Eggplant two ways, scoby jerky, and fall gardens

Fried two ways ( oven baked and wok fried).  Stir fry with onions, bell pepper, cashews, and a homemade sauce.  

Oven baked was tossed with cilantro, tomatoes, mayo, and Greek yogurt and dill.   Otherwise known as Mother-in-law's Tongue. ( in a deconstructed kind of way).  

Stir fry eggplant is similar to tofu,  which I always fail at making.  The MiL's Tongue tastes like a potato salad. 

In the garden news,   I got a few sweet peppers and some kale from the two keyhole front yard gardens.  No extra water, just compost added every other week.  It helped that we had lots of rain from the hurricanes in the gulf.   

Fall garden seeds planted about two weeks ago.  Three different squashes, Brussels sprouts, lettuce varieties, radishes, and some broccoli.  Squash seedlings have already appeared and a few other seedlings from the rest of the 

plant seeds I through out in the dirt.  

I also tried my hand at some kombucha scoby jerky.....  It's tough, but doesn't really break down.  I think I dehydrated it to high and to long.  Oh well, you got to fail a few times to learn something new.  

Signs and sushi

Summer is almost over and thus the projects are slowly coming to an end.  The past couple of weeks I've been working on finishing up some old projects inside the house.   Added the final trim to the kitchen backsplash, organized some closets, organized the garden shed, and spent some time figuring out costs to replace the old semi-existing fence.  

I did however make a couple of signs out of scrap wood.  Not sure of the placement of the letters yet.

Jennie has been watching old seasons of Top Chef, so of course I've watched a few with her.  It's help continue to motivate me and my love of cooking and creating in the kitchen.   I've been working on eating less meat after watching the documentary What the Health.   Made a tofu peanut butter pie (my baking skills are the worst) but it was still delicious.  Baking requires one to be precise with the ingredients and cooking, and that is quite difficult for me since I am a creative person who tends to think outside of the box. Other great vegetarian meals I've made were Tikal Gomen (Ethiopian), General Tso's cauliflower, Thai mango salad, zucchini Pad Thai, chickpea falafel, and mushroom and avocado/cucumber sushi.   

It's been years since I've hand rolled sushi, but I think they came out looking alright.  

Repurposing and edibles

This past week was a short one as I went up to Longview to visit my parents for an early Father's Day. We then spent Sunday and Monday with Jennie's family with some good bbq and a nice kayak on Townlake.   

Spent yesterday at Barton Springs because it was just to hot to work outside.  I think everyone else had the same idea. It was the most crowded I have ever seen.  

So this week I only had a few days to work on my woodworking skills.  One easy project I did was this giant star for the outside of the house.   

I also finished a project that I had started last week, my tree stump side table.   I plained it level, sanded, stained, sealed, and added some castor wheels on the bottom.  I think it turned out pretty well. I'm working on another one that I will remove the bark on.   

I was able to pick up four more stumps in Longview before heading back.  They are pine, so it will give me a chance to work with some soft wood.   

On our way to Longview, we stopped at a brewery in Athens, TX.   They had some local artwork on the walls and one caught our eyes, so I thought I would do my best to replicate it.  So here it is using just scrap pieces I had from other projects.  

Just fence picket pieces and a little spray paint.   

After the rain settled down this morning, I helped out my neighbor with a project of his. He wanted to build an enclosure for his garden to keep out the birds and squirrels.  I came across a similar idea online where a guy used the metal poles from a trampoline to frame a greenhouse. My neighbor had one and with some fence pickets, we got a lot of it built so far.   

 We just need to secure the poles to the wood and ziptie the netting over the top. 

Oh yeah, I also built an outdoor table for my neighbors out of pickets and some table legs I found by the curb in the neighborhood a few months ago.  Now we can take turns for our Saturday morning coffee and fellowship.  

