DANNY--you can't eat onions and garlic!! I'd say that's one of your sensibilities. For me, onions and garlic are mandatory staples. (Along with sour cream, cheese, ketchup, and a few other condiments.) I prefer to try genuine ethic foods, rather than Americanized, though while I appreciate many various Mexican foods, also love Tex-Mex. And love Cajun!

I'd like to have a treadmill, Megan, but don't want to spend any money--in case I would lose interest after a time.

None of my late growers have died yet, but if it dips to 24 or so, expect they will. Swiss chard and mustard look great. So do garlic and cilantro and parsley.

Speaking of German potato salad, I've made a version several times. . . very sweet/sour. guess I'll keep looking.

I've been baking. . . much more to do, but so far have boozed and wrapped the gorgeous dark fruitcakes, and baked and decorated 8 1/2 dozen cutout sugar cookies, which is torture . About the last 3, I start getting pretty comfortable. So told GDW maybe I could do another several dozen. (Really???? Maybe.) . Otherwise easy baking stuff. BUT, only 3 more days to get it done.

Have a great week, all. . . XOXO

Nancy, check thrift stores in March or April. All the people who bought treadmills for their new year's resolutions will be getting rid of them by then. So you could pick one up for cheap.

That is an excellent suggestion and probably quite true.

Nancy, sometimes you can find things like that on marketplace for cheap, cheap. If you decide you don't like it, you can resell it.

Can we see pics of your fruitcakes? I've never made them.

I am lost today. It's rare to not have to rush around to get things done. My house is mostly clean, laundry is mostly done. I don't really need to bake anything because I made spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting yesterday. We don't need lots of sweets sitting around. The cupcakes are so good, but the recipe made so many. Only M & M and my Mom came for lunch yesterday. Lots of leftovers. I'm sad my sister's family didn't come.

I found a really good recipe that uses kale and other garden foods. If anyone is interested, I can share it. It's very "holiday" to me. The dressing part made way too much though. WAY too much. I had to drain the salad twice and it was still too much. Honestly, had I been thinking clearly, I would have drained it into a bowl (instead of the sink) and use it for the next salad. Delicious. I'm irritated at the recipe, though, because I literally wasted honey and olive oil. Quality olive oil and local honey isn't cheap. Next time I make it, I'll remember to cut the dressing recipe in half or maybe only make a third of it.

So, if you like chopped kale salads, let me know and I'll link it here. But, cut the dressing by a lot.

I almost got out the seed planning/buying journal, but decided against it. I'll wait until next week. I do have to work next Monday and a couple of hours tomorrow and that is it until January 2. :D

Jen, if you're available next week, maybe Tom and I can drive that thing out to you. I don't know what to call it. lol.

And, Moni, I'm going to visit my friend tomorrow. She lives near 23rd st. so I'll be fairly close to you. I'll drop off your gloves. I'll just put them in your mailbox if that's okay.

I'm wondering if ethic foods are more moral than others. wink wink Nancy. But then on H/J's theme, maybe they are, being moral, not full of stuff we shouldn't eat? I used to be able to tolerate "hot" foods. In high school I even put the hot pepper flakes on pizza. In my 20's jalapeno peppers in salsa. Now, no hot peppers. Even too much black pepper bothers me. And it's not just my mouth, but my stomach will burn, too. I thought Moni's comment meant the SPELLING was Americanized. I'm sure it was, because Googling brought up Danny's spelling. Ron tried to make the breaded pork loins once. Not as good. Home fried foods are too greasy. I never fried. I made chicken fried steak a few times, but I baked chicken. I'll saute or stir fry, but i don't think I ever made fried chicken. I used to buy a frozen skinless fried chicken that you just heated up. Now we air fry. Of course the dark mushroom gravy is the best part of the dish, LOL.

Happy holidays to you, too, Megan!

Larry, cute puppy. So is the dog your grandson (sometimes we make them family) or is the grandson not in the picture?

I have eaten genuine tamales made by a Mexican woman (her daughter in law told me I didn't want to know what was in them), but restaurant varieties are nasty. On the other hand I'm afraid to try Thai or other known spicy foods. I had Pho the last time I was sick. It was a kids "plate", so nothing hot. I love the unami of pho and miso soup. I suppose they put MSG in them. My mother used to get bad vertigo from MSG, and I watch it and try not to get too much. I'm rambling.

There was frost on the broccoli when I got up, we'll see if it survived. They look ok now.

Ron uses his grandmother's recipe for potato salad. This is not German potato salad and though she was Polish probably not a Polish version.Trouble is, he learned from watching. It's not written down, though Niki tried once. So it's a pinch of this and a dash of that, etc.

