (I) have to pay for it. That's why I hyperventilate. So far, so good.....knock on wood!

Last night I told Mr. Granny I wanted to replace the garbage disposal while we were putting in the new sink. Being Mr. Granny, he had to go on and on with the same old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" routine. I, on the other hand, knew the days were limited on the old one, and it would be only a matter of time before a replacement would be absolutely necessary. Why reinstall the old one, then a month or a year down the road have to take it back out and replace it? Well, I won the argument. When John pulled out the old disposal this morning, we discovered it had a hole in it and has been leaking. Chalk up a win for Granny, I have my new disposal installed.

Today's Projects

The new sink and garbage disposal are installed, the stove top is back in place and wired in, and we're finished for the night. Tomorrow we'll change out the plugins and switches, texture the walls where the old back splash was removed, paint the walls and do some small touch ups (filing) on the edges of the Formica. Maybe I'll find time to shop for tiles for the new back splash.

I....am....exhausted.

January 15, 2012 - Counter Tops Part 2

2012-01-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Formica was installed on the first counter top today. Of course, the tile back splash is still missing. In fact, I haven't even looked for the tiles yet. I'm thinking a light brown shade. John is going to retexture the wall first, as 4" tiles won't quite cover the area where the old back splash was removed. We're also going to replace all the plugins, switches and cover plates while we're at it, so they'll better match the paint color.

Mr. Granny is not impressed with the granite look. He says it looks like someone threw up on it. The man is hopeless.

January 14, 2012 - The Next Project Begins

2012-01-14T21:22:00.001-08:00

With the floor finished, it's on to the next project.....new Formica counter tops. Son John came over after dinner, armed with a bunch of new tools from Harbor Freight. The new heat gun made quick work of removing the back splash and edge of the old Formica. If I never see Harvest Gold again, it will be too soon. Oh yes.....unfortunately, it's still present in the bathrooms :-(

Then the top piece of Formica was removed, and the back splash area given a coat of primer. Some of the old contact cement was scraped off, but John decided he was going to get something that dissolves it for easier removal, so called it quits for the night.

Leaving me with this mess! I swear, my kitchen was clean when he got here. Hmmm, I think I bought John a new router to go with his new heat gun. I'm easy.

Semi-cleaned up, I'll be living with tools in the kitchen and small appliances in odd places for the next few days.

The new counter will look similar to this (my daughter Amy's kitchen). It's called Butterum. Hers is the preformed counter top with round edges, where mine will have routed edges. I'll probably be using 4" ceramic tiles for my back splash.

January 13, 2012 - Talk About Customer Service!

2012-01-13T18:07:00.001-08:00

After we got the new flooring in, the old kitchen bookcase looked pretty ratty. I decided I'd replace it with a new solid oak bookcase, so I went shopping. Nowhere could I find a long, low bookcase. They were all 36" high or more, which made them way too tall for my TV. Last night I searched for one on line, and still couldn't find one wide enough and short enough for my needs. I decided to look at the "fake" oak ones, the kind you have to put together. I found one at Office Depot that fit my needs perfectly, both in size and in color. What's more, it was normally half the price of the smallest oak bookcase, and it was on sale for another $30 off! OK, I figured the shipping would be outrageous. I had seen some that were relatively inexpensive, but charged as much as $125 for shipping and handling. I decided to see just what it would cost, and was pleasantly surprised to find shipping was free in my area! Even with sales tax, it was actually just under $100 total. I ordered it last night, and got a notification this morning that it had already shipped. The estimated delivery date was next Tuesday. Imagine my surprise when the truck pulled into the driveway around noon today. Free delivery, and about 18 hours to get here....you can't beat that kind of customer service!

Now the hard part begins. I used to be real good at this, but I kept putting this one together with the parts upside down or backwards! We goofed it up more than once, but didn't quite get to the point of filing for a divorce.

I am very happy with the finished product. It is really sturdy, and the Carolina Oak is quite close to the color of the living room furniture. It was 2" higher than the old bookcase, so I had to raise the picture a bit. It is also 8" longer, which is a good thing.

It blends in nicely with the kitchen cabinets, and I like the contrast of the darker color next to the flooring.

Now my computer desk looks a bit ratty next to the new bookcase and the new flooring. NO! I'm not going to replace it! Well....at least not right away ;-)

Hmmm, I wonder what time Office Depot opens in the morning.

January 8, 2012 - Time Flies

2012-01-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Nooooooooooooooo!!! It hasn't been eight days since my last blog, has it?

I've been busy, busy, busy. The new flooring is done, but there are still some baseboards and molding to be cut, painted/stained and installed. I still have four doors to paint, and each one requires at least an entire day to remove, sand, prime and paint two or three coats of enamel. They were dark walnut stained doors that are being painted white. Just two of the six hall doors have been finished and rehung.

It seems as though every time I redo something, it requires something else to be done. In this case, we had forgotten the floor under all the vinyl had been overlayed with plywood when the kitchen was redone the last time. That meant the thickness of that underlay, plus the thickness of the laminate flooring, made quite a drop off into the laundry room and bathroom. It's not so noticeable going into the bedrooms and Mr. Granny's man cave, as the carpets conceal the actual height of the drop off. Now the two rooms that have vinyl flooring will eventually (soon) have to have new floor coverings, and they will need to have the floors raised up to match the hall. Sigh.....I really didn't want to do all of that, as those floors are in great shape. In the meantime, I think I'll install some 1/2" quarter round, stained to match the hall floor, just next to the laminate transition strip. It might keep Mr. Granny from tripping over the edge!

The gap between the vinyl and the transition strip is large enough to insert the end of a toothbrush.

I can't seem to get a decent picture of this flooring. I guess it's the sheen that changes the color when the flash hits it. It's the color of the closeup in the first picture, yet it looks yellow, red or silver in the other photos.

I'm getting quite used to living with tools and toolboxes in my living room. I will miss them when they're gone (NOT!)

I really do like the flooring, but if I had it to do over, I'd pick laminate that didn't have knot holes in the pattern. When you're looking at one sample board, it's not so noticeable. When they're in every board on the floor it looks like the pups came in with muddy paws! Really, one of the (repeating) knots looks a lot like a paw print. Another drawback of new flooring is how shabby it makes existing furniture look. Now I won't rest easy until that old bookcase in the kitchen is replaced, and a new solid oak one will put me back about $200. Gotta have it though, it's the only handy spot for my recipe books and my kitchen TV, and narrow enough to not block entry to the hallway.

There's not much gardening going on yet. I've received a few more catalogs, but with all the seeds that were gifted to me by Robin, and Ed being more generous than Santa Clause himself, I've only had place one order so far. I can't let a year go by without buying more sweet pepper seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. I always find someone to share them with, and I'm adding a yellow variety to the two red ones this year. If I find a few moments to spare, I'd like to at least find the grow light and a container and start a pot of lettuce on the windowsill.

December 31, 2011 - Goodbye to 2011

2011-12-31T12:28:00.000-08:00

It was a good year, and it was a bad year. The good was that Mr. Granny and I are still alive and kicking, the family stayed healthy and happy, the Arizona property sold (that took a lot of weight off my shoulders), and the garden produced a lot of good food for our table. The bad was the tragic death of our little pet rabbit and the garden was the worst it has ever been in my entire gardening life. As far as the garden goes, I don't know if the blame should be placed on the purchased compost, which wasn't nearly as nice as in past years, the weather, which was so much cooler than normal, or the gardener, who is getting so very old and addlepated. Oh well, we'll try again, and hope the 2012 garden is beautiful and bountiful.

While many of you have already started your 2012 garden plans, I sit here in the middle of 20 boxes of Rhino flooring waiting to be installed. New counter top materials and kitchen sink have been ordered, and there will be much varnishing and painting going on in my house. We've lived in this house for over 20 years, and it was last updated in the mid-70s. It's past time to rid it of the Harvest gold sink and counter tops, and move into the present time with wood flooring. It's a big task to take on, and I'm not without worries that i'll absolutely hate it when we're finished, but Robin is holding my hand and giving advise through the entire process. I don't always listen to her, sometimes I just follow my gut feelings....If the floors look horrid, it won't be her fault. We each picked a different wood, and I stuck with my favorite. At least with the new laminate flooring, if I absolutely hate it, it can be pulled back up and used in the bedrooms!

Stacks of flooring in the front entry.

It's called "Embossed Oak". Yes, that's the new vacuum in the background, along with my step stool for reaching up to the ceiling. They really aren't part of my living room decor, LOL!

