Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Rain, Rain, Go Away....... Garden, Bulldog Man




May presented us with very heavy storms, flooding, tornadoes, hail, rain, and winds. In fact, many areas still haven’t recovered from the flooding. 

Listening and viewing all of our weather notification resources, this tropical storm rolling into Texas, will also be heading toward us, and other states.
   
With May’s storms, we lost a good chunk of our garden, and had to replant.  Because this storm is heading our direction, I went once again to the large orange box store and picked up a good handful of large 3mil + painter tarps to cover areas of our garden.

Speaking of gardens, here’s an update on how things are going in ours at our homestead. 

Here’s our first harvest of green beans, a small but healthy looking harvest.  Since the harvest was small, instead of freezing or canning these beans, I went ahead and cleaned them, chopped them up, and put them inside my chicken and dumplings with the other vegetables: carrots, celery, and onions.



Tomatoes………..they’re starting to really sprout.  If you ask me what type of tomato, I’ll have to say I don’t know, because several of my markers were blown away with the last storm.  Come harvest time, I’ll be able to identify the type of tomato J



Jalapenos are developing.  Last post, I mentioned blossoms on the plants, now we have actual peppers.



On Sunday, I harvested the last of my onions, and started curing them inside the house, in the kitchen, on two shelves.  My entire house smells of fresh onions. 
Another shelve is off to the side.

We now have 91 onions to last through the year; only one onion had to be thrown out because it split, and was a tad rotten due to all the rain we’ve been having.

*****

After my husband’s surgery, he couldn’t have a regular meal (for a couple of days) because his throat was extremely soar, making it hard to swallow.  So for one of our meals (yes, I was sympathetic and ate the same things my husband did) I made a cantaloupe slushy with fresh cantaloupe, crushed ice, and filtered water, blended up in the blender. 

OMG folks, this was so good, fresh, naturally sweet, and nice and cold.  If you want something light and filling, try the cantaloupe slushy; you won’t be disappointed.

For all of my friends who asked, Bulldog Man is feeling better now, after having a good night’s sleep last night, and a solid meal today.   To all of my Blogger friends, thank you all again for your warm thoughts, and prayers; we felt them.


No complaints here from me folks, life is good!!!
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19 comments

  1. oh Sweet Sandy - I am sooooo glad that the BullDog Man is feeling better - woohoo! i bet the slippers had something to do with it - bahahahah! your slushy looks really refreshing and i bet it went down well for BDMan's throat! and yours, too! your tomatoes and peppers are looking great! we are sending much love as always!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Sweet Kymber,
      Thank you my sweet sister, I'm happy he's doing better.
      He will laugh at the slipper comment, because he tossed those as fast as he could when he left the hospital. He said they weren't comfortable and the color was terrible. The slushy was delicious and refreshing. It sure went down really good with BDMan's sore throat......and mine too.
      I'm going to try to keep my tomatoes and pepper safe from the storms rolling in.

      Love to you and Jam,
      Sandy

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  2. So very happy taht BullDog Man is feeling better! We had a hail storm once that basically destroyed all the pepper plants but they came back stronger than ever. Note that we didn't have another storm right behind it though. So crossing fingers that this one won't be as damaging as the 1st. We buy our tarps that will be used in direct sunlight, at Harbor Freight. They are quite a bit cheaper than the orange or blue big box stores & seem to last about the same amount of time. Too bad my hubby doesn't like cantelope, that slushy sounds good. Wonder if I could do it with Honey Dew Melon? It's about the same consistency.I can't wait until I can plant & harvest onions, tomatoes & green beans again! Please stay safe & dry.

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    1. DFW,

      I'm am so happy he is too, it's nice to see him smiling instead of wincing in pain.
      Surprisingly, some plants will come back even when they've been beaten down from the weather or even bugs. I'm hoping this storm isn't as damaging as the ones we had almost the entire month of May. Now I did get some of my garden plants, the ones doing really well covered in plastic. Hopefully this will protect them. Sure you could do it with any melon or fruit, just add some small pieces of ice and about 1/2 cup to a 1 cup of water and use your blender. We drink all kinds of homemade juice from fruit, veggies, or a combination of both and love it. Soon you'll be planting if not this spring, maybe in the fall........We will be safe, and try to stay dry. While this storm is going on were staying home. Too many street in town are flooded.
      Hugs,
      Sandy

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  3. You get the Persistent Gardener of the Year award! What a battle you've had with the weather making it hard for you.

    That cantaloupe slushy sounds wonderful. It's amazing what you can come up with when necessity demands! Remember it for those hot, hot days farther into summer. I'll do the same. (If we ever get any hot, hot days this year. Temp is to fall into the low 40s tonight and tomorrow night. Geesh!)

    Glad Bulldog Man is already feeling better. Hard to keep a good man down!