A few weeks ago, the local HEB grocery store had fruit trees on sale for $10 each.  I picked up two peach trees and an apple.   I have planted them in a 4x3 grid pattern in the backyard.  This fall, my plan is to remove my vegetable beds to the front yard and create a small fruit tree orchard in the backyard.  

Yes, the fence is now about 50% still standing.   That will be a project in the near future.  Not as fun to do, but necessary, especially when we get our chickens.   

I finally got to eat my first fig from my fig tree.  

The rest of the garden has been mediocre this year, a handful of cherry tomatoes and some basil.  The basil has been good in my kombucha.   A little basil and slices of cucumber makes a nice refreshing summer kombucha.   I experimented and made a batch with ginger, turmeric, jalapeño, lemon, and just a drip of some local Round Rock honey.   Mighty tasty and healthy to boot.  

That's it for now, so until next time...

Go outside and get dirty!

Summer fence picket projects

My neighbor had a lot of pickets that she wanted to get rid of that were still in good shape.   After I built my storage shed using fence pickets a few years ago, I decided to do some research into other projects/ideas using fence pickets.   My goal is to maintain each project to be at least 90% fence pickets and/or materials I already have around the house.  

My first of many is a couple of cornhole boards.   (100% pickets) Jennie wanted to contribute, so she sewed the cornhole bags, filled with dried corn.  It took about a day to complete the boards.   Added a score board on the back using golf tees and my wood burning tool.   

My next project was a small one, two frames for some west Texas prints my sister-in-law gave us, and a frame for a long mirror (cheap find at thrift store).  

My third project was my attempt to build an adirondack chair.  This one was the hardest thus far.   Trying to get the angles and the slant of the back was tedious and frustrating at times.    Not a winner in design, but it's functional.  

My current project is a 4x4x4 chicken coop.  I did use a 4x4 post for the legs that I salvaged from my neighbors trash.  So far the only costs has been two boxes of screws.   So far I have worked on the coop for two days and I would say I'm more than half way done with it.  I looked at many coops online, but this one is my own design, hence why it's taking a little longer to build.  I am designing as I go. 

Go outside and get dirty!

New kombucha flavors

Now that I have a second setup, I've got extra kombucha to experiment with.  The latest new infusions are mango jalapeño, black cherry almond, and chocolate strawberry rhubarb.   Jennie really loved the cherry almond as she has already consumed the entire liter of it on two days.  

The chocolate strawberry rhubarb is nice and subtle,  a good dessert kombucha.   The mango jalopeno is a great way to jump start your morning with a citrusy tang and a hint of spicy heat.  

The garden is coming in slowly, as I saw my first tomato yesterday.  Half of my tomato plants haven't grown much die to the over crowding or over shading by the cilantro mini-trees😏.   I cleared around them about two weeks ago, hoping to see better growth soon.  The plants in the front yard keyhole beds are still quite small.  Only watering once a week, but thinking I may need to up that soon.   The cages for the compost are proving to be solid, no signs of critters getting in and not visible tracks in the dirt around them. They aren't smelly either, which I'm sure my neighbors are pleased about.  H

The weather around here has been unusual.  Not many hot days yet and moderate amount of rain.   Usually I think we are hitting the 90's by now, but we have gotten several cold fronts that are keeping the temps down for us.  

Until next time....

Go outside and Get dirty!

Seeing Green on St. Patrick's Day

Finally the drizzle has stopped and the sun is shining.   So far this season I have yet to purchase any plants for my garden.  One of Jennie's friends is a retired teacher and now has a farm in east Austin. At Jennie's last Bunco meet-up, she called and asked if I would like some tomato plants. Of course I said sure any plant that's free is a good plant. Jennie came home with 14 tomato plants of different varieties.

Here is what she brought home:

Blond Koph Chen cherry

Cherokee Purple 

Kellogg's Breakfast 

Dr. Wyche's

Yoder's German

Blue cream cherry

Solar flair 

Hillbilly Potato leaf

German Pink

Creole Original 

and two other varieties that I lost the tags for.   

