This Spud's For You

I didn't know if I'd be able to say this! I planted potatoes that had gone to seed in my basement, not sure if we’d have much to harvest or not? This summer, I’d gone out to dig up some “new” potatoes for a Sunday dinner dish. Much to my dismay there wasn’t much to dig up. I blamed this on the horses. They are excellent escape artists and unbeknownst to me, they’d trekked over to the garden for nibbling and rolling. GRRRR!

They made a serious dent in the potatoes and beans. I wasn’t sure what would or could be recovered. I did my best to keep bugs and pests off of  the ones that hadn't been smashed. I've not had the best luck this year, remember the goat ate the tomato plants.......twice. The kids and I picked off beetles and took them to the chickens for afternoon snacks. When canning season hit and I forgot all about potatoes. That is until last night………….

Chad and the “little garden helper” dug up one hill. It produced these two large spuds and several others. There’s something quite magical about digging up potatoes in the fall; it’s like finding buried treasure……that you can EAT! And, eat we do! We smash, mash, roast, grill, bake, hash, broil and fry taters. Chad bought a french fry cutter, which was used often last winter, usually on Sunday nights. Although I despise the smell of deep fat frying in my kitchen (*barf*) because it lingers for days, it truly is one of my family’s favorite way to devour spuds. I LOVE the crunck of kettle chips, delicious.

It looks like we’ll have another nice harvest this fall,  digging will commence soon. My wish at this time is for a root cellar. The store room downstairs is a bit on the warm side, my onions are trying to sprout. I’ve a mind to bury one of the box car storage units we have. It is insulated and I think it would do the trick. We’re going to need to do something with all the jars that I’ve canned this summer too. Though I never feel like I do enough, it does appear that we’ll not run out of green beans for awhile……….57 jars worth!

I got several jars of salsa, chili base, spaghetti sauce and tomato soup. I didn’t get a lot of sweet corn put up (thanks cows, again, grrrrrr) but we had quite a few bags left over from the previous year. I hope to put up at least a couple more batches of tomato soup and mild salsa. I also have dill beans to make, peaches to jam and cantaloupe bread to bake. I wish my harvest was done……..when the snow flies, I guess that’ll be my sign.

Everything seems to be about a month or two behind. I normally have things a bit more organized, tidy and on track than what I do. By this time last year, I’d already switched the summer clothes out of closets and had the fall/winter ones in. The canned goods were neatly organized and on the shelves and I could walk across my floor without stepping on a sandbur! I feel like I am moving in slow motion and I don’t like it one bit. I look around and see so many things that need attention, yet only those things at the top of the list are what get done. I've abandoned all hope of getting to item number four on my list, one through three take the entire day! (I’m trying to remember how often I’ve mentioned this in blog posts! Sorry if I’m redundant.)

We'll be taking our boys to a Husker game tomorrow. We lucked out and got four tickets. Since there are five in our family, the youngest will be going to hang with her cousins. She'll be much happier with them than watching football. Sunday will likely find me a. resting and b. making jam and freezing the lug of peaches in my fridge downstairs. Harvest is here, isn't it? As least we have an amazing moon to look at!

I'll bet you've been working hard too; doing what you need to do to get ready for winter. If you can, take a break tonight, pull up a chair, light the firepit and grab a refreshing beverage........ THIS SPUD’S FOR YOU!

We've been waiting for this....

It can be a challenge to find a food we ALL like. We are five different people with very different tastes. The eldest prefers meat, specifically steak to any other item out there. He would eat steak for breakfast if he had a mother that would get up to grill it that early for him. He's crossing over to the "hot side" as his father is a huge influence in the spice department. That spice isn't referring to romance, we're talking jalapenos and hot peppers. Pecos loves peppers. He's been watching the ones in the garden and has a plan to nab them before I do. I know how this boy thinks.

Then there's Sparky. He is a fruit-aholic. I don't think that is a bad thing except when we splurge on cherries or pineapple and he eats the entire bowl. He would have fruit and fruit only if he could get away with it. He also likes carrots. He once made the rest of us shake our heads in awe when he refused the m n m cookie ice cream bars and asked for the baby carrots we'd just bought instead. Huh?! Stange kid! His father blamed that one on me, saying "He sounds like you!" Really? If only I could turn down ice cream for a vegetable as a natural inclination, and not something forced from guilt. Sigh. He really does set a good example, the rest of us don't follow it often, but its there!

And then we have Blue Sparkle, the child who refuses anything other than sugar! Sugar, in her book, is a necessary part of the food groups. It really should be the ONLY one. She's addicted. If she has veggies  you can bet they will be adequately dipped in a sweet sauce, usually Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty. If it is something I've made, her nose turns up, she flicks her hair and says, "Humm, I guess I'm not hungry. You can have it though!" Nice. Thanks.

Chad is not the least beat picky. This happens when you are no longer the cook. You are so darn glad to be released from the gathering, preparation and the horrid clean-up that you don't really care what you are served. He'll eat nearly anything, save my favorites lobster, clam, crab and shrimp. If I lived closer to the ocean, I feast on an array of shellfish daily. Yes, I would.