My vacuum cleaner decided to poop out on my just before Christmas. It wasn't old, maybe two years, and it was the best (most expensive) Kenmore that Sears sold, but I'd had a lot of problems with it. When a much less expensive Shark Navigator went on sale, based on the good reviews I decided to buy it. My goodness, I cannot believe how much dirt it is pulling out of my carpets! I'm definitely happy with the purchase. Of course, a new vacuum cleaner means I must clean the entire house. I've vacuumed floors, walls, ceilings, upholstery and fireplace brick. I've scrubbed baseboards and light fixtures. I've polished furniture and rearranged and rehung pictures. The dining room is finished, the living room is almost done, and I'll be moving on down the hallway by evening! There will be no New Year's Eve celebrations in our house tonight. Granny will by too worn out, and probably in bed by nine!

I'd like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. May your gardens be blessed and bountiful

December 28, 2011 - The Seeds of Hope and Friendship

2011-12-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

The first 2012 seed catalog arrived today! Does that mean I dare hope spring will soon be here? Or that I dare hope our 2012 gardening season will be better than it was in 2011? I hope, I hope, I hope!!!

Thank you to Robin for the gift of membership to Mike the Gardener's Seeds of the Month Club! Seeds of friendship will grow in my garden this year.

How adorable is this card from my dear Sassy Butterfly? It looks like Otto and Annie walking in a wiener wonderland, LOL! And a stocking stuffed with two new varieties of tomato seeds! I'm very anxious to try them.

Of course, I can't leave out my gift to me! Free seeds from Wintersown. org! If you haven't sent for yours, be sure to do so ASAP!

Now, if that doesn't give us HOPE that spring is coming, I don't know what will!

December 27, 2011 - Christmas Past

2011-12-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

I made it through Christmas! I had 16 of us crowded inside for dinner, and we actually managed it. This being our first winter at home in probably fifteen years, maybe more, I wasn't sure I could find room to seat everyone. Usually our family dinners are during the summer, and we have outdoor seating. Our dining room table only seats six. We set up a card table, and brought in the patio table for another eight seats. The teenagers ended up in the TV room, holding plates on their laps, so we actually had empty seats at the tables.

Santa showed up......

.....and brought us presents to open.

Then we had dinner.

Corn Chowder
Baked Ham
Scalloped Potatoes
Green Beans (from the 2011 garden)
Cole Slaw
Deviled Eggs
Relish Tray
Crescent Rolls
Jalapeno Corn Muffins
Raspberry Jam (2011 garden)
Jalapeno Jelly (2011 garden)
Pumpkin Pie/Whipped Cream
Apple Pie
Christmas Cookies

Mr. Granny sneaked off for a nap while everyone was still here! I'll have to speak to him about his manners. Luckily, our guests were just our kids and grandchildren, so they really don't care if Grandpa goes off to bed.....just as long as Grandma keeps the food coming.

We had a wonderful day with our family. I hope all of you also had a wonderful Christmas day.

December 24, 2011 - Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

Wishing each and every one of you a..........

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukkah

Blessed Holiday Season

December 14, 2011 - I Just Can't Trust My Kids!

2011-12-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

The other day, Mr. Granny and I went out for a day of Christmas shopping. While we were gone, our daughter Amy came over to the house with her camera, determined to get some good photos of the kids. She wanted to get at least one that was good enough to frame as a gift for me for Christmas. The venture turned into a real comedy of errors. As soon as she would get them seated together and begin to take a picture, one or the other would move. At one time, the boy ran into the bedroom and hid under the king sized bed. Three year old Alicyn had to crawl under the bed and pull him out by his head.

Amy didn't tell on them, but I'm sure she interrupted a party when she came in. I have a feeling the moment we left those kids headed straight for the kitchen to mix up a batch of those "funny" brownies....if you know what I mean. I have no idea where they got "that ingredient". Mr. Granny and I have never been into that type of thing. It must be the friends they keep. Anyway, I doubt I'll ever trust them to stay home alone ever again.

You'll never convince me they weren't stoned!

November 26, 2011 - I Can't Find It!

2011-11-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

"I can't find it" are the most common words used at our house this week. When we arrived back home, the kids came over and unloaded the pickup for us. Not knowing just where I was going to put everything, we had them pile it all along one side of the garage. The plan was to bring in a few containers each day, then decide if we'd keep or donate the items. I really have no need for two food processors, two mixers, two blenders.......well, you get the idea. But, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. Or in this case, of mice and Granny.

I didn't plan on getting sick, but yesterday the sore throat and achy body, chills and fever, overtook me. I went to bed at 7:30 last night, and slept for 19 hours! I'm sure the stress and long hours of work the past few weeks were partially responsible for lowering my immunity. I just hope I can shake it real soon, because I still can't find anything (including my camera)!

Do you know that Annie and Otto snuggled up to me for those 19 hours and only left once....to go outside to pee! The devotion of those two is mind boggling.

November 23, 2011 - There's No Place Like Home!

2011-11-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

We're here safe and sound, and it's so good to be back. I have my internet again! I also have a truck filled with household goods to put away, a mountain of laundry, and I'm tired from driving 8 hours today. The rest of our trip, after the bad motel experience, went great. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I find some free time to like actually sit down at the computer. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and I'll be back blogging real soon.

November 22, 2011 - The Saga Continues

2011-11-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

What does one do when someone's diesel truck is warming up outside of your room at The Motel From Hell at 4:45 AM? For a full fifteen minutes! I'll tell you what....you give up and get up. Then you take your dogs outside in the 28F chill of the early morning, and they refuse to pee because they're afraid of the noisy truck. And then you try to pass the time by reading your email, but the connection is flakier than the one I left behind in AZ, and I cannot get a connection. By 5:45 they must have reset their router, and I can finally access my email and begin reading all the blogs I've missed recently. Do you think that might just take me a while to catch up with all of you?

What? Only 519 blog posts to read? No problem!

Now what? It's only 6:00 AM, the next hotel is just three hours away, and check in time isn't until three this afternoon. We had planned on a relaxing morning in this motel room, just drinking coffee and watching TV, but this cable system doesn't even have ABC or NBC (I missed Dancing With the Stars last night....bummer). And the spout is broken on the coffee pot, so most of the coffee ended up on the dresser instead of in the cups. I wonder how long the dogs would be happy under their big blankets, in the back seat of the pickup, while we have breakfast and play a few penny slot machines at the local casino. I wonder how long our wallets will hold out! With the time change, there is still ten hours until check in time at Jackpot. I must admit, this trip isn't going as well as planned.

November 21, 2011 - Can You Believe.....???

2011-11-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in one of the scroungiest, yet expensive, motel rooms in Ely, Nevada tonight. Don't always believe the reviews you read on line. This recommendation must have been written by the owner :-( We've never stayed in Ely before, but we wanted to break up our trip home so the drive wasn't so tiring. We usually drive about eleven hours the first day, and eight the second day. This time we decided to drive the approximately 8 hours to Ely today, three or so hours to Jackpot tomorrow, then 8 more hours home on Wednesday. Of course, we had to make sure we could reserve a room where pets are welcome, so I chose this one for the glowing recommendation.....HA! The first room they put us in turned out to have no cable connection on the TV, and no "free WIFI" as advertised. We had to pack up the dogs, their beds, the suitcase, Mr. Granny's freshly made cocktail and move to another room. At least this one didn't have a hole in the wall, and the closet door opens. I got an internet connection that lasted all of five minutes, so this may not get published tonight :-( :-(

(I'm already into double frowny faces, and I've just begun)

Maybe I should begin at the beginning...............

Two weeks after we arrived at our Arizona winter home, it sold! I didn't want to say anything until it was final, and the closing date had been set for December 5. However, both the buyer and we were receptive to an earlier closing date, which turned out to be today. The single, widowed lady fell in love with it at first sight, and would have written us a check right there and then if we hadn't had it listed with a real estate company. As it was, she made a cash offer that was acceptable to us. We didn't make money on the deal, but we had a winter home for seven years and we didn't take a loss on it. We just feel lucky that it sold in this bad economy. It's been on the market for nearly two years! She also bought the furniture, so we didn't have to rent a U-Haul to get it all home. The funny thing about the whole deal was that she actually lives less than five miles from us up in Washington (1200 miles from the AZ property)! She banks at the same credit union that we do, so the funds were withdrawn and deposited at the same bank. And.....her brother-in-law lives in LaGrande, OR. I mentioned we had lived in Baker City. Her b-in-l had (has) a Chevron service station in LaGrande. Mr. Granny had a Chevron service station in Baker City. We knew her brother-in-law well! REALLY small world.

Which brings us back to the trip home.

I've driven through Las Vegas at least twice a year for the last 12 years. No problems. This morning I missed the exit ramp to Interstate 15. I took the next exit, thinking it would eventually display a sign leading us back to the freeway. Nope. Not a single hint as to how to get back without heading south and retracing our route. We actually ended up 35 miles north of the city before stopping for directions. Directions were given to head back toward Vegas, and directions were followed. We ended up on a dead end street. We headed back to the main highway and took the next busy street heading east. Dead end. Back to the highway, inching closer and closer to Vegas, we came alongside a Nevada Highway Patrol car. I gestured for him to roll down his window, and hollered that we were lost and needed to get to I-15. He yelled back the directions (just two more blocks, turn east and it would take us right to the freeway). It only took us two hours of extra driving time to get back on the correct road toward home! The first time we drove through Vegas, Mr. Granny missed a turn and we got lost in a residential area. Our last trip through Vegas and I get lost. Now we're even!