I put three plants per bed, mixed in to the already abundant cilantro plants growing. I planted 7 of the 19 acorn squash plants that I started from produce bought at HEB.   

The Brussels sprouts are coming up nicely and a few watermelon seedlings have sprouted as well.  Just need a place to put them now. 

One place is the bed I moved next to my patio.  I just need some dirt for it as well as the two keyhole garden beds I built this week for my front yard.   

The idea behind keyhole gardening is to use less water. You build a tall structure with layers of sticks, cardboard, newspaper, leaves, grass clippings, and anything else that will hold water, and then top off the top with 6" of good soil.  In the center you create a place to put in compost and containing leftovers from kitchen scraps and leaves and other grass clippings.  When watering your beds all you do is water the center compost area. When watering, water only the center compost pile so the nutrients from the compost will travel out to your plants surrounding it, giving all your plants what they need.  I used the corrugated tin and cedar 4x4s, to make them appealing and long lasting.   I had some leftover tin so I made a small planter box for under the window.  

I just need to fill them with soil and cap the perimeter of the tops to hid the edges of the sharp tin. 

For what to put into the small window box, I have noticed that the Asian lily that my mother gave me years ago is a pretty hardy plant.  I don't water it at all and it keeps coming back year after year.  So my last trip to Lowe's, I found several on their clearance racks, so I bought 3 different color varieties and a few other perennial   flowers to plant together.  I am not much of a flower gardener, but recently I have noticed several bees and butterflies around my house.  I dream of one day getting fresh honey from my backyard.  One project at a time.  

I'm a little worried about the trees I bought last fall for clearance at HEB.  Out of seven trees, I'm for sure one didn't make it (apple), but the others are really taking their time sprouting new growth. 

I've spent a fair amount of time dividing transplanting my lilies and cannas to new spots around the homestead to test the amount of sun exposure in areas.  

The only money I have spent this season for my garden has been the materials for the front yard keyhole garden beds and a bag of potting mix to start my seeds from grocery store produce.  I am attempting and doing my best to minimize the dollar amount spent on my garden and trying to see how far I can go with what I already have or what I can find for free to reuse or repurpose.

I've been motivated by the recent viewing of a documentary called "The Minimalists" (currently available on Netflix) and rereading a great book called "Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action" by ER medical doctor turned author, Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth.

Well, until next time...

Go garden and Get Dirty!

New month= new experiments

So the kombucha is still going strong in my house.   I drink it every day.   So after talking with my brother a few weeks ago, he shared with me that he tried some coffee kombucha and really loved it. The idea that had come to my mind about a month earlier but since I'm not a coffee drinker her I wasn't sure how to proceed or how I would even know if it was good or not. I decided to give it a try and used just some medium roast coffee from the local grocery store.  My wife texted me this morning saying that it was good!   

Other flavors this time are grapefruit kombucha and a jalopeno kombucha. I wanted to do a pepper flavor every since my wife and I enjoyed a ghost pepper ipa at a brewery in Tyler, Tx.  If you're every in the area, stop by True Vine brewery for a pint.  They always have about 5-7 taps with a variety of choices.  Both the grapefruit and the jalopeno turned out great. 

As you can tell, the jalopeno is almost gone and the coffee is not far behind.  

As far as my gardening for this season, I've been saving seeds from produce bought at the store (organic produce) and planted them about two weeks ago. So far I've got seedlings of acorn squash, butternut squash, watermelon, and bell pepper. From seed packets I've got Brussels sprouts.  The jalopenos and artichokes still haven't sprouted yet.  

I transplanted the fig tree further away from the house and divided my cannas and lilies to other parts of the yard.  

We've been enjoying the wild rogue cilantro that has taken over the beds in the backyard.   Pesto, salsa, and any other meal has enjoyed the added flavor of cilantro in it.  