Pecos refuses cheese and dairy, (he will eat pizza so this usually isn't tolerated.) Sparky thinks the devil himself invented soup. He despises anything close to potato soup. He goes on an immediate hunger strike, retreating to his room. He's been made to sit at the table all night. He was even tempted with fabulous dessert. Since he is not a dessert fan, it didn't work. He was hungry the next morning and never once complained about breakfast, but there sat the 'ol potato soup. If BS could have grilled cheese and tomoato soup every day, her world would be so joyful. She on the other hand, LOVES soup. How did we manage to create/grow such diverse children? Who knows? Recessive genes must about in these bodies!

The one food we all LOVe is fresh, sweet corn, plucked right from the garden. We haven't had store bought corn in years. We either try to raise our own or find friends who have a suprlus and pluck theirs. In our books, there's just nothing better! I prefer home cooking to eating out. I strive for healthy, balanced meals and sometimes I get darn frustrated because it is nearly impossible to cook something at every meal that everyone likes..........except in the summer time..........usually around August we all eat in peace. WE ALL LOVE SWEET CORN. From the first crunch we relax into a joyful chorus of crunching, slobbering, and devouring that would make pigs blush. Its must sound terrible. The dogs look at us as if we've all gone mad. We have. We do this when we have something so deliciously good, cheap and FREE. We avoid buying any from other farmer's though this wouldn't be a sin! We just like the anticipation of waiting for our own delicious shucks to pop up and award us with this creamy, sweet goodness. We're all just a little happier in August. We've waited an entire year for this veggie and..........its been so worth the wait!  We picked six precious ears. I could have gone for a few more but hey, there's more where that came from!
I also want to extend a big THANKS to my wonderful friends Shari and Steve for being my "medicine people". I deeply appreciate your help in doctoring and healing my "ballerina wound". What can I say, I'm a "tree" and we trees move faster sometimes than our brains can think! You two rock! Thanks for the love and support!

Here's to abundance of delicious corn and sweet friends~

Found: Four Red Romas

As I was watering the tomato tanks tonight I encountered a lovely sight.

Four red orbs of bright red, tickled the tastebuds in my head.

We've waited with anticipation for just this sight,
it was really no problem to hide my delight!

"Maters," I shouted to the goats and kids,
plucking the Romas from where they had hid.

There's nothing like a garden to delight the heart;
stick a seed in the ground and watch it start.

Reaching its way, right to the sky,
bursting with colors that please the eye.

A treasure was not what I expected to see,
but oh! How glad I am that the finder was ME!

Had it been my darling girl, I'm afraid to say,
that nary a mater would have seen the next day!

She eats tomatoes like apples, without second thought,
if asked why she didn't bring them in the house, she'll shrug sheepishly and say "I forgot?"

"They were just too yummy Mama, I couldn't help it, says she with a grin"
as I spy the red juice running down her chin!

So for now these babies are safely in tow
and straight to the fridge for tomorrow's salad they'll go!

We have more coming on, the crop is not bust,
thanks to the goat that severly dampened my trust!

Forgive the excitement over our first find,
in two months from now my words of tomatoes will not be kind.

My kitchen will be filled, all counters piled high,
with 'maters bursting right up to the sky!

Compost This

                                                           My Compost Buddy!

Been Waiting a long time for this!

The CHALLENGE: Keeping these two out of trouble.................a FULL time job!


Back in the saddle once again! After taking nearly two weeks to recover from our travels, I'm back to updating the blog. Thanks everyone for the messages and reminders that I hadn't posted in a while. You'll are awesome! Things have been busy here on the Rafter Lazy H.....spring does that. Too much to do and not enough time to get it all done in.

One of the intentions I've had on my list for a long time is to buy and actually use a composter. I do have a compost pile behind the barn, which is really a shorter way of saying "Robyn's dumping ground for things that didn't get used in the fridge in time". Its a fine pile that the dogs and a few brave coyotes LOVE to forage through. The wind speads the seeds and occassionally I will get a renegade squash decides to grow.

I'd been looking at several options for composting. Specifically I wanted one with a lid and one that was small enough to go on my deck. I knew that it would have to be handy, otherwise I would not use it. Our garden is close to the house but time is precious folks and if I get behind, its just way to easy to put scraps in the trash can rather than a compost bucket that takes up space on my counter (and we all know how I feel about having cleared, free counter space! see previous flung shui post if you're new to this blog or if you need a refrehser!)

In my search for chicken and goat supplies I came across a compost jr. This is just what I was searching for and cheaper than most of the others that I'd seen on the interet. Tractor Supply $119.00. The best part is that I can dump my days scraps, walking out only a few steps from the kitchen. When its full, I can roll it right through the living room, out the front door, down the steps and straight to the garden. Cool!

The best part is that the kids are involved. I have a list of compost items that go in, though they are really good about asking first. I also purchased a mini-paper shredder (for a paper making project/future post) that helps to recycle homework papers and credit card offers. In addition, we are composting cardboard, toilet paper tubes, tissues (thank you pollen!) coffee grounds, veggie peelings, tea leaves and egg shells. Some of our cooked food scraps go to our outside dogs and cats, though the idea is to use up our leftovers. I want less waste and less processed foods. I only work outside of our home on occassion so I have no excuse for convenience foods. Its not like I don't know how to cook, my challenge is planning ahead.

Within a month or so, we should have wonderful compost to bring to our garden in about 4 weeks. I'll share the experince, including any mistakes along the way. It can't be that hard to make dirt, can it?