Oregano

Lately the oregano has been covered in at least 10 bumblebees at all times.

Sunflowers

 

 I got these beauties at the farmers market for a buck a piece.  I would say that was a deal!

Harvest

 Swiss Chard

 The first zucchini and summer squash!

The tomatoes that I was able to save from the squirrels.

Swiss Chard Stems

What do you do with your Swiss Chard stems?  I love the leaves and sometimes I cook with the stems also.  But I find them hard to incorporate since they require to be cooked differently than the leaves.  I often toss them even though I hate to do so.

Blackberries

This morning we went blackberry picking.  They are the plumpest and sweetest blackberries I have ever had.  The season is always short but we never miss it.  These berries are so good they don't let anyone into the patch until 8am and then everyone literally runs once they let us go.  The patch is always picked over within 30-60 minutes.  But they are worth the work!

Look at how big these berries are!  I've never had another blackberry like the ones from this patch.  We also picked a few blueberries while we were there. 

Prunings

I love it when pruning can lead to a pretty little arrangement!

Quick Peach Shortcake

We had peaches and I was in the mood for a sweet treat.  I used a pancake/biscuit mix to whip up some fast shortcakes.  While they were cooking I simmered chopped up peaches with about a tablespoon each of water and brown sugar to help create a syrup.  When the biscuits were done we sliced them in half and topped with the fruit.  It was yummy!

4th of July

I hope you had a good fourth of July, we certainly did.

The day before Andy ran a mile race along with his brother and nephew.

Later we took in a parade and fireworks.

On the fourth we got together for a family cookout.

Overall we were really excited to be together!

On My Windowsill

Once the tomatoes show some color I try to leave them on the vine for a day maybe two and then have decided to pick them and let them fully ripen inside before the squirrels get to them.  I picked these yesterday.  Hopefully I will lose less to the squirrels this way unless they go for fully unripe green tomatoes.

Harvest

 

Herbs

 Green Beans

 My sorta first tomato

Radishes and Cherry Tomatoes

First Tomato?

The tulle shields have been working, sort of.  At first the squirrels couldn't get through.  They tried to bite through but couldn't get away with anything as you see below.

I ended up picking the tomato anyway and cutting off the bitten half just so that I could finally have a tomato from the garden.  At least they couldn't run off with this one.

Putting up the tulle was almost a dare to them, taunting them to try for more.  I watched a squirrel bat down a tomato from the outside and find a way to reach in and grab it out.  They have also scratched a hole in one just to steal a green tomato.  They don't even like the green ones, they always take one bite and then just leave it.

So it seems that once the tomatoes start to show enough color I am still going to need to pick them and let them finish ripening inside if I want any tomatoes for us.  Once the tomatoes start growing higher on the plant the squirrels won't be an issue, next will be the deer.

Interesting 24 Hours

What do you do when the temperature has been in the triple digits for a couple of days and the power goes out?

You throw everything in the chest freezer with bags of ice and pray the energy company fixes it quick.  Or at least that's what we did the past 24 hours.

Friday around five we had a storm pass through with hurricane strength winds.  The power went out way before the rain ever came.  We actually only got a half an inch of rain.  It was the 75 mph winds that did all the damage.

At first I thought no problem the power will come back on in a few hours and went to check on the garden.  I should have taken damage pictures but most of the garden fared well.  The potatoes and bush beans were completely blown over to the ground.  I put in some supports for the potatoes but the beans I tried fluffing and rearranging hoping they will become upright again on their own.  If not I will get some supports in for them soon.

However a few hours passed and no sign of power was coming so I decided to venture out to hunt down some dinner since I wasn't going to risk opening the fridge or freezer just yet.  As I was out and about one block might look as if nothing had happened and then the next block would be strewn with stray branches and trees that had fallen hitting nothing or in other cases houses and power lines.

Thankfully the storm had instantly cooled everything down and it was actually pleasant again.  We threw open the windows and went to bed without power.  In the morning we woke up in the same predicament and at 9 am with no sign of power coming soon it was time to attempt to save the groceries I had just bought the day before.

Most things in the freezer and chest freezer were still frozen and everything in the fridge was still cool.  Technically the food in the fridge should have been bad but it was quite full so that must have helped.  We packed everything worth saving in the chest freezer with a couple bags of ice and hoped that it would all keep.  Then we set out to find places to spend the day that did have power. 

Our house recieved power around 3pm about 22 hours after it went out.  It turns out there were 176,000 homes in the Cincinnati area without power and tonight there are at least 50,000 still without.  The storm did go through a good portion of Ohio so there are many more statewide still in the dark.

