Preserving Lemons

    Recently I decided I like lemons in my ice water, and lemons in my ice tea. Its not something I do real often, and I hated that my lemons were going bad before I used them. No one else uses them, its just me. So yesterday I washed my lemons and sliced them into slices and placed them on a tray, then stuck them in the freezer to flash freeze. Once frozen, they were easy to pop off the tray and stick in a ziplock baggy to go back into my freezer.  This freezes the individual slices so I can take out just the number I need at one time. No fuss, No waste,No trouble. I tried one this morning in my glass of ice water. Worked like a charm. I got to enjoy the zesty hint of lemon, and none of the problems.

I almost forgot to mention that i also do the same thing with green pepper slices. Then I can just take out what i need for cooking. They soften in minutes.

Free Useful Computer Programs

I am all about free. I always look for a free program when I need something. Recently, when I started setting up my machine embroidery design site again, I needed a program to zip files and another to store files for easy downloads. After looking for a bit, I found 7-Zip. It is a wonderful free program that works like a breeze. Just mouse over the file you want zipped, right click, then right click on 7 zip, then "add to (filename.zip)". And the zipped file appears in that folder. Thats it. Simple as can be. You find find 7 zip HERE. CNET gave it high marks too.

Another program I needed was one to store files so I could allow downloads with a link. Mediafire fit the bill. One program I looked at limited the number of downloads. I don't think this one does. and it works very easy. Just upload your file, then click on "UPLOAD TO THIS FOLDER" and then select your file, and then "BEGIN UPLOADING FILES". Once file is uploaded to site, then after the file name click on "SHARE", then click on "COPY LINK". This gives you the code to send to someone or post on your blog, or in a forum to allow someone else to click on it and be able to download. Also a very simple program. You can access Mediafire.com HERE.

Flylady

          I know most of you probably thought this post would be about flies, or insects since this is mostly my gardening blog. But I had to tell you about Flylady. This is a fantastic free site to help you get your home organized AND clean. I am usually an OK homemaker. Everything was usually clean, sometimes a little messy, but for the past year or so it has really gotten out of hand since my grand daughter is up and running. Not to mention several young "adult" kids who live with me. I tend to think they are worse than the baby about destroying a household. I dont know what happened, it was never this bad when my own kids were little, but here lately my home was looking like a war zone. LITERALLY! I tried this site once before many years ago, with a quick loss of interest. I think at that time I tried to get too much accomplished all at once. Not paying any attention to their main motto....." BABY STEPS" ! This time I have been doing what I could get done comfortably. If it didnt get done, no big deal. last night I didnt get to the evening routine, and things were looking a little rough again. But what really took me by surprise was that I was able to get things back to presentable in a very short time, and had plenty of play time on the computer. If you are feeling overwhelmed with a messy house, need to get into a routine (which has helped me the most)...check out flylady.

Chicken Teriyaki

      I am not one to eat meat. I was vegetarian in high school for a couple of years. Now, when I eat meat, its usually only 2-3 bites. If its something I didnt have to cook, I can eat it ( sometimes), such as a hamburger or chicken sandwich from a fastfood restaurant. Tonight was totally different for a change. I made my first oriental dish...Chicken Teriyaki. I found  THIS recipe on  http://allrecipes.com/ that sounded pretty good. But I made a few changes. This chicken turned out fantastic. Everyone loved it including my picky, plain  meat & potatoes husband. I even went back for seconds. Below is the recipe I came up with using the above one. If you try it, let me know what you think.

I think this would also be good with some stir fried veggies. You can serve this over your favorite rice, but I included how I fix mine.

Chicken Teriyaki

2 to 3 pounds of  Chicken ( I used boneless,skinless chicken breast cut into chunks)

                   3/4 cup brown sugar

                   1/2 cup Soy Sauce

                   1 Tablespoon grated fresh ground ginger ( I didnt have fresh, so used 1 tsp dried)

                   2 cloves minced garlic 

                   1/2 to 3/4 cup pineapple juice ( I had some canned in its own juice left from supper last night)

1. Place chicken in a 9x13 baking dish

2. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken

3. Place in the refridgerator for 3 hours to marinate.( since I cut mine into chunks, and didnt have the time to wait 3 hours, I marinated for an hour and that seemed to be enough for the chunks)

4. Preheat oven to 375°, and then bake for 1 hour uncovered.

serve over your favorite rice. 