H/J, of course we want your recipe.

How can it possibly be Monday? And 4 days to Christmas?

Since Christmas at my mothers years ago ended it just isn’t the same. She has such a flare for hosting holidays and parties. I miss that. I tried to take it over but since I can’t host anything at my house it doesn’t really work.
Jennifer since I am not buying anything for Christmas I have plenty of time for seeds and inventory. I will be doing something fun with grandkids but my gift is fixing my van ;)

I am ready for new year new hoop house and growing lovely things. My new favorite is tea garden. I love hot tea and I will be growing under cover to assure success.

Hmmm, ethical food conjures up ideas about a discussion I'm not that interested in right now. and you? Lemon cookies and Mexican wedding cookies on the slate today. Your mention of ethnic foods, Amy, woke up my taste buds! I need some good Cajun! Jambalaya, yeah! I have some great ethnic cookbooks-- Paul Prudhomme cajun cookbook, Mark Miller Indian Market cookbook (from Santa Fe's Coyote Cafe), Damon Lee Fowler one on southern cooking, Pat Conroy (yes, the author--a fun book), Basque Country cookbook; Julia Child on French cooking. . .in fact, most of the ones I have are ethnic. I don't have a Mexican one! Sigh. So many cookbooks to browse through, so little time. German Traditional (the recipes are in English, but the dishes go by their German names, most of which I can't pronounce), and anecdotes. I did have a great Mexican one that was more of a magazine--I cannot find it! The German one has Bavarian potato salad. Sounds much like the one I tried several years ago, served at room temp with a sweet/sour dressing.

HJ, 3 photos on the fruitcakes. I had to enlist Garry's help stirring the mixture on the stove--that stuff was SO thick and hard to stir! It took 18 cups of fruit, 2 of chopped walnuts, and only 2 2/3 c of flour! (Lots and lots of yummy spices) Liquids that contributed were black coffee, molasses, orange juice and eggs. I used the medium sized foil loaf pans, not the large ones. Those small loafs weight right at 2 1/4 lbs each! They're heavy! (They're soaked in bourbon or spiced rum, too.)

Pictures are Garry stirring, the mixture poured into the loaf pans ready to be baked, and now. After they're baked, they're soaked with the liquor by poking holes through the loaves--I use a skewer. Then they're wrapped in cheesecloth and then wrapped in plastic wrap. The last pic shows one from the top and one from the bottom.

Yes, the dog you see in the picture is my grandson, he could not come to visit when we had our baby. Our baby hated everything with 4 legs, and many with just two legs, he even tried to chase the birds that flew low overhead. Our baby was never off the leash outside, for good reason. My dog grandson loves everyone, and is anybody's dog.

I love potato salad. Mom made it like mashed potatoes ( which I like ), Madge makes it like that now most of the time. I love Pinto beans, corn bread and mashed potatoes. I think I have had German potato salad, and I am sure I liked it, but the old "Red Neck " is hard to beat.

Jennifer, I would love to know how you fix kale, I am still working with Madge, trying to get her to use more of what I grow. When Madge and I were married, her kids were quicker to get stuff out of the garden than she was. I love to garden, but I hate not seeing the produce used. I feel that I have come a long way at trying to produce food that last for several month, and hope to get better.

Nancy, I guess I was watching the news and missed your post, but I love the pictures of your fruit cakes, I love just about any fruit cake. Mom use to make a no-bake fruit cake that looked a lot like yours, but it cost a fortune for everything that went in it. and it was too hard to mix, Madge and I don't try to make it anymore.

Talking about things being hard to mix. We have a Kitchen Aid mixer out in the shop that I need to replace the gears in. Madge stripped the gears trying to make Nut Meat, her Nut Meat tradition is one tradition I was glad to see her stop.

Oh NOOO! Can you fix it, Mr. Fixer? I don't know Nut Meat. ??

And YEAH it's hard to mix!!! Darn near gave me a heart attack trying to stir. So definitely you shouldn't be doing it now! :) I'll send ya one.

I took a note from Amy's playbook and added kale to one of my soups several days ago. Hmmm. Must have been chicken and noodle. And it wasn't half bad, Amy! Both GDW and I know how good it is for us, so agreed we'd start adding it often to our broth-based soups.

And yes, Jennifer--kale salad recipe, please.

And to your potato salad, Larry. Great deli/restaurant in Mpls made a potato salad with, not mashed potatoes, but definitely smashed up potatoes. It had lots of sour cream in it, too--I LOVED it.

