Dreams of Gardening on Christmmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve y'all.          I hope y'all have all the your preps made and are ready to celebrate and be thankful and grateful for the Greatest and Most Wonderful Gift that this world has ever known!!!          that gift is Jesus Christ!!!!!!!          in the hubub of all the doing around, don't forget to thank God for all His blessings and for the most wonderful of all Gifts.         So let's remember the reason for the season.          Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!!!!!

as I started on my post this morning, I'm still dreaming of my 2024 garden.           seed catalogs and seeds in hand and I'm ready to do something.         but I gotta wait.       waiting is not my strong suit.    hahaha          but I'll do it.         I'll just take the time to do more dreaming.          hahaha

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this is some more of me dreaming about the days to come.           sharing more of what I had not shared on my blog, so I hope it helps someone.          it certainly helps me seeing what I have done and looking forward to the days to come.

so, let's do a "2 minutes in the garden and kitchen with me" today.         back in mid april, I had gotten a bunch of green onions.           I always do this at least once a year.         I cut the root end off the onions; just about a half inch of the bulb with any tiny existing roots.          I had some empty pockets on the top layer of one of my greenstalks.         I had 11 onion roots and I stuck 2 or 3 in each empty pocket.      those things took off like wild fire.          I kept aiming to give them a "hair cut" sooner, but I would get busy with something else and here it is today, the middle of June and I finally got them cut them back.  those onions had grown by leaps and bounds.         the base of the onions is larger than my thumb and they were smaller than a standard pencil when I popped them in the soil.       I done a drastic cut on them, so I'll see if they come out of it and give me more onion blades.

anyway, you can see there was a huge bunch of onion tops in the collander.           I washed them and let them drain for a bit and then took my kitchen shears and started clipping.           I didn't figure that bowl would be half full, but it was 3/4 full!!            I got 4 trays on my dehydrator filled, but what about the 2 empty trays?           I like to have a full dehydrator if at all possible.            so I had a pkg and a half of grape tomatoes that was starting to shrivel some.           they are still perfectly wonderful.          I know they are because I nibbled as I cut them up.         they are just that good.            hahaha  so actually, there would have been more of the tomatoes if I hadn't been sampling them.            the tomatoes filled one tray and I was stuck with another empty tray.            I dug around in my salad box of prepped veggies and found a bag of sliced up mini bell peppers and that was just enough to put on the empty tray to fill it and make good use of all my trays.  once getting the trays filled and on my dehydrator, I set the time for 48 hours and the temp at 115* and we're off to the races now.           I'll keep a check on it  and see when everything gets dry.            it may take more time than 48 hours and that's ok.           I let it go till they are cracker crisp.           and then start the conditioning process and then put them in my dehydrated goods cabinet.            yay and yum!!          oh, and it smells so wonderful in the house!!!!     a lot of people don't like the onion smell, but I absolutely love it!!!!

so, this is a good start on putting back good stuff to use later on.          the onions came from Aldi, but technically, those onion tops came from my garden, right.           hahaha  I can't wait to get more.          by this time last year, I was already getting peppers, tomatoes, squash.             it's just been a strange weird year and I'm behind in my garden this year.               but I'm happy that I even have anything in the soil!!  anyway, just wanted to share. 

I got a gallon jug filled with dehydrated onion greens.           thats a pretty good return on 11 green onions from Aldi.

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I bake bread ALL THE TIME!!!!!            so I don't know if I have shared this recipe or not, but it's a good one.

Ok y'all, I baked another loaf of bread today.         I had found my little notebook from years ago that has tons of recipes in it for the bread machine and I'm trying them again.        Here is the recipe for the one I made today if anyone is interested.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

1 c water, at least room temperature

1/4 c honey

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbls Butter, real butter cut in tiny cubes

1/2 c oatmeal

3 cups all purpose flour or bread flour

1 1/2 tsps yeast

put in bread machine in listed order.

Set machine for "Basic"  and "Light"

For those of you familiar with making bread but don't have a bread machine, mix all the ingredients as listed in a bowl and go thru the usual mixing, kneading and rising process and shape it and put into a pan and let it do it's final rise and then bake.          Find a trusted recipe similar to this and bake accordingly, for temp and time.

I haven't cut this loaf yet, but this is a great loaf of bread.  

The next recipe I'm gonna do is "Golden Sandwich Buns", so be on the lookout for those and the recipe.         These can be made into either regular hamburger type buns or hotdog type buns.       Your choice.

Pictures is of all 4 sides and the bottom.           I was in the kitchen when it done it's last kneading process and I lifted the dough ball out and took the little paddle out of it and that's why I shared the bottom of the bread, because there's only a small hole in the bottom instead of the place where the paddle was when it was baking.

homemade bread can't be beat.          and you always know what the ingredients are.         that is more important thatn ever these days.         I haven't purchased store bread in YEARS!!!         we love my bread.   

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these was fresh from the garden back in the summer.      

this is my lemon squash that I air fryed tonight.           beat an egg with a couple tablespoons on milk, in one dish.         in another dish I had 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons cornmeal, 3 tablespoon.      dipped slices in egg mixture and drained excess then dredged in flour mixture, coating real well.       put on plate and popped in freezer for about 10 minutes for coating to set.          spritzed both sides with avocado oil.          airfryed for 17 mins on 400*.           wonderful!!          next time I will add onion powder to the flour mixture, I just forget it this time.           it's delicious.          can't wait for more of my lemon squash to come on and hopefully it won't be long till I have some cue-ball zucchini.  

doesn't that look good!!!!!   

we love all things airfried.          it's not greasy like everything skillet fried.         we can eat it without getting heart burn or even sick to our stomach from all the grease.         absolutely nothing has ever been greasy.         I've been using an air fryer for at least 10 years and we both feel better because we don't have the stomach issues associated with greasy skillet frying.

