Sewing Inspiration

Sewing Inspiration

Friday September 18

This picture continues to inspire me to sew.

I am sitting today ready to finish

sewing unfinished projects.

The first one will be a little shirt for my

dear daughter.

This picture actually sits in my downstairs

bathroom. I do get to glance at it from time

to time.

A New Fruit

A New Fruit

Wednesday September 16

My husband planted about 25 plants of these

little fruits. They are called ground cherries

and they grow from a plant similiar to a

tomato plant. In the picture below you

will see how small they are. They drop to

the ground when they are ripe.

They have been the talk this summer.

To anyone out there who may have a

grandmother who has them in her

recipe cards, I would love to hear

from you.

Frugul Tip

Frugal Tip

Tuesday September 1

Growing greenbeans is one more way

to cut costs on the grocery bill.

Have you considered what you pay for

green beans at the produce stand?

To grow these green beans it cost 2.50

for a package of seeds.

I grow these

where ever I can fit them into the garden.

This year I started a new bed so I could have

a whole row just dedicated to green beans.

Actually, I grew two rows 16 feet long at the

beginning of the season. Then I put another

row in later , so that gave me three rows.

Then, I put more in between some green

pepper plants closer to the house.

One final section went in next to the kale

and cabbage plants. These were not all

planted at the same time so it gave me

beans all season.

So, far I have froze 3 gallon zip lock bags.

Plus, just eating them raw in the garden as

I am working.

Having these little gems in the freezer

in the winter is a great addition.

Now, that is what I call a savings!

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

Wednesday August 26

This year they say was a bad year for tomatoes.

I have to agree, here in New Jersey we got a Tomato blight

on our tomatoes.

This is the crazy part, I did not to bad with my crop.

I did want to share a few things I tried this year.

First, my husband started them from seed, which

we had saved the seed from previous years.

Second, he built the soil using compost from our yard,

bone meal, rock phosphate. We put in 168 tomato

plants, heirloom ugly tomatoes, cherokee purple,

amish paste, san marzano. At the beginning of the

season I put bone meal down, I did this twice.

I read this will build your root system. In past

years I got more leaves than fruit, so I believe

this helped. I also put down a organic fertilizer,

Feed N Grow 4-24, which I got from a Organic

Farmer here in New Jersey. The organic fertilizer

did not go down until after fruit was producing.

Of course, the most important part is I put down compost

along with leaf mulch. I also wanted to share that I do

stake my plants with bamboo. Pruning is another

technique I do every year. This means getting rid of

the sucker leads, which is a perty big task in the beginning.

I also keep leaf branches away from the ground as I feel

this can add to fungul problems.

My creator, My God is my provider!

Psalm 104

He makes grass grow for the cattle, and

plants for a man to cultivate-bringing

forth food from the earth:

Making a new dress

Rachel is getting a new dress

Tuesday August 25

I have been working on this dress for awhile now.

For me the summer is a hard time

to find time to sew.

I am determined to get this done.

We are using some iron materials with this

dress. I am also adding trim to the underside

of the dress at the hem.

Potatoes

Wednesday August 12
Potatoes

We have havested 32 lbs!

These are the cages I built for what

I call no dig potatoes. Last year I lost

to the voles, they ate everything I put

in the ground. This year we came up

with a new plan. We planted 5 potatoes

seeds around the edge and then one in the

middle. We used composted leaf mulch

altrenately with straw. We did this in two

layers and then put more leaf mulch on top.

The straw seemed to help keep the mulch

cool, although the rain probably helped too.

I was very pleased with what we harvested.

I built 19 cages, I did purchase wire to build these.

I feel this was an investment, I will have them for

years to come. I am planning on building more for the

next growing season.

Frugal Tip

Frugal Tip of the Week

Tuesday July 21

Eating soups is a great way to stretch the grocery bill.

Have you ever considered making your own chicken

stock? It is very easy with a few basic pantry items.

Not only is it economical but it is very nutritious for you.

When I get a whole chicken I will first roast it with a little

Olive Oil and Lemon juice with some thyme thrown

in the cavity. After, roasting I will take the meat off

of the bone and use for future use.

The next morning I put the bones from the chicken

and place in a large stock pot with water. Then I will

add my left over vegetables.

My left over vegetables came from saving ends of the

vegetables. If you don't do this nifty idea, just take and

cut up a onion, celery, carrots and add to your stock.

You may also want to add some herbs from your garden.