We have no presents to buy, either, Kim. All the cookies I'm making are for people around town and out here. We sent bunches to kids in Tulsa area and Mpls 3 years ago, but decided to forego it this year. Lots of folks in town won't have much of a Christmas, so. . .

Tea garden, Kim? Could you please tell me more about that?

Okay. . . off to bake more cookies.

Nancy, the gears in a Kitchen Aid are easy to replace. I think they are designed to strip to protect the mixer and hand if it gets caught. There is a nylon gear that rides on a worm drive from the motor, The nylon gear will strip. The nylon gear use to cost between 5 and 10 bucks. Madge's kids bought her a new mixer before I could repair the old one. Our kids are always looking for something to buy us for presents, at our age we already have about anything we need, and WAY too much clutter sitting around.

I am not sure Madge's potato salad always has the same stuff in it, she often just uses what we have on hand. The potato salad always has onion in it ( I am not sure Madge does not put onion in her pies and cakes ), It also has sour cream, or other types of cream, pickle relish, boiled eggs and different seasoning. I can more detail from Madge, but it is really nothing special, but to me very taste. I think mustard and mayo is in it also. You can tell that I know nothing about cooking.

oooooooo. . . .sounds like my kinda potato salad!! So are you telling me that when you get the old one fixed, you'll have two???? If you fix it, I'd be interested in buying it!! I got into a big feud with them last year and swore off them. BUT. . . . I'd love to have another mixer--I have a lovely DIL I could send one to.

Amy, I know! How is it already the week of Christmas?! It feels like we're about to start December--those days between Thanksgiving and December 1.

But, it's not.

Kim, the holiday season is feeling odd this year for us. But we've had some sad things happen in my extended family. The weight of that is felt for sure.

Changes are hard. I knew two years ago, it would be the last year our daughter would stay the night with us on Christmas Eve. It's funny how there's certain times in your child's life that are your favorites. One is her time as a young adult on her own. She's married now and we don't see her as often. She has her own life, which is the goal, of course. But I just really enjoyed that time.

It's not the same as you missing Christmas at your Mom's, though. Hugs to you!

And please keep us updated about your tea garden. That is something I've wanted to do as well.

Nancy, those fruitcakes must be worth about $100 each! Wow! What an effort. I'm so impressed. Thank you for sharing your pictures.

Kale is good slipped into soups and casseroles.

Here's the recipe. Like, I said in the other post, do NOT make that much dressing. Kale Holiday Salad

I like this recipe. A proper homesteader could grow/raise many of the ingredients on her own property.

We have a pecan tree, kale and radishes are in the garden (I added some shredded carrot too). IF I had honeybees, I could use my own honey. IF I had a milk goat, I could use my own feta. Honestly, I could possibly make the mustard AND apple cider vinegar. I do have two columnar apple trees. Lemons would be tough. Cranberries and olive oil--no.

Anyway. I'm a weirdo and think about things like that. I hate to waste garden produce too, Larry.

And, I want a milk goat and bees. AND a miniature milk cow too. But, I have a job...two jobs. So, no.

We went to buy the groceries for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Picked over. No half and half. No buttermilk. No Crispix for puppy chow.

HJ, you're welcome to come out any time. Just let me know when you're free. We have a houseful of guests so we won't be going anywhere, and having dogs means no one wants to come to our place, either. So if you feel like coming, feel free.

I started going through all my seeds a few weeks back, and will probably start planning for seed starting while I'm off for the holidays.

Jennifer it seems to be a weird year. I am so thankful for all my kids and grandkids. And we have some great get together planned. Being sick is taking a toll on me. And I love to cook bake and give gifts and I can’t do any of that. Pity party over.
I will focus on what I can do.
So far for the tea garden I have
Mint
Agastache rose mint
Agastache Navajo sunset
Basil
Basil blue
Basil tulsi
Marshmallow
Sweet pea blue
Chamomile
Stevia
That’s all I can think of

The kale salad--grand champion winner!!! Thank you, HJ!

I'm so far behind on baking. Mexican wedding cookies, fruitcakes, and decorated sugar cookies done: Tomorrow's assignment: oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip (or triple chocolate chip), to be assembled and made. Lemon cookies to be made. I must say, I'm thinking those lemon ones are going to be dyNOmite! I always hated baking cookies. What the heck is going on! Well, must be retirement. When I worked my tail off for 40 years, could not stand to spend time waiting for cookies to bake. I guess I'm making up for lost time. Now not a big deal.

I won't be starting many seeds this year. The beds are filling up with re-seeders and perennials. And veggies--will be concentrating on greens and squash. In fact, I may think about selling or gifting the grow cart. I'd give it to the school, but right now their future is uncertain. . . so guess I'll keep it and wait.