We left the dogs in the motel room and drove to the business district for dinner tonight. We had stopped in Parker for a sausage biscuit at McDonald's at 8:30 this morning and, with our scenic tour of Vegas, had not stopped for lunch. By the time we arrived in Ely, we were starving! I downed a delicious dinner salad, a large salt baked potato with butter and sour cream, and two pork ribs from a barbecued half rack. I took out the leftovers and put them in with the frozen foods, so I'll have another treat once I arrive home. Mr. Granny had a huge breakfast for his dinner, for just $5. We'll definitely hit that place for breakfast tomorrow morning. We're ignoring our diets for these two days. After all, he's already lost 12 pounds and I'm down 16. It took me 2 1/2 months, it took him just 4 weeks. We'll get back "on the wagon" after Thanksgiving dinner at our daughter Amy's house.

Looks like I might be back on line for the moment, so I'd better get this published! Hopefully I'll be back soon, with my home connection and no more internet problems!

October 27, 2011 - Internet Woes, (continued)

2011-10-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

You are all trying to be so helpful! Let me explain what is going on down here...

The RV park across the street and the library are the only internet sources for me. In the past I've always had a so-so connection from the park. I do pay for it, at their going rate of $10 a month. When it was working better than it is now, it was $30 a month. In the past couple of years their equipment just hasn't been working well (translate: cheap router that has to be reset every few hours), so rather than upgrade the equipment, they just lowered the price. There is no password. I pay my money, and they enter my computer's MAC number into their data, which gives me access. Last week I was getting a strong signal, so I took my money over to the park owner to pay for this month's WIFI. She said they had been having problems with it, and might have to limit it to park residents only and allot time periods for different people to use it, and wouldn't take my $10. I am still in the system, and sometimes (like right now) it does work, but I have to sit outside to get the signal. There have only been a couple of times in the past week that I could get anything at all.

This is a tiny town, there is no cable TV/internet, and the only dial up provider stopped their services this summer. The only way to get internet is via satellite or through the cell phone company. Considering the length of time we are down here, so far both methods are way too costly. My cell phone provider is ATT, and I would have to sign a two year contract with them to get an affordable (and limited) connection. I'm just not going to do that when I have a reliable and unlimited cable connection at home, 7-8 months of the year. Amy (daughter) is looking into other prepaid plans, but only ATT and Verizon service this area, all others would entail roaming charges or have no coverage here at all.

So that's my dilemma. It's by guess or by golly for a connection here at the house, or drive down to the library on Tuesday/Thursday.

Really, I'm not doing anything exciting enough to blog about right now anyway! Today I pruned some of the oleanders (only three of the 16 or so I have to do), made a big pot of navy bean soup, picked two jalapeno peppers from the traveling plant (they weren't a bit hot) and made a dozen jalapeno cornbread muffins. Luckily I brought some jalapeno jelly I can put on them for heat.

Now, I'd better get this published before I lose the connection again....if it's not already too late!

October 25, 2011 - From the Library

2011-10-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here I am, at the local library. It's not as handy as having access from the house, but it will have to do. My daughter has looked into getting 3G or 4G for this area, but we're out of range for the Sprint network, which is the only one that would be affordable. That one (Virgin Mobile) would have cost over $80 for the devise and $50 per month. Unless I did a 2 year contract with my carrier, ATT, that cost would be prohibitive. I definitely do not want to be paying $60+ a month for the next two years, plus over $200 for the devise! I might mention, we are in such a remote area of Arizona that we don't even have a land line internet carrier here!

This first trip to the library will be a short one, just to read your comments and get my email. There is no way I'll ever catch up on my blog reading, but I'll be setting aside a few hours each week to at least skim over them and see what all of you have been up to. And I promise to find time to blog by next week!

Thank you to my daughter Amy for publishing your comments and taking the time to call and read them to me. I appreciate it very much.

October 20, 2011 - Easy Come, Easy Go

2011-10-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is Amy, Granny's daughter. After being able to access WIFI for the first two days, Granny is again without internet. At this time it looks like the park across the street is only going to allow access to park residents. She'll be going to town today to see if she can access through the local library's network. If not, you'll have a long winter with boring updates from me. In the meantime, I will also be publishing comments and reading them to her via telephone.

October 17, 2011 - We Made It!

2011-10-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

The trip down was uneventful, but the weather was great. We arrived yesterday, a full three hours ahead of schedule, even after stopping in Parker for a few groceries. We had five picnic coolers full of frozen or perishable foods, and all of it arrived in good condition. We had some of this year's Fortex pole beans with our dinner tonight, with garden fresh tomatoes (they're ripening faster than we can eat them!)

I am utterly exhausted. Mr. Granny wasn't feeling well, so I had to drive most of the way. I think I got in around 900 miles to Mr. Granny's 300. Of course, unpacking the truck in 97 degree weather and putting things away in a 97 degree house took a bit of a toll on me. I still have two or three containers out on the porch to unload. There's a lot of work ahead of me, weeding, watering and pruning. It looks like the summer was pretty brutal on the yard and plants.

I was happy to see the WIFI from the RV park across the street is still functional. The signal is weak, but at least I can post and get email.

When I get caught up around here, I'll be sure to find something about which to blog. In the meantime, thank you to each and every one for the well wishes for a safe trip.

Oh, there was one slight casualty. The lemon tree looks fine, but the poor pepper plant has an uphill battle. One of the picnic coolers slid off and landed right on top of it. I had some bamboo stakes all around it, so they did give it some protection, but it doesn't look very pretty now. I do think it will survive.

October 14, 2011 - Shut 'er Down!

2011-10-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

The pickup is packed, and the only thing left to do is clean out the refrigerator and pack the frozen foods and perishables into coolers and keep our fingers crossed the frozen foods remain frozen through the trip south. We've rounded up four large picnic coolers, and three will be used for frozen meat and garden produce. I'll take as many garden fruits and veggies as I can for use through the winter. All of the butternut squash and green tomatoes are already in the truck, ready to go.

We had a big dinner for the family on Wednesday night. There were 16 of us with kids, grandkids and one great-grandson. Amy (daughter) took pictures with her cell phone. It doesn't have a flash, so the photos are grainy, but here we are, getting ready to eat way too much Chinese food.................

The family

Mr. Granny and me.

It's time for my yearly fight with my local Charter Cable. They'll tell me I can't snowbird my internet, and want to charge me $75 to cancel the service or keep charging me $40+ per month when I'm not using it. Then I get a call from the company telling me I can snowbird it. Then they charge the $75 anyway, so I have to call and go around and around with them over the bill. Happens every year. So....I'm going to pack up my modem and take it to Charter with me. I have a copy of every monthly charge for the past 2-plus years. I'm going to lay it on the line. Do they want $75 and the modem now and lose me as a customer forever, or do they want to snowbird it and continue to get my forty bucks a months when I'm actually using their service? I hate to switch to another carrier, but if I have to I will.

We'll be leaving very early tomorrow morning, so I'll say my goodbyes to all of you now, and hope I have an internet connection again soon.

Love you all,
Granny

PS: We found room to take both the lemon tree and the pepper plant!

UPDATE! I didn't have to fight with Charter Cable this time! I actually got a very nice lady, who had no problem snowbirding my internet for the winter.

October 11, 2011 - Thank You

2011-10-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

I want to thank all of you who sent such heartfelt condolences over the death of Cookie. Having so many wonderful friends, even though we've never even met, means a lot to me and helps lessen the pain of the loss of a loved fur baby.

October 10, 2011 - A Sad Day

2011-10-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

Our little Cookie Buns is gone. Something got in his cage last night, out on our patio, and killed him. Annie and Otto won't stop barking, and have been running around through the flower bed near Cookie's cage, but I can't find any evidence that would shed a light on what did the deed. There has been a strange cat in the neighborhood lately, and I saw it on our patio once. Would a cat kill a rabbit? He was a tiny thing, barely two pounds. Whatever it was, there was quite a struggle and a lot of bloodshed.

Cookie Buns
2001 - 2011

******

October 10, 2011 - Final Harvest Monday

2011-10-09T15:32:00.001-07:00

This will be the final harvest post for 2011. Everything has been harvested from the garden, with the exception of some strawberries and a few tomatoes, which may or may not be added to the final totals. I will try to do an overview of individual crop totals soon, as well as what worked and what didn't turn out so great this year.

