FILLING THE PANTRY & ROOT CELLAR

 

Today Dear Hubby and I worked on canning tomatoes. I set up my oster machine with the attachment that takes the skins and seeds out of the tomatoes.

Dear Hubby cut the tomatoes up so I could cook them down until soft. Then I run them through the oster machine.

While he did that I canned some yellow wax green beans. Then I started working on the tomato pulp and chopped onion. I cooked it for a little while.  Then filled the half pints with the pulp.

I used the half pints as 8 oz. Is the amount I use a lot of for cooking. It is just my husband and I most of the time.  Think I will can a few quarts also for when family comes and I need to cook for them.

We did canning of tomato sauce at my son's for the last 3 days so was glad to get some done at home also. 

It was a productive day. We are looking forward to harvesting more tomatoes and having our pantry full for this winter. Especially without the extra ingredients that are in the store bought tomato sauce.

FRUGAL GROCERIES IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

Living where there are only 2 major stores to buy groceries we do not always get the sales that other people in cities are able to obtain. We have a Wal-Mart and a Safeway. We have a Big Lots, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree.

Today at Safeway we found thin cut chuck steak 30% off. Part Skim Mozzarella was $5.99 a large bag.

The red peppers were .50 cents each. Last week they were 2.99 each. Cucumbers were .50 each. 1% milk was 1.99 too.

These items will make some good fajitas, stir fry, beef stroganoff, and some vegetable beef soup. The Mozzarella will make some good home made veggie pizza and dear hubbies regular pizza. The red peppers will become Nomato Sauce. A sauce that I can eat with IC bladder.

Not bad for just going after Milk, butter, and sour cream.

GREEN HOUSE RESULTS

In May we covered the small green house.  It is not an easy task.  I have watched video's on it and it looked so simple.
My son had done one before and told us it was not a 15 minute job like some say.

Anyway we got it covered and my hubby worked on the windows and doors screening them.
It has all paid off.  We harvested green beans and tomatoes.
I canned 70 pints so far.  The green beans just keep on producing. They seem to love the green house environment.
I am canning tomato sauce now.  My son made his salsa and he canned it.  I can not do the salsa and breath the fumes from the hot peppers.  Strange I know but everyone has their allergies.
 

We raised onions and tomatoes in the uncovered green houses.  We tried zucchini but pack rats are great climbers and just climbed over the fencing we temporarily put up to keep the rabbits out. 

We plan on covering the other 2 green houses this fall and winter.  We picked up the cover for one of the large green houses this summer on the way back from visiting family in California

We harvested the onions and put them in the drying shed my son built.  It sure works great.  We got 8 boxes filled of the cured onions in the first batch.  The second batch is in the drying shed now.  So we are done with the onions this year.

I enjoyed growing in the green house.  You do not have the bug problem that you have in the field. 
There are crops that do not grow well in a green house.  So we plan on getting the main garden fixed up for things like potatoes, onions, garlic and other veggies.

Sure will enjoy our no pesticide veggies this year that we planted.  Looking forward to next year.

Nina

BROKEN HIP AND LOVE

Beatitudes for Friends of the Aged

Blessed are they who understand

My faltering step and palsied hand.

Blessed are they who know that my ears today

Must strain to hear the things they say.

Blessed are they who seem to know

That my eyes are dim and wits are slow.

Blessed are they who look away

When coffee spilled at the table today.

Blessed are they with a cheery smile

Who stop to chat for a little while.

Blessed are they who never say

“You’ve told that story twice today.”

Blessed are they who know the ways

To bring back memories of yesterday.

Blessed are they who make it known

That I’m loved, respected, and not alone.

Blessed are they who know I’m at a loss

To find the strength to carry the cross.

Blessed are they who ease the way

On my journey Home in loving ways.

~ Author unknown

This is a tribute to my daughter Carrie Bleau and her family.  For years they have taken my mother'in'love "Grandma Kitty" on so many of their trips and functions.  They have gone and got her almost every Sunday for dinner.  Every Tuesday was Pizza night and they would go and get her and bring her to the house for pizza.  Grandma Kitty loved pizza and never seemed to get tired of it.

