eek!

If you don't hear from me in the next week--bring a shovel! I think I'm about to be buried under canning jars which seem to be multiplying likes rabbits in my cabinets.

Bounty

Why do we call it canning when it's all in jars? Just wondering.

Yesterday's work: Strawberry Jam from strawberries we picked on Thursday at the farm. I think we'll go back on Tuesday for raspberries. The beans are from the farm as well and made into Dilly Beans. The Zucchini Pickles are from our garden as are the Beet Pickles.

I've gone through gallons of vinegar and bags of sugar this year.

The beets are interesting. We didn't eat beets growing up and I didn't even now what to do with them. But the seed packet was only 20 cents so I figured I had nothing to lose. They've grown so well. I threw some in potatoes packs on the grill, but didn't really notice a flavor. My mom like pickles beets so I did that. I found one small one in the bottom of the pan I missed during peeling the beets for pickling yesterday, so I just ate it plain. Again, not much flavor.

I've got more still growing and I only planted half the packet of seeds. The rest will either be made into chips, or beet wine. Not a bad haul for 10 cents, I'd say.

And the zucchini? Let's just say that twelve plants provide plenty for everyone. I hauled in a basketful and shared them with my friends the other night. Everyone who comes over leaves with some and I've baked, stuffed, fried, and dried them. I made up four loaves of zucchini bread the other day for the freezer as well. I've got a recipe for Zucchini Soup to try out as well.

Pumpkin and I went out before breakfast this morning so he could pick more beans. They are Italian Rose beans, a type to eat fresh (for breakfast if you desire) or you can just let them dry on the vine for winter. I'm planning to do both. I thought I'd planted regular green beans, but I haven't seen them.

I'm doing all I can to stay out of the kitchen today. Leftovers and baking from earlier in the week are keeping us fed. Two jars of the Dilly Beans didn't seal, so we'll have some of them for dinner tonight . Those are the only jars this year that didn't seal. Not bad for all the canning I've done.

What are you putting up for winter?

Remember

I've signed up. Now it's your turn.

Project 2,996 is an effort to remember and honor each of the victims of September 11th.
You don't even have to have a blog.

Don't miss this opportunity to remember and celebrate one
whose life was lost on a day that changed us all.

Morning Ritual

Garden Salad Fixings & Flowers

Pumpkin and I have a new morning ritual. While Dumpling is still sleeping we head out to the garden to see what is ready to pick. Yesterday we brought in quite a haul! We'd been out of town for four days and came home to quite a quantity of zucchini. They were giants, each able to make several loaves of zucchini bread. I took a bunch with me to Bunco last night to share.

We also gathered a basketful of pickling cucumbers. They were too little to pick on Thursday, but by Tuesday looked like small zucchinis. I've also got a boatload of beets. I'm hoping to pickle both the beets and the cucumbers today or tomorrow. We've been picking snow peas as well, but Pumpkin has those all eaten before we get inside.

My Italian Rose beans are looking great! I need to look up how to tell when they are ready to pick. I want to eat some fresh, but dry the rest for winter. Also, the edamame exploded. They aren't quite ready, but will be later this week I think. So far we've only had one tomato, but it was delicious and there are A LOT more coming.

It's so exciting to me to see all of these wonderful things growing were there had been nothing before! The melons are growing well, too. I just hope and pray the weather holds long enough to have everything ripen. Even the grapes are doing well though there aren't very many of them. For the first year-I'm thrilled.

This morning we picked more peas and a zucchini. We ate some beans to see how they're doing. I picked lettuce for today's salad and all sorts of herbs--mint, lemon balm, basil, dill, and savory as well as some nasturtiums for color and zip. I also pulled an onion and noticed the corn has tassels. We just might get a few ears yet. All in all, in spite of the late start and crazy weather we're doing really well.

Now it's time to make lunch for a neighbor who is coming over and plan the menu for the rest of the week. Yesterday was spent unpacking and doing laundry and basically getting everything back to normal. I also spent hours working on the body products to have ready for the the ladies at Bunco who wanted to buy them.