My favorite Rice

I poured about  2 and 1/2 cups of water in a sauce pan, and add 2 chicken flavored Bouillon Cubes. Place in one baggy of Minute Rice, and bring to a boil. Boil uncovered about 9 minutes and drain, add salt to taste. I also like to add steamed carrots to this sometimes as well. Simple and quick.

Seed Grow Project July Update

          I am supposed to post an update the first Sunday of every month. July was a big OOPS for me. We didnt get back from vacation until the 30th, and I forgot. Anyway, I am going to catch up today. My nasturtium "Spitfire" is planted at the corner of the potager, in full sun. It is only partially shaded by the plants in the border in front of it.  We have in the middle of a heat wave and a very dry spell. I dug into my flower bed to try and find where I planted garlic bulbs, and found absolutely nothing. Almost like they dried up and withered away. Those two weeks that I was gone was hard on things without water. I dug down about 6" inches and found nothing but bone dry hard dirt. Since I have been back, I have been watering things as best I can, but the flower garden is only getting a light watering since we have a limited amount of well water, and the potager is getting water about every other day this week. Most of the extra I am reserving for the veggie garden. I have only grown Nasturtiums one other time in my life, and that was a very long time ago. I know I have seen pics of beautiful, full blooming nasturtiums so I figure its something with my growing conditions. Mine look healthy, nice bright green, but I have very few blooms at once. Usually only 1 or 2 at a time. I love the bright, vibrant orange color, and the white veining in the leaves though. As you may remember from my potager post, it is growing in several inches of composted horse manure.

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

BEE......N Busy

   While outside with my camera this morning, I decided to take a pic of  one of my clumps of Purple Coneflower:

While admiring the color of these blooms, I happened to notice this guy:

He is soooo loaded with pollen, he looks hilarious. This guy has been one busy bee. I have never seen anything like it.

He looks almost too fluffy to fly.

Ten Days Of veggie Growth

   We were only gone for 11 days, but I couldnt believe the growth that had happened in the potager in that time. The Half Runner pole beans were HUGE! I last photographed them on June 15 ( we left on the 19th). This is what they looked like:

This is what I came home to on the 30th, just 15 days after the above photo was taken:

The tomatoes were determined they weren't going to be out done:

At most, some were about 3 feet tall. The Early Girl's only had 5-6 small green tomatoes on them. Now 15 days later, they are about 6' tall, and lots of Sungold Cherry tomatoes, and Brandywine have set on:

Now the tomatoes are staked, and everything weeded. I will take an updated pick today of the tomatoes, because they are now within a foot of the top of the 8' stakes that were pounded into the ground about a foot or so (which was as far as my husband could get them in the hard clay soil under the horse manure..

 

Back To Reality

   We just returned from the beach yesterday evening around 6 pm. That 11 hour drive seemed like it took forever. We enjoyed 10 wonderful days at Lakewood Campground. We have been camping there every summer for the past 6 yrs or so. We have walked thru Pirate land Campground, and Ocean Lakes Campground to see what they have, but for our needs we prefer Lakewood. Most of the activities are located close to the beach, and a short walk from the section we like to stay in. Especially when your traveling with a  child and twenty somethings . Every morning my husband and I were the first ones up (by hours....you know young people are). We got up around 7 AM, and went for a long walk on the beach, sometimes ending up at the local McDonald's for a breakfast biscuit.We also enjoyed  bicycle rides together. He enjoys playing basketball, and horse shoes. The kids stayed busy with the ocean, the inflatable water slide, boats etc.

 Here is some of my crew in front of the camper getting ready to hit the water, my 20 yo son on the right, my 20 yo daughter on the left with her boyfriend, and my grand daughter and her mom in the back:

My 4 yo grand daughter had a blast. She loved the water.

My daughters found what we were told were shark teeth. At least this year we didnt see the shark. Last year we looked down in the foot deep water we were in to see a 2 foot long shark tumbling against the sand and low water only 4-5 feet from us. Didnt take us long to get out of the water. Then some guy picked it up for all to see for a few minutes, then tossed it back into the ocean.I havent decided if he was REALLY brave, or VERY stupid.

My husband enjoying time with the grand daughter .

