What's That Smell??

Now that my onions have cured properly, it’s that time to figure out how I would like to save them.

I sorted through my onions and determined I’m going to save about ½ of my onions for storage, ¼ for freezing and canning (marmalade and caramelized), and the remaining ¼ will be dehydrated.

This weekend, Bulldog Man and I decided to start dehydrating the onions.  Warning, before cutting a large quantity of onions, please make sure to wear gloves, and eye protection.   Also don’t dehydrate onions inside your home!!!!

I’m here to tell you, do not dehydrate onions inside your home, the smell is overpowering and it will stay for days. We started with 8, which is the amount that would fill the dehydrator.  

I brushed the remaining soil off each onion, chopped the ends, and peeled away the outer skin.  Then I handed each onion off to Bulldog Man to slice thinly on my Mandolin. 

After slicing, we pulled apart the sliced pieces and laid them out on each dehydrating tray. 

Using an extension cord, we plugged in the dehydrator and sat it outside on top of the gas stove (a future project….we will touch basis on this in a future post) to start the dehydration process. 

The dehydration process took approximately 12 to 14 hours.  OMG…….

Talk about ode de onion smell………………..

You could smell onions for miles.  While working outside in the garden and on other projects, you would have thought onion rings were cooking…..Very strong onion rings!!! 

After the onions finished dehydrating, we placed them in quart canning jar and vacuum canned each jar, for using in future meals throughout the year. 

I processed one jar of dehydrated onion pieces through a coffee bean grinder and made onion powder (spice) for using on roasts, or in meals where you would like the flavor of the onion but not the onion.  

** An electronic tool is not necessary to make onion powder.  A mortar and pestle will do the same. 

***To remove the onion smell from your hands wash them with salt and warm water.  Or soak hands in either lemon juice or vinegar for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, then wash normally.

Have you ever made onion powder yourself before?

Saffron With Flaming Crimson Streaks

This afternoon the sun was out and it was pretty outside, the only thing that wasn’t too nice; it was humid outside.  No complaints. I drove out the tractor and pulled out the push mower from the garage and decided to go ahead and cut all the grass, before the rains move in late this evening.

 

I even started to weed whack around the edges of our place until I ran the weed whacker over the tip of my right foot, hitting my toes.  I was wearing tennis shoes, and that nylon cord hit the very tip of my big toe and I saw stars……that’s when I gave up weed whacking and moved on to cleaning the wet grass from the tractor before putting it back into the garage. 

*****

My tomato plants have all kinds of blossoms, approximately 50, and about 18 tomatoes of mixed varieties (Pink Brandy Wine, Sunrise Bumblebee, Amish Paste, and Yellow Pear) waiting to change color.

This evening, I went out to check on my garden and noticed two Sunrise Bumblebee tomatoes ready for harvest.    These tomatoes are firm, crack resistant, and organic.  The size of this type of tomato is a little larger than a cherry tomato.  It’s gold saffron in color, with a flaming crimson streaks running through. 

Aren’t these beautiful looking tomatoes?  I just love the coloring!!!  This is my first year growing these types of tomatoes.

My sunflowers are now showing buds, and are standing approximately 6 feet tall. 

Excuse my fat hand holding the bud.

Here’s one of several tomatillos I decided to grow, for the first time, this year.  I’m waiting patiently for fruit to appear.

I have a small batch of asparagus growing, and pieces bolting.  I’ll harvest several of these spears and eat them for a late night snack.

This year I’ve planted 5 tires of mixed summer squash seeds, and the darn squash bugs have already appeared on the leaves.  I’ve pulled plenty of them off, killed them, and sprayed the plants with my alcohol, water, Dawn soap mixture. 

That seems to be working well, as long as I go out after the rain and reapply the solution.

Only one celery plant survived all the rain and bugs.  I’ll be harvesting from it in the next couple of days.  The plant looks pretty healthy, and I’m saving all organic celery ends purchased from the farmers market so I can grow roots, then plant those babies in my garden.

*****

Last month I came across this beautiful multicolored yarn.  The mistake I made: I only purchased 1 skein.  So instead of making a nice scarf, I went ahead and made 3 more dish cloths to add to my stash. 

Now that I’ve started to crochet to relax in my spare time, I need to find a place where I can buy some really good quality yarn, at a reasonable price. 

*****

Last year, just before winter time, Bulldog Man and I went to an estate sale.  We came across several items, one of which was a windmill.  I’ve always wanted one, but refuse to pay the money they want for them in the store.

Anyway, back to the windmill we found at the estate sale.

Anyway, back to the windmill we found at the estate sale.  It needed cleaning, a new bearing, a little straightening, new hardware (screws, and nuts) and a new paint job.  The price was right; $6.00, so I snatched it up.  

When it stopped raining, I pulled all the screws and nuts out of the windmill, started sanding pieces (finished about 9 pieces) in preparation for a good wipe down, and painting, and had to stop because it started raining. I can see this is going to be a slow process because we’re expecting more rain, and I’m working on the windmill in my spare time.

After everything’s complete, I’ll have the windmill I wanted for my garden painted in John Deere green and yellow paint.

As I continue the process, I will take pictures and talk about my progress.   

*****

Have you been paying attention to what’s happening in Greece?  Some of the conversation we’ve been hearing via news sources is the Greek government is contemplating using a percentage of every one’s personal bank account money to help keep the country afloat. 

 

Just think this could happen here……………are you prepared???

Bank Picture Source: PrimaNews.Org

Happy 4th & A Lovely Surprise

The 4^th of July is about celebrating the birth of our nation, and our independence. 

American families celebrate this day typically by going to see parades, have picnics, barbecue, play outdoor games, and watch firework displays.

To all my Blogger friends, I wanted to wish you a Happy 4^th of July, remind you to be safe when dealing with fireworks, and to pay attention to your surroundings; because this country isn’t as safe as it used to be.

Bulldog Man and I went to town to pick up the mail at the post office; Bulldog Man came out with a package addressed to me.  I know I hadn’t ordered anything, and we weren’t expecting medications, Bulldog Man and I were curious what was inside.  As I opened the package, there was a nicely wrapped item.  I removed the tissue paper, and to my surprise, there was a beautiful quilted flag with a note attached.

Mama Pea, thank you so very much for this beautiful quilted flag you made.  Receiving this flag means the world to me, especially right now….you’ve placed a smile on my face, and happy tears in my eyes.  Girl, I wish I was as talented and patient as you when it comes to sewing!!!!  Maybe one day I’ll pickup quilting through the internet like I did crocheting.J  Or……. maybe one day in the distant future, we could get together, and you could teach me how to quilt. 

As for our 4^th of July celebration, we will remain home, maybe do a little barbecue out back, piddle around the house, and if we can, watch a little bit of fireworks off in a distance from our porch.  Our weatherman is expecting rain, and severe storms………….and we will be the crazy people under the porch overhang grilling in the rain. 

*****

I also would like to take this opportunity to welcome a new friend to my blog.  Thank you for following me, please sit back and enjoy the ride!!!  If there’s any questions you may have about my blog, please feel free to drop me a comment, or an e-mail, and I’ll be more than happy to return a response. 

*****

Garden Updates

Here are a few pictures of the blooming flowers around the good old homestead.

And here we go again, another harvest of beans, and my first 3 jalapenos!!!

Animated source: Animationslibrary.com