Veggies Aplenty!!!

     In the scheme of things I have had such a busy time... So much so, I haven't had the time to finish off my Green house project, but... when I went outside, I seen the remains of what the weather left.. It has been a wonderfully, gloomy week-end I do like when it's that way on occasions...  Cold and wet.. and well, hard to be in the garden... you know weather that made you want to curl up and read a book and have cocoa...

     Putting pruners to work, I started to search, My eggplant. I had found so many that the bowl runneth over.  Not only my eggplant being so happy to produce, but the happiness of my bell and jalapeño peppers to boot..

     The question is what in the world am I going to do with all this????   

Well, I'll tell ya! 

I am going to freeze the eggplant, and jalapeños, and dehydrate the bell peppers... ( I think!) 
Well that is the thought!  I have already gave some of the egg plant to friends, what you see is what is left...

Weather~
      The weather has been cold for here... It seems kind of soon for me to wrap some of my plants from freezes..

      I wrapped my jasmine, and my to Container plants in the front yard, but I don't know what good that did...
      They look tattered and tired... I plucked off what tomatoes and peppers that were on them, and hoped for the best...




BUT, this is what I got....

     

The heirloom tomato

The solar fire tomato

     Only a few plants were touched by the freeze, though I'm not worried, because the plan is.... I'm going to start fresh and new with everything, Hence the green house,,,,,

     I can't be sure, that I have a great production or anything as I am always so excited for but I am in great excitement anyway...

    
    So, Jack Frost, I'm not scared, this go around, LOL... but I know, I know,.... I will be... I will be.... in a favorite, Yoda, Jedi Master Voice....

Green House Project...

     Sometime ago, I mentioned how I want to  use my shed as  a "Green House"...

Over the week-end I started cleaning out my shed... I took everything out, every last scrap of dirt... I wanted to start over in it...
 Threw all things that didn't belong away. I was very excited to see such a big space.

Then the du du du dAAHHH!!!  I came across a thought, a problematic moment of now, I have no space to work.. no place to pot up my seedlings, no place to test theories, no place to, well work!!
  

     A thought of where to work and be organized in the "Green House."

     The other thing too is that I will need to put up a grow light of sorts.. If I have a grow light, I will need to get a warming mat too.. But I have two lights that put off warmth and light for now, until I get the right set-up...
 

 
     There are times,   I think how cool it would be, like "Martha Stuart." Totally organized, professional, and the endless amount of money that could be the driving force behind the success of such projects.
 *Wouldn't that be the "bomb diggitty!!"*

Goals OR Is it New Years Resolution?!!


     I think my goal, or maybe My New Year Resolution is to get organized. 
So my list consists of ....

1. Get garden cured of infestations...
2. Feed soil enriched with minerals and organic materials
3. "Green house" setting in full force
4. Push self to learn about plants out of the norm, and Latin names...
5. Leave #5 for something new... 

COMMUNITIES

      Over the past few weeks I have joined and communicated to what it seems like a dozen different sites. All with great information and photos, and wonderful, intriguing people, but life would be so much less complicated if there was a place that has a one stop shop (if you will) to  find everything and anything else possible to be of help to us Gardeners...
*Well, one can think and like the thought can't one!*


JOBS! JOBS and More JOBS!!

I have many jobs to do...

      Weeds, OMG! The weeds are of aplenty in nature, for sure... Where ever I go to read on "how or the best way to get things done", I come across this, to get rid of weeds "Use boiling water" from a tea kettle!

(What?) really? 

Well, here I go!  Lets see if this works!

If it does! OMG! Hallelujah!!!
So, I'll let you know how it worked!!


***I have some other things to do, but it's mainly clean up, cutting back, and pulling out!

     I think the Green Beans will be ready for another harvest but, that will probably be it! I will be pulling  them and nourish the ground for the next planting. While talking about that area, I want to make that part a little bigger, so I have to get an idea of what formation to make in that area. It is such a cramped area...


Peanut and Piglet!!