Harvest Totals October 3 - October 9

Beets - 2.94 pounds
Carrots - 6 pounds
Lettuce - 1.69 pounds
Peppers, sweet - 10.69 pounds
Strawberries - 1 pound
Tomatoes - 10.69 pounds

Total harvest for the week: 33.94 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: 543.31 pounds

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

October 9, 2011 - The End of the Season

2011-10-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

The end of the gardening season has arrived. In six days, we'll be leaving to spend the winter in Arizona, so the Washington garden has been harvested, with the exception of a few tomatoes and strawberries, and is being cleaned up and "put to bed" for 2011.

The east garden has been cleared of everything but the flowers, parsley, and the cantaloupe plant that has no chance of ripening. It's still trying though, so I'll give it a reprieve and have my son come over to check on it in a couple of weeks....IF we don't get a freeze before then. Garlic was planted in the small fenced area, then covered with grass hay mulch. I was tearing out my hair, trying to find a suitable place to plant it. I wanted it behind the shed, next to the lettuce bed, but the cosmos and sunflowers have completely obliterated that spot. My second choice was against the chain link kennel, at the back of this plot. I tried to dig there, but the neighbor's walnut tree has put out so many roots in that area it was impossible to work up a decent bed. I want to till this east bed next spring, so I really didn't want anything planted in it. I finally gave in, and used this year's onion bed. This end of the garden will have to be left untilled and dug by Granny power.

Yesterday I pruned the raspberries for the second time. They had grown so tall and lush, they were nearly as large as they were before the first pruning. Now the canes are all about 2 1/2-3 feet high, so won't suffer from being whipped around by strong winter winds. Mr. Granny began sawing down the sunflowers today. I'll remove the heads and put them in, or next to, the kennel garden, so the birds can eat the seeds this winter.

The "shed tomatoes" have all been removed, with the exception of an unknown variety volunteer. I'll leave it and hope the fruit gets some blush before it freezes. I'll try to get my son to come over and keep an eye on it. The zinnias will be pulled this week.

The volunteer tomato.

I'm not sure what to do with the cosmos jungle. I've been bringing bouquets into the house, and they are so pretty! Only the ones that flopped over have blossomed, so maybe I can at least get the upright giants cut down.

These "semi-dwarf" zinnias grew nearly 6' high.

I wonder if I can sneak this jalapeno pepper plant into the back of the pickup without Mr. Granny seeing it. It's loaded with baby peppers and blossoms, and looks better than it has all year! It would make a nice plant for the porch in Arizona.

My tomato alley is beginning to look rather sad. They are still giving me ripe tomatoes, so will probably not be removed. I'll just have to deal with the dead plants next spring.

I've started cutting back the Cherokee Purple tomatoes, but they still have a lot of green fruits. I picked everything that had even the faintest blush of color today. I'd like to take some to ripen through the next month or two.

It doesn't look like winter, does it? It's hard to pull up plants and then leave the garden while everything is so green. I'm still hoping for a big display of Heavenly Blue morning glories on the kennel fence before I leave, but so far I only see about a half dozen each day.

The back flower bed doesn't know it's winter, either.

October 5, 2011 - Slow Down, People!

2011-10-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

Slow down, guys! I'm exactly 43 blogs behind in my reading. Well, actually only 42 since Robin scolded me for no recent comments! Not only have I been terribly busy, readying everything for our impending migration to Arizona, I've also been stuck on one particular blog for the past two evenings. I'm enjoying Two Men and a Little Farm so much, I've begun from their beginning, and I'm working my way up to the present. 1st Man has officially joined the rest of you in my love...love...love!

I did manage to get my closet cleaned out today. I packed everything that's going south, even my overnight bag for the hotel, and took two large garbage bags of clothing and purses to Goodwill. I now have one neat closet, and another that we won't talk about (Mr. Granny's, of course).

Ten days from right now, we'll be enjoying an evening in Jackpot, Nevada. Eleven days from right now, we should be walking in the door of home #2. Time is flying, and there's still so much to do!

October 4, 2011 - Harvest Monday on Tuesday

2011-10-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I'm late to the party! Honestly, this past week has just been a whirlwind of busyness. Along with the end-of-garden cleanup, I decided to clean out closets, haul the discards to the thrift store, and begin packing for our Arizona trip. Yesterday and today found me taking a grandson to the dentist for a checkup and fillings. I hate sitting for 2 1/2 hours, listening to my stomach growl because I missed lunch, freezing half to death in the frigid waiting room, and bored after having read every magazine in the place. I did find a sunbeam coming through a window, so I sat there and basked in its warmth until clouds covered the sun, then I had to go out and sit in my car to warm up.

That's why I missed Harvest Monday.

Harvest Totals September 26 - October 2

Beans, bush - 1.94 pounds (final harvest)
Beans, pole - 8 ounces (final harvest)
Beets - 1.06 pounds
Carrots - 2.69 pounds
Cucumbers - 4 ounces (final harvest)
Lettuce - 14 ounces
Peppers, sweet - 6.19 pounds
Spinach - 2 ounces
Squash, summer - 6 ounces
Strawberries - 1.06 pounds
Tomatoes - 11.44 pounds

Total harvest for the week: 26.50 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: 510.32 pounds

This week the harvests for the year broke the 500 pound mark, which is just slightly over half of what was harvested last year, but satisfactory nonetheless.

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

October 1, 2011 - I Did It!

2011-10-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I was going to hit 500 pounds of harvest this year, but I did it! That's only about half of what I get in a normal year, but this has not been a normal year for gardening, that's for sure. Here is what put me over the top today, a bit early for Harvest Monday............

Today I pulled out all the bush and pole beans. I had wanted to wait on the bush beans, hoping I could beat last year's yield, and today they did just that. Just barely. So garden cleanup has really begun in earnest. The non-yielding zucchini was uprooted (what a disappointment that was this year), three more tomato plants are gone, and one bed of marigolds is no more. The old tomato fortress bed has been cleaned out and readied for next year's planting. I'll leave the alyssum to reseed, and probably do the same with the nasturtiums. Marigolds will probably pop up like weeds next year, as they have already dropped a lot of seeds.

I am hoping to have the entire garden cleaned up and put to bed for the winter by a week from tomorrow, as I'll be extra busy the following week, packing for the trip to Arizona.

***

September 30, 2011 - The End of September Garden

2011-09-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Better late than never! I thought we'd be leaving for Arizona before the Heavenly Blue morning glories blossomed this year. I doubt we'll get to view the vines in their full glory, but at least we are getting a few blooms to admire each day. Next year I'll try to plant an earlier variety, like Grandpa Ott.

Baskets of produce are still being picked. Even though the quantity is less, the quality is good.

As much as I love cosmos, I really need to plant a shorter variety in the future. Many of these were over 8' high.

The cosmos and sunflowers were tied up against the fence, but they got so tall they still toppled over. Only the toppled cosmos blossomed though, the upright plants have yet to show any color.

The squash patch has been cleaned out, and I moved the top of the compost barrel there. I'm filling it with vegetation and kitchen scraps, layered with dry hay and composted cow manure. I'm going to plant my Waltham Butternut squash on top of it next spring. Two pots of basil, cinnamon and lemon, were moved from behind the zinnias, given a trim, and set out where they can get some sun.

Hollyhocks were cut back to the ground when powdery mildew and rust took a toll on them. This little beauty popped back up and is giving me some pretty blossoms on a healthy looking plant.

The strawberries didn't send out as many runners this year as usual, which was a good thing. I got over 22 pounds of berries from this little area, and I'm still picking them a couple of days a week.

Poor Leona the Meyer Lemon. Last spring I put her over by the shed, where she would be protected from strong winds and harsh sun. She was happy there....until the zinnias took over and tried to smother her. By the time I discovered what was happening, her bottom leaves were all mottled with bright yellow spots. When I Googled for the problem, I though she was diseased and doomed to die. However, after I moved her out to the sunshine, she grew some healthy new leaves on top. That makes me think she had a fungal disease from lack of air circulation. The sickly leaves are falling off, but her two full sized lemons are hanging on. I hope I can nurse her along until we at least get our first lemon harvest from her.

Maybe I pruned my summer bearing raspberries a bit too soon, as they're growing out of bounds already. I may have to crop them back again before we leave.

Powdery mildew is spreading fast on the zucchini. The summer squash and cucumbers were a total bust this year, and the yields were pitiful!

Do you remember the tomato fortress? It's all gone now. I lost all my Brandywines to diseases this year, so this spot won't be used for growing tomatoes again. These bush beans are still giving us enough to eat and some to freeze, but about one more meal of them and I'll be ripping them all out and cleaning up the bed.

This bed is actually more productive than it appears in the photo. The baby beets are now being harvested, and the lettuce has been feeding us and the rabbit for probably a month or more. The tiny patch of spinach in the back was all that germinated after sowing the entire bed. The beets were covered with netting, and didn't suffer much leaf miner damage, but the spinach was left uncovered and is mostly unusable. I did pick a few leaves this week, but not enough for a meal. I'll probably just toss them in with a salad or some scrambled eggs.

