We are now harvesting some strawberries from our own yard!
We also bought 5 buckets which is about 20 pounds because our yard does not produce enough to freeze for the winter. Sue helped us get them done up. Here are a few of the containers ready to go into the freezer! Yum this winter!
I am trying to like and use kale as I know it is so good for you. So far I have not succeeded in loving it but use a little. I planted four different kinds. Froze this up for greens to steam or to put in smoothies in the winter.
I cut some chive blossoms and made up a lot of chive blossom vinegar.
This is my clematis. I have a lot of blooms towards the bottom but just buds yet towards the top. Is that the way it is suppose to be? I have quite a few toads in the yard this year. I guess that is a good thing. Do toads pee??? I was out in the flowers and one stopped near me and peed or at least a lot of water came out of him/her!
Sue brought Marley over one day. She is Travis dog but Sue loves her. She is looking in the french door. Look at the next picture and see Coco's reaction!
This is our brave Coco. She is peeking under the kitchen chair out the door at Marley. She is afraid of big dogs!!!!
19 comments:
LOL at Coco! Your strawberries look wonderful! We love kale chips. They get up quickly around here. :)
Your strawberries are looking great! I've started harvesting strawberries this week as well, but (just like last year) the berries from this one variety I have are TINY! Probably about 1/2 the size I would expect. Oh well - at least they taste really good!
I often use shredded kale in soup. It's a great soup green and because of all the other flavours, you wouldn't be overwhelmed by it.
Hi vicki, Thanks. I have never made kale chips! They would be healthy though I would think! Nancy
Hi Margaret, Thanks. Glad you are getting strawberries even if they are small. Sometimes the smaller ones have better flavor. I will have to remember to add Kale to my soup this winter. Nancy
Good luck on learning to like kale. I had to teach myself to like zucchini. I never could with beets though. But then I hated beets and only disliked zucchini a little.
Hi Daphne, Maybe I am hopeless at learning to love Kale but it is good for you and I can grow it so that is a plus! Nancy
I've also tried to make myself like kale. Hasn't worked for me either yet. I do use it in soups now and then, as well as mixed in with other salad greens. I've also tried making kale chips - still tasted like kale to me and won't try again, ha ha. The best way that I've found where I can stand it is torn into bite size pieces and added to an Olive Garden Zuppa Tuscana copycat soup. Just do a search for that soup and you will find it's a very easy soup to make.
Strawberries. Ah, they are things of beauty. My most favorite food! Sadly, we don't seem to be able to grown them very well. But then there are four of us sneaking out there for a taste now and again. Our plants have only recently been flowering so no berries yet anyway.
I recently saw another blogger had made a bottle of chive blossom vinegar and was intending to make a single batch. He used 7 blossoms to a half cup of white wine or plain white vinegar. Does that ratio sound about right to you? I've procrastinated a bit as the bees don't have many blooms here yet to enjoy and they do like the chive blossoms.
Hi, Nancy! I blanch my peas for 2 minutes, then put them in cold water for 2 minutes, then dry them best I can with paper towels before freezing. When making stir fry, I don't add them until the very end. We like our peas crunchy.
The infuser is for loose leaf tea. You place your tea in the stainless steel infuser and lower it into your water. When your done steeping, your just remove the infuser. It is not any healthier than doing it the other way, maybe just more fun. :)
I hope you have a great week!
:)Vicki
Hi Becky, Thanks for the site for the soup you use with kale. The lady I got the chive blossom vinegar from said to put chive blossoms in saucepan and cover with white vinegar. Heat up close to boiling, but NOT boiling. Pour in bowl or jars and steep for 1 week and then strain. I think it should be in a dark cupboard. I used just Heinz white vinegar when I made it before and this time but think the white wine or rice wine vinegar would be milder in taste. Let me know what you use and how it turns out. She used it in her salad dressing recipe. 1 heaping T Dijon mustard, 1/4 Cup chive vinegar, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, 1/2 T sugar, salt and pepper to taste and 1/2 cup olive oil. I got this recipe from Carol Sue McCue when I lived in Pt. Huron, Michigan. Nancy
Hi Vicki, Thanks for answering my question. That is basically how I did mine last year but I don't think mine were filled out as well with peas. My problem is that little string on one side. Does yours have that? Do you take that off before you blanch them? Nancy
I had never heard of chive blossom vinegar. I will be making a batch of that this weekend. Thank you for the inspiration.
Hi Ian, I do hope you enjoy the chive blossom vinegar. It looks so pretty and is easy to do. Nancy
Hi Nancy! Oh what beautiful strawberries! I can never get enough of them! You are so smart to freeze them for later! Kale is something that the more you eat it, the more you aquire the taste for it. At least that's how it's worked for me. I now love kale, but that didn't use to be so. I mix it in my green juice and greens for a salad. The chive vinegar is so pretty! How resourceful of you to make it! I think most clematis grow that way. I've seen many that do like yours. Coco is a 'scaredy cat'! Lol! Blessings from Bama!
Hi Felecia, We do like our strawberries!! Just got done picking a few from our little box. I put Kale in my salad too so haven't given up on it yet! Thanks for the encouragement. Nancy
Guess I'm in the minority here as I love kale fixed any sort of way. Though am not that crazy about it raw, as in a raw kale salad. Recently been making kale chips for an afternoon snack and am addicted to those! Your garden looks wonderful and your flowers are beautiful. Hope you've recuperated from the bike fall by now. Have a good day! :)
Your little Coco looks so sweet!!
I have tried my best to like kale, too! But I just DON'T!!
I'll just double the strawberries and call it even!
Your flowers and vegetables are so pretty. I am growing kale this summer too. Like you, I've heard so much about how good it is for us. Someone told me to try Red Russian Kale, that is is so much better than all the rest. It really is good. I'm having trouble keeping those little worm off the leaves. They keep eating holes in the kale. I love your Cocoa!
Hi Henny Penny, I planted three or four kinds of Kale this year but I don't think any of them were Red Russian Kale. I can't say as I love Kale yet but I do put a little in my salads. I will have to remember that next year. My husband built a thing like cage to go on top of my cabbage to keep the cabbage butterflies out and so I planted a row of kale in there this year which keeps the worms off the Kale too. Nancy
poor cocoa. She has a good life caring for ya'll and avoiding that other dog!
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