I Heart Mater Sammiches

Nate and I have been watching our first Pink Ponderosa tomato ripen on the vine for days now.  I finally picked it today.  It weighed 11 oz, a light-weight in the world of Pink Ponderosas, but it made one heck of a tomato sandwich.

I have always adored tomato sandwiches.  When I was in elementary school, I remember spending summer days at my best friend's house.  Her parents grew tomatoes, and when asked what I wanted to eat for lunch, my response was always a tomato sandwich.  To me, a tomato sandwich is bread, mayonnaise, sliced tomato, salt, and pepper.  Adding anything else is sacrilege. 

How do you eat your tomato sandwiches?  It's okay; you can tell me.  I won't pass judgment.

Happy homesteading,

Candace   

Spring and Rabbit Love

Spring is springing around here!  The daffodils and forsythia are blooming, and the day lilies are peeking their foliage up through the dirt.  I can see buds popping on everything from the peach tree to the blueberry bushes.  It has been a lovely 70ish degrees during the day and 40-50 degrees at night.  Not was much sun as I would like, but I'll take what I can get.  We always get another cold snap before April, so I'm hoping the buds won't pop and get damaged with a freeze.

The seedlings in the greenhouse are coming along nicely.  Due to my past failure at starting seeds, I over planted this year and am now overloaded with seedlings.  It's due to the greenhouse, I know.  I have over 30 tomato seedlings!  Yikes.  Although I would love to plant them all, I just don't have the room.  A co-worker is going to buy some from me, so if there is anyone else locally who wants to buy some heirloom tomato seedlings in about a month, let me know.  I may have some to sell, including Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Orange Banana, Black from Tula, Black Cherry, and Pink Ponderosa.  Ditto for huckleberries and maybe some other stuff.

We mated Blue Moon and Olivia last week, and let me tell you he didn't waste any time.  He was on her like a crack addict at a crack buffet.  Of course, he got on the wrong end, and then he approached from the side.  Then, Olivia got on him to show him which end was correct.  We finally had to place him on the correct end, and the deed was done.  Being a young buck and with Olivia being so furry all over, I'm sure he was confused and just needed some guidance.  Anyway, we may have some kits in about 30 days and some for sale in about 90.  I'm excited but nervous.  I've never owned an animal who was pregnant, but Olivia has done this before, so I'm relying on her expertise and maternal instinct. 

Green Tomatoes

When the summer comes to a close and fall starts creeping in, a gardener's dilemma is what to do with green tomatoes. Some tomatoes store very well and can be ripened over the winter for fresh eating. While they are not as good fresh summer tomatoes, they are usually better than store bought ones or so I've read. I didn't really have the quantity I needed to attempt this and most of the tomatoes I had left on the vine were very tiny. So, with the few I had, I decided to experiment with some recipes. Fried green tomatoes immediately come to mind, but I really wanted to see what else was out there.

The first recipe was a Green Tomato Pie (aka Fake Apple Pie). It was decent and did resemble apple pie in texture and flavor. I would probably make it again, but it's not on the top of my list. I told Nate it was an apple pie, and he ate it well enough.

My next recipe is being much better received and is quickly becoming a favorite relish of mine. I made this green tomato relish, http://www.food.com/36487. The only modification I made was to use ground spices and put them directly in the mix as I didn't have whole spices to use. I'm so happy I tried this recipe, and it will become one of my staple relish recipes for next year. I only made one batch since I didn't know if I would like it, but now I wish I had made more. By the way, www.food.com is an excellent resource for canning recipes.

Finally, I had just enough tomatoes to try this last dish, and it is delicious. It's a very moist spice cake, and while some of the reviewers topped it was a cream cheese icing, I left mine plain. It is plenty sweet enough. This recipe I will also keep for next year. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Green-Tomato-Cake/

Now I wish I had more green tomatoes!

Happy homesteading,


Candace

Front Yard Gardening, Part One

We've lived in our house for several years, and each year until last year I have struggled with trying to grow vegetables in a shady back yard. When we first moved in, I really wanted a vegetable garden. I staked out and installed four raised beds, not really knowing much about gardening or the sun pattern in my back yard. I soon realized my dream of a bountiful garden was not going to be. Four beds soon became three, then two, and then one. The last bed is used for herbs and cooler weather plants, such as lettuce, that can't take the hot summer sun. Even most of my front yard is shady, but part of it is somewhat better as far as sun exposure. Last summer, it dawned on me I should try growing vegetables in my front yard, so I experimented with a few plants and was able to get a decent harvest. It was the first time I was ever able to grow a bell pepper. My harvest last year was nothing to brag about, but it was enough to give me hope and encouragement. This year, I have several raised beds up front, and I am anxiously waiting for my first beefsteak tomato to ripen, and most importantly, my first tomato sandwich. Tomato sandwiches made from cherry tomatoes are no fun. My soil still needs some work, but so far so good on my first year of front yard gardening.

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Going, going, gone

One of our hives flew the coop yesterday. Really! They were there in the morning, and gone later that day. It's almost like I imagined them there. Except for the fact, there is comb in the hive where there used to be none. We installed them Tuesday, and they were gone by Thursday. The nerve! They didn't even give us a chance. Our mentors came over this afternoon to investigate and didn't see any reason why they would have left. The other hive is doing fine, building comb, bringing in pollen, everything a young just-starting-out hive should do. We are very disappointed.

On a brighter note, Thelma and Louise are growing daily and are the sweetest chicks. Thelma loves to sit on Nate's shoulder, and where Thelma goes, Louise goes. One evening, he had a chick on each shoulder. Pearl is not taking kindly to the new additions. Right now, we have the chicks in the chicken tractor and our other two ladies are in the coop. We will work on getting them together this weekend again. The last time we put them together, Pearl sat on Louise and gave her a good peck on the comb, making her bleed. Bad Pearl!

I have enjoyed harvesting a few things from the garden this week. In addition to lettuce, which we've been harvesting for a while, we are just starting to get cherry tomatoes, blueberries, okra, and jalapeno peppers. We had a fabulous salad this week with the cherry tomatoes and blueberries. I don't buy tomatoes at the store as they usually have no flavor and just aren't worth the money, so having tomatoes on my salad was extra special.

Around the Garden

Anxiously waiting for this baby to get large enough to pick


Study of the 1st tomato of the season


Love my bottle tree in the background


Thelma and Louise


I think Thelma is part Crow


Chocolate, Cherry, Strawberry


Desperately hoping to protect these from tree rats this year


Hydrangea, My favorite flower


I look at this and see Candied Jalapenos, on my list of "gotta try" this year


Stuffed peppers in my future


A baby Cardinal in the Gardenia bush


Blueberries


Blackberries

Happy Homesteading,

Candace