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that's about it for today.          I pray that your day is beautiful and that you keep Jesus Christ at the forefront of all you do.          blessings of love, joy and peace be yours today.       hugs, patty

"March"ing Forward

Good morning Dear Friends!!!!       How did we get into March so quickly?????     WoW!!!!      Time is flying and I feel like I'm standing still!!     hahaha       How are all of Y'all doing on this fine and sunshiny day?       It is a beautiful one here in my neck of the woods.      I feel Spring in the air!!!!!    That means new birth abounds.      The earth, in my neck of the woods, is starting to awaken from the slumber of a long Winter's nap.     I, for one am thrilled beyond measure.      

I'm so looking forward to getting new life growing on my deck this year.     My Ozark Strawberry bare root stock is in the mail and I am one happy little back porch gardener!!!       I sure pray that God blesses my efforts with these.      I really do.      I have so looked forward to having strawberries and finally decided to grow some last year.     So, I ordered some bare roots stock from a place on amazon and they was in the mail almost 2 weeks and they stunk when I opened the bag and they were molded.     I went ahead and planted the stinking things, but they did not have ANY life left in them.    I took pictures and sent them to the seller on amazon and he refunded my money, as well he should have.      

This time, I ordered from Gurney's and I fully expect them to be in good condition when I get them.    I'm hoping they may come tomorrow.      I have a 5 tier Mr. Stacky planter container ready to put them in and I can't wait!!!!       Then, I actually have corn ordered that is good for container gardens.    It is a short corn that should have between 2 and 3 ears per stalk.    I have some large pots that I will use for them and put about 5 kernels per pot and then plant a couple of green beans in with the corn and I may even put a squash in there too.     That would be 9 seeds per pot and that's what one place I seen ahd said was good.     We'll see.    I guess this will be an exercise in feeding the squirrels!!!      Those dang things, I can't keep them off the deck!!!!      Like I keep saying, "here in my necks of the woods", literally in my neck of the woods, the squirrels are abundant!!!!!      I despise the little stinkers!!!!!!      Oh, they are cute in someone elses yard, but not on my deck!!!!       hahahahah       

I can't wait to get my GreenStalks planted with lots of leafy greens.     I have lots of tomatoes and peppers that I am anxious to try as well as some squashes and I have a couple of melons that I'm very anxious to try.     Anyway, I may have too lofty goals set for myself.     But I'd rather set the bar too high than not even have a bar, if you know what I mean.      But, like I keep saying when I mention gardening, I just try to get the seeds planted and watered and tend them the best I know how and than I ask God to bless my efforts.      That is honestly, the only way I know how to do anything.      If God isn't in it, then I ain't either.      Since the first recorded people were tenders of the Garden, then I feel very much like God will bless the efforts of anyone who is tending soil, even if it is in containers.  

I also bought some of the triple pocket stackable planters from Dollar Tree.      I ordered them and had them delivered.      Those may be my greens planters.        I have strawberry seeds and I may start some of those seeds in those planters and see how they do.     They are just not very deep and don't hold much soil, so they may not be grand for strawberries.      But they will be good for greens and maybe even radishes, a few in each pocket.      Dollar Tree also has some collapsible cages, kinda like what I always called "tomato cages" and I ordered 24 of those and had those delivered too.     They will be good in my regular pots and they may even work in my GreenStalks, I'll have to wait and see about that though.   

I continue to do a lot of baking here lately.       I do a lot of cooking in general.       I do a lot of dehydrating also.      It's a great way to preserve produce.       I still make Fire Cider and Kombucha.     I still make my own yogurt.      The one thing I haven't had a lot of success with is starting a sour dough starter.      I just can't stand the traditional method that wastes more than is used!!!!!      I will not waste that much product.       I keep searching for the elusive method that doesn't waste so much.      I know it's out there somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.      So, I keep looking and searching.      If anyone knows of a starter that doesn't include being so wasteful while getting one started, please let me know.    I would be forever grateful.   

I hope everyone is doing well.       Trying to stay well and maintain some sanity thru this pandemic has been difficult for a lot of people, including myself.      But, as usual, there are still a lot of people who don't care about others and could care less about all the lives lost to this evil beast.     Just doing your part is not a hard thing to do.      But, I guess it is to people that believe life circles around them.      In reality, the world won't stop turning and going on until God is ready for it to stop.     So, there may be selfish people, but the world isn't turning for them.      It turns for all of us.    So, do your part to try to stay healthy and in turn try to help others to stay healthy, by doing your part.     That statement is redundant, I know, but in reality, it makes sense.     Wear your mask correctly, sanitize your hands often and correctly, wipe down door knobs and frequently used surfaces.     We just need to try to do our part to get us all back in the main stream of society.     "I and me" is all a lot of people think about, but we need to shift our thinking to "us and we".     When we do that, we can make a difference!!!!

I sure hope that all you Dear Ones have a blessed rest of your day and that you thank God for such a beautiful day.      Get out and enjoy a little of it.     See if there are any weeds or little flowers blooming in your yard.      I am waiting for my 2 little crocus' to bloom and that should be happening soon.    

Well, as March is moving forward, I pray that you make God a priority in the days ahead.    Tell someone you know that has already made them a priority, and that He loves them.      I hope you have visions of gardening and if you do, ask God to bless your efforts, He will.    Make March the best month yet, by telling someone that God loves them.     If you haven't heard it already, let me tell you that God loves you.     I love y'all too.     hugs, love and blessings be yours today, patty