we grew grapes!

A few years ago we made a few improvements to our backyard, one of which was planting grapes along the newly built garden fence. We kind of planted them on a whim...we wanted edibles, we wanted something to grow on the fence, grapes seemed like a good choice.

Never mind the fact that neither of us knew one single thing about growing grapes. But we knew how to dig holes and water plants...so we figured nature would handle the rest.

The first year we got maybe three wimpy clusters of teensy tiny grapes that didn't really mature. I don't even remember if we ate them? But this year...oh my...we got clusters and clusters of ripe, juicy, sweet, yummy grapes. They were so good. They weren't big like at the grocery store. But the flavor was much better.

And really, isn't the flavor better with everything homegrown? Yeah...I think so, too.

happy accidents.

So the peach jam I made the other day was a bust. It never set. But I didn't want to waste it so I had the idea to give it a second chance by boiling it down and adding apple peels (natural pectin) to see if it wouldn't thicken up to a nice consistency for jam.

Well. It didn't. It was just as runny as when I started.

Determined to not let the gift of delicious peaches go to waste I gave the mixture a crack at a new life...as ice cream topping. Yes I did. I scooped two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream into a bowl and topped it with some of the peach jam that refused to gel. And oh my goodness, was it ever go-oo-ood. Imagine peaches and cream on steroids.

I'm thinking this was definitely a happy accident.

...peaches for free

On Friday afternoon I put a shout out on Facebook inquiring about our local peach orchard, "Does anyone know if Brazelton's has peaches yet?"

Well, nobody knew if Brazelton's had peaches yet but a sweet friend did offer as many peaches as I could pick from her tree..."ripe and ready to pick". So I set some time aside on Saturday to swing by and pick peaches.

I meant to go peach picking early, in the cool of the morning...but seeing as how I can't seem to get a move on until around 10am these days, and "early" is a relative term...I got there in the afternoon. And yes, it was hot. But I picked a ton of peaches. And came home covered in dust, dried leaves, a few ants and sticky peach juice. I was a happy girl.

As I was leaving my friend warned me, "You need to do something with these today...they are ready to go." So I got to thinking about what I'd make. The verdict? Slicing some to freeze for later use, a peach dump cake that was so.dang.good (but, of course, I used fresh peaches because I had them and made my own syrup), and at Chris' request...peach jam.

I decided on freezer jam since I'd never made it before and (if I'm honest) I didn't want to heat the kitchen up with a hot, boiling canner. I peeled and pitted a ton of peaches, mashed them up, tossed them with lemon juice to stop the browning then mixed in a LOT of sugar. I let that sit while the pectin dissolved in boiling water then added that to the mix. According to the directions I stirred for three minutes then ladled the peach mixture into canning jars, leaving enough space for expansion in the freezer. The directions also said to let the jars sit for 24 hours at room temperature, then freeze. So, I did.

[Insert birds chirping.]

I was quite pleased with myself. I took Instagram pics and smiled a lot with a bounce in my step and made Chris come in and look at the glorious jars of peach jam goodness. I was feeling quite productive. Homemade peach jam was setting on the counter, a dump cake was baking in the oven...I was like Suzy Homemaker.

[Now insert the record scratching.]

Unfortunately, I'm sad to report my jam didn't turn out. After 24 hours, it didn't gel. It's still very runny. And I'm thinking that, yet again, my aversion to measuring things worked against me. I have a feeling I had too much peach mixture for the amount of pectin I added...and it just wasn't enough to get it to gel.

So...now I have runny peach juice with pulp in canning jars.

BUT, maybe all is not lost. Here's my plan...

I'm going to put the peaches in a saucepan and see if I can't boil it down a bit in hopes of thickening it up. Maybe even add some apple peel to add more natural pectin. Hopefully it works. If not? We have three (good size) jars of peach ice cream topping. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, I suppose.

every summer.

Every summer I dread that it's summer. (And I'm pretty sure that every summer I blog about dreading summer!) It starts in the Spring...the dread, the fretting...that in a few short months it's going to be so dang sweltering hot in my neck of the woods that I'm going to be forced to stay inside in an air-conditioned space for the next three months.

No matter my attitude...or my meager little tinge of holding out hope that it might just maybe possibly not be that hot this year...the summer arrives with a blast of hot air. And that, is that.

Oh, summer...why must you be so cruel?

However, over the past few years I've come to the realization that I can either fight summer (futile) or I can embrace it (realistic). Unfortunately, being realistic has never been my strength so this change in attitude has taken lots of hard work, lots of crazy self-talk and lots of blood, sweat and tears. Mainly sweat. (In case you haven't come to this conclusion on your own by now...being dramatic has been a strength of mine all my life. My mom and dad will attest to that.)

