Fall Fresh Tomatoe Salsa From Your Garden

When your summer garden is just about coming to an end, the tomatoes are just taking off.  We have more tomatoes than we need, so I have a recipe for FRESH TOMATOE SALSA  from the garden. 
So far I have made tons of tomatoe jam which I have done in a canner and I hope to give it away at Christmas for gifts.  It is delicious! 
A good friend came by today and gave me a bag of Chile peppers and with all my tomatoes---you guessed!
Here is my recipe:   3 cups chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup green bell pepper, 1 cup of onion diced, 1/4 cup cilantro chopped, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 4 tsp. jalapeño pepper, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. 
Just stir it together and chill for 2 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips.
I hope you like my salsa recipe !  You will feel good because you will have used all your tomatoes.
Fall is fast approaching the garden.  The colors are so vivid and the air has a feel to it that you really know your garden is about through producing.  However, we are adding nutrients and fresh soil where the old crop was and getting ready to plant some root vegetables.  Shallots and onion sets along with garlic will make good stews and soups. 
Happy munching and planting! 
Basil Babe

A Small Sustainable Farm On Three Acres or Less

After gradually reaping the fall harvest for the last two years I have come to realize we actually have made for ourselves a small sustainable farm on less than three acres. 
We love being outside and planting anything that we get an appetite for, and veggies that we can store up for the winter.  We just harvested all our grapes.  I put them in trays and covered them with cheesecloth I found at the “dollar store”.  I have half of them cleaned and put in small jam jars and  tomorrow I will start on the ones that have taken a little longer to dry.   YES,  I have about twenty jars of delicious raisins. 
Last week we finished drying and roasting sunflower seeds.  I have four quart jars in the pantry for my husband and son to enjoy over the winter.  I soaked them overnight in a salt brine and in the morning, drained them and put them single layered in the oven for 40 minutes at 300 . 
We have 15 chickens that give us about ten eggs every day and they have room to roam and at night they go back to their safety hen house. 
The tomatoes are still going crazy so I am picking  today to make cherry tomato jam.  I will give you the recipe if you like this and have an abundant crop of cherry tomatoes.
2 pounds of cherry tomatoes,  3 Tablespoons olive oil, 2/3 cup champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar,  1 whole large shallot, minced, 4 cloves garlic minced, 3/4  cup sugar, zest from one lemon, 1 Tablespoon salt.
In a large heavy saucepan, cook the cherry tomatoes. vinegar, salt, sugar, olive oil, shallots, garlic, and lemon over low heat, stirring frequently.  The mixture will rapidly begin to liquefy as the tomatoes break down.  Keep stirring!  This jam is a bit prone to scorching.  After about an hour of low heat reduction, most of the water will be gone.  Let cool and check the consistency.  It should resemble a traditional jelly or jam when cool.  Ladle into small jam jars and process in boiling water for fifteen minutes. 
Another prize crop we grew this year was our butter nut squash.  We have about fifteen of them.   I love butter nut squash baked with brown sugar or maple syrup.  We are leaving them on the vine until  October so the skin will harden and they will keep longer. 
We have about six pumpkins and they are still growing and changing color to a deep orange.  These are just for fun, because I prefer canned pumpkin to cook with.
Our corn crop did not do well, along with the green beans. 
Our pear trees must have a fungus because they are coated with a hard scalely brown coating on the fruit. 
All in all I really believe that anyone can have a small sustainable farm if that is your goal.  Ours took us all of two years to get enough to really enjoy and feel encouraged that we did it.

Smell the Sea Air

                                                                                                                                                               

This is day two of our relaxing get-away to the beach.  This was taken at 6:30 a.m. and it was just the two of us, our coffee and cinnamon roll and sea spray.  It looks to be cold but it really was not, as neither of us had a jacket on.  There was some sort of a boat out at sea, maybe a fishing vessel but we couldn’t tell from the distant roar of the ocean.  The tide was low which made it perfect for collecting smooth rocks and small driftwood.  I enjoyed just spending time looking for certain shapes and colors to add to my flower bed at home. 

