Still Seems Like Monday..

Well, it's the end of Tuesday as far as school and housework are concerned and I'm feeling ruffled. 

(Like a hen, all ruffled!). Two of my chicks have had a hard day. Ansil lost his Ipod as he was recovering from a stomach bug (talk about a double whammy) and Laura had a bad time during a hurried trip to the commissary. Then an old acquaintance has been giving me a pain in the neck, for complicated reasons. Even going out to do chickens didn't work-usually it makes me relax.  So I decided to write something.

Let's see, we are finally on our way to having a nice farm sign. I've decided on Harvest Home Farm. That's always been my greatest pleasure, having the harvest. The younger girls think there should be goats on the sign, but I know I'll always have veggies in some fashion, so it will have a more botanical emphasis. I thought of SilverHills Farm, which is what I called this place, but what if we move? I'll always be harvesting something, even if I don't have animals.
I had some successes this year, and some failures this year, in the garden. That's always the case! For the first time ever, I grew outstanding sweet potatoes. Some were 3 lbs! I credit goat manure (which doesn't burn plants and can go on fresh, so to speak) and Dad's newest raised bed. I have 3 raised beds now altogether. The beans in the second bed did as well as they could considering we had 6 straight weeks without rain, and the other benefit was that the deer never found them. The deer ate my other beans twice, and finally I gave up for the year. I only got the two pickings that I did because we tied up a dog by the garden every night. Finally, though, the deer realized the dog was tied and snuck in a ate the top (new) row up, and I surrendered. The battle will recommence next year.

We just finished putting all the corn in the freezer. We had corn on the cob several times, and froze quite a bit, even though a heavy rain and wind knocked all the stalks over just before they were ready. I grew butternut squash under the corn. I also tried, once again, to grow the "3 sisters" like the Indians did-squash, corn, and shell beans, but once again, I only achieved the 2 sisters. The beans didn't come up.

The okra was washed away in June, so I had to plant late, and we are getting just enough to eat and freeze a batch every two or three days. I know okra isn't to everyone's taste, but any vegetable that grows under poor conditions, supplies calcium and vitamens, and keeps bearing until frost, deserves some respect! Try breading with plain cornmeal and frying in a little oil.

I grew a few collard greens, but bugs took care of them (flea beetles, that leave the leaves looking like lace). Now I have my three raised beds replanted for the fall: radishes, turnip greens, and spinach. 

The tomatos and peppers did fairly well, but the yellow tomato did not perform well next to Marglobe, a heirloom and commonly grown type. The yellows cracked and produced only lightly.

Also, I think their taste rather insipid, but a tomato and basil salad made with both red and yellow tomatoes is striking.

Do you all remember that salad? Rebecca, is it in Edward Heth's book? Mine has fallen apart.

It is chopped tomatoes, onion, and fresh basil, in a vinagrette. Something like 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 tsp salt, and sugar/splenda to taste. I like the sugar! 

It occurred to me that my recipes should be seasonal. Here I am giving a great tomato recipe after the peak of the season. My garden tomatos are gone, but I have a couple plants at the front porch. It's a good idea to spread your plants around your property. Sometimes one type will flourish in one spot and not do well elsewhere. And NEVER plant mint around your veggie garden, because it is a great invader!

Another seasonally incorrect salad recipe:

Green Bean Salad

4 cups green beans slightly cooked 

1/4 cup bacon pieces

thinly sliced onion

make the dressing: 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, and sugar each.

Mix and refridgerate.

Good with frozen beans from Trader Joes, just defrost them and make the salad!

Here's a salad dressing from the midwest; I thought Josh might like this one.

Dorothy Lynch Salad Dressing

1 cup sugar (I bet splenda would work too)

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tsps celery seed

1 tso salt

1 tsp pepper

1 cup vinegar

1 can tomato soup

1 cup salad oil

My neighbor in Hawaii, who hailed from Nebraska, gave me this recipe. It's a lot like one my Mom always made. Ilike both of them, since when tomatoes are expensive, they add color to a green salad. I think I must have lightened up Mom's recipe over the years; I remember it used to use tomato soup too, but I was making it more economical.

Betty's French Dressing

8 oz can tomato sauce

1 tsp prepared mustard

1/4 cup oil

1/3 cup vinegar

1 tsp dried minced onion 

1 tsp grated ginger (use the convenience form in the jar!)

1 Tablespoon worchestershire

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

Now that so many of you are gone, I have gone from the old tossed salad to, ahem, composing salads. That's when you arrange all the salad elements on individual plates. I think my mother must have given us composed salads a lot. She always cared how her meals looked. I loved the pear bunnies on beds of lettuce.

Well, I must go finish dinner now. It's leftover applesauce chicken (from the crockpot lady's blog),  cubes of green pepper, and a can of Bush's Grillin' Beans Smokehouse Tradition mixed together. These beans don't have high fructose corn syrup, by the way. We're also having sweet potatoes, and the last fresh green beans and cut up green peppers. So a lot came out of the garden still, for this meal.