A Mad Dash

I am in a mad dash to get as much done as I can before returning to teaching for the fall.  That means garden stuff.

Potatoes right after digging them

So far, mom has helped me make French fries.

dehydrated tomatoes

Dairy stuff.

I’m playing with mozzarella slices!

I might not have planned this quite right, but it worked.

still restocking soaps

Goat stuff.

I just did another round of copper.

Wanda–I made her toe bleed when I was trimming hooves. 😦

And just everything else.  I might be ready to go back so I can sit down.  Not really, but I do start back to work tomorrow.

Next Summer’s Garden

As we’re really into winter now, I’m dreaming of next summer’s garden.

Sky where I want to put my herb garden addition

One of the things that has really got me thinking about what I want to plant is the desire to eat healthier.  It is crazy to see how much sodium is in so-called healthy vegetarian foods.

Vegetable stock alone has crazy amounts of salt.  So I have been playing to see what I can make on my own.  Because the pandemic has made canning flats ridiculously expensive, I decided to go with powders.  I’ve been dehydrating veggies.

I’ve been powdering those dried veggies.

beet powdered in the coffee grinder

carrot, tomato, and celery powders

And mushrooms too!

drying portobello mushrooms too

for a beefy flavor

I’ve mixed them with herbs and spices.

So far I’m pleased with them, but I might want to make some little changes to the mixes yet. I am definitely going to have to plan the garden around my vegetable bouillon (and seitan) needs.

And just because it’s winter and I like to grow things, I decided to plant the potato I grew last summer.

It’s actually sprouting now.  There’s just a peek of green through the dirt.

potato pot and Bob

Although, I did have to move the pot because some cat was being a pain.

Garden Produce

The garden has been giving me quite a few of zucchini for a while.  I’ve been making lots of ranch zucchini chips.

These are lemon pepper.  I’ve got some more to try, like tomato, basil and garlic and cheesy taco.  This is definitely on my agenda for the weekend.

The peppers are coming on.  I have to freeze a bunch.

I have green beans to pick and can this weekend.

Last weekend, I canned some of my mom’s tomatoes.

Mine are mostly green yet.

I did find a couple of tomatoes turning red though.  It will probably be a little bit before I have more tomatoes to can.

If I’m really ambitious, I have beets that I can also can.  It’s looking like I’ll have a busy weekend devoted to the garden.