Now What?

Remember my apple trees? Well it’s harvest time…

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I now have two five gallon buckets of apples. And I only picked half of one tree!!! There are a few gems in there but mostly they are all covered in worm/bug/bird marks. It’s going to take a lot to dice and clean these babies up. For now they are bathed and chilling in my fridge.

My question is now what? What you guys make with all these green apples? My leading preservation options are:

– apple butter

– apple sauce

– apple pie filling

Anything else sound good?

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Plaaaaaayyyy Ball!

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The family and I made the trek to KC for a Royals game this past Friday. Such a wonderful ball field and we don’t completely suck this year!!

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I want to say it was amazing family evening….but….it was 95 degrees in the shade with NO breeze. The game was sold out and we were packed in their like sardines. We were seated under middle deck and couldn’t see the whole scoreboard. My mother found the margarita stand, several times. My sister got a stomach ache from buck night hot dogs. And I sweat through my t-shirt and shorts. It was even too hot and crowded to knit!!

My husband was a trooper through it all! I love him do much 🙂

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On the up side, we won 1-0!! And there were fireworks!!

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Boy am I glad it’s Monday and I’m headed to an air conditioned office. Next year I vote we stay home and watch the game on the plasma in the a/c and make our own margaritas and hot dogs, lol!!!

Apple Tree Progress

My apple trees are coming along nicely. My summer apple tree is LOADED with fruit.

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My fall apple tree has less fruit but still doing reasonably well in this heat and drought.

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This fall apple tree has a great deal of worm invasion and other assorted bugs crawling on it. The summer apple tree also shows some bug sign but to a lesser degree. I did some internet research and found that the local extension office recommended Sevin, an all purpose big killer for fruit trees. But now I must decide to spray or not to spray. It’s a laborious process but would increase my fruit yield. And I would introducing chemicals to my fruit.

Anyone out there have any experience on this? All advice is welcome 🙂

 

New Potatoes and Peas!!!

Mmmmmm….new potatoes and peas

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Every summer right after the first hill of potatoes was dug I can remember Grandma and Grandpa making this delectable dish. It’s so simple and yummy it’s crazy. It’s just boiled potatoes covered in a garlicky white sauce and peas. I just made a quick roux and thickened some milk. I seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

These tiny red potatoes came from our family garden. Their skin is so thin and tender. The meat of potato is soft and perfectly mealy. It tasted of home and family to me. Paired with some fried chicken the husband and I had an awesome sit down dinner last night.

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It might not be the healthiest….but you gotta live once in awhile right? Does your family have any traditional summer dish?

A Tradition of Craftmanship

My parents have finally finished their wrap around porch. Built board by board by the hands of my father. It’s the perfect place to sit and enjoy the breeze and a cold adult beverage!

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My favorite touch is the deer antler name above the bay window. Very fitting for my redneck family!

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My father in fact designed and built this house from the ground up. He is a teacher by trade but he teaches Industrial Arts like wood shop, drafting, and AutoCad. It’s the only home I knew growing up.  I am so unbelievably proud of him and the house just feels so much more like home because he crafted it. His work is impeccable.

Over the years we have added a covered second story deck, apple trees in the side yard, and now wrap around porch. I just wish I didn’t live three hours  away! Oh the knitting I could get done on these porches!! My favorite is to sit on the top deck and watch the sun come up with a hot cup of coffee….20130706-160924.jpg

Another recent addition is the terraced steppes in the yard. Trust me this is a much needed improvement! Growing up our yard was incredibly steep as the house is built into a hill. It could be terrifying riding the lawn mower up and down the steep slopes and praying you didn’t fall the down the hill or tip over, lol. The sprinkler system keeps the grass lush and green. I swear it’s like carpet under your feet. And my mom has been tending her roses and they bloomed beautifully this year!

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I guess I can say I come by my “craftiness” honestly. I may not build beautiful homes or furniture but I do build garments and blankets stitch by stitch. Speaking of my knitting it’s time to get off my butt and go to my big kid job so I can afford to keep knitting!

Happy Monday to all!!

 

Harvest Has Begun!

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Kansas has officially turned golden! Its wheat harvest time baby!! This is one of my favorite times of year with hues of golden wheat as far as the eye can see. Which is pretty far considering the flatness of the prairie, lol.

I snapped a few photos on our drive home from a wedding last weekend. I can’t get enough of golden grain against green grass and deep blue skies. If you listen closely you can hear the combines starting their throaty rumble and lumbering out into the fields…

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Just a little cheer from The Wheat State on this Thursday!!

Summer is Here!!

Spending last weekend in my hometown meant a trip to the family garden! Growing up my Grandparents grew a HUGE garden every year. My Grandparents raised four teenage boys in the 60s and 70s and took up gardening to protect their grocery bill! We had beans, potatoes, corn, onions, asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, rhubarb, gooseberries, tomatoes, peppers, cherries, apples, and more I have probably forgotten. I never knew what frozen or store bought canned goods were until I went to college, lol.

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Look at all the green goodness! Thanks to a mild spring and lots of rain the garden is in excellent shape. I couldn’t help snap a few pictures as I wandered the property. It was a beautiful day full of blue skies and sunshine. It was a perfect way to relax and meditate.

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My Grandfather has passed and my Grandma is 80, so this garden is largely tended by my father and my uncle. I try to pitch in when I am home because that’s only fair if I share in the bounty. My plans for summer garden goodies are as follows:

  1. Make and can homemade tomato sauce to store for the year. I use tomato sauce in so many recipes it would be nice to have healthy homemade in stock in my pantry.
  2. Make and can Jalapeno jam/jelly for Christmas and housewarming gifts
  3. Make and restock my homemade cherry/berry jam stock. I only have two jars left!!

On my visit I dug some new potatoes for an old family tradition of New Potatoes and Peas. I also snagged some sweet spring onions!

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I plan to clean up a couple of these and dice into some stir fry tonight for dinner!

Happy Thursday!!

Happy Early Anniversary

My parents visited last weekend to deliver our new (to-us) living room furniture.
And of course we they went shopping to pick our their new set. Not to mention my dad finally go to pick out his first cross bow (he’s avid deer hunter with a rotater cuff injury and hopefully this will get him back to a hobby he loves) and while we were at Cabelas…my husband lamented the state of our grill.

Our grill was a cheap $180 put together your self grill from when we first got married. The heat shields are rusted out. One auto ignite switch never worked. And the frame is badly in need of some spot welds. So my parents schemed and agreed to halfsies on a new grill for our wedding anniversary in June!

Can’t wait to cook on this bad boy! And we have found a good home for our old grill. The father-in-law is going to buy the old grill and fix it up for his mechanic shop so he and his employees can grill out at work!

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Odds and Ends Update

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I must have some very picky birds in my neighborhood….

My contribution for local bird nests is going largely ignored. The only yarn that has disappeared is the 100% wool that was at the bottom. All the cotton, acrylic, and wool/acrylic blends are untouched.

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I put this under my apple tree and I think I’m going to move it to the patio. Maybe my placement is bad, or maybe I have horrible taste in yarn according to birds, lol? It has been TERRIBLY stormy here in the Midwest and it could be weather related as well. Or maybe it has already passed prime best building time for chicks and chickadees? I’m not even close to a bird expert by any means!

Only time will tell! I’ll post another update in a couple weeks. Happy Monday!