Gardening

It's so much fun to peruse seed catalogs in February, planning and dreaming about your summer garden, but reality sets in pretty quick, especially with a new garden.  I picked an area that had previously been a playground for the previous owners which was covered in mulch.  I had my daughter and her boyfriend scoop up the mulch (saved for other uses) and netting underneath.  Fine so far.  It sat vacant until last week after some good rains.  Seems as if the rocks in the soil floated to the surface, so I had a job to do, for sure before I could plant. 

This is, unbelievabley, after it was roto-tilled by my neighbor!  And sorry to day, I almost ruined it with all the rocks - I actually saw sparks spewing from the blades. 

Ok, I know you're bored by now, but I gradually dragged rocks out of the garden space and made a border around the edges.  I have now planted tomatoes, peppers and lots of other stuff which I will post in the next couple days.  Each year will get better.  I keep telling myself. 

Making Sauerkraut, the old fashioned way

Ok, so my last attempt,  years ago,at making sauerkraut was a complete failure.  It rotted.  This time it will be different.  I found some huge cabbages at a roadside stand the other day, so I decided I'm going to give it another try.  I adore the Foxfire books, and read them endlessly.  After all, I'm living in the country now, so I have to do country things, right?  I started by slicing the cabbages, but it was time-consuming, so I drug out the food processor to make the going a little faster.  So I filled the bowl with shredded cabbage, then sprinkled about 5 TB of salt and stirred it up.  After it wilted a bit, about 15 minutes, I dumped it into a clean crock and tamped it down.  I did this about 5 times until both cabbages were cut up.  But oh my - I need more cabbage.  It shrunk!  So I covered the cabbage with big outer leaves, put a plate on top and placed another pottery jug filled with water on top to weigh it down.  Tomorrow morning I will run out and buy a few more cabbages so I can fill my crock.   If all goes well, in a few weeks, maybe 2-4, I will have fresh sauerkraut.  I will can it - I love canning and putting food by.  And during the wintertime, being snowbound, I will have yummy sauerkraut. 

I still could swear I had canning jars in storage.  Alas, they are not to be found.  No matter.  I will buy some.  Next year I will have a garden to grow all the food I want to put up - tomatoes, green beans, brussels sprouts, squash....I can't wait to get my seed catalogs to start planning.  I would have made a good farm wife. 

Today was a sunny day - finally!

Yesterday rained all day, so imagine my delight when I woke up this morning with the sun streaming into my bedroom! I was up at 7, and as is my usual routine, drank a cup of coffee while watching the morning news, and got a 2nd cup, checked my email and FaceBook and other sundry items. We went to Lowe's the other day and I bought a bunch of herbs, but couldn't plant them yesterday because of the rain. But I had no digging tools! A kitchen spoon just doesn't cut it. So off to Ace Hardward down in town I go to pick up a trowel and a new spigot that was broken due to ice last winter.



I decided to clean out a big flower box on the deck. It was filled with dying strawberry plants and chives. So I dug out most of the berry plants, trimmed up the chives, and had a nice big space in the center for my 8 herb plants. It was nice sitting in the sun, playing in the dirt. I got them all planted and hope they survive until next spring when I can move them over to a kitchen garden I'm planning on the other side of the house.



While I was busy planting, Shelly fixed the faucet and it doesn't leak! So, being as it was such a nice day, we decided to finally fill the hot tub on the deck. It took about an hour or so to fill. Looks good so far. So we flip the breaker and turn it on and voila! it works! Mind you, this is a new house, so we're still trying out all the toys.



Well, it immediately turned an awful green within the hour. We seem to have a slight problem with the filter, plus we think there was old water in the lines, so tomorrow we're off to the dealer and will probably drain the icky water and start over. Fortunately we have a well, so the water is free, but cold. brrrr 57 degrees!



Well, after a long eventful and beautiful day, it was time to relax with a long tall gin and tonic. It was the first this season and it was sooo refreshing! What a wonderful day.

Things, they are a-changin'

I'm about to set off on a new adventure sooner than I thought: retirement. We've found a house in Whitney Point NY which fits our needs perfectly. Big spacious contemporary house with all the amenities I could ever want on 2 acres, half wooded.

The living room is a huge vaulted room with an entire peaked wall of windows facing a humongous deck with flower pots, benches and a hot tub. There are 4 bedrooms, some with decks. An awesome Italian kitchen with a commercial stove with 6 burners, 2 ovens and grill, and cabinets I will never fill. The counter tops are a dark gorgeous mottled marble. The floors are all marble, ceramic and hardwood. And there's a sauna.



I can't wait to lounge on the deck in the cool summer evenings, sitting in the hot tub with a cocktail, listening to the noises of the country above the gurgling of the tub.

During the day, I will tend to my garden. I'll have vegetables galore that I will can in the fall, and flowers littering the yard everywhere you look. There's a pond in the back yard that I will perhaps make into a koi or lily pond. Maybe I'll even add some goldfish or a turtle or 2.

In the fall, I will rake the riot of leaves and put up food from my garden for the winter. We'll stack wood for the fires we will have in the wood stove to heat the house when the wind chills the air outside. We will be cozy.

In the winter, I will sit at my knitting machines and make scarves, hats and sweaters. I will sew to my heart's content. I'll make my candles to build up my inventory for the craft shows I will sell at in the spring. Maybe I'll get my torch up and running and start making lampwork beads again. I'll read a lot and watch the snow outside on the deck. I'll run out to the heated hot tub to bask in the invigorating winter air.

In early spring, I'll set up a planting station to start my seedlings for the garden. And start the cycle all over again.

Ahhh, retirement.