     I have to say that these two spirited kitties are getting along better and better..  A little time ago, Piglet came down ill, not sure if it was that she had eaten something or got what Peanut had, an upper respiratory infection from the pound... We have had many vet visits since seeing the vet the first time around... When my little Mina was put to rest... Piglet was grieving so much that she compromised her immune system to the extent of much weight loss and sick stomach.. She will be going to the vet too.. She is coming around though and eating again and playing as if she was a 5 month old kitten too..

Thanksgiving Blessings!

     So not only I was lucky enough to have a Thanksgiving dinner, But I was lucky enough to attend two..
I went over to my Mom's house and she had the most marvelous spread on her table, I can not totally understand where this woman can get the energy to have such a great menu to feed everyone in One day..

On her menu, and as informal as it was she found the words to say a blessing too.


 Turkey, mash potatoes and gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, sweet yams with the marshmallows, cheesy cauliflower, deviled eggs, corn, and Then to top it off,...

Homemade Apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cheese cake.... There were twelve of us to eat a feast like this... Oh My Gosh!

In mid evening after a big plate of food, I  found the need to go and walk a mile by which I did.. Oh boy I needed it...

Here are the pictures of my Mothers Dinner...

Mothers Beautiful Bird!!

Homemade Apple Pie

Mothers table Spread

My beautiful daughters trying to get along!!!

Then as the evening went on, we came home knowing that we will be doing this again in the morning ... "Oh my geeze"... But in truth when some one loves to do something you can't stop and say oh well, You just do it! Right?

So I wake up this morning and My wonderful hubby had the Turkey in water to rinse him off and get him ready to stuff and  in the oven by a certain time, I got the dressing ready... (Recipe that was passed on to me, by my wonderful mother, from her Mother)

My menu consisted of...
    As it was

Turkey, mashed potatoes gravy, greenbean casserole, yams with marshmallows, corn and croissants,  deviled eggs, and my pumpkin pie and cheese cake...

The turkey I made....

Deviled Eggs

Green bean casserole, dressing, and Candied Yams

My little spread for just us...

Then at last Pumpkin pie....

After our little (I say "little" lightly) dinner, We got ourselves up and started to do a clean up, Then decided to go for another mile walk, so much food in two days, well my girlish figure is saying to me "your muffin-ing instead of looking curvy"... lol... Who am I to not look curvy?... hahaha!

PEANUT ANTICS.....

Through-out the day, I have to share the antics Peanut was performing... Oh Boy!

So in some moment of her crazy self she decided to have a true feud with whitey the wolf, whatever he did I'm sure he deserved it, because well see for yourself, Peanut was just crazed with cat-angst.....

Very mad... Holding wolfy in a death grip!

In a grab and roll, Yelling at wolfy "What did you say to me?"

Death grip, yelling, in the death roll, "Bad dog!!!"

All tuckered out after that gang war!

Being that angel as she truly is!

I'm at a point in my life that everything in it, I am truly grateful for, I have great kids, a wonderful husband, the comedy of my cats to make me laugh, a job, my garden to keep  me sensitive to the needs of others, to top it off, I'm finding the most amazing blogger friends...
I hope that everything in my life continues to soar and show me incredible things and points of intrigue (point of views too) ... That is the blessing I'm grateful for...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

     If you and your family celebrates Thanksgiving, I do hope that it is a wonderful and eventful day of gorging and resting... If anybody agrees, We as a people, deserve to be with our families and friends of all days or for that, matter this year. 


     I will be in the kitchen making the most yummy dishes to warm the bellies of my family..  I have many blessings to be Thankful for, in which I can name so many... 


     Above all, Happy Blessings and warm Holiday, to you, the readers of Tangent Gardening.







Oh and 

     Happy Shopping, Good luck for  BLACK FRIDAY!! 
                      

About.com

Thank You About.com

      I submitted this photo to about.com: Digital Photo Gallery, and it was so neat to see my picture on their page.. Excited yes, I have never done such a thing. Frankly, I am a bit of a private person.