Later in the day we ended up at a fish restaurant to satisfy our appetites for seafood and chowder.

We have one more trip planned for this summer to do something similar. 

Our garden is finally starting to come to an end, but I do believe tomatoes just keep producing for as long as the weather is warm.  We have a friend that loves to come and help us out with chores and harvesting all the sunflower seeds, so I can salt and roast them. 

My chickens are slowing down a bit on their eggs but they are two years old and I really like having them around. 

A Much Needed Vacation

    

                      BEACH AT SAN SIMEON

We are happy to have escaped our responsibilities for a few days to this quiet lovely place along the California coast. 

We found ourselves out on the beach at 6:30 A.M. having our coffee and a freshly baked cinnamon roll we had picked up.  The beach was right behind our hotel so we could walk down and not worry about having make-up or hair  combed.   I found myself picking up shells and jade rocks in the little coves and exploring in the tide pools until I stepped in the wrong place and got squirted right in my eye.  I presumed it was a sea anemone, a flower looking thing, that squirts water .

Soon, I spotted a large friendly dog running towards me and when he got near, turned and ran the other direction.  My husband Paul, tried his luck at fishing, using squid as bait.  The seaweed was so thick he got all tangled up and it took him most of the time to get his line untangled. 

After a time we went back to our room and cleaned up to go shopping in the quaint seaside village of Cambria.  We found a outdoor restaurant  where we could sit and enjoy our  food and watch the whales spouting out at sea. 

We had a very restful time and it seemed like we were gone a lot longer than we were.  Sometimes these kind of trips are much more relaxing than big scheduled vacations. 

Easter Sunrise

 

 

He is risen---He is risen indeed!    He is not here!   Read the story for yourself in Mark  15 and 16.   This is what the real Easter is all about. 

We attended a fresh, country experience this morning  at our community folk gathering up on the mountain.  It was cold but everyone wears the warm clothing .  We all hopped on a hay wagon at the local church, and a tractor drove us up to the sight .  They had a pit fire to warm the hands, and coffee to warm the heart.  The message was on “surveying the cross”, with a local county surveyor to give highlights on doing surveys.   We all sang “ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”. 

Before we knew it, the hay wagon was there to pick us all up and take us back down to the church where there was a wonderful hot breakfast  being cooked! 

I do hope you all had a special, meaningful  Easter Sunday.  It is really a privilege to have the freedom to worship our Lord.

Springtime is Here

 

I have red and yellow bell peppers growing in the greenhouse, peas, and two new pink calla lily's.  I love the pink color and the freshness of new spring green.  The giant pink tulips are not quite here yet, but I give them about two weeks. 

I had a “girly day” at my house last week.  We sipped tea and ate little sandwiches of egg salad, chicken with cashews, and dill, cucumber, with cream cheese.  After the tea sandwiches we had little tea cookies, and Madeleine's.  I used my silver tea set and china cups and saucers.  So beautiful, that everyone wants to do it again! 

The weather was perfect and we even sat outside on the patio with our tea and cookies.  We all indulged and then had to go home to make dinner. 

Spring always makes one want to do something beautiful and different, so we did exactly that.  I hope some more of my friends will be able to come the next time , and just relax. 

 

Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13   So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.  And people should eat  and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Touring Backyard Chicken Coops

 

In Davis California there is the largest Farmers Market in the country.  Farmers come from hundreds of miles away to sell their organic vegetables.  It takes place every Saturday, rain or shine.  They sell beautiful hand made baskets, (to place your goods in and purchase).  Fresh, ready made hummus to try and buy, fresh organic eggs, and etc. 

They also sponsor a bicycle tour of backyard chicken coops, for those of us who are into raising chickens.  It is called “Tour de Cluck”.  This is very innovative for this to be a part of the “Market”. This area is really into eating healthy and staying organic. 