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    1. Mama Pea,

      Thank you, I like your compliment (award) :-) I worked hard at earning it, lol......
      It's been a battle, but I'm not ready to throw the towel in yet on having a garden this season.

      The slushy was delicious and naturally sweet, no sugar or honey was added. We try to make juices, slushy's homemade all the time. It's great when it's really hot outside and you've worked outside all day in the heat. I know it hasn't been hot at your place yet, in time it will be. Slushy's are great basically anytime of the year.
      I'll trade you our continuous rain for colder temperatures. Rain is expected through tomorrow evening. Were expecting maybe 7 to 10 inches of rain.

      It is very hard to keep a good man down.
      Hugs,
      Sandy

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  4. Oh my fellow Angel... I feel for all of you and this storm.its the last thing you guys need. It's been near the 100s here and bone dry.
    Your garden looks on pace with mine. Since I have cantaloupes growing I will do the slushy... Looks really good and I know my boys will love it.

    Glad to hear BDM is on the mend. Hugs and Love to you all

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    1. JUGM,

      Yes, my fellow Angel.......it's raining again for a couple of days. This time, I think were expecting 7 to 10 inches in two days of rain.
      I'm going to get outside tomorrow morning and do the rain dance for rain in your area.........and request that your rain comes down slow with no flooding.

      Throw pieces of the cantaloupe in the blender with some small pieces of ice and a bit of water (maybe 1/2 cup to 1 cup), then blend until it turns into a slushy. The slushy is naturally sweet, and delicious.

      BDM is doing so much better, and now is back to his joking self, so I need to watch out, lol......
      Hugs and love to you all.
      Sandy

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  5. Cantaloupe slushy! Yum! I need to start making some slushies too, it's been sooo hot and they are so cooling. Good idea to cover part of your garden. When it rains it pours. I hope this round of storms isn't so bad on you.

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    1. Leigh,

      Totally delicious too!!! They're very cooling and have natural nutrients. I'm hoping the part of the garden I covered make it through with no issues. The rain is coming down hard, and the winds are up to 45 mph. My pathways and between my raised garden beds are flooded. The front of our property has a new pond, this will eventually go away when the rain stops, and temperatures heat up.

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  6. Good news, Sandy! Not only are you getting some veges from the garden, your hubby is getting better. Blessings all around. Stay safe in the weather.

    Fern

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    1. Fern, and Frank,

      All good news my friend!!!! Thank you for your Blessings :-)
      We will stay safe, no plans of going any where. In town the streets are flooded.

      You and Frank stay safe, I pray your garden doesn't get flooded out.
      How do your animals like all of this rain?

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  7. OH MY!!! That slushy looks wonderful, and we LOVE cantaloupe!

    Glad Bulldog Man is recovering nicely!!! Continued thoughts and good energy!!

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    1. 1st Man,

      I hope you and 2nd Man, along with your family out in the country are okay. I pray all this rain doesn't cause y'all issues. Were hunkered down, won't drive any where because in town the roads are flooded, and some of the highways are closed.

      Cantaloupes are amazing, so are honey dew, and water melons. I decided to make the cantaloupe into a slushy because BD Man needed something nice and cold for his throat. He loved it, and so did I. I made another the next day too, lol.......

      Thank you for your kind words, warm thoughts, and good energy. Yes BD Man is recovering really well. He's starting to get back to himself, I can tell because he's teasing me.

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  8. I am glad to hear that BDM is doing much better!
    Looks like your in for a doozy of a storm, hang on to your britches!
    We had 3 1/4" of rain overnight which caused flooding this morning...not looking forward to more! Make 4 1/4" in the last few days.
    Will say prayers for us all!
    Ps. Do have a canoe so I can paddle out if I need to! LOL!

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    1. M.E.,

      Thank you so very much. My husband is really looking so much better, and feeling a lot better. He is just tickled pink he has no more tingling in his fingers and toes.

      Yes Ma'am, this storm is a doozy, we've been getting all kinds of rain.
      Stay safe and dry with all this weather. I hope your garden is okay with all this rain, and not flooded.

      Yes please say prayers for all of us, and I will do the same.

      Good to know you're able to get out and about with your canoe. Were building an ARK, it may take a while. Then we will be heading to maybe Hawaii.....that sounds good to me :-)

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  9. "No complaints here, life is good". What could be better a statement than that my friend. HUGS B Raining a lot here too.

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  10. I'm glad your husband is getting better. He's lucky to have you to take care of him. I have been watching the weather out there for the last couple of weeks on television and I always think about you folks there in Oklahoma. I saw a storm on the weather channel yesterday with footage from Oklahoma and it looked really rough.

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  11. Glad to hear BDM is feeling better and your garden is surviving. Not sure how much of mine is going to survive this period yet but we will see.

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