      Tangent Gardening has been pulling me out of privacy little by little.. I have been stepping outside my comfort zone..

     "The Face of Beauty"
Submit an Entry: Digital Photo Gallery
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"The Face of Beauty"

What Type of Camera and/or Lenses Did You Use?
     Eastman Camera Company, no special lenses, Kodak Easy Share 35mm, 4.0 mega-pixels


What Was the Weather Like? What Was the Lighting Like?
     It was normal lighting, outside under the patio, about late afternoon, and a very hot and humid day. This is a plant I have experience with trying to grow. I took this picture to keep a record of what the flower should look like next bloom. There was no flash, no special recourse. This flower is a part of the orchid family, Phalaenopsis, "Moth Orchid". As of now, it has lost all of its charm but come this late spring, I am in hopes of the next string of flowers.

Advice
      No true advice, other than just keep taking as many as you can, and that one moment will happen. Delete the unworthy and move on.

If You Remember, What Were the Camera's Settings?
     f/2.8 exposure, 1/30

What Type of Planning Was Needed to Set Up This Photo?
     No planning, I wanted to share the face of the Orchid.

Why Is This One of Your Favorite Photos?
     Give it a good look to see the face in the flower. The light color contrasting against the purple gives it drama.

Kyle Schurman, Digital Cameras Guide, says:
     Very nice photo, and a great idea of shooting photos of flowers in full bloom to compare them later!





New Garden Journal

How many of you started to make a journal about your garden and never finished?
   
     I have about four journals that has never been completed... I tried all different ways to complete one.. scrap booking, notebook, folder etc... Nothing has worked.

Tangent Gardening Journal front cover

     Then I came across something, I can't remember where I read  "this", I wish I did, it was brilliant. The light bulb in the head idea came on like "DING!"... or Why didn't I think of that?, moment! So, to whom wrote about this, Thank you, I think I have a chance of having an accurate record for the seasons or even the years to come...

     I have created a binder for "Tangent Gardening." I don't know why I haven't thought about this before...

One of the pages where the seed packets are stored

     I make my own seed envelopes, when I have harvested seeds, and I used trading card pocket protectors to put the the packets in. Above Is seed the seed packets that were store bought seeds. I have pencil storage pockets for miscellaneous things, like tape and scissors, maker etc...I have a notebook to jot things down. I also have page protectors to keep my favorite papers safe... So far so good!

 GREEN BEANS

Green Beans along with some really nice size peppers...

    I harvested an amazing amount of green beans this past week-end... I blanched and froze them, to save to use them in a recipe for green bean casserole for the Holiday Dinner.



     I have plenty more to harvest soon, I hope that I can get nice big harvest for the next big Holiday Dinner..





SEED HARVESTING


How many Gardeners let their plants go to seed?  

      I let several different plants go to seed: Basil, Chamomile.... Now Radish, and Garlic Chives... I have never realized how profusely they can procreate!...

Basil Flowers going to seed

Can you see the seeds hiding

Radish Flowers also going to seed

Radish seed pods, Did you know they come in pods?

Garlic Chive going to seed

Drying some Garlic Chives to store for later..

*In the Garlic Chive picture there is an insect which has an assassin bug resting on it.*

     I have started collecting seeds for them. I made seed packets. Which are immensely easy... I got my pattern from the Internet.

     I actually let the Chamomile "go" to decorate where ever it wants to grow. It certainly comes out very beautiful and lacy like throughout Tangent...

 
The Peanut and Piglet antics!!!

     Peanut decided that she need to play with  a green bean, Who am I to take that away?

Don't let that green bean go now!

You be careful!! she is so protective of Peanut!

     Piglet is resting with me while I write, but at the same time she is keeping her on her new little Peanut! Such a proud Big Sister!!!

15 Homemade Organic Gardening Sprays and Concoctions That Actually Work - Planet Green

     So has anyone just felt to lazy to get up and move around in the garden? Well, that is me! I want to be out there, but I made the most delish tortilla soup, I just can't move... I decided  to do a lot of cruising on-line today..