Some sad and worrisome things going on in our community of friends. . . Covid, cancer, both. I've been so upset for a few weeks, stomach churning. Praying mightily .

And so , to all of you--please take care and be cautious. Hugs.

Nancy, that's what I said. Not doing all those seeds this year (again). However, my seed collection continues to grow (and it's not even January yet).
Apparently I hate leaving my house, because the babies demand watering often once a day to prevent desiccation and death. Well, I am anti-social in general, so I do stay home..but I hate to have to :)

So far, I started some Saruma in a ziplock (multiple warm/cold/warm (60 days each)...and put too much water in it, so I'm trying to dry it out by letting it evaporate a bit.
The columbines I keep saying today, but haven't put on a paper towel in a ziplock in fridge yet.

I have winecups and blue eyed grass in pots outside getting their chilling naturally. Neither of them do I want to grow indoors.

My brain refuses to reveal what else I should be doing (seed-wise)..but I'm sure there's more.

Here I am on the treadmill, nearing the end of my 1-hour walk and it’s taken me most of that time - with some interruptions of course - to catch up here. You all are busy! And not just posting.

The talk of ethic recipes reminds me just how American I am! Of course, nearly all my ancestors were colonizers. I did a DNA this summer that revealed the stories I had been told growing up about being Native American were not true. Somewhere, probably my dad’s dad’s side, I do have a third or fourth great-grandparent from what many of us today would call the Middle East. Anyhow, the recipe talk was funny because there are no handed down recipes with any sort of ethnic heritage in my family. My great grandma on one side was nicknamed Toppy, apparently because no one could top her cooking. Any of her recipes that survived went to my cousins who have never shared them despite multiple promises to.

I have more to share but the timer is telling me it’s time to get ready for work. It looks like the weather tmrw will be too cold for an outdoor walk. I only have time to walk/exercise if I get up at 5 am and it’s darn cold that time of day. So, maybe I’ll find my way back here tomorrow.

I did my morning walk around in my garden. It's cold... and no ice paintings on my cold frame windows... just solid looking frost.

Kim, quite a tea garden! Have you ever used lavender in tea? A friend of mine does, and it tastes yummy.

Jennifer, nothing new about that miniature cow... you said that before... and it stuck in my memory. :) I am home for sure till 1, if you come by early. :)

Moni

Agastache tea? I adore agastache flowers. Now I have to Google the tea! Blue Basil? Seems like I tried one and didn't like it. I was trying to grow something else. What I have on my spread sheet is blue spice Basil. I'm pretty sure I was looking for African blue, but never found it. Tulsi is good. Lavender flowers sweeten tea without sugar. Lady grey has lavender, and less bergamot (bitter) than Earl Grey.

Nancy, the school's future is uncertain?!! How horrible!

I'm glad you liked kale in soup.

We are doing Christmas Eve this year, so we may go out Christmas day. There are Asian and Indian restaurants open. We are getting hoagies from Jersey Mike's (they have a gluten free option) and Ron loves their sandwiches. He says he's going to Choteau for pie Wednesday.

The broccoli and collards are still standing despite the frost.

I have a lemon tree and a lime tree, H/J. We got about 6 limes this year and no lemons. One of them has dropped all it's leaves since we brought it indoors. I think they would do better over wintering in a green house. My house is too dry. I'm not sure about the dressing, but one of the local restaurants does a salad like that. They didn't call it feta, but goat cheese and it turns out their "goat" cheese is half cream cheese. It was wonderful, but us lactose intolerant folks just can't do that. I can do a little feta.

Merry Christmas.

I think the idea of the miniature cow is great, I have kicked the idea around a few times also, but at our age and health we feel that it is best not to be tied down with live stock.

I am tired of leasing the place out, but still don't want to care for the land, but the feeling right now is not to lease. Anything rented out is seldom cared for properly. The land is just grazed down to the dirt. The pastures cant recover when they are over grazed every year.

I need to get my seeds in order also. I hope to get thing planted on time this year. I have kept the ground bare, which I don't like to do, in hope that it will dry faster. This is a first for me, I normally grow a cover crop. I still have a cover crop of turnips in the wildlife garden, but I think my neighbor is still selling them, and I am not sure how much cover crop will be left when it is soil prep time.

Jennifer, I copied the recipe and plan on trying it.

Lavender does not like me. The real the fake the oil, none of it
I wish it did because I would love to have bundles hanging around. But no. It is not my friend

Cilantro

Something happened to my cilantro, I think the hot dry weather killed it before it got 2" tall.

