Gettin' Ready!

July is an exciting month for Central Florida gardeners. The spring garden has burned out, though with the shade in my backyard, I still have tomatoes on the vine and I'm still picking a fresh strawberry or two.

In August, I can put out new seedlings of squash, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I can plant beans and I think I'm going to give corn another go. The last attempt was dismal! And to be ready for fall transplanting, I get to start my seeds this month! I am experimenting some with rooting cuttings from existing tomatoes. I mean, why pay for them when I can get them free? Broccoli starts a little later as do most greens. The grafting I tried on the citrus tree didn't take...I'll try again in the spring.

My worms enjoy the summer bounty of watermelon and cantaloupe rinds. I tried potato skins but discovered that fly larvae liked those. They have since become a gourmet meal for my hens. They do love maggots! LOL

The completed rabbit hutch has only one occupant at the time. "Bucky" is a young male I bought from a bunny breeder friend of mine. I bought a young female at the same time but she just didn't settle and died just a few days after I brought her home. I felt very sad that she died but truth be told, I didn't have a good feeling about her from the get go. I must learn to listen to that kind of guidance and stop second guessing my Higher Power. I dressed the bunny out for the practice though we did not eat the meat because we didn't know what caused her death. I hated to see her suffer and did all I knew to do to make her comfortable. The breeder guarantees her stock and we should be getting a couple females soon. We'll try breeding baby bunnies in the fall as rabbits don't do well in the heat.

Side story....when my kids were younger we went up to see the in-laws who happened to have rabbits. In my arrogance I just knew I could pick out two female rabbits that we could keep as pets. They were quite pretty and they stayed together in the large cage we built for them behind the shed. One day, one of the bunnies was pulling out what seemed to be all her hair! I called a friend and she told me to expect baby bunnies within the day!!!!! Obviously, I hadn't picked 2 females!!! And, as the children were not inclined to eat their pets, we got out of the bunny business.

I'm having the breeder sex my purchases this time!

To Bee or Not to Bee

My garden looks real purty this spring. Green beans are doing well as is my eggplant. Good production on both. But for all the general gardening lore talks about how much squash reproduces, I've gotten very little except what I've hand pollinated. With one or two plants, its not too bad, but if I grow a bunch, squash pimping could get a little tedious.

I think the main problem is the lack of bees. I've seen so few that the one I spied this morning surprised me. In the fall, I'll make a point of planting some flowers to attract bees. If that doesn't work, I may end up beekeeping (after we move). Even one good hive should keep the garden rockin' and rollin'.

In the meantime, I'll get my Q-tips out and .....well, you know!

A New Project

I had my 51st birthday last month but unlike so many other years, when my kids asked me what I wanted for my present, I KNEW!

My New Project....BUNNIES!!!!!!

My kids know me well though and no one actually bought me a bunny. They sent money....BUNNY MONEY!!!! HEHEHEH. I bought 3 cages which finally came in last week. And today I've been building the hutch in which to insert the cages. I've got the framework done and as soon as our afternoon pattern thunder bumpers pass, I'll get to work on the roof framing and the side weather flaps so Flopsy, Mopsy and Topsy don't get wet when it rains.

I think I've ticked my hubby off by working on this alone. Sometimes though, a person just needs to do something alone, just to prove they can. That's what I'm feeling right now. No, my construction isn't perfect but it's sound and I learned a ton working out the design alone.

When I'm finished, I will get my bunnies...2 doe and a buck...and as soon as they get old enough, we'll be in the BUNNY BUSINESS. Mostly I'm looking, as always, to be a little more self sufficient. This is a new venture, something I know about only through books and what little talking I've done with other rabbit folk. So we'll see how the plan works out!

Raining.....again!

Florida is the Sunshine State, right???? You can't convince the residents of Daytona today. It's true that 2 weeks ago we were in the middle of a drought. Now the news says we have had the wettest May on record. In the last 5 days, Daytona has gotten 27 inches of rain. Here in Winter Springs we've only gotten 13 inches.

I HAD been complaining that my rain barrels were depleted and I had to water my garden with the hose. Within 3 hours of this weather system hitting Central Florida, every rain barrel and bucket overflowed with the precious liquid. That would be nearly 500 gallons! Now I wish I had more rain barrels!!!!!

