The_whingnut's road to ........................

[the_whingnut]

Pictures of the garden

we have the following in it.

Mr. Stapley tomatoes (1)
black cherry tomatoes (2)
Ancho chiles (6)
Peperconi pepper (6)
scotch bonnets (6)
Habaneros (6)
Basil (sweet) (6)
Thai Basil (1)
Random Basil (6)
Sage (1)
Rosemary (1)
broad leaf garlic chives (1 clump)
lemon balm (1)
Geranium grey lady (1)
Geranium citronella (1)
geranium lemon (1)
Eucalyptus (1)
Ekanasha (1)

Please forgive my spell check!

 

[moolie]

Looks lovely

(Have to ask though, what is Ekanasha?)

 

[the_whingnut]

me spelling like i'm from under a rock.

echinacea is what i ment.

 

[moolie]

Ah, no worries--I was just intrigued because google didn't know what it was and I keep finding out about all kinds of plants on this forum.

I love purple echinacea--really all daisy/coneflower type blooms. One of my other favourites in the family is Blanket Flower or Gaillardia, which is a big yellow daisy with petals turning red towards a dark center, very striking. I have seeds for both started at the moment to add to my front perennial bed where we've just taken out the most enormous flowering allium that was taking over a whole corner of the bed.

 

[the_whingnut]

well i got home from work today and noticed my basil is dying. the leaves wilted a bit then feel off. the whole garden gets watered in the evening. everything else is doing ok.... so far.

I decided to bake some bread this afternoon and they are fresh out the oven! i got a picture of one but the other didn't make it. i could bake bread every day........and eat it hot from the oven!

 

[moolie]

The bread looks super yummy, is there any left?

Did the basil perhaps get too much water? Most herbs like be be a bit dry and I pretty much plant mine and then let them fend for themselves unless it's been too long since they got some rain.

 

[the_whingnut]

we (Bubbles and I)where talking today about our herbs and a few peppers that where dying, i think we might have gave them a shock when we transferred them, they started wilting the day after we planted them.

i also put in my order to yemoos for the water kifer. talked about my homemade bread at work and got some very usual looks but i'm kinda use to it (most ppl think i'm eccentric(i freaking know)). then i got the comment that "if things go bad i know where i'm going!"

one of my students was asking me about how things where on the gulf coast after Katrina hit. i just told him we did it up like a long camping trip, explained how we did the day to day (washing , laundry food, and coffee) and how we adapted to our environment. And how almost everyone just looked at us like we were nuts. nothing but Deer in the headlights from all 12 of them. i could have grown a second head.

i talked to my Father about what we where starting to do here in CT with living my frugally and being more SS and he just said " not much different from growing up huh?" i am so glad my Father and grandparents taught me how to do as much as they did. i'm so pissed at myself for letting my edge dull over the years. but no time like the present to hone it back!

the next few things on the list for us is......
pick up some second hand planters and pots more herbs to expand our medicine / herb cabinet.
pick up a grain mill
grow my own bread yeast (live culture)
make some pickles (dill and half sour)
Bubbles is working on sewing her clothes
making essential oil
make cheese
i have to finish the fire pit
make a cheese press
build my Cpap battery back up system (INS said no to buying me one(600 bucks if i by it))


all this is a todo list for the next few months not counting all the spur of the moment stuff that falls into my lap.

 

[the_whingnut]

ok its the weekend so its off grocery shopping! however we are picking up more planters and pots today.

maybe some more herbs as well.

day 10 on the same razor!

My water kefir arrived and we have a batch of that going with brown sugar, figs and a lemon, its good stuff!

My Basil and herbs are doing better now i'm leaving them alone. the peppers and tomatoes are slowly getting bigger.

 

[the_whingnut]

the water Kefir is amazingly good, we ended up burning a lot of fuel yesterday to get a hand full of small pots, i really should have asked how many and how big before i leave the house. we did find a herbal shop and spoke with the owner (who has a stand not far from us!). we picked up some stuff to do cheese and found a nice co-op in New London. tons of running around.

we did find a usable propane tank some one left on the sidewalk next to an old case and some dvd's and other trash. i grabbed the tank and the case!

Bubbles spent the day today making cheese, soap and some beet kruat thingy its red and smells good i'm sure she will clue you in on it better than i can.

I have bread going and have been looking for a decent grain mill with adjustable setting. such is life!

 

[Bubble]

:/ Its beet kvass. LoL Heres the recipe http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2011/03/beet-kvass-recipe.html I made a few changes by adding 1/2 cup of whey and a 1/2 tsp of brown sugar. I did use water keifer. Although Ive heard that it may result in a "slime-like" texture....but meh we shall see. Just trying to use up left over whey in anything i could so i also made some ginger carrots from "nourishing traditions", Whingnut made some lovely bread, i watered the seedlings, and threw some into the "husband treats" for good measure. You know what they say -waste not :bun