I will have to go out and check if I have any arugula and radishes. I expect I still have kale, mustard, and turnips. Its warmed up to 55 and I need to get out and move around anyway.

Garry mowed over my thriving cilantro. I'm usually not one to have hard feelings, but. . . . pray for me. LOL . I did find one surviving one.

I have done 2 or so years of baking cookies in the past several days. Oddly enough, thought I swore I'd never do it again on a couple of those days, I find that I'd like to do it some more. I think that's hilarious. But it's true. I came, I mixed, I baked, I cleaned up. And still I think I'd like to do more. You're not the only weird one around here, Jennifer. I'll call your weird and raise you 5.

I baked a LOT of stuff today. . . called my beloved DIL in Mpls to make sure I had her chocolate chip recipe, and found out they were going to spend the day baking too. (DIL, grandson and girlfriend, and granddaughter.) We traded skylight frames for Xmas presents, and so we sent each other (DIL and granddaughter) pictures all day.

I miss them so very much--haven't seen them in person in over 2 years. I'm going up at the first possible opportunity after February.

I got up early today--we went in to pick up groceries (mostly just for the raisins! LOL), then back, and nose to the grindstone with baking--4 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 5 dozen oatmeal raisin, and 3 dozen lemon cookies. Then I called it quits. Uncle! (Remember crying Uncle?) . Took me another hour or more to clean up the kitchen. This was on top of 9 dozen decorated sugar cookies and 3 dozen Mexican wedding cookies. What amazed me was that I was NOT worn out. I felt so energized after I got the kitchen all cleaned up that I went outside and did a an even more energizing walk-around.

One funny thing. Tiny always meets me outdoors--he's happy for company--and so he always does the walk arounds with me. I left the raised veggie beds and he left with me. Then I walked over to "his" post and called out to him--"Tiny! Come jump up on your post." He sallied over and sure enough jumped up. He's almost more like a dog than a cat. He's the one who is learning to travel with me on my walks. Very interesting.

Egyptian walking onions are growing well--of course! They're not native! Ditto with malva sylvestris (hollyhock zebrina)--I am thinking this is one I need to severely curtail, as it's growing very happily in several places. Red mustard. I must find a way to prepare this for eating because it's very prolific.

Okay. . . later, friends.

I have one more day of work then off Thurs & Fri for the holiday. I really need to get busy baking. I'm not nearly as ambitious as Nancy, I'm just making treats for our clients, my dad, & us. Possibly our new neighbor, since she was gracious enough to gift me with a dozen fresh eggs as a housewarming gift. Christmas crack, peanut butter balls, fudge, and possibly peanut brittle. And puppy cookies (can't forget the kids!)

Nancy, those pictures are lies. You have no cats. I was there for about five hours and I saw no cats. Did anyone else see a single cat while visiting ? *lol*

As everyone gets really busy at this time of year, Happy Holidays!

Here I am back on the treadmill. I set out to do a 40 minute leg workout and it had me crying Uncle in about 15 minutes. Amazing how quickly we lose our muscle as we age! There was a time I could let workouts slip for months and jump back in as strong as ever. Anymore, if I let things slip for a few weeks, I feel like I’m starting over from zero.

I gave up baking for the most part when I went gluten free. Felt overwhelming to learn a new way of eating AND baking. So I set baking to the side and have realized that I am less frazzled. I stop and enjoy birthdays and holidays instead of stressing over desserts. I will pick it up again someday as it was the right kind of challenging for me - much like gardening in that sense.

However, I do enjoy watching videos where amateur bakers recreate old recipes. Some spend a lot of time going into the history of the recipe and what likely contributed to its creation, ex: the depression and water pie. Others just whip up the recipe and react to tasting the finished product. If you’re ever looking for a YouTube rabbit hole, those are worth checking out.

I did my garden diagramming over the summer, knowing that fall was my busiest time of year at work and I wouldn’t have time or energy for it if I waited. I need to have it done by Oct every year to know where to put my garlic so I won’t be lamenting it’s placement later. I have decided that I will grow fewer tomatoes and peppers this year so that I can do some crop rotation. Interesting thing is that, even taking out some of those, I’m still at a loss for space and Eve more baffled that I managed to get them in before.

I got hooked on British gardening programs early this year and those have me eager to grow fruit. I would really like to grow esperiled (? Sp) fruit along my west facing fence but fear that Jill the tomato loving dog would decide tomatoes aren’t the only fruit she loves. Since the pits of stone fruit are toxic to dogs, my husband is discouraging this one idea. He mostly humors my gardening. When he pushes back, he’s probably right, as in this case. The only places to put fruit in the front yard would impact drainage, so no fruit trees in the near future for me.

