14 years of Sweetpea

fed sweetpea part of a zucchini


i think she likes it


sweetpea is 14 years old this month


durango bee marigold


safari red marigold

zucchini tots

spaghetti squash and first monster zucchini


spaghetti squash


first step in using a monster zucchini, peel it. i think the peeling is gross and havent liked it on any zucchini i've ever eaten.


scrape the seeds out. i think the seeds and middle part are gross and havent liked that part on any zucchini i've ever eaten. its gets too mushy in contrast to the flesh of the zucchini. the difference in texture is what grosses me out. monster zucchini have PLENTY of flesh left behind when you scrape out the seeds. thats why i grow them to monster size instead of dainty little store sized ones. more of what i like, less of what i dislike.


with that much zucchini to shred, its best to use a food processor or you'll wear your arms out


this zucchini yielded 7 cups shredded


mixing up zucchini tots


drop by spoonful onto parchment paper


flip over halfway thru baking


they were crispy on the outside, but a little soft on the inside. i think i should have made them smaller, or flatter.


finished product


but that only used up 1 cup of zucchini. still had 6 cups left!


so i bagged it up, 2 cups each bag


and flattened the bags for better stacking/storage in the fridge


ZUCCHINI TOTS

(like a tater tot but with zucchini instead of potato)

Ingredients:
cooking spray
1 packed cup grated zucchini
1 large egg
1/4 medium onion, minced
1/4 cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (i used regular cheddar cheese)
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. (i used parchment paper instead)

Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel until you have 1 packed cup. Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini, there will be a lot of water. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, turning halfway though cooking until golden.

Makes about 12 tots, depending on how big you make them. dont make them too big.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/07/zucchini-tots.html
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872218494157/

last pear thinning

thinned 5 more pears from the luscious tree. last thinning. only 13 pears left on the luscious tree. they are still the smallest of all four different trees.

a little bit of everything

thinned 5 more luscious pears off the tree. they're only 1" long. down to 18 on that tree.


the first green beans of the season


new pushbutton doorknob lock from the garage to the backyard. i'm always finding myself locked out of this door without the key, wanting to get from the backyard into the garage. then i have to go around thru the porch into the house and back out thru the garage. then i end up forgetting i unlocked it and leaving the stupid door unlocked. this way i can get in and out easily, keep the door locked, and not be so frustrated at being locked out again.


the first zucchini i harvested. i got 7 cups of shredded zucchini out of this one.


the three sedum i bought this year. two are doing great, the bottom one seemed to be dying, but then put up new leaves in the middle.


homemade strawberry pie (in a store bought shortbread crumb crust, like a graham cracker crust, but better for strawberries)

harvesting rye

i harvested the rye. pulled it out by the roots, dragged it over to the shade, and used a scissors to chop off the heads.


puppy came to investigate while i was trying to take a picture




my old camera wasnt cooperating, this was as close up as i could take a photo. i'd have liked to get a REAL close up of the seeds as they stuck out of the husk at the time when they were good and ready. something to reference if i grow rye again. but i couldnt.


after, i laid the stems back over where they were grown, to help prevent weeds from sprouting. this is only about half the stalks, the rest went in my compost bin.


the rye seed i harvested. this was as close up as my old camera could get.


the jar on the left is a quart size canning jar. picture from my dads camera since the buttons on mine werent working

mid july pictures

close up of zucchini flower


raised bed garden, sugar beets down in front, ground cherries on left, zucchini on right,


bellflower


raspberries


more sunflower pictures. you can see the heads forming


sugar beets starting to get big


the monster volunteer sunflower, and the zucchini behind it


it has 6 heads! and it kept growing more! i had to start pulling the extra heads off so it'd put energy into the ones it already has.


tomatoes. these 'iron lady' must be determinate. they're SO SHORT compared to indeterminate amish paste tomatoes i'm used to growing.


the end of the peas


the two metal trellises i got to shore up the mesh trellis that slid down under the weight of the beans


i planted some purple coneflowers for my dad. the seed packet said to start in summer. well i did, and they're just not doing much of anything. over a month along here in this photo.

MORE pear thinning

parker pears


17 more parker removed - 39 remain
12 more luscious removed - 26 remain

this time i thinned to 6" between each pear.

i still think i need to thin the luscious more. think the parker might be ok now.

with all i've taken off the parker tree, it looks like the tree had closer to 218 pears to start with rather than the 179 i thought i counted. its HARD counting the pears on the trees.

the luscious tree was closer. i thought i had around 65 to start with, looks like it might have been 79 or so.


parker pear tree


summercrisp pear tree


summercrisp pears


patten pear tree


patten pear


luscious pear


nylons and rocks are working well as weights on the branches of the luscious pear tree


the same tree last year. this tree in particular seems bound and determined to be as vertical and crowded as possible.