Honestly, what it's taken is a realization that not every.single.day of summer is sweltering. There are many nice days that don't go above 90 degrees. And if I'm honest, and pay attention, I realize that I'm really OK up to about 90. I don't necessarily love it. But I'm OK.

Another summer life saver is our garden. The knowledge that garden plants need heat to grow and produce amazing vegetables, that tomatoes won't ripen without the heat, is the knowledge that gets me through summer without too many major meltdowns. (Get it? Get it? I know...I'll be here all week.)

So every summer I become full of more angst than usual. Every summer I mope and whine and complain that it's summer. And every summer, in spite of my bad attitude and the sweltering heat, we grow zucchini. Number one because it's good. But also because it's so easy to grow and it's great for one's gardening ego. Zucchini grows big and lush and makes you look like you really know what you're doing as a gardener. And it produces! One day you've got nothin' and the next day you've got several zucchini the size of your forearm and you wonder where the heck they came from!

So every summer we harvest lots of fresh, organic, delicious zucchini from our very own backyard. And every summer we make Ryan's Fried Zucchini Cakes. They are delicious and we all love them! They are a bit labor intensive what with the grating of the zucchini and the draining of the zucchini and the squeezing out any extra moisture from the zucchini. But once you get through all that? Smooth sailing. And worth the effort. They're even good if you mess 'em up! Forgot the minced onion? No problem. Not enough parm in the fridge but you make 'em anyway? Still.so.good.

I'm telling you, if you like zucchini, and I'm thinking even if you don't, you will love you some fried zucchini cakes. I made them for dinner the other night with a marinated London Broil and an Asian slaw and it was fantastic. The four of us ate as a family and there was very little conversation. Just lots of chewing and a few "will you please pass the {fill in the blank}?"

Have I convinced you yet? Wanna make them and see for yourself? Here's the recipe again...in case you breezed past it earlier. You won't be sorry...I promise.

I say bruschetta...

Mom and I went to our local farmer's market last Saturday morning. We got some delicious peaches and plums and some gorgeous, ripe tomatoes. I knew as soon as I saw them that I needed to make bruschetta. (Curious...do you say bruSHETTA? Or brusKETTA? I never know how to say it so I say it both ways every time I say it.)

I already had everything on hand...sliced sourdough, fresh garlic, a beautiful basil plant out back and these luscious tomatoes from the market...not to mention a handful of cherry tomatoes from our garden.

I got the sourdough toasting in the oven while I assembled the tomato mixture. I had no idea how easy bruschetta was to make! I mean, yes, I've known that it was just a few ingredients on toast. But I mean...this is one.easy.recipe. (I followed this recipe loosely but omitted the parmesan. Just cuz.)

Why have I not made bruschetta sooner?

It was so, so, so yummy. And I can't wait to make it again and again all summer long. Between my new love of bruschetta and Chris' delicious homemade salsa I really hope we get a good crop of tomatoes this summer! We're gonna need 'em!

Happiness is...

Happiness is...harvesting 5 lbs. of organic tomatoes from my own backyard. Aren't they beautiful? I have decided I love growing tomatoes. I love growing other vegetables, too. But for some reason, tomatoes are turning out to be my favorite. I think it's because they give me such an ego boost...plant them in decent soil, water regularly, and you've got a success on your hands. It's just that simple. What's not to love?

The tomato plants are wild and unruly. (Maybe another reason I love them?) They are loaded with tomatoes of all sizes and at all stages of ripeness. I see spots of red and orange throughout the tomato patch and it makes me happy...I pluck each ripe beauty and set it in the basket.

I see little green tomatoes all over the place...and I have hope for the future. It means more salsa in my future...it means an opportunity to teach myself how to preserve some tomato sauce...it means I've made it one step closer to learning how to provide food for our family.

I harvested this basket full yesterday afternoon. I went out to the garden to check on something else and realized there were tons of tomatoes "ripe for the pickin'". By the time I was done and covered in dirt and leaves and smelling like a giant tomato plant, I realized the basket felt quite heavy. Maybe not heavy as much as it felt substantial.

I couldn't resist the temptation to actually weigh it: 5 lbs. I had to tally it up in my head if I were to buy these tomatoes at the store. Not bad...

I am loving growing tomatoes...yes I am. And the more I harvest...the more salsa Chris makes...the more I'm able to eat cherry tomatoes straight off the vine and still warm from the sun, the more I want to grow more and more tomatoes. I want to grow green tomatoes and orange tomatoes and purple tomatoes...oh, and white tomatoes! I can hardly wait for next summer!