I FINALLY finished the rain garden. That was 3 years in the making and a major redesign of plans after the ice storm last Oct took out my tree in that corner. It has been collecting water nicely all year but now is finally planted and mulched. It’s nothing to look at but a bunch of tomato cages protecting new plantings right now. Can’t wait to see what it does next year. This spring/summer it rained every single time I went out to work in the rain garden. Often it would stop when I would go indoors, so I finally started working on it in the rain and one day with rotating wall clouds overhead and news choppers monitoring the storm hovering nearby. I had hoped that when I got out a couple weeks ago to plant a few remaining plants the trend would continue. Sadly, it did not bring rain.

I have months of catching up to do but again the timer says it’s time for responsible adulting - getting ready for work. Enjoy this day everyone!

Danny I love all the gardening related things you plan on attending next year... to bad, they are so far away.

Nancy THAT picture of your cat on the pole. Postcard picture for sure!

Megan I just posted a reply on a cycling page... about me, 15/20 years ago riding with a 20+ MPH average. Yesterday I managed 10.8 and felt like I was riding hard, during the whole ride. Isn't getting older fun? LOL

Jenn, you sound very energetic to me. I bake NOTHING for Christmas.

Danny, at least one cat came out after you left.

Mowed cilantro. It wil probably make it grow taller, but stick a tomato cage over it to remind Garry it's there. This is why I can't have random plants, even along the fence. There was a clemantis here when we moved in, Ron weed whacked it till it died. I had red coffee cans over a couple of plants...he mowed over the plastic cans and all.

We're going to Choteau this morning for pie. Stockings are up, most gifts are wrapped. I think the little tree may sit on the dining room table this year. I'm feeling less stressed. I never was a baker, so that's no problem. Ron told me we're having steak for Christmas day, so that takes care of that, lol.

You all sound energetic to me. I did not even get out of the house yesterday. I plan on doing better today.

The TV just stated that we should expect a high of 75 degrees Christmas day, that ties the record high, the weather is crazy.

I admire those of you who can make a plan and stick with it. I have always just flown by the seat of my pants. If I wanted to plant something that I did not have room for, I just make another bed, or enlarge the garden. Sometimes that would run into a lot more work, but I could always find something to plant in the added space next year. It seems as though my gardens have always grown in size, and I always heard "don't plant so much", I think it is an addiction.

I have had to change my gardening methods over the years. I started like most of you, with a shovel and a hoe, and progressed to using a tractor for most of my work. If I still had to garden like I once did, my garden would be very, very, small, of none at all.

Amy, I missed your post. I got a kick out of Ron mowing thing down, Madge can do the same thing. I have a bunch of rebar, I cut it into 30" pieces to use on the tomato trellises and to use for plant and row markers. Madge and I both get a lot of use out of the rebar. I drive the rebar into the ground at the end of a row so the water hose wont drag over the plants, and Madge can drive them into the ground easier than she can push the tomato cages into the ground ( our ground can get like a sidewalk ).

Nancy, that is a very pretty cat. Madge and I have talked about getting one, but we live close to a very busy highway and would be afraid to let it outside, and we think we are too old to commit to another animal.

Danny, we have a cat my brother named the gray ghost. He lived with us for a year & a half, then again for about 8 months, & saw the cat 3 or 4 times.

Been watching a lot of youtubes on making trellises and greenhouses out of old trampolines. Previous owner left one behind so I'm trying to figure out how to reuse the parts. And a trellis or greenhouse seems like the most likely way to do so.

Jen, I've seen chicken enclosures made from old trampolines.

Larry, we bought 2' rebar pre cut at Lowes (cheap then). It will shore up the wooden sides of a bed, steady a cattle panel trellis. I fear I would trip over it on the corners of the beds, but that's a good idea.

Okay, the kale salad. I had a salad (not kale, maybe arugula) at the Amish Cheese House today. It had chicken cut small, bacon crumbles, MANDARIN ORANGES (so good) brown sugar pecans, some red lettuce and cucumbers (where they got good crisp cucumbers in December I don't know). I have to remember mandarin oranges as an ingredient. They were just canned ones, but the fresh ones would be divine. I'm only tolerant of cranberries, so this would be great. It had a poppy seed dressing I didn't even pour on, just stuck my fork in it a couple of times. It really didn't need dressing.

We got pumpkin, pecan, strawberry rhubarb and raisin pies. Also strawberry rhubarb jam, a straight rhubarb jam, a rice mix of cilantro lime and a rice mix with different varieties of rice.

I was tempted to go visit Nancy, but my phone was dead and left at home so I ccouldn't call her.