Awww, my two baby melons are developing their netting but won't have time to ripen before frost. The seeds were planted on a whim in late summer, from a store bought melon. I knew they wouldn't have enough time. I was surprised at the number of blossoms that developed on it. I cut the vines way back so it could put its energy into ripening the fruit, but it was too little too late.

Peppers, peppers and more peppers. At least I'm getting some red ones, and they are as sweet as sugar. I'm watching the weather reports, as I will soon have to harvest all that are left before they freeze.

The north garden is beginning to look a bit emptier. I only have two weeks left to get it all harvested and cleaned up.

The east garden still has a lot of carrots and peppers. Absolutely tons of parsley is still growing here, I just do not need another sprig of it!

I hope the new pickup is large enough to carry all the butternut squash, all the carrots that remain to be pulled, Leona the lemon tree and three or four coolers full of frozen produce to Arizona. We'll be leaving early in the morning of October 15th, and that's not very far off. Granny has a LOT of garden cleanup to do in the next two weeks, not to mention packing for a 5-month trip away from home.

September 28, 2011 - I'm a Versatile Blogger!

2011-09-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

My dear blogging friend David P. Offutt, from Adventures in Foodland and A Midwest Garden, has been so kind as to award me with The Versatile Blogger award. Thank you, David. I love getting awards, and will proudly display it in my sidebar.

According to "Versy" tradition, I have to give thanks and a link back to the person who gave me this award. Thanks again, David!

Next I am supposed to divulge seven (7) obscure facts about me.

1. I've exposed myself way too much on previous awards, and there's nothing worse than an old granny exposing herself, LOL!

2. David said "I smoked for more than 20 years. Glad I quit, but there are times....nah... not worth it." Well, I have him beat. I smoked for 42 years, and quit 11 years ago. Yes, there are times.....but no, never again.

3. I started improving my eating habits on September 5, and I've already lost enough weight that I got out my size 12 jeans that haven't been worn in probably two years. They not only fit again, they fit comfortably loose.

4. If I didn't have Mr. Granny to gripe at all the time, life would get very boring.

5. I once stood still (as bait) when a huge black bear came lumbering toward me, while my husband got our two small children back to our vehicle to safety. The bear approached me, brushed up against my side, stopped and looked into my eyes, then passed on by and went on his way.

6. I also jumped over the side of our boat when a large Kamloops trout broke my husband's line, and I grabbed the fish and the line and held them until he got the fish in a net.

7. My husband took me elk hunting once. We were hot on the trail of a herd, when we had to cross a stream by walking across on a log. Mr. Granny went first, and I followed. as I reached the center of the log, the bark split and I went down...straddling the log. OUCH! I let out such a yell, any animals within ten miles would have run off in fear. He never took me elk hunting again. But the man never killed an elk in his life, with or without me, so no loss.

Now I am supposed to nominate 15 other bloggers. Like that's going to happen! You know I love you all, and there's no way I could pick. I will, however chose a couple or six of my newest favorites.

I love Prairie Cat and her significant other, Tad, at Back to Basics. They have just moved into their new home, and her "farm" will probably show us all up next gardening season. Right now they're in the middle of wallpaper removal in their house, and I'm looking forward to seeing the improvements on their new property.

I don't know how Tosh, over at Charm City Balcony Garden, manages to get such lovely, large harvests from a bunch of pots! I was never a good container gardener, and I really admire those who are.

Have I ever told you how much I love Ed at Tales From the Mountainside? Well, I do....love, love, love him. Don't tell Mr. Granny!

OK, so I have a little Jody love, too. OK, maybe a lot of Jody love. Jody and his Belle work really hard at Spring Garden Acre.

I can't leave out Mrs. Pickles from Mrs. Pickles Garden. Not only does she excel at pickles, she thinks she can beat me out on lettuce production, but she doesn't have a chance. She grows a great big garden in a very short growing season.

Roberta (Robbie) Palm's potager garden is a sight to behold, as are her photos of flowers and butterflies. Do visit her Palm Rae Potager, where she does "intensive succession planting in the city for food, herbs, flowers + beauty".

OK, I could go on all night naming favorites, because you're all my favorites, but it's past my bedtime. That's my story, and I'm stickin' with it ;-)

September 26, 2011 - Harvest Monday

2011-09-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

My, my, my, it's been an entire week since I've blogged. That must mean the gardening season is running down, or maybe the gardener is just getting tired. This gardener is, that's for sure! I've had a busy week, and it's going to get busier yet, because...............

In three short weeks we'll be heading for Arizona. I've been trying to dismantle some garden structures, pull slow or non-producing plants, and do some general garden cleanup in preparation for winter. I've given up on the summer squash and cucumbers, neither of which earned their keep in this year's garden. They will be brutally uprooted this week. I still have some very nice tomato plants, but they are ripening slowly now. That's fine, as I'd like to take a box of green fruits south with us, to ripen through the next month or so. Beets have just a short time to mature to a good, edible size. They're about as big as golf balls right now, so I'll definitely be pulling some to eat before we leave. If they're large enough, I'll pull them all and take them with us. If not, my youngest son will get the bounty. Carrots are still sizing up beautifully, and there are quite a few of them left out there. I didn't even get pictures of the lovely bunch I pulled today, as they came in and went directly into a pot of stew. The peppers continue to blossom and fruit. It's sad that they'll soon freeze, just as they are finally growing so well.

On with the week's harvest.......

Harvests are definitely slowing. Our temperatures plunged from the mid 90s earlier in the week, to the high 60s today. Forecasts are for low to high 70s this coming week, with lows dipping down into the 40s.

Harvest Totals September 19 - September 25

Beans, bush - 1 pound
Carrots - 11 ounces
Cucumbers - 4 ounces
Lettuce - 13 ounces
Peppers, sweet - 1.5 pounds
Squash, summer - 1.75 pounds
Strawberries - 12 ounces
Tomatoes - 11.38 pounds

Total harvest for the week: 18.13 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: 483.82 pounds

It's touch and go whether I'll even break 500 pounds this year. It's all up to the tomatoes, beets, carrots and peppers.

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

September 18, 2011 - Harvest Monday

2011-09-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

This week saw varied harvest.

My mutant carrot. It actually has five carrots growing from the stem, none are connected to the others.

Harvest Totals September 12 - September 18

Beans, bush - 5.81 pounds
Beans, pole - 7 ounces
Carrots - 3.81 pounds
Cucumbers - 1.31 pounds
Lettuce - 12 ounces
Onions - 3 ounces
Peppers, sweet - 7.25 pounds
Squash, summer - 1.63 pounds
Strawberries - 1.5 pounds
Tomatoes - 11.25 pounds

Total harvest for the week: 33.94 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: 465.69 pounds

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

September 12, 2011 - Harvest Monday

2011-09-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I got my harvest pictures out of sequence this week so I won't title them. The last picture speaks for itself, I forgot to take the photo before I ate the tomato.

The last of the butternut squash were picked on Friday, just two small ones, and the squash patch has been cleaned up and readied for next spring.

The Brandywines were finally removed, and the "tomato fortress" is ready to be dismantled. No more tomatoes will be grown in that bed, due to the diseased tomatoes this year.

Pole beans are all but finished. I still have one small planting that gives me a handful every couple of days. I'm very close to exceeding last year's pole bean harvest, so I will continue weighing these small amounts until I reach that goal, then I'll just toss them in with the bush beans after that. The bush beans are coming in strong again, and in dire need of picking. With the temperature being over 90F in the shade today, I'm in no hurry to get anything done outside! It's supposed to start cooling off by Thursday.

The peppers are looking gorgeous now, tall and green and bushy, and loaded with fruits.....finally!

I'm getting a few summer squash and zucchini, but nothing to write home about yet. I have been eating green beans cooked with yellow crooknecks almost every day, and never tiring of them.

The late carrots are beautiful and sweet.

I have two small (and lots of teeny-tiny) cantaloupe growing from the seeds I tossed out there a while back. I doubt they will have time to ripen, but the vines are loaded with blossoms and fruits. Next year I may have to give them another try. This plant was from the seeds of a store bought melon.

I'm still picking strawberries every few days. Not many, but enough to occasionally give us some smoothies, sundaes and/or shortcakes.

Harvest Totals September 5 - September 11

Beans, bush - 2.13 pounds
Beans, pole - 11 ounces
Beets - 6 ounces
Carrots - 1.81 pounds
Cucumbers - 1.25 pounds
Lettuce - 1 pound
Onions - 9 ounces
Peppers, hot - 5 ounces
Peppers, sweet - 1.63 pounds
Strawberries - 1.06 ounces
Squash, summer - 2 pounds
Squash, winter - 2.81 pounds
Tomatoes - 23.88 pounds

Total harvest for the week: - 39.5 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: - 431.75 pounds

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

September 9, 3011 - Out of the Mouths of Babes

2011-09-08T22:22:00.001-07:00

She looks angelic and innocent, doesn't she? After all, she's not quite three years old so just how bad could she be? She is Granny's sweet little, Alicyn. We all know she could do no wrong.