Today is a more relaxed day. I was planning on some Curry Chicken Salad for lunch with a regular salad from the garden. My neighbor just called and said she was steaming fish to bring over. This could be an interesting meal. :) I think I'll probably steam some rice and pick some Swiss Chard which I use in place of the Bok Choy I love, but couldn't seem to get to grow this year. Maybe I should use the chicken in a Thai Noodle Soup instead of the Curry Chicken Salad. Decisions, decisions...

I'm hoping later to make up some zucchini bread and see if I can get some of the canning done. I hope you all have a lovely day as well. I'm alos really wanting to do some sewing. Never thought I'd type that in my lifetime, but things change.

All Natural Body Products

I've been busy making body butters, scrubs, healing balms, deodorant, and lip balms for a few months now. I have been using them for our family and giving them as gifts. I've recently been asked to make them available for purchase and so *gulp* I am.

I've not figured out how to sell online yet, so this post is more for friends that live in the area. I am looking into selling online, but that will be a bit down the road. I thought I'd see how this goes and then try to figure out all the intricacies of online availability, including payments and shipping.

As it is, most of the things I make are lavender scented simply because~I love lavender! I can do some custom products and scents, if requested. I have quite a collection of essential oils including lavender, peppermint, cinnamon, clove, lemon, eucalyptus, rosemary & bergamont.

Ribbons and labels may be subject to change simply based on what is available, but they'll be in a similar style. Great if you like my style, if not tell me and I'll leave them off! I would LOVE feedback from everyone and would love to hear what works and what doesn't. Feedback on pricing is helpful, too. Also, if you have ideas for other products please mention them and I'll see what I can do.

I'm trying to keep the prices reasonable to cover costs and make it worth doing. While making up all the products is not particularly difficult, they do take up time. Everything is as natural as I can make it with no hidden ingredients. I love using things on my body that I can pronounce. Also, everything is so pure that a little goes a long way!

Lavender Body Butters
$11.00

Just a little bit lasts for hours! It leaves your skin silky smooth.
(4oz. jars) Contains: Shea Butter, Olive Oil or Sweet Almond Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Lavender Essential Oil

****************

Lavender Body Scrubs
$11.00

I love keeping this by the sink to scrub my hands with. It feels great all over, but do be careful in the shower as it can be slippery!

(4 oz. jars) Contains: Epson Salts, Sea Salts, Olive Oil or Sweet Almond Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Lavender Flowers

***These together would make a lovely gift set for $20.00.**

****************

Deodorant
$8.00

This works really well and lasts a long time. Most commercial deodorants contain less than 2 oz of product per container. It is a cream that you just rub in. I use an unrefined Coconut Oil that does contain the natural Coconut scent. It blends well with the Lavender and smells really good and does keep you dry.
(4 oz jars) Contains: Coconut Oil, Cornstarch, Baking Soda, Lavender Essential Oil

****************

Healing Balms
$8.00

I use this on scratches, bug bites, minor burns, scars, and all sorts of owies! It's more popular than a Bandaid for kids. I also use it for lip balm. This is the first balm I've used with beeswax that isn't sticky. It rubs in so smooth.
(4 oz jars) Contains: Olive Oil, Beeswax, Comfrey, Calendula, Lavender, Lavender Essential Oil, Rosemary Essential Oil, Eucalyptus Essential Oil

****************

Lip Balms
$2.50 Tube
$3.00 Pot

The lip balm in the pots is a softer blend for those that prefer that. The pots also contain more lip balm than the tubes.
Contains: Sweet Almond Oil, Beeswax, Honey, Lavender Essential Oil, Peppermint Essential Oil, and Clove Essential Oil

****************

So, that's what I've been up to! And weeding the garden a lot. And finding wonderful recipes for zucchinis. And....
Let me know what you think!

Puffy Pancakes

Last week the boys wanted Stacked Pancakes. We've been listening to Farmer Boy in the van. This week I surprised them with a Puffy Pancake. It's actually called a German Pancake and it is gooood. The recipe is from Susan Branch's Heart of the Home, a truly delightful cookbook.