Davis University is there in the midst, and everyone rides bicycles or walks to have coffee and pastries or out to an “Al Fresco” late dinner.  It seems to be a safe place even after hours. 

The person who runs the whole Market has been doing it for thirty years and she has gotten to be friends with all the growers over time.  They even put out a cookbook with different recipes from the vendors that have been there every week.  It is called the DAVIS FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOK.  It gives one a chance to taste a sample of California’s small farms.  The book gives a little history on the area and people involved with the market. 

I hope you get to visit and spend the day “at the Market”. 

Big Foot Bunny

 

Here is the cottontail bunny tracks I followed yesterday.  This was a BIG bunny—bigger than my chickens.  Big Foot Bunny is his name.  I stayed with him for a long ways until finally he got under a bush and felt safe and warm.  At one point he sat straight up and turned and looked at me, like I had food for him?   Actually, he was bigger than my “Scottish Fold Cat”!  

It is still pretty icy to go on my walk this morning, so I think I will do house chores first and wait until this afternoon  to explore and walk.  Big Foot is apparently following the same rule, as there is no sign of him as I look out my Window in the Kitchen.  Maybe I should take a carrot with me if I should happen to meet him in the snow!  

I did my chores and a neighbor friend came by to get a couple of dozen eggs, and we visited a while.  After they left, the clouds came over and it turned cold, but I decided not to be a “fluff” and I threw on my jackets and went for my walk.  I saw fresh deer prints and a calf walking around, but my “Big Foot Bunny” was hiding out some place.  I did chop up a carrot and left it  at the place where we had an encounter yesterday.  I will be checking to see if the carrot disappears. 

A small hawk was flying over my chickens and I went down to them with my large shovel in hand to scare him away.  My hens are always glad to have me for their protector because the old rooster doesn’t really do anything but make a noise.  I also gave them their daily treat of torn up tortilla pieces, warmed up in the microwave. 

Tomorrow we have to go to town, stop at the feed store, and go to Costco.  Big Foot Bunny will be here alone. 

My Snowy Driveway

 

Hello everyone!  I am still here and this time of year one must just go with the flow, as far as the weather goes.  This is my driveway where I have been speed walking everyday.  Needless to say, today I only made it down and up one time.  Usually I go five times, but it was too slippery today.  I don’t care to take a fall and be laid up for months. 

I got some pretty shots of the scenery and a cottontail rabbit sitting in the snow.  This rabbit was larger than my chickens! 

So much for my greenhouse this week!  I do have my lettuce planted in large pots and I have brought it  in the kitchen for now .  The greenhouse was covered with snow this morning so we have had to give it a sweep to knock the weight off the roof.  I love my greenhouse and can’t wait to use it. 

Early this morning when we opened the door to the hen house the chickens took a look around and headed back inside, all but one.  My little barred rock hen, who comes over the fence every day to go into the woodshed to lay her egg on a nice warm blanket.  It took her about a half an hour and she started to crow, telling me she was done.  I put on my boots and went in to tell her what a good girl she was, picked her up and carried her back down the hill, the snow was up to her belly if she would have walked. 

She is my favorite of all, showing great leadership and strong willed, but still sweet! 

Be back  tomorrow to report on my walk. 

Hop In Girls! Lets Go For A Ride

 

My husband was filling up the feeder and cleaning out the coop and I couldn’t pass this picture up.  One of them was precariously standing on the edge of  the wheelbarrow trying to coach the others to come and see.  The black giant was already in a position to look out over the edge and  be safe in her own position, up front.  Before it was over, there were five hens waiting to be hauled around for the “ride of their life”!  At first, they were a little “edgy”, but after a few minutes they thought this was the greatest thing since a lettuce leaf. 

Chickens are not boring, they are filled with fun every single day. 

I would have been working in the greenhouse but we have had snow for the past three days, so I even brought my leaf lettuce in the kitchen so it wouldn’t freeze. 

To keep my energy level up I started walking up and down the driveway five times, and the incline is good for me to get the blood flowing, while I am waiting for a little warmer weather so as to get back to the greenhouse.   The distance is almost a mile.  

