A little bit of everything

Wow! Has it really been almost 2 months since I've blogged about something? I guess morning sickness will do that to you! Yes, I am around 16 weeks along and have had the hardest pregnancy I've ever had so far, but am blessed I have made it this far this time.

I am very thankful to have so many midwife friends who helped me through these past few months. They had me taking 100mg of Vitamin C and 50mcg of Vitamin K at the same time 3 times a day. Also I was told to eat pickles, since they are a good source of potassium and sodium. I couldn't believe how well these simple things things helped me, instead of having to go to a doctor and have drugs prescribed. Also if I forgot to take the vitamins (only happened 2 times) I could tell a huge difference.

I finally have felt well enough this past week to get out of the house, which we took full advantage of since Eric was on vacation. We stayed home, but did local activities. This past weekend we stayed at the lake to visit with Eric's parents and also plan the menu for the upcoming Jaime's wedding reception. On Wednesday, we went on a picnic at McKinley Monument and then Thursday, we went to the Stark County Fair.  Friday, we surprised the kids with going to Phineas and Ferb Live at Canton Civic Center after spending most of the day cleaning and getting a huge bag of corn parboiled, cut off the cob and in the freezer for winter. Saturday, I started getting my garden in order. I harvested all of my sunflowers, found about 1/2lb of ground cherries, picked some of my pickle cucumbers and made refrigerator pickles with dill and garlic from the garden, picked about 1/2lb of cherry tomatoes, and about 1lb of Roma tomatoes. The Romas, I have been slowly harvesting, peeling them, and saving them in a 2 gallon Ziploc in the freezer until I have enough to try and make sauce with them. I am very sceptical that I am going to get enough to do anything substantial with, since the drought this year really took a toll on most of my garden. Sunday, I decided to finally get the fall sewing started. I am planning on copying all the patterns and cutting out all the material before I start sewing, so that I can sort everything into same colors. That way I won't have to change thread so often. The sewing machine thread isn't that hard to change, but the thread on the serger can be a headache at times. I did get a slip for Tabitha finished that is Hanna Andersson inspired. I used a tank top pattern that I already had and added an eyelet skirt to it.

Today's plan is relaxing and getting more sewing done.

A few weeks ago I over did it, but got quite a bit canning done. I made applesauce, pearsauce, peach butter, peach slices, peach puree', and peach jam. It was a lot of work, but now we are pretty much set with peaches and pearsauce for the winter. We will be going back to the orchard in about a month to get more apples to make more applesauce and have an abundance of apples to make into pies and fresh eating for most of the winter.

Well, that is all I can think of right now. I hope all of my readers have a blessed day!

 

Update 7/12

Well, the garden is growing... slowly. With this drought we are having I have not been able to use the rain barrels like we intended, so the plants are getting city water, which is not really that good for them. The zucchini, all the herbs, blackberries, and cherry type tomatoes are doing great. The larger tomatoes are getting blossom rot, the onions are not bulbing correctly, the green beans are stunted and drying on the plant... I could name more, but I'll stop there. The only other thing that seems to growing wonderfully are the weeds and with this heat, I just haven't felt well enough to get out there and get this chore done. I am praying that we get more rain in the next few weeks so that I can at least have a decent harvest of my Cherokee tomatoes. I have been dreaming of a home grown BLT ever since I plated them outside.

I have also been saving seed the past few weeks. I currently have snap peas, snow peas, cilantro, marigold, and carrot. I will be harvesting lettuce, parsley, pickling cucumber, and onion in the next few weeks. I am hoping that by the end of growing season, I will have enough seed saved that I will not have to buy any seed for the next year, since I do still have some seed left (they give you so many seed of some things that I don't think I could ever use them all!).

I also have been taking cuttings of my hydrangeas and other herbs. The hydrangeas I have been growing to plant at the shop. I already planted 4 and decided that more would be a good thing. It will probably take 1-2 years to see any flowers on them, but at least there will be greenage.  The herbs, I currently only have rosemary, but before long, I need to get my sage, thyme, and oregano done, so if anyone comes to our house and would like some of their own, I can just give it to them. It really is wonderful to be able to go pick your own fresh herbs and not have to pay an arm and a leg at the grocery store for just a sprig of this or that!

Gardens update 6/2012

I thought I would let everyone know that my gardens are doing well. I have been praying for more rain so that our rain barrels would fill up and we would not have to use our city water from the house. Everything seems to be either in bloom or going to be in bloom the next week or so. I should have some zucchini in the next week to harvest, the ground cherries are producing nicely, I have a few cherry size tomatoes ripening and the others are starting to put out flowers, the onions and leeks are growing nicely, the carrots are making sure there is no room for weed growth, and the beets have nice leaves, but no sign of large roots yet. The peas are now being dried for future seed and the garlic and shallots were harvested this past weekend.

Zucchini

Celery

Tomatoes, borage, corn, ... ...

Kale, nasturtiums, peppers, lettuce (going to seed)

Peas (going to seed), beets, green beans, carrots (going to seed)

Have to share a recipe!

No one can touch my granola! It is the best ever! Here is the recipe (it changes every time I make it, but today's tops all others...) - I usually half or quarter this, but I know I have friends and family with lots of children that read this blog, so here we go.

8 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c raw wheat germ
1 1/2 c raw oat bran
1 c shredded coconut
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 c organic brown sugar
1/4 c maple syrup (from Monroe Orchard - local)
3/4 c honey (from Ebeehoney.com - local)
1 c coconut oil (from TropicalTraditions.com)
1 1/2 tbs cinnamon
1 1/2 tbs pure vanilla extract (I make mine from Madagascar beans)
1 c raw sunflower seeds
1 c raw pumpkin seeds
1 c sultan raisins
1 c Thompson's raisins
1/2 c raw almonds
Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or silpats.
In a large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, oat bran, and coconut and stir to combine.
In a small pan combine salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, coconut oil, cinnamon, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat and continuously stir to dissolve everything.
Pour over the contents of large bowl and mix thoroughly.
Spread mixture evenly on baking sheets.
Bake until crispy and toasted, stirring once half way through, for approximately 20 minutes.
Cool, then break apart and stir in raw seeds and raisins.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

If you wanted to make this chocolate granola, add 2 more tbs of maple syrup and 3 tbs of cocoa powder. Add the cocoa in with the liquids to cook.

You can substitute any seed/ nut/ raisin for any other seed/ nut/ dried fruit you prefer. The original recipe actually calls for up to 3 c of seeds and/or nuts and 2 c of dried fruit. I have made it with cranberries and diced dried apples before also. Every time I seem to top my previous mixture.

I eat this as a snack and even as a yummy cereal. I usually only make this recipe for me (1/4 batch), then make a 1/2 batch of each plain (no seeds, nuts, or raisins) and plain chocolate for Eric and the kids.

We are blessed to live so close to a health food store that we can just walk a short distance and get most of these raw items.