Mommy and daughter

Feeding the resident Swans:

The resident goats checking us and the Yorkie out:

We visited Dolly's Dixie Stampede. We hadnt been there for a few years, and the grand baby was wanting to see the horses( my bunch are the 4 in the middle:

One of the guys getting ready for the show:

On the way back we drive by   Pilot Mountain in Mount Airy, NC. I understand this is where Andy Griffith's "Maybury" was filmed, and Floyds Barbour Shop is. One of these days, I would like to stop, and see whats there, besides this mountain:

 On the way home we were stuck in a bumper to bumper traffic jam on I 79 due to some road work.

Finally, we hit WV, ( cue the guitars...) "Take me home country roads, to the place I belong........WV"

All in all, we all had loads of :

Off To The Beach!

   Well Saturday morning, we are off to the beach for 10 days. I cant wait. There is something sooo relaxing, and soothing about scrunching your toes in the sand, feeling the gentle breezes flow across your face and thru your hair, and looking out over the ocean. For the past 5 yrs or so we take our fifth wheel and stay at Lakewood Campground in Myrtle Beach. I would prefer the quieter, calmer atmosphere of North Carolina beaches such as Duck and Kitty Hawk, but I havent found a campground there on the ocean with full hook-ups. We used to stay in NC when the kids were smaller and we traveled with friends and shared a house on or near the beach. Now its just us. I much prefer to stay in the camper than a hotel .  So I guess after Friday, things will be a little quiet around here for awhile  :)

                                                          See ya later.......................................

Sustainability Through the Consumption of Things Conserved

A few days ago, someone contacted about being a guest blogger on my lowly site. His name is Dan Grifen. The idea he had for an article sounded very intriguing. He sent me the article, and I read it. I felt the article to be very thought provoking, and I hope others may find it interesting and informative as well. I would love for you  read the article in full below, and please leave comments , and let me know how you feel about it.

  What has been concerning me about the state of our food supply is how in recent times we have been having a scourge of bacterial contaminates in our food supply. Causing people to become sick, and shortages of one product or another. There is also concern of bio-terrorism. How safe IS our food supply from terrorist attacks. We have already seen that we are no longer safe on our own lands. I think a return to greater self sufficiency now a "must" rather than an option. And he is right , when you go to the store, there are only a few varieties of the different produce. What would seem like"saving" of a certain variety could actually mean its loss . Its fun to try new things. Isnt that what we teach our kids?

Tell me what you think.

                               Sustainability Through the Consumption of Things Conserved

"In other environmental issues we tell people to stop something, reduce their impact, reduce their damage," - US Ecologist Gary Nabham

Since the beginning of the green movement, there has been a rise in the number of organizations and businesses that are doing their part in the promotion of sustainability through conservation. As human beings, we're told to reduce our carbon footprint, consume less unhealthy foods, and spend less time in the shower! But let's take a minute to step back and look at this from a different perspective; one that Gary Nabham strongly suggests.

Gary Paul Nabham, phD., is a Arab-American writer/conservationist who's extensive farming work in the U.S./Mexico borderlands region has made him world renown. Specifically speaking, Nabham is known for his work in biodiversity as an ethnobotanist. His uplifting messages and attitude towards life and culture has granted us access to multiple beneficial theories including his latest of eat what you conserve.

According to The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, about three quarters of the genetic diversity of crops been vanishing over the last century and that a dozen species now gives 90% of the animal protein eaten globally. In accordance, just 4 crop species supply half of plant based calories in the human diet.

Nabham claims that by eating the fruits and vegetables that we are attempting to conserve/save, we're promoting the granular dissemination of various plant species. But this goes beyond what we typically buy in supermarkets, particularly because of price and abundance. We must remember to try new things and immerse ourselves in the very concept of diversity. Keep in mind; the benefits of splurging for that costly fruit/vegetable supremely outweigh the cons. Not only are you promoting biodiversity and further eliminating the needs of farmers to remove rare, less purchased crops off their agenda, but you're also effectively encouraging healthier lifestyles.

Agriculturist Marco Contiero mentioned that "biodiversity is an essential characteristic of any sustainable agricultural system, especially in the context of climate change."[1] With sustainable crop efforts being lead by the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) and the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) the duo plans to provide a more sustainable crop, untouched by natural disasters, much like the ones experience in Haiti and neighboring areas. Contiero goes on to state "We need to ensure this is the basis for the future…" – This is exactly what Doug Band, the CGI, and the IRRI are doing by engaging in sustainability efforts.