Wait a minute...did I just say that? Me? Hardly able to wait for summer? Somebody check my temperature.

slow and steady

I gathered this from the garden Thursday morning. I probably could have picked a few more tomatoes but I thought they could handle one more day on the vine. (Especially given the high temperatures we've been having.)

I finally noticed two Blue Hubbard squash forming on the crazy, huge, dominating vine. All that vine and only two measly squash. I know I've said it before, but I'm saying it again, I am NOT growing THAT again.

The pepper plants are full of peppers...and the purple bell pepper has a ton more blossoms. It looks like we're going to have lots of jalapenos...might have to try this recipe and soon! Real soon.

Libby is broody...and persistent. And because of her nesting box hogging tendencies, egg production is down. I shoo her out of the nesting box every day...more like coax her out with a treat as bribery. It works like a charm. I noticed a few of the eggs had very soft shells, one of them even just sort of fell apart. I fed the girls a few extra crushed egg shells and some yogurt...seems to have helped.

On the companion planting front, apparently you're not supposed to grow green beans near tomatoes. Guess where my beans are planted? Yes. So...while they're producing beans, the actual plants aren't looking as healthy as they should be. They're not awful...but I am definitely noticing a difference from when I planted them year before last. They were huge and lush and produced tons of beans.

Note to self...apply companion planting knowledge when planting the garden.

And that cute harvest basket in the photo? Thrift store...$6. I love a bargain!

Around the homestead.

What's going on around the homestead {by proxy}...in bullet-points:

• We have what we refer to as a "tomato jungle". We planted about 10 tomato plants I think. Then we got three volunteers that are actually growing tomatoes. (I didn't think that particular plant was heirloom...but...it's got tomatoes. Maybe it's a hybrid in its second bloom? Anyone know how that works?) Two of the plants are as tall as me. Lots of tomatoes are forming...a few have turned red (or orange or green sriped!) and they taste won-der-ful. Can't wait to get a real harvest!
• The bush bean plants are full of green beans. I should be able to harvest them in a few days. The pole beans are just now beginning to flower. I didn't plant too many of either...need to make some time to sow a second planting.
• We bought two table grape plants for 50% off one day on a whim. One green, one purple.Then we let them sit in their pots for a few weeks. And...I forgot to water them. And...one looked like it bit the dust. But we planted them both anyway...and they are both growing like crazy! I am hoping we actually get grapes next season.
• I planted one zucchini plant, one acorn squash plant and one Blue Hubbard squash plant. It was an experiment. And one I probably won't do again. I should have stuck to plain ol' zucchini. The Blue Hubbard is a prolific grower...the vine is long and healthy...and a bit invasive, with not much food to show for all the space it's taking up. The acorn squash is quite compact and has tons of little squash on it. And this is fine, I just don't think it's going to be a huge hit as far as eating. We are a plain ol' zucchini kind of family. Next summer? All zucchini, all the time. Probably 3-4 plants so I can have plenty to shred and freeze.
• Peppers. We planted 6 pepper plants. One purple bell pepper which was beautiful We already harvested one...and already ate it! Two jalapenos, two Anaheim's and one other that I can't recall the name of. The weird weather stunted the peppers quite a bit...but they're making a comeback and are going strong. Lots of blossoms...quite a few little peppers...they should be fine.
• I planted one little cucumber plant. And it's doing fine, but could probably stand more sun. Our pecan tree still hasn't been trimmed so the garden is too shady. But we're trying to make it work.
• Lettuce. I planted lettuce when we first put the garden in. And the slugs and snails and earwigs enjoyed it very much. It was gone before it could take off. I recently planted another small patch of lettuce. And it sprouted in like 2 days!! So far, so good. I planted it in a shady spot and it seems to like it, especially in this heat.
• We planted some Walla Walla onions...also on a whim. I've never grown onions. I have no idea what to do...when to harvest...nothing. So we're wingin' it! So far so good...they seem happy in their little row along the side fence.
• Chris wanted to try his hand at growing cantaloupe from seed. So he tossed a few seeds in the ground and lo and behold, a few days later, sprouts! Now they're good strong vines with flowers and everything! I hope we actually get some melons. I hear they're hard to grow...but so far so good.
• We also planted one lone little blackberry plant. I bought it (on a whim...I tend to do that a lot, don't I?) at the discount grocery store for $5 then set it out on the deck and didn't water it right along with the poor grapes. It croaked. Poor little thing. But...we planted it anyway...and that little sucker sprouted leaves. Now it's fine. And I'm sure one day we'll regret planting that baby...at least it's thornless!
• We also planted some non-food plants...Japanese maples. Chris planted a bunch of seeds that my uncle gave him and he's got about 7 or 8 trees growing...they're adorable! We also had a volunteer maple from our neighbors tree growing in the raised bed. I dug it up, put it in a pot and it promptly went into shock. I thought we'd lost it. But after a day or two it perked back up and now looks healthy and happy. Not sure what we're going to do with it once it's bigger...we really don't need more shade around here. So we'll see... (Actually...it would be nice if the shade was near the house and the sun was near the fence...and not the other way around. But we're sort of stuck with this pecan tree for the time being...so...it is what it is.)