Carrie took her grocery shopping and when she could no longer go and do it she did it for her.  They would all come over and clean her apartment when Grandma Kitty no longer could do it.  She took her to doctors appointments.  What ever Grandma Kitty needed they saw to it that it was done.

My husband and I moved to CA to help out,  as Grandma got to where she could not do as much.  But because of getting environmental asthma while there, we had to move back to AZ.  So Carrie and Family carried on without us as usual.

A few weeks ago Grandma Kitty fell and broke her hip.  Carrie and Family have been right there for her.  Going after work all most every day to see and cheer her on,  at the hospital and now the home where she is getting therapy. 

Carrie said that the phone call from Roy, Me,  Roy III, Lorraine, Brody, Kaley, Wayne, and Leslie (Doug' Landrith's wife)  They all wished her a 89th HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Carrie said she was very tickled about the phone call from the family.  Family was very important to Grandma as it is to us all.

She is improving every day and says she really likes the food. 

THANK YOU DOUG, CARRIE, AND CASSAUNDRA!!!

PIGS, CHICKENS, AND GARDEN

Hi everyone

It has been awhile since I posted a page. Been busy working on what most people call a homestead. The name of the homestead is called Moonrise Farms. That is what is on a rock sign out in front.

You do see a lot of neat moon rises and sunrises on this farm.

Dear Hubby and I have been working on things here. I have been weeding some of the large garden that had onions, asparagus and rhubarb that has volunteered. We thought they were all dead but with watering they have come up. We are going to let most of this go to seed so we can have the seed. We will not be able to use the large garden until we can repair the fencing as the cotton tail rabbits, and jack rabbits are able to get in.

The start of this week we painted the chicken pin. Dear Hubby cleaned it out and is going to replace the roost and also clean up the nests. I was so excited to paint it barn red. It will be so nice to have fresh farm eggs that have some taste to them.

Dear Hubby did the cleaning out of the chicken pen and will have to do some repairs in there.  We have to reattach the top chicken wire so the hawks and owls ext. can't get in also.

We have a goat barn (now tool and feed storage area) to paint and drying shed to paint red. I will enjoy looking at the red buildings. 

I am hoping to order chicks in May. Watching chickens is so much fun for me and I can see the chicken house and run from my craft sewing room.

We went and got piglets Saturday. They are settling into their new home. They are cute and fun to watch also. Unfortunately dear Hubby will have to clear out some salt bush before I can see them from the craft sew room.

I worked on weeding the onions yesterday in the green house area.  I went out early before breakfast as it has been getting hot in the afternoons. It was so nice to weed and listen to the birds early in the morning.

We enjoy seeing the results of our labor and keeping busy for two retired people.    Plus we hope to reap the benefits of it all in the fall.  Yummy fresh veggies, eggs, and our own meat.  Along with fresh air and a sense of accomplishment. 

 

PRUNING PRODUCTIVE WEEK

This week was so nice and warm after the week of storms and teen temperatures. We had temps in the high 50's and this week they say around 61 degrees. 
It was great for our old bones to get out and get some exercise and fresh air.
We worked in the orchard and on the black berries.  We still have some work in the green houses to do.  That is where we plan on planting this year.  Maybe some potatoes in the field.  It is a work in progress.

 This was the orchard before we started.  Lorraine my daughter-in-law was teaching for 3 years and was not able to get everything done to the orchard.  So the orchard really had 3 nice years of rest. 

Dear Hubby always loved doing fruit trees when we had had them some years back.  So he started pruning them.

I painted the trunks to keep the rabbits from nibbling on the bark.  Should have seen me trying to get up after about 2 years of not much physical labor :)

The orchard after pruning and raking the leaves around the trees.  I think they were lifting their branches in praise.

While I painted tree trunks, Dear Hubby was removing salt bushes (that you see in the picture) so he could get to the blackberries.

Here are some of the pruned berries.  They look just like little green sticks now.

The fence is cleared of salt bushes and the berries trimmed.  There are more to do next week inside the garden.  That will be this next weeks labor of love to them.

Nina