It's me again. Been awhile. Sorry, I haven't been feeling the best; think I got a bit too much sun a couple days ago, and it's been wreaking havoc, as you can imagine.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Ok, I'll admit, I feel like crap. I got up this morning with a horrid, throbbing headache, and a queasy tummy. I wish if I had to have a "hangover", there might have been a few good martinis the night before to cause it! So not fair. Maybe I'm just paying in advance for card night at Mary and Brian's tonight, I dunno.
So the base had sod laid in our yard a few days ago...very nice. I actually have a LAWN, instead of a lot of dirt and rocks with a little grass. Not a whole lot would grow in the yard, mostly because of the very poor drainage. We basically live on a small spit of land that used to be swamp before it was filled in. But it's still very low, especially where we are, which is maybe only 1/4 of a mile from the water, and before they built these houses last year the area between my house and the house next door was a runoff ditch...almost a small creek. They filled it in...sort of.  Every time it rains, that area fills with water from our backyard gutter, side gutter, the neighbors' gutters, and runoff from the field behind us, and it runs into the front yard, gets dammed up by the sidewalk and basically floods our front yard. Well, now they've laid sod, and it looks great. However, they didn't fix the drainage problem before they laid it...landscaping idiocy. We had a good old-fashioned thunderstorm/torrential downpour for most of the afternoon and evening last night, and guess what? Flooded sod. I can see this is going to be a problem. Not only did the "ditch area" flood, but aaalllll that water built up at the edge of the sod(because they didn't sod the entire side yard, only half) and now there's a lake. Idiots. We've told them about the drainage issues here, but they've never done anything to fix it-just yelled at us about the lawn and told us to throw out more seed(wait...I thought it was base housing's job to tend the areas of lawn outside the back fence?). Good job, AMCC. 
So payday is on Wednesday, and I'm excited to get my tomatoes. I've been hunting for good sauce recipes for canning, but  not finding much that I like. Guess I'm going to have to improvise...HOORAY! I think I'm going to can some chili starter, too, along with whole, diced, and crushed tomatoes, and plain tomato sauce.
I am secretly hoping I will have enough left in my budget to get some peaches, too. Some peach jam, and canned peaches will be great this coming winter! I'm thinking about going over to my folks' next month and picking some blackberries, too. I refuse to pay for blackberries when I know I can get them free for the picking, you know? 
Today, I'm especially glad for this blog...writing always clears my head. I think I'm starting to feel better, although I' pretty sure the Excedrin had something to do with that...


Okay, I have some "new yard" pictures(pre-flood). 

So, all work has been finished for the time being, and I can devote myself to this late version of  Herb of the Week. Sorry to all of you who had to wait! At the studio, we're switching from a traditional hosted website, which is outrageously expensive, even when you design it yourself, to a blog format. So I spent a good portion of my waking hours yesterday working on graphics for the new MAC Photography blog pages...not hard, but wickedly time consuming.

...and I had to answer. Sorry! Herb of the Week will be posted tomorrow....today work called, and I've been busy with "work stuff" all day and into the night. I'm pooped, and the thought of a huge article to write just sounds tiring! Off to bed, 


MandaMac

Ha! I seem to have gone mad about jams and jellies...I can't seem to stop making the stuff! Good thing my hubby like jelly on everything....or we'd permanently have jelly up to our eyeballs! Today I decided to make some lavender-lemon jelly. I had some culinary lavender hanging around, and it just seemed like the thing to do...
Ok, so I tried to be a bit more diligent in the taking of pictures today and documenting my process, but ADD me still missed a few things, so bear with me.