Thyme is always a favorite of mine to add to stock.

Simmer this for a few hours.

Now, just take out your vegetables and add them

to your compost bin.

Now you have chicken stock.

Soups and many other recipes

always call for a little chicken stock.

When I make brown rice I use chicken stock

instead of water. It does taste better.

Enjoy!

Flowers

Flowers

Wednesday July 15

What kind of flowers are we growing this year.

This has been a great year to grow from seed.

This is the climbing nasturium .

The rose is one of those plants that comes back

year after year. This year I have been giving

my plant any left over milk products. They say

it helps with black spot. I have to say my rose

bush is doing okay this year. Even thought we have

a lot of rain.

Frugal Tip

Frugal Tip of the week

Tuesday July 14

Growing your own food is a great way of being frugal.

I spend a great deal of time growing food. I have to

say it is a little more involved than just harvesting the

food. Planning I feel is the key to success.

In the winter my husband and I start planning on

what are we going to grow this year.

Than getting the plants started and make sure they

are well nourished. Over the years I have learned

a great deal about building your soil up.

I leave the success first of all to my creator who

provides all things. The books I choose to read help

educate my mind.

One of the best part of a family having a garden is the

whole family getting involved.

This year my husband started all the plants inside using

the Elliot Coleman way.

The book is called The New Organic Grower.

We only purchased a soil block maker for 30 dollars to make blocks,

which we purchased from Johnny Seeds. We also

made our own soil we did not purchase it. Although,

we did purchase a few minerals to add to composted soil.

My son and daughter help me with daily chores in the

garden such as watering and putting composted leaves on

the soil. Planting the actual plants and seeds is another task

that the children helped with.

My husband and I made pita bread a couple of weeks

ago. From the garden I am eating cucumbers and

lettuce. If your calculating the seeds that the food

was grown from cost 2.50 a piece, but this is only portion

of what I have gotten from that package.

The yogurt dressing is my homemade dressing.

Yogurt which I made a couple of days ahead of time.

Dill came from the garden.

This was a great lunch right after church.

My only preparation was I grilled the chicken

the night before. Here's for a quick lunch.

Dill Yogurt Dressing

Yogurt

chopped fresh or dried dill

1 garlic clove minced

Grow your own food and you will taste the difference.

The nutrition alone is far better than what you would

purchase at the store. Eating food a few feet from your

door is as local as you going to get.

Frugal Tip

Frugal Tip of the Week

Tuesday June 30

When your a grower of vegetables and flowers collecting

seeds is a very important job. I wanted to let people know

about Blossom Swap.

http://www.blossomswap.com//www.blossomswap.com

This is one of my gardening links

I have posted on my blog. Its about swapping what you

have with someone else and you each get something.

People swap seeds, plants, magazines etc.

For those who are just starting out they can provide

postage. What a great tool to have!

After, your growing season don't forget to collect your seeds.

This will payoff.

Sweet Peas

Saturday June 27

Sweet Peas

This was my first picking of my peas this year. What a

great harvest. Getting out in the garden very early in the

season has payed off. How early you ask, the end of

Februrary I was getting my site ready. I thought

I would be ready to put the peas in right at the

beginning of March. Wrong, here comes snow.

The peas went in after the snow,

According to my picture dates that would mean in the

first week of March.

If there were no stores to buy food from how hard

you would work to get the first crop in.

Maybe, next time I will just put them before the

snow melts. That would start the germination nice

and early.

We are having a great harvest due to good planning.

Colorado

Friday June 26

My trip to Grand Junction Colorado.

The second week of June I was getting ready for

a trip with my husband to Colorado. Getting the

rest of the house ready for my departure. This was a

big undertaking. Thanks for a church family everything

worked out. My dear husband had a business trip out to

Grand Junction, so I joined him on this trip.

Due to me growing up in the midwest it was like

seeing old familiar places again.

This picture is me standing on the top of Grand Mesa.

It was very windy up there and quite chilly.

I have been on the east coast so long I think

I had forgotten how enormous the mountains

are. The last time I was here was when I was

a child.

We stayed in Grand Junction which was really nice.

I got to visit the town. There were so many

fabric stores in this area, it was amazing.

While my husband worked at the hospital I

was able to check out this fabric store.

This store had fabrics I can only look at online

at home. The people were so friendly there it

was just amazing.

I truly feel God brought us there and he blessed

our time together.

