Sigh...I ramble a lot, sorry
Aug. 28th, 2012 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberfocusI may come out of this stomach bug 10 pounds lighter at this rate. Just saying.
I used the power of free child labor to deal with 15 pounds of tomatoes today (yes, somehow ten grew to fifteen as tomatoes are wont to do at this time of year). Because I am too sick to touch other people's food, but not too sick to be bossy, I can make a twelve-year-old and a sixteen-year-old perform magic, only not without whining.
I was going to just process diced ones, but no one had the patience to deal with that much dicing, so core, cut, and blenderize it was. I'll save dicing for when DH is home again in two weeks. I have both an eight quart and a six quart crockpot filled to near their tops with tomato puree cooking down overnight. I'll probably end up with about 7 quarts for canning. When I did it last week I cooked it down closer to paste and only got 7 pints, but I won't do that this time. It does take some time to cook it down this way, but I don't have to pay attention to it much while it does it's own thing.
My green bean plants are providing enough for fresh eating this year, but not for canning because I didn't plant enough, so I will likely put an order in at the new neighborhood produce stand that carries some local, organic stuff, green beans being one of those things for 25 pounds. I love this place. I walked away from them recently with three totes full of fruits and vegetables and spent just under $25. I cannot do that in a grocery store anymore. Everything is from my state, and over half of it is from my county. And they are walking distance (even for me), but they are also only two blocks over from several other places I go when combining errands.
I have tried two new melons grown in Eastern WA lately, a Galia and a Piel de Sapo (toad skin) or Santa Claus Melon. They are so darn good. They taste like both cantaloupe and honeydew, but not in the same way. I discovered today that melon will stay down for a whole 20 minutes at which point it's mostly liquid. I hate to eat so much fruit for many reasons but at this point I have to get some nutrition into me, even if it's only visiting for a few minutes. And the birds are loving the rinds and the seeds.
I don't think I mentioned that we almost lost Queen. She's doing a lot better, and we think she will live, but boy we thought she'd go the way of Kyri, eggbound and miserable. Giving a chicken a warm bath and a massage or two where you never want to touch a chicken did a world of good for the poor critter. She's laying eggs normally again and being the first to the treats dish so that's good.
The ducks are laying eggs pretty consistently now. We are getting about six a week. One of the ducks laid a doozy of an egg today. In the photo here it shows 3 duck eggs of normal size and the extra large one. The smallest duck egg here is still bigger than a large chicken egg.
You can see how the eggs are mottled. It makes them look dirty more than anything, but these ones have been cleaned. You should see them before cleaning, ugh. Ducks are filthy with their love affair with mud and muck. If my stomach settles down I am going to bake with the duck eggs this week. Peanut butter cookies, hamburger and hot dog buns, and cinnamon rolls. Possibly brownies. If. And also apparently my body is saying it wants those ten pounds back. *snorts*
I used the power of free child labor to deal with 15 pounds of tomatoes today (yes, somehow ten grew to fifteen as tomatoes are wont to do at this time of year). Because I am too sick to touch other people's food, but not too sick to be bossy, I can make a twelve-year-old and a sixteen-year-old perform magic, only not without whining.
I was going to just process diced ones, but no one had the patience to deal with that much dicing, so core, cut, and blenderize it was. I'll save dicing for when DH is home again in two weeks. I have both an eight quart and a six quart crockpot filled to near their tops with tomato puree cooking down overnight. I'll probably end up with about 7 quarts for canning. When I did it last week I cooked it down closer to paste and only got 7 pints, but I won't do that this time. It does take some time to cook it down this way, but I don't have to pay attention to it much while it does it's own thing.
My green bean plants are providing enough for fresh eating this year, but not for canning because I didn't plant enough, so I will likely put an order in at the new neighborhood produce stand that carries some local, organic stuff, green beans being one of those things for 25 pounds. I love this place. I walked away from them recently with three totes full of fruits and vegetables and spent just under $25. I cannot do that in a grocery store anymore. Everything is from my state, and over half of it is from my county. And they are walking distance (even for me), but they are also only two blocks over from several other places I go when combining errands.
I have tried two new melons grown in Eastern WA lately, a Galia and a Piel de Sapo (toad skin) or Santa Claus Melon. They are so darn good. They taste like both cantaloupe and honeydew, but not in the same way. I discovered today that melon will stay down for a whole 20 minutes at which point it's mostly liquid. I hate to eat so much fruit for many reasons but at this point I have to get some nutrition into me, even if it's only visiting for a few minutes. And the birds are loving the rinds and the seeds.
I don't think I mentioned that we almost lost Queen. She's doing a lot better, and we think she will live, but boy we thought she'd go the way of Kyri, eggbound and miserable. Giving a chicken a warm bath and a massage or two where you never want to touch a chicken did a world of good for the poor critter. She's laying eggs normally again and being the first to the treats dish so that's good.
The ducks are laying eggs pretty consistently now. We are getting about six a week. One of the ducks laid a doozy of an egg today. In the photo here it shows 3 duck eggs of normal size and the extra large one. The smallest duck egg here is still bigger than a large chicken egg.
You can see how the eggs are mottled. It makes them look dirty more than anything, but these ones have been cleaned. You should see them before cleaning, ugh. Ducks are filthy with their love affair with mud and muck. If my stomach settles down I am going to bake with the duck eggs this week. Peanut butter cookies, hamburger and hot dog buns, and cinnamon rolls. Possibly brownies. If. And also apparently my body is saying it wants those ten pounds back. *snorts*
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 01:53 pm (UTC)Ah! Now you've made me hungry. XD
How long do you think it'll last? Mine normally lasted a week, bleugh. I hope you feel better soon.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 03:16 pm (UTC)I am glad that Queen is doing better. That is not a good way to go. That is quite a feat for one of those ducks!
Good news on the tomato harvest front!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 06:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 06:08 pm (UTC)I'd like to start canning some of my own veggies, but everything I've read says that the normal canning process you can use on fruit and jams doesn't work properly for canning veggies.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 08:18 pm (UTC)I'm so sorry to hear that you are still feeling sick! I hope you get better soon!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 11:40 pm (UTC)PS - That's a very impressive egg! O_O ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-08-30 11:20 pm (UTC)and now I'm hungry, so if you'll excuse me....
no subject
Date: 2012-08-31 12:26 pm (UTC)