Well, maybe just a little bit wrong.

Last year I gave her a small TV/DVD combination, so she could watch her favorite videos. Yesterday it stopped working, so her mom was fiddling around with it, trying to figure out why. Amy said there was a strangely familiar smell coming from the DVD player, so she asked Alicyn what it was. Here's Alicyn's story....................

Amy: Alicyn, what is all over your DVD player?
Alicyn: I sprayed Fubeese (Febreze).
Amy: Why would you spray Febreze inside your DVD player?
Alicyn: It stinked weally bad!
Amy: Your DVD player smelled bad?
Alicyn (completely straight faced) : Ya. I think probably a monster farted in it.

Those darn monsters are responsible for a lot of things around her house lately. Yesterday they "stole" the computer mouse, and the day before they took everything out of Mommy's purse and dumped it on the floor!

September 7, 2011 - Did You Ever Have Blogger's Block?

2011-09-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

I can't think of a thing about which to write. I figure there are two possibilities....either I take a little vacation from the blog, or I write about my daily harvests and then just do a recap on Harvest Monday. I think I'll try the latter, and maybe something exciting will happen along the way :-)

On Monday I added all of these tomatoes to my stash, which meant only one thing....SALSA!

I checked my four pots of jalapenos, none of which had yet been picked. The three plants in the front yard, planted in with the flowers, were disappointing. I only picked one from the first plant, two from the second, and there was not a single pepper on the third plant. I had one more pot in the back yard, and luckily there were plenty for the recipe. I'd had a problem with mild peppers in the past, so I talked my daughter into sampling one. You can see where she took a big bite. It was hot! There were tears and milk, and finally the burning stopped. That told me I had to wear gloves for the preparation of the jalapenos.

Using my own garden onions, tomatoes, garlic, sweet and hot peppers, I made 1-1/2 batches of pineapple salsa, which turned into 11 pint jars. One of the 11 didn't seal, so it was refrigerated and will be sampled this week.

Once the canning mess was cleaned up, I baked a batch of Applesauce Banana Bran Muffins with Flax Seed for the freezer, for some fast and easy breakfasts.

It was almost dark when I finally got out to the main garden, so the strawberries and the main crop tomatoes didn't get picked. I did get a pretty good variety of vegetables though.

I picked beets, onions, carrots, beans, sweet peppers, cucumbers and a few tomatoes from the dying plants. The ones I still haven't had the heart to remove.

On my last blog entry, I meant to tell everyone that I got an email from EG. He's fine, just very busy due to work, weather and personal stuff. He said to tell everyone hello, and he hopes to be back to blogging soon. I hope so, I miss him a lot, as I'm sure you all do.

September 5, 2011 - Harvest Monday

2011-09-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Where has the week gone? I almost didn't get my Harvest Monday post done today, I've been so busy this week. Not so busy in the garden, but busy getting my new laptop set up and my programs installed. Busy using Windows 7 after using WinXP for so many years. Busy trying to learn to do without Outlook Express for my email and newsgroups, and setting up Windows Live Mail, which I'm not liking so much. So far I'm loving the new computer for its speed, not to mention things like USB ports and CD/DVD drives that actually work. I'm not loving that I can no longer run many of my beloved older programs on this new 64-bit operating system. I have a couple that I use daily, so I have to keep the old laptop on standby. That's not something I wanted to do.

Anyway, on to the week's harvest.

8/29 - 22 oz. pole beans, 11 oz. carrots.

8/29 -112 oz. tomatoes, 17 oz. strawberries.

8/30 - 3 oz. bush beans, 4 oz. cucumbers, 20 oz. summer squash, 68 oz. tomatoes.

8/31 - 39 oz. pole beans, 4 oz. cucumbers, 3 oz. strawberries (not shown), 90 oz. tomatoes.

9/1 - 2 oz. pole beans, 10 oz. carrots, 7 oz. cucumbers, 32 oz. tomatoes.

9/2 - 6 oz. bush beans, 3 oz. pole beans, 12 oz. cucumbers, 15 oz. sweet peppers, 155 oz. butternut squash, 6 oz. strawberries, 31 oz. tomatoes.

A small amount of lettuce, the newest planting, was also harvested but not weighed or photographed, as were several handfuls of cherry tomatoes.

Harvest Totals August 29 - September 4

Beans, bush - 9 ounces
Beans, pole - 4.13 pounds
Carrots - 1.31 pounds
Cucumbers - 1.69 pounds (I hear you laughing, Mrs. Pickles)
Peppers, sweet - 15 oz.
Squash, summer - 1.25 lb.
Squash, winter - 9.69 lb.
Strawberries - 1.63 pounds
Tomatoes - 20.81 pounds

Total harvest for the week: - 42 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: - 392.25 pounds

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

********

Yesterday, all the kids came over for a barbecue. It was a continuation of our 49th anniversary celebration, and they brought all the food and drinks and son-in-law Bryan did the grilling. A good time was had by all, including the four legged pets. Lola, Scott and Kris' new puppy, came of course. She is getting such long legs! I know, all dogs' legs look long compared to the dachshunds, Annie & Otto. Lola ran and played most of the day, but it finally became too much for her. She disappeared, and a frantic search found her sound asleep in the flower bed.....

Little Lola, sound asleep under a flower.

The end of Lola's busy day.

September 1, 2011 - In the Outback

2011-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

The Outback Steakhouse, that is. I finally got a night off, but only because we were celebrating our 49th. wedding anniversary. We had a really good dinner, and such a nice waitress. As we were conversing with her, I mentioned we were celebrating, and here she came, after dinner, with a giant hot fudge sundae for us to share!

I was quite busy in the garden today. The summer planted bush beans are beginning to bear, and I really do already have a LOT of beans in the freezer, so I pulled out the main crop of pole beans. It was difficult, as they were still producing and blossoming, but they were also shading the morning glories that haven't even budded yet. Maybe with a little sunlight the flowers will bloom before frost. The raspberry patch had grown a lot of small suckers, so I got all of those removed and raked up. I fact, I got the entire north garden and kennel garden cleaned up, weeded and raked out. A second Brandywine got removed, it was too close to death to bear ripe fruit. Of the Brandywines, only the yellow one is left, and it may go soon. I did get a couple of nice tomatoes from it, and had a delicious BLT from one for lunch today. I also cut a bunch of runners from the strawberries, many of which were growing outside the edges of the bed.

All the kids and grandkids are coming over for a barbecue on Sunday, a late anniversary party. We get to just sit back while they provide all the food, drink and even the paper plates and plastic utensils. I did insist on providing the pickles, relishes, sweet onions and tomatoes.

August 29, 2011 - Harvest Monday

2011-08-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

8/23 - 15 oz. pole beans, 8 oz. cucumbers, 21 oz. summer squash & zucchini, 11 oz. strawberries, 42 ounces tomatoes.

8/24 - 47 oz. tomatoes.

8/25 - 15 oz. pole beans, 17 oz. cucumbers, 14 oz. strawberries.

8/25 - 194 oz. tomatoes.

8/26 - 12 oz. green peppers.

8/26 -13 oz. pole beans, 8 oz. cucumbers, 26 oz. summer squash, 27 oz. tomatoes.

8/27 - 27 oz. tomatoes (no photo)

8/28 - 13 oz. lettuce, 60 oz, summer squash, 72 oz. butternut squash, 94 oz. tomatoes.

Harvest Totals August 22-28

Beans, pole - 2.69 pounds
Cucumbers - 2.06 pounds
Lettuce - 13 oz.
Peppers, sweet - 12 oz.
Squash, summer - 6.69 lb.
Squash, winter - 4.50 lb.
Strawberries - 1.56 pounds
Tomatoes - 26.94 pounds

Total harvest for the week: - 46 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: - 350.25 pounds pounds
There should have been more. I didn't get everything picked on Sunday, so there are still strawberries and pole beans that should have been harvested.

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

*************

Too much of a Good Thing

The pattypan squash plant grew....and grew, and grew. It grew over the fence and into the tomatoes. It grew into the raised bed and smothered the spinach. It grew over the butternut squash plants and almost killed them.

It grows no more. The pattypans were good, but the butternuts are better. I had to make a choice, and the winter squash won. This is just one vine! Yes, one plant. It would be nice if I had an acreage, but it was too much for my small space. When it had been removed, I discovered two ripe butternut squash that had been completely hidden by this foliage.

Now the butternuts have room to grow.

August 28, 2011 - Tomato Mania!