But even the rain cannot dampen my excitement about the property we hope to buy. What makes it even funner (is that a word?) is that my husband seems to be "on board" with the idea of moving into the country. We talked for quite a while about what we want in the new house and that we would probably build the barn at the same time. And I can hardly believe we're talking about this and that there is a real possibility of this actually happening!

One of the things I would like in the master bath is a free form, walk in shower. We had one in our hotel room in Jamaica and I loved it. Basically, the shower is the width of bathroom. The window in Jamaica had a shutter system so we had privacy but could also have a view. Very lovely. Anyway, no shower curtain or shower door block the entrance so getting in and out of the shower is nothing more than walking in. If by some chance a wheelchair needs access, it is no problem. The toilet would be a couple feet away from the shower head and the vanity at the other end of the bathroom to protect it from splashing. Oh and did I mention the built in bench in the shower section? Very cool.

I want my house to be very functional, very sturdy. Metal roof with a gutter system that would empty into an above ground cistern. A mud room in the back of the house (for obvious reasons!) A walk in pantry off the kitchen and a kitchen with a island cook area, maybe with a grill like you find in Japanese steak houses. My sink will be under a bay window for growing herbs. A garden tub in the second bathroom, a shower in the master bath. The insulation will be the spray on type that we have in this home. I'm looking into solar tubes, an alternative to skylights. The tubes are considerable smaller than a traditional skylight and the light travels down the tube via mirrors. Hence, you get light but not as much heat, a real benefit in our Florida summers.

I thought about a wrap around porch but I think a porch on the front and back of the house would be sufficient. Dad can grill in the back. We can have bouncy chairs and hammocks.

If anyone has any other ideas, let me know!!!

How to Make God Laugh

It wasn't long ago that I wrote my last blog about how we were going to change our home to better function for us. I had my plans made and really was just waiting for the right time. Well, it looks like that time may never come.

Because my life long dream appears to be coming true!!!

We have found 5 acres of land in Wildwood, FL that is nearly everything I ever wanted. Situated on a low rolling hill, it is covered with Florida pasture grass except where the 40 foot live oaks spread their majestic branches. Smaller trees cover the north border of the plot. It lies minutes from I-75, the nearest Super Walmart is 5 miles away along with every restaurant you could possibly want. We have neighbors....at least 200 yards away!

Best of all, the seller accepted our offer!!!!!

I'm trying not to get too excited yet though. I'm getting the money situation squared away and until we sign those papers, I'll be a little nervous. Pictures to come as soon as the rain quits and Florida sunshine reappears!!!

Let There Be Light!

We've lived in our home for nearly 26 years and it has evolved over time as circumstances (and monies) have permitted. Six years ago, we expanded the master bath to include a nice garden tub and a lovely walk in closet. We also added onto our living room, a section which has since become our workout area but which may soon (again monies permitting) become the actual livingroom and the livingroom will become the eating area because we want to redo the kitchen to include a gas stove top and stainless steel grill area (like at Kobes but smaller) which will eliminate any area to eat in in the present kitchen.....whew!!! Did you get all that????

All our grand additions have made an impact on our lives. There is nothing more soothing than a good soak in the tub after giving 5 or 6 massages at work. The epsom salts and hot water just soak away the aches and leave me relaxed and refreshed. I am grateful for the attached walk in closet every time I walk in and can actually find what I'm looking for and can dress without waking my husband when I have to leave early.

But yesterday, Rich and I modified our kitchen in a way that I'm not so pleased with.

Our old flouresent light fixture over the cooking area died leaving the bulbs flickering unpleasantly. For Valentines Day, Rich decided he would take care of it while I was at work and made a good start at it by taking down the old unit and picking up the new one from Home Depot. Still, installation requires two people so we did it together yesterday afternoon.

It went up great and the light.... it's a beautiful bright white that will make it so much easier to see while we cook together. You can see a huge contrast to the old matching fixture which throws a yellowish light that seemed more than adequate before we put up the new one.

So, why am I not pleased?

Well, that same light that makes it easier to read the recipes and measure ingredients and chop the food....also clearly illuminates the nasty kitchen floor.

I do wash the floor (occasionally) and sweep (sometimes). I'm not a total slacker (all the time). But as God as my witness, I just couldn't see how dirty that little piece of landscape got.

Guess it's time to clean my floors (heavy sigh.)