Yogurt

Yogurt

Saturday June 6

Making yogurt took one day.

I used whole raw milk for this recipe.

8 cups of whole raw milk

1/2 cup yogurt culture

(store bought)

Place in crock pot for 2 1/2 hours on low.

After, the two and half hours turn off and leave

in the crock pot for 3 hours. Then, add your yogurt

culture and blend. Place towel around crockpot to

hold the heat in, and leave overnight.

The next morning put in container and refrigerate.

You have yogurt.

Now, you can't tell me you don't have time for that.

The kids and I had strawberries and yogurt for a treat.

Although, they added powder sugar to sweeten it up.

Enjoy!

Strawberries

Strawberries

Wednesday June 3

Today I did my first picking of the strawberry bed.

Not too bad for the first picking.

I love growing strawberry's. The main

reason I like to grow strawberries is for

my freezer jam. As I do not buy jelly

from the store. Its just one of those things

I do. Growing up in the midwest no one

we knew would buy jelly from the store.

Right now I have one large bed. Which I

believe is 9 rows. The bed measures 17 ft by

17 ft, there is small paths to walk down. We place

straw in the aisles to keep the weeds down.

This year we used leaf mulch at the beginning

of the season on the strawberry bed. Which acts also

as a mulch for the strawberries. We make

leaf piles and let them decompose for 2 years.

Since, we get a ton of leaves on our little homestead.

We might as well use them. We have sandy soil where

we live so you must continue to build the soil up.

The one thing we changed this year was inter planting

onions in the strawberry bed. I purchased onions seedlings

from a company in Texas in early spring.

This is called companion gardening. It is also about

using your space wisely. There is a book that I like,

its called Carrots Love Tomatoes.

http://www.amazon.com/Carrots-Love-Tomatoes-Companion-Successful/dp/1580170277/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244070610&sr=1-1

In this book she talks about how to plant good companions to

all sorts of plants. Flowers and herbs along with your vegetables.

What a grand idea.

This year I also have added flowers in the

strawberry bed also for a little color. As you can

see there is a row of chamomile along the Iris bed.

The new flower that I added this year is Salvia.

This is planted along the last row of strawberries,

along with the Iris row.



This picture shows an additional bed of strawberries

that I transfered in early spring. When I was fixing

the rows in the big bed, there are always extra plants.

In this picture you can see the onions we inter cropped.

Beside this bed I have an old cattle fence we use for

climbing flowers. This year I planted climbing Nasturium

next to the fence.




This picture is my very first bed of strawberries.

I began other beds of strawberries due to this bed not

producing very well. What I am finding out is that my

soil is very poor quality. After I applied the leaf mulch

and compost this year they are taller plants.

Happy Gardening!

May Blooms

May Blooms

Friday May 22

The May blooms in the garden are to be shared.

Enjoy!

The Roses are blooming in quanities this year.

I have plenty of blooms to come inside for cut

flowers and plenty for outside adornment.

The yellow Iris is the shortest out my collection.

This is my row Chamomile. A very pretty

flower, but a great herb to have in the garden.

This year I plan on harvesting the flowers for

tea.

The New Skirt

Rachel's New Skirt

Tuesday May 19

New Clothes are always exciting.

I had gotten this jean material at

50% off in early spring.

I managed to squeeze in making this

skirt a couple of evenings ago.

A very simple project.

Nature Study

Nature Study

Monday May 18

The spring here at the little homestead has been busy.

Home education also includes whats going on in the garden.

My daughter Rachel has been doing some studies on flowers.

The first flower study for this year was the Bleeding Heart.

Here is a question for anyone. Do you have information on the

history of this little plant. I am talking about the heirloom

red variety. We have been searching for when it was

introduced. For all you veteran flower gardeners,

look through your books and let us know.

Again, I am always looking for a

new book or old.

The second flower was the Iris.

In our study we take apart the flower and

see how the insects get into the plant to get

the nectar.

My grandmother gave this one to me.

It is finally starting to reproduce.

Iris Flowers

Iris Flowers

Tuesday May 12

These were the first to bloom.

The purple color is so beautiful.

These little yellow Iris flowers I put right

in the vegetable garden two years ago.

These are my tallest Iris's have. I placed some of

right outside the back door among the roses and

lavender plants.

Companion planting I have taken very serious.

Flowers and vegetables planted together.

I also have cabbage and lettuce planted in the same

bed.

Have a great

Day!