2011-08-28T16:59:00.001-07:00

I took time out from setting up the new laptop to attend a tomato tasting at our nearby Mac's Nursery this afternoon.

We were given a pen and a sheet of paper that named the 77 varieties that were set out for tasting.

I started at the first long table, with romas and cherry tomatoes at the start. About half way down the full sized tomatoes began. I first tasted them without salt, but it didn't take long before I opened one of the provided salt packets.

By the time I got to table two I was getting rather tired of tasting. Even with a small sample of each, 77 little bites soon add up to lots of tomato consumed!

The tomatoes were nicely displayed. and well protected from any flies or insects that might want a taste.

Salt packets, toothpicks and hand sanitizers were provided.

All the varieties were grown on one farm, and will be for sale as plants next spring.

Click to enlarge the photo of the varieties that were available. Would you believe, that from all these heirlooms and hybrids, I picked two hybrids as my favorites? Celebrity and Super fantastic were my winners.

August 28, 2011 - I Might Be MIA

2011-08-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Bought myself a new laptop this morning. I might be MIA while I transfer files, install programs and learn Windows 7!

August 27, 2011 - Sunflowers

2011-08-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

I wondered how tall my sunflowers were going to get before they blossomed. Judging by the fence, which is 6' high, I'd say the tallest is about 13'.

August 26, 2011 - Doing the Can Can

2011-08-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

I got the two containers of tomatoes preserved today, but not exactly the way I had planned. I wanted to can them all as "diced tomatoes". It's a very time consuming process that involves scalding, peeling, coring, removing seeds and gel, then dicing the tomatoes. I had a large pot full ready to heat to boiling, but my boiling water bath was still just at a simmer. I am still getting used to this new ceramic cook top, and I was expecting the pot to boil much quicker than it did. By the time it finally began bubbling, the diced tomatoes had cooked to mush! So....instead of seven pints of diced tomatoes, I spooned the mixture into four jars and processed them as crushed tomatoes. I quartered the other container of raw tomatoes into the leftover juice and crushed tomatoes, added some fresh bell peppers, onions, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar, then boiled it down until it had thickened. I filled four containers with a total of eleven cups of the seasoned tomato sauce. It's cooling, and will be frozen then removed from the plastic containers and sealed in vacuum bags for the freezer. So ends my first day of canning in 2011, as meager as it was.

August 26, 2011 - One Jar at a Time

2011-08-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

With the slow garden production this year, canning and preserving has been "one jar at a time"

Tomatoes were put into bags in the freezer until I had enough to preserve. Three one-gallon bags cooked down to three pints of sauce and two pints of ketchup. The red ketchup tastes really good, and I thought the yellow ketchup would be good as well, but it has an off taste. I'll probably try to make it into a barbecue sauce for chicken or pork. There has been only one lonely jar of dill pickles for the refrigerator.

But......

See what I picked yesterday! All in one picking! I might get to, like, actually can a few jars!

August 23, 2011 - This Place is Going to the Dogs!

2011-08-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Granddogs Lola and Kobe came for a visit this morning. Lola has never been here, and they live in an apartment so she's not familiar with that green stuff we call grass.

August 22, 2011 - Harvest Monday

2011-08-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

8/15 - 2 oz. pole beans, 14 oz. carrots, 6 oz. cucumbers, 18 oz. tomatoes and 7 oz. strawberries (not shown).

8/16 - 8 oz. strawberries, 15 oz. zucchini, 7 oz. tomatoes.

8/17 - 10 oz. bush beans, 8 oz. pole beans, 10 oz. carrots, 3 oz. onions, 52 oz. tomatoes.

8/18 - 4 oz.pole beans, 3 oz. strawberries, 41 oz. tomatoes.

8/19 - 11 oz. pattypan squash.

8/20 - 15 oz. bush beans, 16 oz. pole beans, 6 oz. beets, 13 oz. carrots, 19 oz. cucumbers, 43 oz. tomatoes, 8 oz. strawberries (not shown).

8/20 - 19 oz. pattypan squash.

8/21 - 4 oz. pole beans, 3 oz. cucumbers, 7 oz. pattypan squash, 80 oz. tomatoes.

Harvest Totals August 15-21

Beans, bush - 1.56 pounds
Beans, pole - 2.13 pounds
Beets - 6 ounces
Carrots - 2.31 pounds
Cucumbers - 1.75 pounds
Onions - 3 ounces
Strawberries - 1.63 pounds
Summer squash - 3.25 pounds
Tomatoes - 15.06 pounds

Total harvest for the week: - 28.25 pounds
Total harvest for the year to date: - 304.25 pounds pounds

In 2010 my harvest for the week was 116.7 pounds, and my total for the year was at 516 pounds. 2011 is running way behind in crops harvested

Please join in the Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions!

August 20, 2011 - The August Garden, Part 3

2011-08-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

The West, Shed and Patio Gardens

I let the Four O' Clocks volunteer around the patio this spring. I like them, and they certainly are low care and will self-seed for flowers each year. The old thyme plant was trimmed drastically this spring, but it survived. It's getting really woody, so probably will need to be replaced in the next year or so. Sweet alyssum is also a volunteer. Volunteer is good, as long as they aren't weeds.

This is one tomato plant. Not only does this Matt's Wild Cherry span across 10' of the patio and grow right up into the roof, it has been trimmed back multiple times! It was trying to come right into the house through the patio door. It is all vine, with few tomatoes. It does, however provide shade and privacy! It looks like two different plants, but if you enlarge the picture, you can see it grows up the center of the left patio opening, then I've fastened clothesline and wound the vines horizontally across the middle of the right opening where it has gone completely wild.

Another view of the MWC. It's growing from that bucket on the left. The plant on the right corner is Sunsugar. It's proving to be tasty and sweet, but I don't think quite as sweet as Sungold, but close enough that either is preferable to none at all. I eat all of them myself, they are that good. Maybe someday I'll be nice and share, but not yet. The Sunsugar is also very tall, so I have begun to train it around the corner and along the patio railing. Otherwise I'd have to use a ladder to pick the tomatoes.

The shed garden is becoming a jungle, but a good jungle. This is where the two Bloody Butcher tomato plants grow. I gave them tall stakes, not realizing they are quite a short variety. Next year they will be planted down my tomato alley, AKA the servant's entrance. Joining the BBs, are the remaining Coastal Pride Orange, another Matt's Wild Cherry and the Sungold. That Sungold was the tiniest of the seedlings, the last one planted, and the one I didn't think would survive. It is now the one that has grown up to the roof of the shed, and is bearing delicious little morsels for me to hoard. Bloody Butcher, besides being my earliest tomato, has become quite a tasty tomato too. Flavor has improve greatly from the earliest fruits, and they were pretty darned good then, too. Mr. Granny really likes the flavor of Coastal Pride Orange, even though it looks exactly like a peach when it's peeled. Basils (cinnamon, lemon and purple) are still loving this area of the garden, and growing great in pots. Same with the oregano and Leona the Meyer Lemon tree. I'm so happy I filled this corner with zinnias. Besides being nice to look at, and great as cut flowers for the house, I actually saw a hummingbird visiting them yesterday. I think that's about the first hummingbird I've seen around here.

The herbs, after a recent haircut, still growing healthy and full.

"Leona the Meyer Lemon " is fruiting again. She never has carried a fruit to full term, but this one looks very promising. I've never had a lemon grow this large before.

Leona's second child may not make it though. It's about half the size of its sibling.

Here we are in tomato alley, AKA the servant's entrance. There are actually only three tomatoes and a jalapeno, all in buckets, along this side of the patio. The plants are doing very well here, however, so I may utilize this spot for even more plants next year. They all have to be hand watered here, but they seem to like that just fine, and I have a lot of time to do it. The plant in the foreground is a Heatwave. I picked the first two tomatoes from it yesterday, and ate one for lunch today. It was really good, and exceptionally good for a "first" tomato....juicy and not a bit mealy. The plant is healthy, determinate, so not terribly large, and one I would consider growing again. It's a hybrid, but the trouble I've had with the heirlooms this year, maybe I should plant a few hybrids just in case. In the past I always grew Celebrity, and it grew disease free. The cherry tomato way down on the far corner is one of our favorites, Una Heartstock. I have bagged some blossoms for seed saving, and will grow it again next year.

The four Cherokee Purple tomato plants in the West Garden are healthy and producing, but fruit ripening has been very slow so far. This is where the new (this year) rhubarb plant lives. It has given me two harvests so far, so I think I'd better let it grow undisturbed for the rest of the season. Strawberries have actually grown quite well in this bed, and the berries are larger than the main bed in the North Garden.

Cherokee Purple

Sunflowers down (click photo to enlarge, and follow the red arrows) . We must have had a good gust of wind this morning, as two of the big sunflowers broke their tethers and fell. The one on the left wasn't broken, so I pulled it back up and tied it to the fence with clothesline. Its top is slightly wilted, but I'm hoping it will survive. The other one (right) was completely broken off and will have to be removed.