How an Addiction to "Harvest Moon" Can Positively Affect Your Life

I went to visit my oldest daughter a month ago. We accomplished so much....built a toddler sized bunk bed (from scratch), went skiing, and generally hung out together. Oh yes, the OTHER thing we did was play "Harvest Moon." That was, of course, after I had declared it one of the most boring games in the world to watch. I mean really, how many times can you water your garden, feed your silkworms, graze your stock, brush and milk your goats? YAWN


Then, I succumbed. I assumed an identity, named my ranch, built a house, a barn and a coop. Then upgraded it all. I bought a chicken then hatched the rest of my flock. I bought a goat and that goat had babies. I bought a horse and sheep too.

And I was hooked.


There is something absolutely meserizing about taking care of the daily chores and seeing the results of your labor. I found myself spending entirely too much time playing and not enough time living. As a recovering Tetris addict, I got a little nervous.


Then something clicked.


I've been kind of sad that my dream of doing just this in real life hasn't come true. I would love to get up in the morning and do my chores outside. The dream of self sustainability invades my thoughts often. Circumstances prevent that right now and I thought I'd made peace with it. As unlikely as I would have thought, this game has actually helped.


First, I took an objective look at my resources and they are many. For having a relatively small yard, I have a remarkable amount of land in production. The chickens are low maintainance as are my earthworms. I don't have to be here at the house morning and evening to milk goats (yet). My wonderful husband is in the process of putting spigots on my rain barrels so I don't have to reach over the sharp edges to pull buckets of water out. I do still dump the water in from buckets under the eaves and sometimes shower water but that's not too hard.


I've also decided to keep track of how much my yard produces. Yesterday I harvested 7 ounces of carrots, 11 ounces of broccoli, 4 of spinach and 3 of lettuce. The other day we picked 2 pounds of cherry tomatoes. Last night we actually had a salad entirely harvested from our land, including those wonderful green scallions. Today I picked over half a pound of Swiss Chard which will be my dinner within an hour of harvest. (For those of you who have never eaten this green, it is milder than collards and need only be steamed briefly. The leaves are great but the stems outstrip them in flavor and texture!)

Frankly I'm surprised at the amount. I don't have enough to preserve but I do have enough to eat out of my garden a good bit of the time. I haven't had to buy broccoli in months. So with this reality check, courtesy of Harvest Moon, I'm feeling much more gratitude for what I DO have than yearning for what I DON'T.

Interesting how my Higher Power can teach me lessons through anything and everything that happens in my life! He's a pretty Cool Dude.

Back to Basics

I think I must have starved to death in a previous life because I have always been interested in all things food. Yes, I'm a bit overweight but that's not the interest I'm talking about. I am fascinated by finding food (not necessarily in the supermarket) and storing it for future use. Even as a 10 year old, I was digging wild onions in the fields around my house and brought them home for my mom to use in stews. When Rich and I went to Jamaica last month, I found a coconut still in the husk floating in the beach water. I found a sharp edged boulder and proceeded to open that coconut right there on the beach. I've always wanted to do that! Picture it...the island woman, living with the elements, cracking the coconut for breakfast and drinking deeply of the valuable water within.

I DID get it open and I DID drink the water and eat some of the meat. But my fantasy had become a reality and I found out it just wasn't all that great. LOL. Oh, and the resort we were staying at bore little resemblance to a survival experience anyway. But that is another story.

My husband is a smart man and knows my passion for this kind of thing so nearly 2 decades ago, he bought for me, a dehydrator. It is, frankly speaking, a miracle machine. One year, it turned a full case of ripe tomatoes into about 3/4 of a cup of powdered tomato!

This year, it turned 18 pounds of bananas into just over 2 pounds of sweet banana chips and 16 pounds of bottom round roast into 4 pounds of beef jerky. My kids love this stuff and it was originally intended for Christmas though they all got it early. The best thing is that the foods are free from preservatives and chemicals and I know exactly what went into it all. And even though my babies are all grown, I still want them to eat good stuff!

Over the years I've dried cucumbers and squash, watermelon (that was a hoot!) more bananas than I can remember and lots of beef jerky. When the kids were little, I made fruit leather because they could eat it easier. And I'm still experimenting. I dried strawberries last year and though I wasn't fond of it, my middle grandson thought they hung the moon. The next batch of bean soup I make, I'm going to dry it and render it to powder and see how it tastes reconstituted, sort of like those instant soups that were popular a few years back. And like the tomatoes, dried stuff takes up considerably less room than frozen or canned and will keep a very long time if stored properly! It always made me smile when I added a teaspoon of tomato powder to thicken a big pot of tomato sauce.