I wish we could have planted more but the shade issue needs to be settled before we plant anymore. Next year...we'll grow more for sure.

So that's what's going on around here...what's happening at your place?

The best glass of orange juice I've ever had in my life.

homegrown oranges + Noni's juicer = l.o.v.e.

My brother has been bringing me oranges from his tree for the past couple of weeks. He started when I was so sick...he just knew that the homegrown Vitamin C was exactly what I needed. And he was right! They definitely made me feel a lot better.

Can I just tell you? The oranges from his tree are the biggest, juiciest, most flavorful oranges I have ever had. For real. They are so juicy that when you slice them the juice comes running out. And I didn't want even the tiniest bit to go to waste. I knew what I needed to do....

I went to the hutch and got out Noni's glass juicer that Aunt Lisa gave me a year or so ago. And then I juiced the biggest, heaviest orange in the bag. It was love in a glass I tell you...oranges from my brothers backyard...Noni's glass juicer...it doesn't get any better than that. Hands down...the best glass of orange juice I've ever had in my life.

If life gives you lemons...

...then by all means...take pictures of them!

It's one of those times in life where I am going about my business...doing what I need to do each day...moving things from today's list to tomorrow's because I didn't get to it...

We're going to games and to school and to work.

I'm going to the grocery store and to the bank and the book store. I'm meeting friends for coffee and feeding chickens and doing laundry.

And all the while...I feel distant. Removed. On auto-pilot. And I can't seem to shake it.

So...this morning I opened up my prayer journal and wrote. And wrote. And wrote. Until finally I decided to just sit and be quiet. I figured I do enough talking...maybe it's time to listen. So I closed my journal...put down my pen...leaned back in my comfy chair...and got quiet.

And then clear as a bell I hear in my heart...read Zephaniah 3:17.

17 The LORD your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing."

Do you write in your bible? I do. I write all over it. I write in pen. I write in pencil. I use highlighters. I write prayers and notes and people's names and dates. So this morning, as I turned to Zephaniah 3:17 in my bible I was reminded that God has brought me here before. On several occasions, according to the dates I have scribbled in the margins! I even have a note that I memorized it in 2007. But...I had since forgotten it. Leave it to God to bring it back to me at just the right time. I needed to know that He will save me. I needed to know that he delights in me. (There's that word, "delight" again...man, he loves us so much!) I needed to now that He will quiet me...and not like "Shush up! Be quiet!"...but more like a soothing, "Shhh...it's OK. I'm right here. You're going to be OK." And then as if all of that isn't enough, he's going to rejoice over me with singing? Really? Wow. And even after I've been such a pill this week?

Yes. Even after I've been such a pill this week. And if I'm honest, I'm still being a bit of a pill! But I'm working on it. I'm thinking on it. I'm figuring things out and giving them to God. I'm doing the best that I can. And that's all He asks.

One of these things does not belong here.

The other day, one of our chickens decided to lay a white egg. Not totally white, as you can see. More of a cream. With pale, pale brown speckles.

I wonder why that happened? Is it a deficiency of some sort? Or just the way it goes sometimes?

Boundary issues.

See that vine along the fence there? That's the birdhouse gourd vine. It's planted just to the right of the tomato plants...underneath it's highest point is the ladder it uses to climb up.

As you can see, it spreads. A lot. It goes about 8 feet to the left of the ladder and about 8 feet to the right. It has covered my mulch pile. It has grown along the support on the left that was intended for peas and cucumbers and beans. It has completely taken over the pole beans..and the poles!...that were planted nearby. I must admit...a birdhouse gourd probably isn't the best idea for a small backyard garden. I doubt that the square foot gardening guy would have included this baby in his plans. But if you remember, there was a point at the beginning of this whole crazy gardening thing that I decided to just have fun with it all. And to experiment. And learn. So that's what I did. And the birdhouse gourd was a part of that. And it was worth it...what a fun plant to grow!