It took just a few minutes to mix up the four eggs, add the 2/3 cup of flour, the 1 tsp salt and the 2/3 cup of milk. I poured the batter into an oven safe buttered skillet and dotted the top with bits of butter (about 2 tablespoons worth) scattered around. I did this while the oven was heating up to 450 degrees. I baked it for 15 minutes then reduced the temperature to 350 degrees and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

While it baked, I sliced up some fresh bananas and some peaches I canned last summer. Fresh peaches would probably be even yummier, but I don't have any. Really, any fruit you like would work. When it was done baking I spread on the fruit and sprinkled powdered sugar on top. You may also add syrup, but it's up to you. It's so pretty and summery and delightful! Pair it with a pot of tea and savor every bit. I'm picturing this in the fall with baked apple slices and cinnamon.

I love breakfast.

Some Pictures to Share

Even though we got a late start, things are really growing!

This picture was the beginning of July just after we laid the sod:
Here's what it looks like today:
Here are my zucchini plants. I picked a few today and made oven "fried" zucchini. Yum!

The sunflowers were only a few feet tall then, but my how they grown!
We've been enjoying beautiful salad filled with colorful greens and edible flowers.
I've been busy canning I was just blessed with over thirty boxes of canning jars. My friend's mother no longer cans and wanted them to go to a good home. Looks like I'll be busy!

I've got herbs growing everywhere and we add them to everything. I love all the flavors they add. Along the back are some of my tomato plants and my scarlet runner beans. We enjoyed our first tomato last night for dinner.


Nasturtiums are beautiful and delicious in salads and sandwiches. They have a nice peppery flavor. I ate a whole one once. Now I just scatter the petals. Too hot!


The pickling cucumbers I planted are really taking off! Looks like I'll be making more pickles in a few weeks! Good thing I've got plenty of jars now.

From the baby's garden~

Cosmos

Forget-Me-Nots

Beauty in the quiet places. It's a wonderful corner of life and color.

I just barely fit however between the abundance of sunflowers taking over. I'm enjoying their smiling faces, but I'll not plant so many there next year. I'm planning on making a scarecrow this weekend as the birds are threatening to take over. I made one years ago for someone else and loved it.

We're off to the farm this morning. It's a cloudy and cooler day. I'm hoping we'll have a good rain this afternoon. I've got some (!) weeds to pull and they're the type that need soft ground to remove. It feels more like a day in September than August. I'm longing for the cinnamon and spices and molasses days ahead.

**
I love the comments from yesterday's post on Elizabeth. It's one of those things you either just get, or don't! I finished reading Wives and Daughters yesterday and am working on North and South. Of course, I'm also reading Les Miserables so I've got a lot of amazing reading ahead! What are you reading?

Oh Dear!

We may have watched too many BBC movies. Dumpling and Pumpkin are playing with their Thomas the Train set on the living room floor. For those of you who don't know, each train and car has a name--Thomas, James, Percy, etc. One car is named Elizabeth. In our house however, it's not just Elizabeth. It's Elizabeth Gaskell.

No, I did not start this. Dumpling did. "I haf Elizabeth Gaskell on da track, Mama."

It's hilarious! Of course, the fact that I'm reading Wives and Daughters and the music from North and South is playing in the background probably doesn't help.

Now all we need is some of those Jane Austen action figures.

Garden Goodness

So last evening I went outside to check on the plants. I realized I have 12 thriving zucchini plants. Think it'll be enough? The zucchinis are just starting to bloom and grow. This should be fun. Or at least funny.
We've been having so much fun with all the little froggies that have come to live in our new green yard. They are so cute and I'm hoping they'll keep eating those buggies.
Oh my! Just a moment ago I saw something moving in the old garden. I think it was a rabbit. Pumpkin and I just ran out there, but couldn't find it. I'm either seeing things or it 's hiding. Oh dear, I'm not sure I want a rabbit. Pumpkin loves Peter Rabbit, but I'm not sure after reading that story a 100 times that I want rabbits eating the garden. We'll see...
It's so exciting to see all the lush, greeness of everything. We got such a late start, but everything is doing well. We've got little green grapes, and little green tomatoes. The squashes and cukes and melons are blooming. The corn and onions look great and the sunflowers are so tall and lovely.
Reality though, I've got some serious weeding to do on the old garden side. It's really bad over there. I'm hoping for a nice rain to soften everything up.
We've had friends visiting and so many delightful things to do that I've not finished my nice long post on all the natural products I've been making. I am working on it, but it's going slow. I haven't forgotten it at all. Soon!!!!