This spring break my goal is to construct nice beds (keyhole design idea) in the front yard, using corrugated tin and cedar posts.

Until next time...

Go Garden and Get Dirty!

Goodbye Sweet Cassie girl...

After 9 years, we had to say good bye to our sweet little girl, Cassie.   After struggling with a mass on her spleen and anemia, we were informed that a surgery would be a long shot for survival.  So with heavy hearts, we didn't want her to be in any pain, we kissed her goodbye and reminded her that she was the best dog ever, that she was smart and brave, and a survivor.  She survived and overcame having many seizures, paralysis in her hind legs, and living with 2 cats.   She lived a good life, 11 years of being spoiled and well-loved.  She loved taking walks every morning and every afternoon, and when I couldn't do it, she would let me know that she was disappointed by peeing on the floor. She always loved hanging out and lying in the sun while I worked in the yard. She was a smart girl who learned to shake, give a high-five, sit, lay, and ring a bell that hung on the door knob to let us know that she wanted/needed to go outside.  She was spoiled, as she couldn't stand staying outside for more than a few minutes if neither Jennie or I were out their with her.  She would run outside and then every few seconds would look back at the door to see if we were still standing there to watch her.  She was as loyal to us as anyone could be.

I am going to miss my morning wake-ups when she would lovingly put her muzzle up against my cheek to wake me up and say good morning daddy. I am going to miss her happy face when I come home from anywhere.  No matter how long I was gone, she was always happy to see us.  I am going to miss how she would go crazy with excitement when I got home and she would jump on the bed and try to dive or bury herself in the messed up sheets.  And even though I tried so hard to get her to fetch a ball or stick, the only thing she loved the most was her toy stuffed bunny.  She would toss it up in the air, telling us that she wanted to play; and after a few throws, she would satisfied.  I am going to miss how she would always try to protect either Jennie or I from each other when we kissed each other goodbye.  We never could tell who she was jealous over, which was even more a reason we loved her so much.  I am going to miss how she always tried to help out around the house by trying to keep her brother and sister (cats) from clawing up the furniture, breaking them up when they started to play fight, or when they jumped on the kitchen counters.  I am going to miss how she always knew when a camera was out; as she would shy away from it, almost making it a challenge to get a good picture of her.  I am going to miss how she would always take the little advantages to go outside with me even when it was just taking trash to the trashcan.  I am going to miss her loyalty to us, as when we did take her to a dog park, she would run around, but wouldn't play with any other dog because she was to focused on making sure that we were ok.  I am going to always remember the time at my parents land that she ran full speed around their pond and then suddenly did a superman dive straight into the water... and she had always hated water and didn't like it after that either.  I will miss her little paws moving and her little barking nips she made while she slept and dreamed either on her comfy dog bed or at the foot of our bed.  I will miss that at the end of the night, when we were ready for bed, all we had to say was "who's ready for bed?" and she would want to go outside to potty and then run straight to the bedroom with a big ol' smile on her face.  I will miss how happy she would get when it was time to go for a car ride.  I will miss how when you were sitting on the couch, she would come over and hike her back leg over your foot because she wanted you to rub her behind.  She was a funny little girl, and because she was an anxious and anti-social breed, when she did this move, you would know that she trusted you and liked you.

I am glad that in her last days, we were able take a final walk to the park and visited Dominick, a lab friend of hers, one last time.   She got to spend one last time in Longview to see her grandparents out in the country.  I am glad that she wasn't in much pain and not alone when she passed away, that Jennie and I were there to comfort her and praise her until her last breathe.

We buried her in one of her favorite sunny spots under our big ash tree in the backyard, so that she will continue to look over (and protect) her yard and owners, as she liked to think she did every time she went outside.

It's amazing how close the bond can be between a human and their pet, as it becomes evident at this time in your life.  We will always remember and love you, sweet little Cassie girl.  You will always have a piece of our hearts.