Not only is the vine amazing. It also produces these silly shaped gourds!

This is our fourth gourd. And it's very possible that this is going to be our last gourd...of the year, anyway. The vine is slowly being taken over by that darn powdery mildew. I've kept it at bay but I'm thinking it's time to pull the vine, anyway, and make room for some fall plantings. I'm wanting to try some greens...another round of beans...maybe some peas...onions and garlic for next summer...maybe some beets and radishes, maybe I can squeeze some in before it gets too cold. I may even try some broccoli. I try to stick with foods we like to eat.

But...I have to say...it's good to grow new things because there's something about growing it yourself that makes it taste that much better. Plus, when you grow it, you want to eat it and not let it go to waste. Take our peppers, for instance. We grew banana peppers and Anaheim peppers this year. We were going to roast them and freeze them for paninis. Well...we ended up grilling some the other night and it turned out we liked them just lke that...grilled with a little olive oil and Kosher salt...as a side dish! You never know what you're going to like until you try it...right?

So...I'm thinking that I'll try a few fall plantings to broaden our food horizons. Parsnips? Turnips? Kale? Chard? Why not? And if we don't like it...then we just won't grow it next year. Pretty simple.

Egg tally...33.

As of yesterday...two weeks after the girls began laying beautiful brown eggs for our family...our egg tally was 33. Not bad, eh?

I shared a half dozen with my aunt Lisa and another half dozen to my neighbor...poor guy has to hear them every morning as they work those eggs down the chute! He said he doesn't mind them at all...and that the noises make him laugh...and that he was going to go make an omelet! He did inquire about the flies...and I offered to buy him a stinky trap...but he declined the offer. I guess fresh eggs are a fair enough trade.

It's official...

We have laying hens!

This is our first ONE DOZEN eggs. Aren't they so pretty? They're on the small side. But each time they lay, the eggs get a bit bigger every time.

This is happiness...

Green beans and brown eggs.

Today was a good day in the garden.

The green beans are growing like crazy! (Don't you just love that shriveled up little blossom hanging on to the end of that sweet bean? I love it!)

I may have waited a little long to harvest some of them...they're a bit big. But...better big than wasted. So I waited until I knew we were going to EAT them.

As I was heading into the house...because it felt like it was 4000 degrees outside...I spotted a few red tomatoes and had to pluck them, too.

They were history about 2 minutes after this photo was taken. And they were GOOD, too. And yes. I bite my fingernails. Ugly, I know.

And...as I hoped...the girls are steady laying eggs. Beautiful, brown eggs.

I think that only three of the girls have laid eggs. I think that one of the Barred Rocks has yet to lay. I'm not sure as I haven't been watching their every move. But I have observed that the Buff's spend more time in the hen house scratching and squatting. And I saw one of the Barred Rock's doing the same thing. But I don't know for sure. All I DO know for sure is that we're getting FRESH EGGS! I've been waiting months for this...years if you count the time I spent researching and waiting for my sweet chickens. It's SO exciting. I cant even begin to tell you. I highly recommend chicken keeping. It is so fun. So satisfying. And really, so easy. Who knew?

Use it up or do without.

We are up to our eyeballs in zucchini! I'm growing it AND I'm harvesting it from my friend's garden. It's taking over. It's on the countertop, it's on the floor next to the island, it's in the crisper...it's everywhere! And would you believe that I've been giving a lot of it away, too?! It's so nice to be able to share...one more reason to expand next year's garden.

There was no way we'd be able to eat all of this zucchini. I mean, we could if we ate it for all three meals AND dessert...every day...for a week. But my family would definitely not go for that.

So, instead I decided to shred up a lot of it and freeze it for use later in breads and muffins. Won't it be great to have fresh zucchini in the dead of winter?!

I don't remember how many zucchini I shredded...but it was a lot. And it ended up being five Ziplocs full...three 4-cup packs and two 6-cup packs. I decided on those amounts because the majority of the recipes I read for zucchini breads and muffins called for two cups of it in the recipes. I figured with 4 and 6 cup packages I can double and triple recipes and be set!

I am so glad that it didn't go to waste...another step toward feeling like I'm doing my part.

Oh...the glorious bounty

Early Girls and Sweet 100's still warm from the sun...straight from OUR GARDEN.

And yes, I realize "bounty" may be a bit dramatic. But considering I wasn't even sure if the plants were even going to make it a few weeks ago, let alone produce fruit? I'm calling it a bounty. (and to make it official, I'm creating a new label for it, too!)

Hey, it's a start!