A new day!

I finished the Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies and they turned out beautiful and yummy!

I made a bouquet this morning with of lots of different flowering things...beginning with a few roses, some mint, lavender, tickseeds, yarrow, chive blossom, spirea and ???

Yesterday I was back to weeding the okra, dividing my chives that have been growing in the same pot for about nine or ten years, and potting some mint that had come up volunteer. I love to grow mint in pots-it is so pretty and smells great! I like to find as many varieties as I can....grapefruit mint, orange mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint, apple mint - okay, Forrest, that's enough about mint!Now, I am off to make a scarecrow! After all, every garden needs a scarecrow...

So far today...

 I have...

1.  Walked up and down hills for 50 minutes - this is so I can eat what I want and still be able to fit into my jeans and shorts!

2.  Spent waaaay to much time working on this blog, because it is becoming apparent that I am blogging illiterate!

3.  Made the dough for the Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies that I will finish later in the day.  I got this recipe here at Smitten Kitchen:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/06/rhubarb-cream-cheese-hand-pies/#more-10218

4.  Started my first batch of homemade yogurt! I am using directions from
Food In Jars that you can link to here:
 http://www.foodinjars.com/2012/04/homemade-yogurt-in-mason-jars/

Update...a few hours later...

5.  Made homemade chicken noodle soup, in order to not waste the chicken that we roasted in the Dutch Oven over the fire on Sunday evening.

6.  Made Janet's Rich Banana Bread from Allrecipes, in order to use up some "dead" bananas!

...and later on, I am going to make Buttermilk Lasagne from Diane St. Clair's new cookbook, The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook
I might also make her recipe for Strawberry Shortcake and use those beautiful strawberries that I picked yesterday.
You can find out more about Diane St. Clair and her amazing butter, buttermilk, book and farm by visiting her website


...see why I hade to walk the hills for 50 minutes this morning???
...not sure it's going to come out even...

Another Thrill!!!

Add another thrill to my world...the thrill of picking (more than just a couple!) of my very own, beeaaauutiful strawberries!!! I just started my strawberry patch last summer, it isn't very big-maybe 3' x 6' or so, but wow! Has it taken off this year!  Jerry lent me some of his hand-crafted "bunny" fence to put around it

...and this is what I got!!!

Jam!

Yesterday I made this recipe from www.rhubarbinfo.com/jam
Very yummy! I actually halved the recipe, accidentally put everything (fruit, sugar, etc.) in the pan all at the same time-thought "uh-oh", but it turned out great! By the way, I have been using my 6 qt. Lodge enamel cast iron dutch oven to cook my jams so far this season-and it works wonderfully!

Blueberry Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients:

8 c Blueberries

4 c Rhubarb, chopped in 1 inch pieces

1 ts Lemon rind, grated

2 tb Lemon juice 

1 c Water

4 c. Granulated sugar (I used Morena brand pure cane sugar-it is not as refined, more like Turbinado)

Procedure:

In a large heavy saucepan, combine blueberries, rhubarb, lemon rind and juice and water. Bring to a 
boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat and simmer, very gently, for 10 minutes. Stir in sugar; increase
heat to high and boil vigorously until jam reaches setting point. (218 - 220F or 103 - 104C), 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, skim off foam and stir for 3 - 5 minutes to suspend 

fruit evenly throughout jam. Fill sterilized jars and seal. Makes about 4 pint jars or 8 - half pint jars.





Strawberry Rhubarb Caramelized Onion Jam

I also made this-which I found here at Local Kitchen
http://localkitchenblog.com/2010/03/16/strawberry-rhubarb-caramelized-onion-jam

Another really yummy jam!

It' a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Tomato panels

Last night after dinner, we got the cattle panels up for the tomatoes in the front garden. I love how they make the garden look-and I love, even more how much easier they are than using cages for support!
Today is one of the more beautiful days we have had! No clouds, sunny and the temperature is just right, Goldilocks!
The peas are in full bloom...

The potatoes are beginning to bloom...

Weeding

(Me and Danielle!)


Last summer, my darling daughter Danielle (don't you just love alliteration!) kept saying, "Mom! You should start a blog about your Garden!" I thought thought about it, but never took the time to investigate.  Fast forward to one year later...after spending SEVEN HOURS yesterday WEEDING the Garden-I thought "You know-if I am spending that much time and effort in the Garden-I really should keep a record of my efforts and the fruits (actually, mostly vegetables) of that effort!  So...here I am...blogging about my Garden - and some other stuff - like canning what I get out of the Garden!
Now back to the weeding-don't get me wrong...it's not that I minded the weeding. As a matter of fact, Danielle and I agree that weeding is quite rewarding! Everything looks so much better after a good weeding! (That would apply to things other than gardens, as well!) Other than the achy legs and arms and back - it's all good!
So, of course-I am now heading out (to the Garden) to do some more...weeding!