I will be checking in when we get a window of warm weather once again. 

It’s time to gather the eggs! 

Our Wedding Anniversary

 

 

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary!  It comes around just way too fast.  We are going to enjoy the day by going over to the other side of our mountain peak here where there is a little “out of the way” village and stroll around some antique shops and later have a scrumptious dinner at  a favorite Italian Restaurant. 

I realize that tomorrow is “Super Bowl” Sunday, (for readers outside of the United States, this is the big final football game playoff)!   People here sit in front of the television most of the day and eat all kinds of foods that taste good, but are loaded with calories (fat). 

Not I said the little red hen!  That’s what they get for having this on Our Anniversary. 

We are not really sports fan people anyway, since we like to spend our time outside in the garden or taking brisk walks.  My husband enjoys skiing.  Once in a while we get out the tennis rackets and get some valuable exercise.

Everyone have an exciting weekend and I will be back  next week!   

Sweet Puppy Called Lilly

 

 

This is our distant relatives new puppy.  Apparently he is of a mix breed, but looking mostly terrier.  They got him from the SPCA  I was told.  Sorry to mislead my readers but it is a “her”.   She is a cutie and never lets up on chewing and playing. 

I don’t know how you readers in Canada or Austria would find a loving, adorable, dog such as this one, or if you have a animal shelter to check in with.  We, here in United States, have shelters where you can go to find an animal for a pet.  I haven’t been there myself, but I hear they are a wonderful place.

Now, if they had chickens, that would draw my interest!  (I hope they don’t or I will never hear the end of it).  We don’t have a dog, only a Scottish Fold Cat and she leaves my chickens alone and hunts gophers.  Living here, one must do something to earn his keep. 

This is a little “break” from my green house, but I did plant some leaf lettuce yesterday.  That is exciting also.  Until we get all the other seeds we have ordered, we can’t plant .  But I will post again when we are at that point. 

Magazines anyone?

                                                                                         

 

This  time of the year I get new magazines  in the mail I have never ordered, or a renewal of one automatically, that really doesn’t expire until four months from now.  If you don’t cancel it they will keep sending the magazine for another two years. 

This really drives me crazy because then I get a bill for one I have never renewed.  Sometimes I just tear up the renewal form and the bill, thinking they will get the message.  Not so. 

Does anyone else deal with this situation?  It is frustrating to me because sometimes I can’t remember if I have renewed (paid) for it or not.  I really only have three that I have ordered. 

I would really like to hear from the rest of you to learn how you deal with this situation.  I get enough mail the way it is, without adding more bulk to my box. 

I am sorry to complain instead of writing about my  garden and chickens, but this is really bugging me.

 

I need to know that others are on my side.  Let me hear from you.  

A Clean Window in the Kitchen

 

Today the sun was out bright and early on my window in the kitchen, and proved to me that I needed to wash the windows to improve my view.  I cannot believe what a difference it made.
I really need to catch up on my house duties anyway before it is time to start my greenhouse seeds.
I do love working out in the garden and could spend all day very easily, if only I didn’t have to cook and clean! But once the produce starts coming I love to cook and  put up things that we grow here in the garden.  The greenhouse is getting nice sun and warmth.  The end of the month I hope to get  some seedlings going  and experiment with a few things to learn about the humidity factor and sun in the greenhouse, since I haven’t done this before. 
My chickens are wondering where the “greens” are that I promised them.  I wish I could make them understand that we need to grow them!  
In the meantime my husband is still filling his planter boxes he made with fresh rich soil, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow, and it is looking good.  That is the progress up through today.  

From the Greenhouse to the Slopes

 

   

Okay, how much time should we spend on the greenhouse?  My husband is building two redwood planter boxes for the one side, and I am waiting for some shelves to come that I ordered.  I plan to do seed germinating so I wanted the shelves. 