I too have bought pies from there...and their pumpkin bread! Such good stuff.

Ok Amy, I'll have to grant she has at least one cat, if you saw it ;)

Amy which agastache do you grow

Jen, I'll ask Tom what day next week works for him and we can figure out a time then.

I'm so glad you've got customers!

Kim, that's a great tea garden. I hope to do something similar if not this year, maybe next. Are you allergic to lavender?

Megan, I think NA dna doesn't always show up if it's back several generations. I read an article on that. Also, although it doesn't fit the history we've been taught, Europeans have been here for a very long time....and have probably intermingled from way back. The Lumbee tribe is interesting because their haplogroups are European. So, it's possible you have some native ancestry but it's just not showing on your ancestry report.

We've been told the same. It's hard to believe that all the stories my great, great grandma told are lies. I've found 2nd/3rd cousins through Ancestry/23andMe and they have been handed down the same information.

But, our people are colonizers too. (One line I think is Irish and newer to this country, but I have hit a wall in research.) I do show 1% Congo ancestry.

Amy, I have a lemon tree. It's in the 3rd bedroom now and it's also dropping its leaves.

My cilantro is missing this year. It always has reseeded. Not this year. I'll have to get a plant in the spring and start again.

Jen, are you going to eventually get chickens? It's great that your neighbors' chickens are still laying so well.

Tiny is SO cute, Nancy. Finbar has a post he likes to sit on too.

Megan, my friend who doesn't eat gluten, bakes with almond flour. It's really good but more expensive. However, I've been buying einkorn flour and that's not cheap either.

So, just search "amateur bakers recreate old recipes" and that should lead me to the videos? I'll have time next week to enjoy some video time.

Today has been pretty relaxing. I made some candy and finished wrapping gifts and even stuffed the stockings. Because we obviously don't do Santa any longer, I can stuff those stockings ahead of time. Keeping Josi out of them is a trick though.

We are going to a gingerbread house decorating event in a bit and then will pick up a couple of pizzas and watch a Christmas movie tonight. Either Elf or Christmas Vacation. Both make me laugh. I'll probably open up the DVD player and one of those disks are still in the player from last year. haha. I'm really behind on Christmas movie watching.

Tomorrow will be pretty chill too. I'll get Christmas Eve brunch together but that's about it.

Do any of you know much about the Lupus butterfly rash? I've developed an odd rash on my upper cheeks and my nose is reddish too. Many years ago, my blood test showed ANA, but they determined that I didn't have Lupus because of something to do with my cell strength??? I've always wondered though. Mostly because of the Raynauds and canker sores that I deal with. Anyway, the rash doesn't hurt but feels slightly tender.

Maybe it's from wearing a mask? I don't know.

Maybe I'll get around for our event now. It's sunny out but I've already cleaned up the coop and fed everyone. I feel like I want to be outside, though. Maybe Josi needs to be walked. Maybe Jennifer needs to be walked.

I am in trouble over my seeds again. Madge was digging in the freezers looking for stuff that she thought she had, and pulled out about 3 gallon of my pea and bean seeds. I did not say " there's more in there ", I just took them and said, " I will take care of these" .

I also broke a tooth eating oatmeal this morning. All I want for Christmas is two teeth replaced. The last estimate was $5000.00, I am sure it is more now. I am beginning to think that I just have too many teeth.

Larry, you just hit on one of my big complaints about the outrageous inadequacies of health care in the US. Dental health is critical in terms of our state of healthiness. Makes me crazy. Should absolutely be covered in health insurance. I had all teeth pulled and full dentures, in 2012. $14,000.00, no insurance coverage. Took app. 1 1/2 yrs to pay it off.

I have decided that greens will be my prize crops this next year. (And I haven't liked 'em, but know how good they are for me, so. I will learn to love them.)

But frankly, I have decided that I am not a die-hard passionate gardener. Not vegetables, at any rate. Certainly not with non-native plants or flowers. And I admit I am almost totally beat up with the Bermuda-encroachment problem. BUT, I'll persevere with the veggies I do love, and with all the energy I can muster up, tearing out the blasted Bermuda and weeds. And fighting the grasshoppers. God help me, please.

Yes, Amy, not sure what we'll be doing at the school. . . prayers, please. But although I love/loved doing the garden there, what it's really about is those kids. . . love em.

Most of the hardy annuals are still doing just fine out in the yard. I need to figure out how to use mustard and Swiss chard.

I value this OKGW thread and all of you who are part of it.

Nancy if you like spinach, cook the Swiss chard green part like that. :) You can cook the white part similar to asparagus. :) I just use both in stir fry dishes.