I said I was going to try to make some jam, didn't I? So I gave it a try today with some plums I bought from the grocery store...trial batch. It went pretty good, and I got seven jars out of it. It's kind of a not nice process for people like me who have "sticky issues".....waaaay to much stickiness. Smells like heaven, though, and should taste just as wonderful.  
I took a few pictures of the process to share:

So, it's been a long stormy weekend here! This is my favorite time of year-I love storms!
Some of you may know, but not everyone-that I also LOVE pitchers.  I have some sort of weird fascination with them. So I was online today, looking for a new one to add to my collection. There are some pretty awesome pitchers out there; it's so hard to choose! I don't really like some of the really delicate porcelain or thin ceramic ones, although there are some pretty ones I wouldn't mind having. What I really adore are pottery, heavy ceramic, stoneware or hand-blown ones(I also have a passion for old pottery and earthenware mixing bowls, but that's a whole other post for another day.). Here are three of my favorites that I use every day:

Ok, so today I was GOING to make some plum jam, lavender jelly and hibiscus jelly. Made sure I bought more jelly jars, pectin, fruit, everything ready to go.....except I forgot to get lemon juice. Seriously? I think all that Chinese food we ate before grocery shopping poisoned my brain. I had my day all planned around making jam, and now it's thrown my whole schedule off. And I don't know what ya'll know about us ADD people, but we don't handle sudden schedule changes very well, lol. Bah. 

Tomatoes: Patio, Pixie, Tiny Tim, Saladette, Toy Boy, Spring Giant, Tumbling Tom, Small Fry  Peppers: Yolo Wonder, Keystone Resistant Giant, Canape, (Hot) Red Cherry, Jalapeno  Eggplant: Florida Market, Black Beauty, Long Tom  Squash: Dixie, Gold Neck, Early Prolific Straightneck, (Green) Zucco, Diplomat, Senator  Leaf Lettuce: Buttercrunch, Salad Bowl, Romaine, Dark Green Boston, Ruby, Bibb  Green Onions: Beltsville Bunching, Crysal Wax, Evergreen Bunching  Green Beans: Topcrop, Greencrop, Contender, (Pole) Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder  Radishes: Cherry Belle, Scarlet Globe, (White) Icicle  Parsley: Evergreen, Moss Curled  Cucumbers: Burpless, Liberty, Early Pik, Crispy, Salty

You can also grow carrots, blueberries, blackberries, and even some dwarf varieties of corn in containers, too. Also good for containers are cherries,  figs, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, potatoes and plums.

There are a few things to remember when container gardening. One is pot size. You must make sure that each variety of vegetable has the right amount of room for proper root development. Any container will do; I've seen people use old nursery pots(although the dark color can cause problems with root development if they get too hot.), terra cotta planters, old pottery bowls, woven baskets, and even old furniture....a gal I know used an old book case. She drilled drainage holes in the back of the bookcase, and laid it on it's back, then filled the spaces with soil. Drawers, plastic bins, galvanized tubs...the list of possible  containers is endless. 

Cucumbers

Another thing to consider is location. If you plan on growing vining plants like runner beans, squash or cucumbers, consider planting them in a window box where they can trail, or placing their containers on the edge of a retaining wall, or on an old chair.
Lastly, keep in mind that plants in containers need more frequent watering than ones in the ground. Check your containers frequently to make sure your veggies are getting plenty of food and water.  On the plus side, vegetables grown in containers take up minimal space, have fewer weeds, and are less susceptable  to pests and disease.
so get going on your container gardens, and you will have fresh veggies all summer, and maybe even into the fall!


MandaMac

Bait and Tackle Salad

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• 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
• 2 small zucchini, coarsely chopped
• 2 small yellow summer squash, coarsley chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash and cilantro. In a blender, combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. White processing, gradually add oil. Drizzle over vegetables; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

        

                            * www.allrecipes.com

*http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/container/container.htmL 
*http://containergardeningtips.com/vegetables-and-fruit-for-container-gardens/


Picture credits:
*http://www.healthy-green-lifestyle.com/vegetable-container-gardening.html
*http://containergardeningtips.com/vegetables-and-fruit-for-container-gardens/
*http://achingdebts.com/containers-for-a-vegetable-garden/
*http://goflorida.about.com/od/specialevents/ig/2008-Flower---Garden-Festival/Vegetable-Gardening-in-Pots.htm
*http://www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-veggies/container-vegetable-gardening-00418000067113/
*http://jimmycrackedcorn.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/potted-cucumbers/