It's Been a Rough Year...

I'm not one to complain. Why? I have no one to complain to, for one thing. It's just been a rough year, so far. I don't seem to be able to catch a break.
To recap: In February I had to have a root canal. The tooth was abscessed and I had to have a round of antibiotics before the procedure.  The tooth still hurts to this day. I went back for a six-month check, and the doctor told me it was healing, the abscess being 'smaller' than it was in February.

In May, I went to a dermatologist with the request to check two spots on my face and one spot on my clavicle. The collar bone spot turned out to be a basal cell carcinoma. After 5 trips to the doctor, I now have a three-inch scar and am 'cancer-free'.

The skin cancer caused me to struggle with outdoor activities this summer.  Some things must be done (gardening, mowing, general yard work, picking vegetables/fruits, feeding livestock, etc.)  I bought three different brands of sunscreen trying to find one that I could live with--one was too heavy and greasy, one was too smelly, and the last one I bought was better than the previous two, still just hard to live with on my body. The results of this dilly-dallying around was an overgrown garden that produced less than average yields.

In June, there was a windstorm that blew a tree over on my gazebo and smashed the roof. I still don't have it repaired.

Then earlier this month, some kind of predator (varmint!) got in my chicken pen and killed all my chickens. One. by. one.  Each time I lost one, I would try to patch the fence. Nothing I did worked.

I'm a pretty optimistic person, but I have to admit I feel a little blue now.

So when life goes well for you, please pray for those who are struggling.  We need it....

Making Compost Tea

Just as an experiment, I have dug up a portion of the chicken pen floor--which is composted chicken manure--and put some of it into a bucket, which I have filled with water.  I dug three five-gallon buckets full of the composted chicken manure mixed with hay and dirt.  I put the bulk of these buckets into a large rubbermaid-type trash receptacle and put the lid on it.  I want it to "cook" a little longer.  I had put some grass clippings in the receptacle last week after mowing the yard.

I drained off some of the liquid in the bucket filled with the manure/water mixture into a plastic jar (used whey protein container) and poured it on the blackberry bushes, fig trees, blueberry bushes, and tomatoes.  Yes, it goes a long way.

Now to wait and see if it boosts the production of the plants....so hard to wait!

Say ‘Hola’ to the Ollas

Say ‘Hola’ to the Ollas

It has been a really dry spring here.  In fact, over the last year, we had a dry late summer (of 2011), a very warm winter—again on the dry side, and now a dry spring.  I’ve had to water—a lot!  I would love to have a drip irrigation system.  But.  The systems are a little on the expensive side.   

I’m going to try an experiment with a low tech alternative.

I collect the empty coffee tubs at work.  I don’t want them to go into the landfill.  I’m not a rabid ‘green’ person.  It’s just that they make excellent storage units, scoops, and other various around-the-house uses.

I took a t-pin and punched some holes in a few of the tubs.    You'll have to take my word for it.  My camera didn't pick up the tiny holes.

I have set them at the blueberry bushes and the fruit trees.   

 I fill them twice in the morning and twice in the late afternoon.   If I do this, it means the fruits will receive about a 2 gallons of water a day.

So far, I likey!

I HAVE MADE JELLY1

I have made jelly!

I can’t help thinking of Tom Hanks’ line from the movie, “Castaway”, “I have made fire!”

Today is Saturday, my favorite day of the week, a day I get to choose what project I’m going to tackle.  I was walking back from feeding the chickens and hanging out a load of laundry and I routinely check on the plants and plantings on my way back to the house.  I discovered that the spearmint was about to leap out of the tub it’s planted in and invade the surrounding landscape.  I decided I should try my hand at making jelly, something I’ve never done before in my whole life.

I checked the cupboard and sure enough I had a box of Sure Jell.  I didn’t know how to use it but I had it.  I put the box on the stove top.  I got on the trusty internet and browsed for some mint jelly recipes.  There are many from which to choose.

I got out my water bath canner and washed jars, lids and rings.  I got the jars in the canner and started the sterilization process.  I gathered the mint, washed it and put it in the pan with water to make the infusion the recipe called for.  I also put the lids in a skillet of water to ready them for the sealing process.  Meanwhile the box of  Sure Jell is still on the stove top, which is now complete covered with pans of various and gigantic sizes. 

I smell something burning.  I don’t know where it’s coming from and I’m beginning to panic, when I catch site of a little smoke rising from the stove.  I shift the gigantic canner and there is the smoldering box of Sure Jell.   Not too burnt, just the outer box has a small hole in it.  So glad it was no more than that.  I make the decision that I can carry on with the project without having to make a trip to the store for more Sure Jell.

 

I used the recipe as far as the quantity of water mint and sugar, but also got a second opinion from the Ball Blue Book of Canning.  BBB doesn’t use Sure Jell, so for a third opinion I pulled out the insert, slightly scorched and brown, from the Sure Jell box.  Now the little packet of Sure Jell was slightly injured during the scorching incident, and about a tablespoon of it hardened up so that it was unusable.  I make the decision to continue on with the remaining ingredients.  

I used the recipe as far as the quantity of water mint and sugar, but also got a second opinion from the Ball Blue Book of Canning.  BBB doesn’t use Sure Jell, so for a third opinion I pulled out the insert, slightly scorched and brown, from the Sure Jell box. 

When I raised the jars from the boiling water bath, I hear immediate ‘pop!’ ‘pop!’ ‘pop!’ as the lids seal on the jars!  I have to say that is a most satisfying sound.  It means all your hard work—from planting watering and growing the mint, preparing the jars and lids, and cooking the jelly—has come to a wonderful fruition. 

 

 

I could hardly wait for it to cool to taste it on an English muffin!  

I pronounce that it is very good!