Garden Update

After suffering through record temperatures (100+) for two weeks, we are enjoying a milder period. The highest this week has been 90. Still no rain, but with the cooler temps I have only been watering the garden every other day.

Tomatoes: loads of green tomatoes. So far, no sign of hornworms. I am waiting for the first fried green tomatoes and looking forward to a ripe, fresh from the vine tomato.

Green Beans: they are blooming heavily, but not beans yet.

Dry Beans: they are growing well. We have little beans forming.

Potatoes: growing rapidly. We have put one bin around each 2 plants and filled it with straw. This is supposed to grow more potatoes up in the bin. We will see. We have 14 bins, so hopefully we will have lots of potatoes. One plant has started blooming, so I will be looking for small potatoes in the next week

Squash and cucumbers: small fruit forming on all the plants.

Corn: growing well. Tassels have formed and pollen is falling onto the silks.

Peas: not doing well. Only a few plants have come up.

Turnips and Onions: looking great.

Food Co-op

I found a local food co-op! It's great. I am enjoying choosing fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for my family.

Real Food Update

I have been following the site http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ since the first of the year. Is it working? YES. When we stick with it completely, we all feel better over all. Specifically for me, I have been able to reduce my antacid prescription from 30 mg twice a day to 15 mg once a day. That is amazing since I have been on the higher dose for several years. I have lost 10 pounds, my husband has lost 20 pounds. My blood sugars are a little better. Whenever we do eat out, we feel sluggish and kinda nauseated. It takes a little more planning and work regarding meal prep, but the benefits are worth it. I am adding more raw foods to my diet in an effort to reduce or eliminate my diabetes meds.

Tomatoes!

I was given two cases of tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. They were mostly green, so I laid them out on a picnic table in the sun to ripen. Finally, they were ready. I canned 24 23 pints and 3 quarts today. (One pint broke.)

Pineapple Preserves

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try! I used the Diana #2 version by adding fresh orange zest. I used fresh pineapple that was on sale at my local grocery. Doubling the batch gave me 7 jars and a container for the refrigerator. It is very yummy! I will be on the look-out for pineapple bargains now!

Real Food

In an effort to become healthier, Mr. B and I are now on a Real Food diet. We are eliminating pre-processed foods that contain more than 5 ingredients, buying organic whenever possible, and exercising more. It's not been easy, especially since my bread machine died. So, my goal today is to make a loaf of Italian bread from scratch.

Mr. B has become interested in aquaculture and is currently researching the possibility of starting a small system in the garage. We would raise talapia or lake perch in the fish tank and grow fresh greens.

2012 To-Do List:

build small chicken pen
get chicks
increase the garden size
install soaker hoses in garden
start aquaculture program
repair greenhouse
fence in goat pasture
get two goats
grow enough fresh food to feed us through the next year
start a small home-based business

Failed Fudge

Ok, what happens when you make a batch of peanut butter fudge and it fails to set up? I really didn't want to throw it out because it tastes yummy. So I bottled it into cute little jars and created a label, tied it up with ribbon and will be giving Peanut Butter Fudge Topping as Christmas gifts!

The labels say:

Peanut Butter Fudge

Topping

Spread on toast

Use as a yummy pretzel dip

Warm in microwave and serve over ice cream

Great with celery

Scrumptious on apples

Add a dollop on pancakes

Eat straight out of the jar

I may have to make another batch and not cook as long as needed just to have more. This stuff is really good!

Merry Christmas!