Lake Palestine!

Spent the weekend on Lake Palestine and it was wonderful. The lake is truly a great destination and the scenery was fantastic. I have enclosed a few pics of the trip!! Hope to get back up there this fall!

Summer Garden Update

Here's a few pics to show everyone what's going on in the garden.The Bonnie Japanese Eggplant has done well this year as can be seen in the first picture. It is excellent sliced into medallions, with light batter, salt & pepper, then lightly browned in olive oil!! The next picture shows a typical trip to the garden by my daughter Sawyer. Bonnie Straight 8 Cucumbers have done really well and so have the Bonnie Crooked Neck Squash. The last picture shows what we have all been waiting for at my house, the Bonnie Crimson Sweet Water Melons, which just started really growing well with the June heat. Can't wait to slice into those!!

Frostfire

Looks like my Oregano, Parsley, and Rosemary have survived the colder weather so far but the Sweet Basil did not fare so well. I know the Basil did put off a bunch of seed however, so hopefully it will come back strong this spring. We used the Basil the most of all the herbs this year, as it goes well with so many dishes. It was perfect with salads, sandwiches, or just leaf thrown into a pot of beans. Often I would just enjoy chewing a leaf while working outside. Hope to find some Cilantro to grow this coming spring as well.

First fire of the year

      It has been a very mild winter in 2014 thus far. At the time of this writing we are just now lighting our first fire. Temps dropped into the 30's in East Texas over the New Year's Weekend with rain, so we finally broke down and burned some wood. I used the True Temper Maul to split about a 1/4 cord of a dead pin oak that I harvested off my land, and then used the Hultafors Bruks Swedish Hatchet to split up some kindling for fire-starter. The pin oak is exceptionally good as firewood. It burns long and hot, and is very nice to split. I have used the True Temper Maul pictured for many years and I have come to depend on it. The head was forged in India, and the heat treat was done very well, as it holds an edge for a very long time. The Swedish Hatchet is fast becoming a piece of trusted kit as well for smaller tasks, and holds an equally keen edge. I hope everyone had a safe New Year's and I will try to blog more in the coming year work permitting.

Summer Squash!

Sawyer's Squash patch is starting to really put off some yellow squash. We picked all this week and still can't keep up. I did a very light fertilize a few weeks back with a hose sprayer. 2 Tablespoons of Miracle-Gro to 1 gallon of water dilution. The squash seems to really do well with this amount.I try to fertilize after I have done a regular watering which seems to increase uptake. Michelle has been frying this up with a little oil in the Lodge 10" Skillet and they have been wonderful!! I am going to experiment by pickling some of the squash with some of the fresh herbs we grew this year. I really wish I had planted some dill. Oh well there is always next year God Willing.....

Summer Peppers!!

Planted "Long Red Slim" Variety Cayenne Peppers and Banana Peppers this year and just had the first harvest. I pickled a mixture of the two in apple cider vinegar and the taste is fantastic! Just a dab of it in a salsa or on peas makes all the difference in flavor. The Cayenne's are extremely hot!! I do not remember them being this hot when I have grown other varieties in the past. Usually the dry summer heat in Texas makes even a Jalapeno extremely hot, but it is still very early and these Cayenne's are kickin' already!! I will post more pictures of the squash, melons, tomatoes, and herbs as the summer progresses. Hope everyone is having great luck in their gardens so far!

Herbs into the Good Earth

     Got the herbs into the ground this week. This small patch should meet all of our needs for the coming summer and fall. I had to "Deer Proof" them with a homemade chicken wire cage. Although the deer have been known to knock cages down to get to sweet basil!!! (Can't say I blame them). There is a very protective Catahoula Cur piled up within ten feet of these herbs though so I think they will be fine this year..... I planted Greek Oregano, Triple Curl Parsley, Tuscan Blue Rosemary, Santo Cilantro, and Sweet Basil. Had to fight off the aphids last year with Dawn Dish Detergent in a spray bottle with water, so we will see what happens this year. Really looking forward to fresh herbs in my salads this year though! May go snap off a piece of sweet basil right now to snack on!  Take care everyone. Peace.