These easy refrigerator dill pickles (aka icebox pickle or quick pickles) are so delicious and are a great way to quickly put up small batches of cucumbers from your garden or the grocery store. This recipe is for refrigerator dill pickles but you can make all kinds of refrigerator pickles using this recipe as a … Read more
No matter how much succession planting I try to do, our melons all seem to ripen about the same time. It’s fantastic to be able to eat as much watermelon as you want day after day but we also like to enjoy watermelon more than just one month out of the year. Watermelon sorbet is … Read more
Earlier this year I wrote a post about how I struggle with the excess of our society and how our decision to live a simple lifestyle has enabled us to be able to give to those who are in need, both locally and internationally. This is an ongoing struggle for me and probably will always … Read more
Since buying our property a little over three years ago we have been adding fruit trees a little at a time. When we moved here there was a mature Meyer lemon tree and two mature pecan trees. Also, our neighbor has a mature mulberry tree that over hangs our property that he lets us pick. … Read more
Tomorrow is my children’s favorite day of the year. There’s been so much talk about Thanksgiving that Esther is waking up each morning this week saying “Today’s Thanksgiving” and going to bed each night saying, “Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving”. Won’t she be excited tonight when we say “yes” instead of “not yet”. And why are they so excited? Food, … Read more
Since most gardeners are either busy harvesting or planning for fall gardens right now, I thought it might be helpful to have a little sale on The Gardening Notebook. This is the time of year that finds me really evaluating my garden and making notes of changes I want to make or things I want to try. The Gardening … Read more
I was an teenager before I saw canned potatoes. I was at a friend’s house and her mom was quickly making dinner and I saw her open a can of potatoes and dump them in a pot to heat up. Once they were heated up, she drained the water added salt, pepper, butter and a … Read more
Do you read gardening books and think, “Oh, I need to remember that”? And then later can’t remember what you were supposed to remember? Do you take care to write down what you planted and harvested one year only to not be able to find the paper the next year? When you have a question … Read more
A friend surprised me with a lot of grape tomatoes. Usually when I have too many tomatoes I can them, but grape tomatoes would give me lots of skins in the tomatoes. So, I thought I’d dehydrate them. I love sun dried tomatoes. And while these aren’t quite “sun dried” I think they’ll do nicely. … Read more
Last week a friend offered us some pumpkins that were left over from her school. I was so excited, especially after our dismal pumpkin harvest this year. So we spent the day cooking, pureeing and freezing pumpkin… and roasting the seeds. (We should have been unpacking but we seem to have lost our momentum) We had … Read more
Have I mentioned that we have blueberry bushes? Well, we have three. I bought them last year (as in 2010) on clearance at Walmart. They didn’t really do much last year, in fact, I wasn’t sure if one was going to make it. But it did. This year they had beautiful white blooms on them. … Read more
I hope you guys had fun making your pincushions last week. We had a great time and everyone finished their project here at the house. So, now that we have your pins and needles all organized we’re going get on with another useful project. Making hotpads. There are a million and one ways to make … Read more
This weekend Carl and the boys went grape hunting. Usually there are mustang grapes growing all along the country roads out here. Last year they picked 6 five gallon buckets in just an hour or so. Not this year. With the drought none of the vines they picked last year are producing grapes. A friend’s … Read more