So, while we are waiting, the ski slopes were calling for my husband and a friend.  So, he had a rooting good time in the cold and now he is ready to finish making the other planter box.  Its amazing how warm it can get very quickly in just a few minutes, like a sauna. 

I just need to be patient for one more day, and my shelving should be here.  Then I will get the tools and put it together and move it on in.  At last! 

Then comes the ordering of the seeds. 

Dreams In My Greenhouse

                                                                                               


This is what I think my greenhouse will look like in three months.  We all have dreams and that is a good thing! 
I did pick out some heirloom vegetables from the Petaluma Seed Company, however, I am not finished yet in picking out  all I hope to grow.  But, for starters, this is what I have for now:  Tigerello Tomatoes, which are a striped variety,  Basil-Emily, Zucchini (careto)  Radishes (Giants of Sicily)  and a leaf lettuce called Mignonette Bronze.   I will let my husband do onions and potatoes and etc. 
I am sure I will add some cucumbers for my relish that I do.  These things take time, because I think of last year after the garden was done,  I should have planted more---------. 
This is serious business, is what I tell my chickens!  They talk to me and I know they are saying, more greens,  Mom!  So ----I have to plant with them in mind. 
You have to understand,  this is my FIRST greenhouse.  I am a little nervous and a little excited. 

A Preview of What is to Come

 

This is a greenhouse just like the one we are assembling.   We have another one yet to be put up.  It has been “off and on”  because we have very cold weather and blowing snow.  But I am very anxious to get going with my tomatoes, especially.  Also some sweet giant radishes of which I have ordered and some leaf lettuce to get started.  These are just the beginnings of my garden. 

I am ready to begin!  I will tell you the proper names of my selections next week.  I have found that even in the snow, the greenhouse is warm when all the vents are closed.  I have a potting bench already made to fit exactly. 

I know the date on this post is wrong, but this is the eleventh day of January.  Some of the problems I have with the programming   of this set up has been haunting me for a couple of weeks.

So I wish you all a good weekend and next week I will give you the proper names of what is to be grown in my wonderful greenhouse!

LA –LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!  Today is a Good Day for Opera!  

Greenhouse On Hold

We woke up to snow again this morning, so that has delayed the working on the greenhouse for a couple of days. 
I am still having trouble getting a picture of the greenhouse to show it to you.  My computer is not doing what I tell it to do, and that is exhausting to me.  I have been trying to get a picture up for several days and I obviously have not been successful.  But I will give you the dimensions.  We are putting two of them back to back lengthwise (16 feet).  They are six and a half feet wide with air vents and large doors on either end.

I have a potting bench already made to go inside.  I am claiming one side and my husband gets the other side so we can grow what each one wants.  I think this is a good plan. 

Since I can't send you a picture just yet, I will give you the company where you can get most any seeds you are looking for for your garden or greenhouse.   It is Petaluma Seed Bank in Petaluma, Ca.   The web site is
https://www.rareseeds.com/petaluma-seed-bank//
 This is a fun site to visit, just to see all the varieties of one vegetable!
You will thank me a thousand times for this info!  Enjoy!  https://www.rareseeds.com/petaluma-seed-bank/

Our First Greenhouse

 




     We started to do a new project---a greenhouse we got for Christmas.  Friends and neighbors are coming by to give us advice and where to place it.  We happen to be very popular right now with friends because they all have different ideas. 
We had to go and buy pea gravel to put in the floor about 4 inches thick, because we used treated 4x4's to set the frame on and bury the 4x4's until just the top is showing.  We had to get it plummed just right because that would make a difference in the roof and the door. 

We are excited about finally getting it to the finish point, and putting plants and veggies inside to grow.  I even tried to put a photo up but today my computer is not letting me.  Oh well, that's life.  Maybe when we get it all up and running I can try to get a picture up for you all to see.

I did take all my Christmas decor down today and got it all packed away for next year, but I didn't get to clean things up where it has been sitting for a month.  That will come tomorrow.

If you are one of the numbers that know how to do a greenhouse let me know. We are open to any ideas and suggestions.