Hi everyone. I’m back! I’m really excited about blogging on the regular again. Things in our house still aren’t 100% buttoned up, but I’ve decided to resume a semi-normal schedule anyway.
1. Cooking: I’ve been cooking a bit more, since my new kitchen is more convenient to use than the last one. I made several meals with side dishes (crazy!) since I’m not neurotic anymore about using (washing) as few dishes as possible. I made spaghetti sauce from scratch with tomatoes that were in the garden. I made popcorn in the air popper; something I haven’t done much, since you have to melt butter in a pan, and who wants to wash yet another pan? Especially one with butter?? I excitedly explained to Hubs how easy it was to just put the butter pan in the dishwasher. And he pointed out that we now have a microwave so I don't even have to melt butter on the stove anymore. Oh.
I also made yogurt, broth, and cookies, and froze some herbs for use this winter. All in the last week! While this wouldn’t have been a big deal in my pre-moving days, it’s a miracle now since we’re still unpacking, working on house projects, and last week we had somewhere to go almost every night. Our toddler had a heyday with all of the open boxes of stuff in every room, scattering the new “toys” here and there, which made non-remarkable accomplishments (like cooking and cleaning) even more difficult on top of an already-busy schedule. But oh! The miracle of dishwashers and an easy-to-use kitchen space.
2. Tucked away the garden for winter. Over the weekend I harvested all of the pre-frost items from my garden; things like peppers, cucumbers, beans, summer squash and tomatoes, as well as some fruit (apples, pears, and a peach) and frost-hardy things like kale, swiss chard and winter squash. I brought in all of the green tomatoes and put them in the basement to ripen. I think they would ripen better in the garage, but there is still too much moving stuff in there.
I’m so happy with how the garden turned out this year, despite my utter lack of care from June until now. Instead of trying to can and freeze a lot of things, I just picked fresh produce as it was ready. We’ve been eating fresh greens since the beginning of May, and will likely have kale, Swiss chard and spinach until at least the end of October, thanks to some plastic and two greenhouse boxes that Hubs made for me last winter. We haven’t bought much produce at all since the beginning of June—just onions, carrots, a bit of celery and bananas now and then. Below you can see a sample of all the wonderful produce we got to partake of this summer:
1. Cooking: I’ve been cooking a bit more, since my new kitchen is more convenient to use than the last one. I made several meals with side dishes (crazy!) since I’m not neurotic anymore about using (washing) as few dishes as possible. I made spaghetti sauce from scratch with tomatoes that were in the garden. I made popcorn in the air popper; something I haven’t done much, since you have to melt butter in a pan, and who wants to wash yet another pan? Especially one with butter?? I excitedly explained to Hubs how easy it was to just put the butter pan in the dishwasher. And he pointed out that we now have a microwave so I don't even have to melt butter on the stove anymore. Oh.
I also made yogurt, broth, and cookies, and froze some herbs for use this winter. All in the last week! While this wouldn’t have been a big deal in my pre-moving days, it’s a miracle now since we’re still unpacking, working on house projects, and last week we had somewhere to go almost every night. Our toddler had a heyday with all of the open boxes of stuff in every room, scattering the new “toys” here and there, which made non-remarkable accomplishments (like cooking and cleaning) even more difficult on top of an already-busy schedule. But oh! The miracle of dishwashers and an easy-to-use kitchen space.
2. Tucked away the garden for winter. Over the weekend I harvested all of the pre-frost items from my garden; things like peppers, cucumbers, beans, summer squash and tomatoes, as well as some fruit (apples, pears, and a peach) and frost-hardy things like kale, swiss chard and winter squash. I brought in all of the green tomatoes and put them in the basement to ripen. I think they would ripen better in the garage, but there is still too much moving stuff in there.
I’m so happy with how the garden turned out this year, despite my utter lack of care from June until now. Instead of trying to can and freeze a lot of things, I just picked fresh produce as it was ready. We’ve been eating fresh greens since the beginning of May, and will likely have kale, Swiss chard and spinach until at least the end of October, thanks to some plastic and two greenhouse boxes that Hubs made for me last winter. We haven’t bought much produce at all since the beginning of June—just onions, carrots, a bit of celery and bananas now and then. Below you can see a sample of all the wonderful produce we got to partake of this summer:
On top of the produce, I also harvested medicinal and culinary herbs (some of which are pictured at the top of this post). I didn't harvest many flowers this year, but that's just because we were so busy. In October we’ll be having sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, potatoes, kale, Swiss chard, spinach and endive from the garden. I put one of the greenhouse boxes around the herb garden, so that will help extend the life of my fresh herbs. I’m crossing my fingers that there will still be some of those things available in November as well, though obviously as the colder months drag on we’ll have to dig into the freezer stash and then start buying produce. But overall, I think the “minimal canning and freezing, maximal gardening” strategy is one that I want to keep for a long time.
3. Got some stuff at one of the thrice-annual “free garage sale” events in our area. The way it works is that you donate all of your leftover stuff, and then at the event you dig through everyone else’s stuff and hope to come home with something “new”. Kind of like a clothing swap. Of course, you don’t HAVE to donate anything, but it’s a good way to get rid of unused stuff and makes the sale better for others.
Some things I got: clothing for myself and our daughter, shoes for our daughter, several books, a beautiful turkey napkin holder (below) and probably some other things I forgot.
3. Got some stuff at one of the thrice-annual “free garage sale” events in our area. The way it works is that you donate all of your leftover stuff, and then at the event you dig through everyone else’s stuff and hope to come home with something “new”. Kind of like a clothing swap. Of course, you don’t HAVE to donate anything, but it’s a good way to get rid of unused stuff and makes the sale better for others.
Some things I got: clothing for myself and our daughter, shoes for our daughter, several books, a beautiful turkey napkin holder (below) and probably some other things I forgot.
4. The three of us went on a walk together and collected $0.50 or so worth of cans. Princess and I collected about the same amount of cans on a different walk.
That is about all I can think of, for now. Obviously there has been a lot going on around here, so I probably forgot some things. Oh well!
Until next time,
-Bethany
That is about all I can think of, for now. Obviously there has been a lot going on around here, so I probably forgot some things. Oh well!
Until next time,
-Bethany
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