If you are canning tomatoes and you end up with a pile of skin and seeds... Can you do anything with it? Why, yes. Yes you can. Dehydrating and powdering the skin and seeds gives you a unique spice. You can add the flavor of fresh homegrown tomatoes to anything. All you need is a … Continue reading Powdered Tomatoes
Fig tree is full of ripening figs! (I think this is an unnamed fig someone bought at a big box store. I got a start about ten years ago while walking in my neighborhood.) It isn't a super high quality fig, but it does provide a nice screen between me and my less than stellar … Continue reading Figs, wonderful figs!
The most expensive part of my garden is the city water that we're on. Our city water is piped in. The aquifer that our land is over does not have good water. We're near an air force base, started in the 1930's and I wonder if over the years, that aquifer has been polluted from … Continue reading Watering In High Heat
There are so many things to discover on the land in the Rocky mountains. Indian prayer tree. Ute Indians lived in these mountains. This is an Indian prayer tree on my mom's property. There are several categories of Ute Indian prayer trees. Read all about them here: https://www.castlepinesconnection.com/ute-indian-prayer-trees/ From what I've researched: This one is … Continue reading Life In The Rocky Mountains
If you are in a position to look at a device to help you make tomato paste or sauce, seed different fruits and remove skins, do I have some advice for you! I have made paste from tomatoes before. I used to own a Foley food mill and used it regularly. (Like: an original Foley … Continue reading Tomato Paste
I have been a busy girl lately! We went to the sand dunes in Colorado after the hot springs. We stayed the night at the Hampton inn and watched the fourth of the July fireworks in Alamosa. You can also stay here: https://rusticrookresort.com/ Off we go! The distance to the dunes is deceptive. It is … Continue reading Great Sand Dunes National Park
I have never been to the hot springs in Colorado. I didn't know much about them. My best friend and her partner took my mom and I out to the springs in Moffat, Colorado. We skipped all of the lower temperature pools and got into the hottest one they had. Apparently, we were brave because: … Continue reading Fun In The Hot Springs
I'm enjoying a vacation. First time in twenty years that my kids and husband are not along for the ride. I came to visit my mom and my best friend. It's so beautiful up here where my mom lives. It's healing. My best friend, my mom and I are planning on going to the hot … Continue reading Out In Colorado
After trying and trying for the last twelve years: and getting close to zero globe and beefsteak tomatoes, I went all in on plum (Roma) tomatoes. I've gotten Romas to produce before but I've never planted an entire bed with them. I fully expected to get a small supply from the six plants, that all … Continue reading I Withdraw My Assertion That I Cannot Grow Tomatoes
I have heard a lot of things, from people I know, who were touting the new hydrogen gas infused, water craze. There's already hydrogen atoms in a water molecule, but this is free hydrogen atoms added to regular tap or filtered water. Some of the people I have heard glowing reviews from are: doctors and … Continue reading Hydrogen Water. Healthy Or Hype?
Have you seen this farming family's channel? Based out of Azerbaijan? No? What!? You must watch it! https://youtube.com/@country_life_vlog?si=adfBXIRFHZx0Wr8B I'm going to add photos of my food forest. Some of what they do is achievable. But even I am jealous of the variety of food they can grow. This is a pomegranate flower. I accidentally stumbled … Continue reading Crazy Good Link
Summer is officially bearing down on us down here in South Texas. Boy, is it hot! If you garden: you sure don't want to do it in the middle of the day when it's over 100°F! However, all the things down here that I choose to plant will usually sail through the heat as long … Continue reading Summer Sun And The Fruits Of My Labor
I recently purchased this on ebay. Someone just had it for decoration in their kitchen. It hasn't been used, but it is vintage. Anyway: I'm going to crush my pomegranates with this. It has a tiny cup under the extractor but I've decided to clean the base really well and sit it in a large … Continue reading Crazy Purchase
I finally got all of the figs I froze out of the freezer and made wine. It had come down to: make wine or don't have room for this year's corn! I have the carboys out of the way, by my fireplace. Definitely don't need to use the fireplace right now! Figs thawing. So I … Continue reading Fig Wine
Well it's a day for a storm. The heat has been bullied back into its corner and I was free to do some work outside. The dripline I'm running is brown. It's really rubbery and easier to force onto the emiter posts. The downside of working in the rain is: the thick clay gets slippery … Continue reading I’m Digging In The Rain, Just Diggin’ In The Rain…
The heat was getting to the papaws. This is the north side of my yard and this area only gets about half a day of direct sunlight. It wasn't enough shade. I was noticing some thinning of the leaves and some stress that was showing up as lighter colors. Pawpaws before the heat set in. … Continue reading Pawpaw Follow Up
I created this bed in a traditional hugelkulter. Dug the trench, laid the logs, filled it in. Never again. I've been building my style of hugelkulter for over a decade. But I finally tried making one the way you are supposed to make it. I have a vole highway under these trees now. I'm setting … Continue reading When It Gets Too Hot For A Fruit Tree
I looked at my phone today. 78°. I haven't seen that temperature in awhile! Yesterday was our hottest day on record. We've beat this record for the second year in a row with 117° heat index. So: it's been crazy hot. I am not done with all of my major outdoor projects. I'm close to … Continue reading Crazy Daily Gardening In “Stupid Hot”, Heat
I have a vole problem in my hugelkulter bed. I built the hugelkulter, for the first time, like you are supposed to... and I hate it. I've been building "hugelkulter-like" beds for twelve years and I've never had voles. But I didn't use logs, I used mulch. (See how I do it here: perfect raised … Continue reading Vole Holes Day 3
Why I can't grow tomatoes. It's 10:30 pm and it feels like 91°F. We just don't cool down in the summer. Even at night. Yucky, hot and sweaty weather. It is definitely not being enjoyed by me! Crazy Green Thumbs
Crazy Green Thumbs 