That ends the saga of the garden in August.

August 20, 2011 - The August Garden, Part 2

2011-08-20T08:11:00.001-07:00

The North Garden

The west side of the kennel is covered with Fortex pole beans. These are my favorites of all the beans, and I've decided to plant them on all sides of the kennel next year. It's probably too shady at the back, but I'm going to give it a try anyway, I might get lucky. There is a small bed of carrots at the front of the beans, but they aren't growing long and pretty as they should. They're short and stubby like the early carrots. Maybe the seeds were old, but I've not had the greatest luck with the carrots this year. The soil is nice and soft and deep, there's no fresh manure in the beds, and no high nitrogen fertilizers were applied. The barrel was planted with strawberries this spring, and they are not performing as well as those in the bed. The borage in the foreground is a volunteer from 2009. I didn't even let any grow last year, but the seed has stayed viable in the ground. One volunteer stayed small, but the other has grown normally. Those are sunflowers in the background, more on them later.

The strawberry bed looks as though it needs a good feeding, so I really need to haul out that stinky fish emulsion......yuk. The berries haven't been performing fantastically this year, especially those in the barrels, but the yields have been acceptable. We've had all the strawberry shortcakes our bellies could handle, and 16 half-pints of jam were made. I have maybe three bags of sugared berries in the freezer, and would like a few more for winter desserts. Some whole unsweetened berries would be nice for future smoothies, too. This variety bears almost constantly until frost, but most of the berries are quite small. Just as I begin harvesting larger berries, the production slows down and the blossoming begins again. The raspberry canes that were left after the big summer pruning and thinning are looking really strong and healthy. They should provide a good crop next summer.

The raspberry canes are sporting new growth. I'll let them grow now, but the tips will probably suffer from winter damage, so they will be pruned back again in early spring. That's the neighbor's sunflower peeking over the fence. I get to enjoy them, as they always turn towards my garden.

The zucchini is doing better in the barrel than the strawberry plants, although I've only had two zukes from it and it's already showing some powdery mildew on its leaves.

Oh, dear. Now we are at the poor diseased Brandywines. My very favorite tomato, and I'll probably not get any this year. This Pink Brandywine was the best of the three just two weeks ago, now it has begun wilting severely along with the previously diseased leaves. There are a few good branches way up high, and a few green tomatoes. I'll leave it be for now.

The Yellow Brandywine looks just slightly better, as it isn't wilting. I doubt there are more than three green tomatoes on the entire plant, but I have never tasted this variety so I'll let it go for now and hope I at least get one or two ripe fruits from it.

The third, another Pink Brandywine. I might as well give up and pull it out, ya think? I've never had diseased tomatoes back here, but it looks like this bed won't be used for them any more. It gets the most sun of any of the garden beds, so it's unfortunate the tomatoes won't be planted in it again. Maybe it will be next year's hoop bed.

The tomatoes might be diseased, but the newly planted bush beans are loving the tomato bed. This is planting #3 of bush beans for fall, Gourmet Green French. I may have overdone the bean planting this year, the freezers are stuffed already.

The lettuce transplants of July, the ones I thought had burnt from the heat, actually survived. Unfortunately I didn't have them covered, and the sparrows took them right down to the ground last week. I grabbed some net and clipped it over the top, and it looks as though they'll survive the onslaught. I have a few beets growing in this bed, but germination was rather spotty. It's getting too late to reseed the bare spots, so I'll not bother with it. I had planted spinach in the bed to the back, but either very little sprouted or the sparrows got to it, as the bed is practically bare. I will reseed it soon.

The squash patch is taking over the world. The bush butternuts aren't too bad, but that one pattypan squash plant in front, the one just full of blossoms, is growing all over everything in sight. I wondered if I should just pull it out, and then......

I picked this. Is that not just the most adorable thing you ever saw? I cooked up some freshly picked Fortex beans, added some fresh sweet corn kernels, then sauteed the diced squash (I hated to cut the pretty little thing!) in some butter, added the cooked and drained beans and corn, seasoned with just salt and pepper, and I ate two big platefuls for dinner! The squash was tender, slightly sweet, very mild flavored, and absolutely delicious. I'm not pulling the giant plant. I'll be picking another squash or two today, and I'm going to cook them by heating a baking sheet in a 400F oven, slicing the squash in half and tossing them with a bit of oil, s & p, then placing them cut side down on the hot pan and baking them until lightly brown and caramelized.

I think the lettuce bed, which has served me well (to the tune of 53 pounds) this year, is ready to be cleared of all growth and replanted for fall. The few plants at the front will stay for a while, as they are still looking fine, but the next row has finally bolted. All the others were harvested last week, then pulled. I must say, this has been a really good spot for lettuce growing, tucked in the corner with fence on two sides, shed to the south and morning sun from the east.

The sunflowers are about 12' high now, and still no blossoms. I have them tied to the fence....I hope they don't pull the fence down!

August 19, 2011 - The August Garden, Part 1

2011-08-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted garden pictures, so I'll break this down into several posts because there are so many of them.

First, let me get the complaints off my chest. The neighbor's weeds. I can't get good pictures of the "East Garden", with all those weeds in the background!

Ugly, huh? You can see, in the bottom photo, how they are coming through into my pathway. Some of the weeds are taller than I am. Would I dare reach over the fence with a weed eater and whack them down?

My son Scott and I did cut back her hedge, but only where it came onto our property. It had grown so huge and wide, we could no longer get our lawnmower into the back yard! This narrow strip is the only path for the riding mower. Oh, how I miss my old neighbor Pat. she had the hedge professionally trimmed three times a year.

Oh, well. I'll just have to learn to live with it :-(

The East Garden

This side of the kennel, the entry to the East Garden, has been planted with Fortex pole beans, a pot of Bush Champion slicing cucumbers (not doing nearly as well as the Spacemaster I've planted in previous years), a Russian Baby tomato and some zinnias. There is also a pot of slicing cucumbers next to the fence on the left, moved from it's former location next to the weedy fence.

From left, a few late beets and onions, Topcrop bush beans are beginning to blossom, and Burpee A #1 Hybrid carrots are growing well.

In this bed the Rutgers tomatoes are struggling, and the one in the foreground really needs to be removed. I keep hoping it will come back, but it really won't and it's never going to get any tomatoes. The other two have set some fruits, and might yet have a chance. The carrots are being harvested on an 'as needed' basis, and any time granddaughter Alicyn is visiting. She knows exactly where the big carrots are!

These are the earliest planted bush beans, Gourmet Green French, which are still producing. This variety performs more like pole beans, it just keeps blossoming and producing non-stop. The leaves are beginning to rust badly, so I'll probably pull all the plants as soon as the other bush beans begin producing. Next to the beans are the Quadrato Rosso D' Asti sweet peppers.

The peppers are looking much better, but unfortunately a few are showing some sunburn. They got off to such a late start, they are just now developing a good shade canopy of foliage. Later fruits should be better protected.

This bed has newly seeded Little Gem lettuce. I decided to chance putting it here, as I thought the sparrows had moved on. It turns out they haven't, so we'll see if they can resist these tender morsels. Next to the lettuce, Ruby Queen beets have germinated. The peppers in this bed are Red Marconi. The fruits are getting huge, I hope they have time to turn red. Several of these also suffer from sunburn, and will have to be picked early.

Another new bed of Topcrop bush beans that are blossoming. Next to them is a triple row of Burpee A #1 Hybrid carrots, the final planting of the season. In the foreground is the volunteer Minigold tomato plant,, which has been pumping out a seemingly endless supply of good sized cherry tomatoes. What a work horse for such a small plant! I do wish I had stuck it in a pot, as it probably could have been moved to Arizona for the winter. I still have some seeds, maybe I should start another one.

The south end of the East Garden has a hill of yellow crookneck squash, which has a few male blossoms, and the cantaloupe that's growing from seed from one we ate earlier this year. I also moved this (and one more) pot of cucumbers from path next to the neighbor's fence, as they were tangling their tendrils in the jungle of weeds.

August 18, 2011 - Recent Happenings

2011-08-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

We went to see Lola today.

Our new "granddaughter" is adorable. She's a tiny one, but a little butterball. She was ready for her bottle, and only interested in sucking. First she headed right down the front of my shirt, but I got her before she hit her target. Then she latched on to my chin. I finally got her to settle with sucking on my fingers.

When we got back home, my husband looked at me and said "What in hell happened to your chin?" I asked why and he told me to go look in the mirror.

I have a dark colored hickey on my chin, as big around as a nickel!!! No, I'm not going to show it to you.

On the home front, I went to the doctor yesterday, after having all my lab work done a couple of weeks ago. The doctor looked everything over, then informed me I was "incredibly healthy for a 72-year old". It looks like I might be around for a while longer.