Merry Christmas all. I don't know if I have internet access the next couple days... but it will be warm, dry, windy and not at home. :)

Moni

Lost my first post.

Chard is like a cross between spinach and kale. Use it like you would either.

Your Malva sylvestris is edible.

I pulled a list of greens from my spread sheet

Cool season:

arugula, astro

Claytonia

Garden kress

Flowering brassica, Yu Choy Sum

Komatsuna

MACHE, MACHOLONG (CORNSALAD)

misome (F1)

Orach

Pac Choi, Purple Magic

Pac Choi, Red Violet Hybrid

salad burnet

spigarello lisca broccoli

Tatsoi

Tyfon

Yokatta-Na F1

Warm season:

Purslane, Golden

Jewels of Opar

Melokhiya

I've spent to long on the computer. Love you all, have a happy Christmas.

Had a great day, but it doesn't feel like Christmas Eve. Maybe it's the weather.

My sweet M & M gave me some new garden shoes and a pair of those sleeves from Farmers Defense. I've been wanting some of those. I wear a denim shirt outside even when it's 100 degrees. I'm hoping these will be cooler than the denim shirt, but still protect my arms from the sun.

Makes me feel like gardening again, except walking outside is depressing. It's so dry and gross. On Sunday, I'm hoping to take the hose and give everything a good watering.

I'm sorta feeling ya, Nancy. This gardening year was rough. The pests were awful and, yes, Bermuda is so, so, SO annoying. The YouTuber that a few of us follow--Roots and Refuge, is trying gardening a different way (than she did at her old place in Arkansas) and it involves killing huge patches of Bermuda. I'm interested to see how it works for her. I have a bad feeling she's going to be frustrated. Another YouTuber I enjoy, built a new and wonderful in ground garden this year using no till, but the thing is...she's in Washington state. Not SC like R & R (and us too).

For my mental health, I need to keep a better journal and list of things-to-do...and just be more organized in general. Baby chicks are OFF the list for this year, but that's going to be an issue because of the broodies. Starting way too many seeds is also off the list. Dealing with so many extras--their care and finding homes for them. I've let herbs and flowers and other things fall by the wayside. And keeping up with kombucha and ciders and many other things.

Grasshoppers and aphids were just out of control this year. And I have ladybugs. I grew way too many melons and I'm the only one who ate them. Frustrating. Waste of time.

So...yes. Need to be more mindful this year. I'm sure there will be a future year when I'll want to be willy nilly, but this isn't the year.

Hoping for a GREAT bean year.

2021 was rough and had its challenges, but it wasn't horrible. We got plenty of tomatoes, okra, peppers, melons. We had some nice onions, potatoes, and tomatillos. Rick built the hoop house. Tried sweet potatoes and got a few good ones.

So good things too.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll clean up my light shelf and go through seeds and start placing orders.

Amy, thanks for sharing your list!

Oh, I'll share another recipe. It's another good one where you can use your garden veggies. I used broccoli, spinach and onions from the garden. But you can use any veggies. I also used store bought carrots (my fall carrots didn't work out) and mushrooms. I always make this casserole for Christmas Eve brunch. (Along with a delightful blueberry pancake casserole).

Veggie casserole

Merry Christmas, Friends. <3

Merry Christmas to all.

Merry Christmas!

Rick

Merry Christmas to all.

Larry

Jennifer, I seldom have a problem with Bermuda anymore. I do have to fight it every year, but there are other grasses and weeds that cause me a greater problem. I just try to keep it from entering the garden from the sides. Once I got my garden pretty well bermuda free, its been pretty easy to keep it that way, but I do use glyphosate around the edges when it looks as though I may lose control, we do the flower beds the same way. At one time I kept the bermuda out by hand digging. I dont think I would be able to do that anymore.

I use hay scraps for compost, and hay as a mulch, so I am never in short supply of weeds anywhere.

It is 66 degrees at 8:00 AM Christmas day.

I called my youngest grand daughter last night and told her that Santa's reindeer got into my greens, and had diarrhea, so don't be going outside looking up. Grand daughter id 5 years old, I don't think she believes everything Papaw tells her anymore.

Well, I went on a Christmas morning walk with Jasper and dressed in jeans and shirt and I got HOT! Much fun was had..probably nothing I could have gotten him he would like better than playing in the creek and a good walk. I was surprised how many other people were doing the same on this under-construction trailway.

That's one thing I love about Arkansas, the lovely clear water creeks.

Began the week at 16, end it at mid 60s.

Santa was good to me. Weather station, garden seat & an electric canner. Now to learn how to can food.