     I have found so many new things, One site I found is this one, from planet green.com, Where was it when I needed it!!!! ha ha ha....
 
15 Homemade Organic Gardening Sprays and Concoctions That Actually Work - Planet Green

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/

     Let me know what you think, I think it could be of some use to me! Maybe it could be of help to you...


The Big Storm Mess..
    

OH! The Tangled Tangent That I weave....

     I still have a mess in Tangent, but hey, the beauty of everything is I will heed a wise Sage butterfly friend and learn to embrace the rest period..
     Notice that I am embracing winter??? I have bells that have snow falling on to the page from them tee hee!
(okay! Random...)
    I'm just all over the place, But I just really want to share and learn from everyone, especially so I can make Tangent be more successful in bringing the harvest..

    Thanksgiving is around the corner:  I always have dinner at my Mothers house then the next day, we have dinner that I make! Of course it is never like that of Mom's, but delish non-the less.


So THE Big Question...

  What is the Best Holiday Dinner  made or had by you or from somebody?  What were the dishes, for example, like green bean casserole, yummmm! Mashed potatoes, gravy, Prime Rib, I'm Very curious, it might help others on how to put a twist on that Special Dinner...

   Great News

 Peanut and Piglet are definite fast friends- Sisters...

two peeps on a hammock

 

 

 

I do think this post is a bit short... but working on some subjects to talk about...
       

     My "to be thankful for" thought of this year and wish is.... 
 To everyone  in which visits Tangent... (humble thank you!) The wish is...I do hope that for the holidays everyone is united with their loved ones...

The Concept of putting Tangent to Bed?

    Now Halloween Is over, boo for me.. because that is my favorite time of the year... A new concept has made itself known to me!

     Putting Tangent to bed...
                                            this seems unrealistic to me right now!  

     I have plants growing still, it is getting cold outside... Last night it got down to 46 degrees. This is really drastic, especially when two days before, we were still in the 70's for the lows at night... 
                                  

A huge mess..

 

Basil bent over in front of the green beans

Well so much for the pumpkin!!

More basil by the peppers

the center pepper plant

the front pepper plant

Friday night we had a cold front come in, and it stormed "big time." I mean, I really thought that it was going to  break my windows in..      I went to on my yard the next morning, Tangent looked like it went through the wringer.. plants layin down, birds looked worse for wear, trying to get warm from the sun...

A family of pigeons that live on the neighbors house, trying to get warm before night-fall...

    Now it's time to put everything to bed.. Well I think not!!! 


      I still have peppers growing and tomatoes basil eggplants and green beans too!

     But when it is time to put Tangent to bed, I will be pulling everything and working that soil until that soil springs forth, Yelling, "Okay, I give up you win, everything you plant here, will grow and be productive and beautiful...."

     Quite sometime ago I acquired a compost bin from the city.. I was so excited to get this bin, I wasn't thinking about the things like Oops! time to turn, or something to that effect!

     So I have this, hands in the air waving like I just don't care thing going on... well not really! I do care, I just don't know what to do about it.

     How do I turn the compost now?


     Does anyone feel the pressure of the Holidays? 

     It's time for Thanksgiving here (already). I really wish that we had more time to catch up on things, before the big dinner, the Christmas festivities, I'm not ready to do any decorating, I just took all my Halloween decor down... Christams is not my favorite time of year.. I like the begining and end of fall, and the begining and end of spring.. Don't get me wrong, I love to be around family and friends at this time.. (winter).. Hot Cocoa, roasting marshmellows, and well, the smell of baked goods...
But what really sux.... IS!!!
      

           MOST OF ALL... 

 No Garden for Tangent!!

Until about March.... So I have been trying to come up with a way to use my shed as a Green house of sorts.. It's dark and hard to move about, but It's got to work...


 So my contemplation of a working Green House Shed is in play and research and clean-up to bring on the new Tangent of 2012!!!!!....

Last I leave you with a picture of the beautiful Eggplant Flower!!!  The nightshade family!