It's funny how much we depend on something and don't realize it till it's gone.  Let me tell you a house in almost 100 degree weather without the ability to even turn on a fan gets hot and uncomfortable extremely fast.  But the night before when it was cool and no one had power to watch tv, use a computer or stay holed up in the airconditioning everyone was outside sitting or porches, assessing damage and chatting to neighbors.  While I'm not happy for the circumstances that caused people to pour out of their homes it was still a pretty cool thing to see.

First Canning Of The Season

This week I made my first batch of jam for the season.  I made a blueberry lime jam and I am never going to make plain blueberry jam ever again.  The slight hint of lime completely changes the flavor and brightens the blueberries.

I did lower the amount of sugar so I cooked it just a bit longer to help it set since I had trouble last year with jam setting based on the lower sugar content.  However this recipe had added pectin so the jam is a little thick.  But it is still spreadable and I don't mind.  We just won't be gifting this batch.

The plan was to go pick more blueberries for fresh eating and jam but I just got an email from the berry patch.  Due to severe bird issues all of their berries are picked out for the season which is just crazy.  There is normally six good weeks of picking.  O well, I guess its super thick jam for this year.

Update
Since posting I have been asked for the recipe so here it is if you would like to try it.  I got it from Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving.

4 1/2 cups blueberries
1 package powdered pectin
5 cups sugar (I only used 4)
1 T. grated lime peel
1/3 cup lime juice

Crush blueberries one layer at a time. Combine crushed blueberries and powdered pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Stir in grated lime peel and lime juice. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yields about 6 half-pints.

Adding A New Honey Super

 The hive has some new height because we have added another honey super.

 It was time because most of the frames within the hive are filled with honey and capped.  However we really should have put on two boxes at once but we only just got the new equipment this past week.

 The outer frame on each end are the only ones that still have some uncapped honey.

 I label all the frames with the year the foundation was put in and if it is a frame for honey or brood.

 New foundation ready for the bees to build on

 The hive has gotten so tall that I had trouble getting the boxes back on.  The new box needed to go under the older box so that they bees will work on it.  The box was heavy with honey and had plenty of sticky propolis on it.

Farmers Market Meal

This time if year I am at least one farmers market a week if not more.  I picked up the pork chops and peaches at the market this past week and grilled both on my indoor cast iron grill pan.  Served with an Asian inspired glaze that had a little bit of this and that served with pilaf was an excellent summer meal!

Standing My Ground

There are plenty of products out there to repel deer, rabbits, moles, birds, cats, gophers, snakes and the list goes on.  But I haven't found something for the average city dwelling squirrel.  I have tried cayenne pepper sprinkled around the garden, and they must like heat because it hasn't deterred them.  Short of surrounding my garden in a fortress of netting I am not sure what else to do.

So after the most recent squirrel vandalism to my tomatoes I decided to attempt some action.  It was back to the fabric store where I bought some more tulle.  With the use of clothespins and ground staples I created cylinders around the cages just to the height where the squirrels start to not be able to reach the tomatoes anymore.

 
Now I know that tulle is not a strong shield.  Squirrels have teeth and little claws and will quite possibly rip it all apart.  But maybe it is enough of a barrier for them to leave the 'maters alone.  Time will tell if the squirrels get to the next ripening tomato or not but it was worth the five bucks to try.

I also added some hanging aluminum pie pan pieces.  Supposedly the sound of them clanging together in the wind is like nails scratching on a chalk board.  At this point I will try anything.

Foiled Again

The squirrels stole my first ripening full size tomato and they did it again last night to my second.  I had contemplated picking it off and letting it ripen inside but I wanted a vine ripened tomato.  Below you can see the tomato they snatched and left partially eaten sitting on my neighbor's privacy fence just to taunt me.  In a day maybe two it would have been perfectly ripe.  This act of terrorism has definitely made me decide action needs to be taken soon!

Harvest

This big harvest this week was the garlic.  I am so thrilled with them!  In the past I have always grown spring planted softneck varieties.  They were always puny little heads.  This year I decided to try a fall planted hardneck variety and they did fantastic.  The smallest head this year would have been the largest in years past.  I will definitely be saving the largest heads to replant this fall.

The radishes are still coming and we got the first tiny bean harvest!

Weekend Recap

We had a fantastic and busy weekend.  We went and picked almost 7 pounds of blueberries.  We have been snacking on them a lot so I wouldn't be surprised if we are already down to 5 pounds.  I think I am only going to make a small batch of jam this year we still have some left over from last year.  Many of them are going to get frozen for Andy's smoothies and the rest will be eaten fresh.  We have plans to go back and definitely pick more.

We tend to be homebodies but this weekend we were socializing fools.  We went to Andy's company picnic and attended a 10 year anniversary party. 

Garlic

 

This garlic is ready to harvest and needs to be pulled soon.  As in I should have pulled it yesterday.

You can tell garlic is ready when the bottom 2-3 leaves have turned yellow and died off.  Mine each have 3 dead leaves with a fourth and fifth leaf about ready to go too.