So remember, next time you're in the supermarket picking out navel oranges or strawberries, turn your attention to something that's a bit more "out of season," or exotic in nature. The same goes for salads/salad ingredients; shop outside the norm, picking spices and vegetables that you wouldn't normally incorporate into your everyday diet. During such economic downtime it isn't always easy to maintain the same level of grocery shopping intrigue, but we must also not forget that in this sundry of foods we can find fun!

Dan Grifen – Supporter of all things green and progressive.

If you would like to contact Dan about his article, you may email him HERE:

Bloomin Tuesday

  It's Bloomin Tuesday, and I have lots to contribute. Lots of things are new for me this year. So I am very thrilled at  all the little surprises I find every day.
My first Echinacea "Tiki Torch" bloom. I bought it late last year and it was too young to bloom yet.

This Rudbeckia is bloomin like gangbusters. I love the color varieties in every bloom.

Rose Mallow, first bloom from a winter sown plant.

Balloon Flower "Sentimental Blue". However this guy is twice as tall as it was last year. It must really be loving the horse manure that I top dressed the garden with in spring. last year it was only 6" tall. The flower is just in its "balloon" stage and has opened yet.

Lavatera "Pink Beauty". Another first blooms from a winter sown plant.

Lysimachia "Alexander". This is my second year for it. It is supposed to be variegated, but for some reason, half of the plant reverted back to a solid green. It is still pretty tho, but to be honest, I prefer the variegated.

Another Asiatic Lilly I got in the fall last year when Lowe's had them clearanced for a dollar. This is the first time I got to see my prize.

This is Stella d'Oro lily. I love the bright golden yellow of this plant. it just keeps getting prettier every year.

Lychnis. I received this from a Gardenweb friend last year. I love the bright jewel tone color.

Clematis Jackamani growing in with an un-identified white climbing rose.

Nicotiana "Hot Chocolate". This plant was started from seed by winter sowing, and planted Hunk-O-Seed style. As you can see there is a great variety of color here in these two blooming plants, But I think that is what makes them so pretty. While photographing them, I had forgotten about the wonderful scent Nicotiana has, until it hit me.

I have posted pics here of one of my favorite roses....Madame Isaac Pereire. This past winter I decided to try sowing some of her seeds for the first time. I have never grown roses from seed before. Most likely they will not be true to the parent, but so far the color matches.Here is mine now only 6" tall and getting ready to open. "I 'm not as young as I once was", oh wait thats one of my favorite songs,lol. Well anyway thats my excuse for not getting down on my knees and putting my nose to the ground to see if it smells as heavenly as Madame.

This is, I think, Nasturtium "Milkmaid". I planted several of these in the potager.I love the deep, blood red color of the blooms.

These are my first blooms on winter sown Catchfly. 

This is Rudbeckia "Tiger Eye Gold" that I rescued from Walmart's clearance pile. It was looking pretty ragged. I am surprised, Walmart doesnt usually discount their flowers. they always told me before that they return them. They must have changed their policy.

Petunia "Laura Bush" from winter sown seedling. I believe these are supposed to return every year. I am hoping.

Balsam Impatients. I havent grown these for many years. I remember how the pods "snap" open springing their seeds out. I cant wait to show my grand daughter.

These are the Hydrangea "Annabelle" grown from cuttings a few years ago. I love the bright white of these blooms.

White Yarrow

Shrimp Plant. This was grown from winter sown seeds as well. The flowers are rather small and non descript. But I like the foliage.

Another Asiatic Lilly I bought last fall on clearance. This one is a pretty white and called "Tiny Snowflake"

This is a pretty pink Hollyhock.

Malva "Mystic Merlin". I love the color of these.

Antirhinum "Rembrandt" grown from winter sown seeds. I hope these guys grow, cause in the pics on valueseeds.com they look to be at least a foot or so tall. This one blooming is only about 4-5" tall.

And updates on the potager....The first is my tomatoes. Early girl has green tomatoes on her about 2" across, the others just have some blooms.

The pole beans are growing very quickly as well.

This is a shot of the back of my house taken from the backyard over looking the top of the stone retaining wall.