Our Garden

Here are some pictures of my husbands garden. This is Al, working around the Castor Bean Plants. They'll grow around 8 foot tall before summer is over. The Castor Beans themselves are very poisonous. They're actually used to make Castor Oil.


These are the vine plants: cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe and maybe a squash or two that came up volunteer. They're just getting a good start at growing.

Green Beans, lettuce and we did have spinach here, but the spinach is gone now.








We have lots of tomato plants. We've already had 3 tomatoes from the garden, small, but good.

I do a lot of canning, some freezing, eat lots of fresh veggies and sell extra to customers around town. It's hard work, but very rewarding.

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

Before I read The Pact, I read Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. This book was quite different from the second one I read. It didn't bring me down like The Pact did. Interestingly, it's the second book I've read that suggests that God could be a woman, or at least God is as each individual sees him/her.

Mariah (Jewish) and Colin (Episcopalian) are married with a young daughter Faith. Because of the differences in their religions, they don't practice either religion and have not taught Faith any religion. When Colin cheats on his wife, the couple divorce. Faith begins to speak to God and claims that God is a woman. As the story progresses, Faith receives the gift of healing. People begin to gather around her home to see if she will heal them. The father believes this is something the Mariah is promoting and decides to seek custody of Faith.

Mariah talks with Rabbi's and Priests about Faith. Some are believers, some are not. Some accept the possibility that God is female, some don't. Also in the picture is a man who is Atheist, yet by the end of the story, he even questions his own beliefs.

I enjoyed this book because it looked at different beliefs and really gives you something to think about.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

I read this terribly disturbing book this week. According to the author, it is used in schools for reading material. It's about teenage suicide. Rather than a Romeo and Juliet type story, this one is about two families who were very close and always expected their children to marry. Eventually, they did start to date. They were so much a part of each other, people never questioned that they would one day get married. The girl, partly from an earlier molestation that no one knew about, and partly because of the high expectations people had of her, decided she wanted to die. The boy was entangled in the whole affair and eventually was put on trial for first degree murder. Throughout the entire novel, I wondered if he had done it or not. You'll have to read it to find out what happened.

When I read this story, I was a bit depressed, and the story really took me down for a while. It describes kids as they really are and shows different ways that people deal with a tragic situation. It was good reading, but I would suggest that you don't pick it up when you're in a blue mood.

What a Day!

Today wasn't the greatest day I have ever had. I was upset, achy and just didn't want to do anything. Guess you might say I was depressed. Al knew how upset I was, and when he came in from the garden this evening, he brought me roses.

Here is a picture of the roses he brought me from the garden, planted because he knows how much I love roses.



Thank you, Al, for making a gloomy day a little brighter.

My New Experience

We're never too old to try something new, and I decided to try something that is really quite old, but new to me. I made Mulberry Pies.

Al took an old sheet out by the mulberry tree and laid it out on the ground. Then he shook the branches of the tree and in no time at all, he had a gallon of mulberries.

What to do with mulberries.... I googled mulberry pie and came up with several recipes. I took one of the recipes and added a suggestion someone had posted: Add Chinese 5-spice to the mulberries. I happened to have some and decided to give it a try.
4 cups mulberries
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
3 TBSP tapioca or flour (I added a bit more because someone said the pie still came out runny)
1 tsp. 5-spice (Cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and nutmeg)

I wasn't crazy about this recipe. It was a bit too spicy for me. My neighbor had a piece and thought it was heaven. I think it had too much ginger in it, so I decided to make a second one to take to the Father's Day BBQ we had at my sisters. This time I didn't use the 5-spice, but just added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.

When my dad arrived at the BBQ, he asked me if I had made it with sugar (he's diabetic), and I had to tell him yes. He was so disappointed. I asked him if he had ever had mulberry pie, and he said that yes, his mother used to make them. He told me how when he was a little boy, he would take a sheet out and put it under the tree, shake the branches and take the mulberries to his mother. She would then either make a sauce they had for dessert, or she would make a mulberry pie. He was so anxious to taste one once again.

I didn't taste the second pie. One of my nieces ate a piece, then hinted that she would like to take some home, if there was any left. I told her she could, and she took the remaining pie home except for one piece that I left for my sister. It must have been good or she wouldn't have taken it with her.

Now I need to get some more mulberries so I can make a pie for my dad using Splenda. Al said they're about done, so if I don't get to it soon, it will be next year before I can try it. We'll see if I can take the time tomorrow to make one. Tonight, it's questionable. Dad said not to worry about it, but it would be a nice surprise for him, wouldn't it?

Comments

I'm not sure my comment section is working. I've checked my settings and they're okay, so I don't know what the problem is. If anyone has any idea how I might solve the problem, let me know. Most of you followers have my e-mail.

Okay, I have neglected my blog. It's a busy time of the year for me, I guess. The garden is beautiful this year. Al brought in the first head of broccoli today, and it is wonderful! Just perfect! I'm going to use it in a salad on Father's Day with lettuce, spinach, onions and radishes from the garden. I have strawberries galore. I've frozen then, made jam, rhubarb/strawberry jam, rhubarb pie, milk shakes and had some on ice cream. They're still coming strong so there's plenty of work ahead of me there. They're my mom's favorite fruit, so I'll take them to the Father's Day BBQ we're having at my sister Jackie's. The first crop of beets are close to being done so I'll soon be making some pickled beets. I just couldn't make enough last year because of people who were wanting to buy them. I'm sad because we won't have any peaches this year. We've had them two years in a row, but they didn't make it past the frost in early spring. The cherry tree is producing for the first time, but it's a little tree. I'll be stingy with them. Keep them for us. The Mulberry trees are loaded. I've never done anything with them before, but I found a recipe for a mulberry pie that I think I'll try this year. If it's good, I'll put some in the freezer.

I think all the rain we have gotten has done the garden good and has also kept the water bill from rising so high. I can't complain at all about the rain. Last night we did get some pea size hail, not very much. It didn't harm the garden or trees.

I've also been putting more time in at work. I go to the local restaurant and help them out on Friday's, but business has been picking up so I've put in more time there. I enjoy doing it because I get to know the people in this area a little better. I just got home form work and think it's time to take a little nap before I start on the strawberries again.

Happy gardening all you gardeners out there!