Medicinal Herb Garden - Finally!

Not all my native plants made it to planting. They had a hard life though. Those that made it overwinter had to survive being munched on by goats. These are the ones that didn't make it.

G made a trip back to the nursery we bought them from and repurchased. 

The area of the planting has had the tarp over it since I posted about it last summer. Massive thistles grew around the edges, so I took a weed whacker to it.

I've heard it's nearly impossible to kill thistles and I guess they're right. Look at them growing under the tarp!

I weed whipped those too. 

I had made a map of where I wanted my plants based on height and width of the mature plants. I remember having to do that as an assignment for an ag class in highschool. I hadn't enjoyed that assignment, it took a lot of brain power at the time to take into consideration the sun and water requirements plus the color, flowering dates, not to mention the hight and width at maturity. My brain has a better capacity for those things now; it was a challenge, but not too difficult. 

I set the plants in place, then dug holes to fit the cubes. 

G mulched afterwards for me.

Looks pretty good! 

Dishwasher

This is such a tiny little thing, but it made my day and I had to share... 

The whole time I've lived in this house, the silverware container had been housed on the left side of the dishwasher in with the dishes. I thought that was where it belonged. It wasn't a tight fit and it would've been nice to have bigger dishes there, but oh well. 

Some visitors today helped us load the dishwasher and when I came back later to add more dishes, I discovered this: 

It fits in the door. 🤯

Forgotten Flowers

I forgot I planted these flowers. 

Last year the deer ate them and I didn't get to enjoy them. This year, G has been throwing Jip's poop strategically at the edge of our property in an attempt to keep deer away and so far they've left these flowers alone. 

I also forgot I sprinkled flower seeds around the front yard. We haven't mowed and now they're making an appearance. 😅 

Found this volunteer raspberry plant north of our lilacs outside the goat pasture. No berries yet! Maybe it's a variety that only fruits on old stalks.

The asparagus patch I planted last year is doing great! They are the tallest of all of our patches on the homestead. Hopefully next year we can harvest some.

Weeding

The garden is finally weeded! Just in time to start back at the beginning... 😅

It was challenging with this little nugget. He didn't enjoy being on a blanket very much, plus the time of day I did most of the weeding was when the whole garden was in full sun and there wasn't a place for him to hang out in shade except for at the very edge. Poor hot, tired, dirty, sweaty baby.

This is what I had to weed through...

Thick, luscious grass. Better than our lawn. And amidst that, teeny tiny plants. Can you spot the keepers in the picture above?

Cilantro! Bottom center. 

Celery!

Baby basil! Can you spot three little guys?

Repotting

My experimental fruit trees need a new summer home. They had been kept up next to the house for easy watering (and to acclimate to the sun), but they've been outside plenty long to acclimate and now that the leaves have come in, there isn't enough sunlight. 

G had the idea to repot them in grow pots and bury them in the ground to help them stay moist longer. 

We have tons of empty grow pots from other trees we planted, so I had my pick of the lot. 

Date palm, fig, two pomegranates, lemon, two bay plants, and an aloe vera. 

The fig has gotten munched by goats and deer, and it was too leggy. G thought I should prune it low to the ground to cause it to bush out. It was hard to do, but chop it I did. Hopefully the new location in the sunny orchard will do the trick!

 

Powdered Sugar

One of my sisters-in-law sent me this recipe months ago and asked me to make it for her. I knew we would be visiting her soon, so I made it as a surprise. 

I ran out of powdered sugar though...

I had heard how easy it is to make your own from regular granulated sugar. Take a cup of sugar plus a tablespoon of cornstarch or arrowroot powder, and then blend in a blender or food processor for 30 seconds.

Here's my first attempt: 

Not very powdery. 

I had the idea to use the spice and nut grinder to grind it even finer. That worked much better!

The only downside is it will only hold about a half a cup at a time.

I wrote my adjusted recipe on a Post-It note and stuck it to my jar so it will be easy to make next time I need it. 

 

Tortilla Redo

Remember the second tortilla recipe where I used baking soda instead of baking powder? 

I tried again. Didn't notice too much difference. 

I definitely like the first recipe better! These are still tasty, just not as soft and fluffy.