Saturday's Lunch

Saturday's Lunch

Today we went to Haddonfield Farmers Market.

This was a real treat.

It was about a hours drive from our home.

My dear husband found someone selling blueberry

bushes for 4 dollars a piece on Craig's List.

It turned out they were going to be at this Farmers

Market.

What a quaint town it was. The old houses, I just love

looking at the different houses. Next, time I will be sure to

take pictures.

I decided to make a nice lunch for us when we got home.

Salmon Patties

taken from Marcia Adams New Recipes

from Quilt Country

1 15 oz can of red salmon, drained

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/4 green pepper, finely chopped

3/4 cup finely crushed saltine crackers

(about 20)

1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh dill

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 shakes of hot red pepper sauce

3 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Pick through the salmon and discard the skin

and any bones, set the salmon.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter or oil,

onion, and the bell pepper. Saute over medium heat for

5 minutes, or until the onion begins to color.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the salmon,

crackers, dill, black pepper, hot pepper sauce, milk,

and lemon juice. Combine lightly, then add the egg

and mix lightly again. Pat down the mixture in the pan

and cut into 6 wedges. Form into thick patties, about

4 inches in diameter. Heat the oil in a sauce pan and

saute for about 3 minutes on each side.

Now, I must tell you a few things.

I did not have all these ingredients, so this is what I did.

My dear husband started getting the salmon from Costco,

I use 3 small cans.

I have no green peppers as I don't use ingredients out

of season. I had no crackers as this is something I have

decided to do away with, unless I could make them.

No, fresh dill as its too early in the season, I used dried.

I was out of milk.

I always leave out the hot pepper sauce and let my family

put it on themselves. I can't eat spicy foods.

The crackers I substituted my ground flour. The milk,

I just used a few more egg whites.

Since I make my own mayonnaise I always have extra

egg whites hanging around.

Of course you will need tartar sauce.

Really Good Tartar Sauce

(from the same book)

1 cup of mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion

2 Tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle

1 1/2 Tablespoons prepared mustard

1 Tablespoon chopped capers

1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley


Coleslaw

Recipe is called,

Five Vegetable Coleslaw

(taken from same book)

Serves 6 to 8

8 cups shredded cabbage

(approximately 2 lbs)

1/2 medium onion, sliced

2 celery ribs, julienned

1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely julienned

1 large or 2 medium carrots, shredded

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Dressing

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 Teaspoons black pepper

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon celery seeds

1 Teaspoon mustard seeds

1 1/2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

Combine the vegetables and let stand for 2o minutes.

Salting the vegetables draws off the liquid in the vegetables.

Drain and set aside.

Prepare the dressing: Whisk together all the ingredients and

add to the vegetables and chill.

This is what I changed.

I usually make half this recipe. My family doesn't like all the

raw onions. I use chives from the garden. Again, I only

use what vegetables are in season. Right, now all we have is

carrots and parsley.

That's okay as everything has a season.

Enjoy!

Baked Beans

Baked Beans

Friday May 7

Since I was a girl at family gatherings someone always brought

baked beans. That was growing up in the midwest. Well,

I live on the east coast now and most people only know of whats

in the can. Here's the recipe I follow. Its from one of my amish

recipe books.

Marsha Adams New Recipes

from Quilt Country

The real ingredient to this recipe is the maple syrup.

You cannot substitute store bought pancake syrup.

Maple Baked Beans

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound or 2 cups of dried white navy beans

Liberal pinch of baking soda

1 cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons ground mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons of Molasses

1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion

1/4 pound salt pork

Soak your beans overnight. Rinse in the morning.

Put in fresh water and place on the stove.

Then pour about a teaspoon of lemon juice into

the pot. Add any left over vegetables you may

have. I always keep any onion, celery, and

carrot ends. Never throw your scrap pieces out.

Do not add salt to the pot in the beginning process

of cooking. They should cook about an hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your cast iron pan in the oven to get it

hot. Then add some left over bacon grease to

the pan allow this to melt. Add your chopped

onion and allow the onions to soften a little bit.

Then, add your drained beans to the pan.

Mix together your molasses, syrup, mustard and

pepper. Combine with beans and onions stirring

only very gently. Put your salt pork on top and

pour enough liquid to cover beans. Cook covered,

for 6 to 8 hours. I have to tell you I usually only cook

mine for about 4 hours. Do not allow all the liquid

to evaporate though.

Enjoy.