Independence Days 6-23-2006

Turnips! Pretty Purple Top Turnips! I pulled 8 or 9 turnips out of the garden yesterday evening. Added to the Kale and Peas I pulled out a few days ago, plus the container of raspberries from across the street and it's not a bad harvest.
We don't really like turnips in my house. :-D I know I know, why grow things you don't like. The fact is they grow REALLY well in our area. They grow with practically no maintenance, I literally put the seeds in a relatively straight line, casually scrape a bit of soil over them and water them a couple of times. They grow so well I always have to thin them, but turnip leaves are edible in a couple of different forms, so even the thinnings have their use. Plus, they are VERY healthy food, with a good balance of nutrients and crazy good amounts of Vit A, C and K.
Turnip roots I usually hide in soups and stews. They usually keep awhile, so I don't feel rushed. Small turnips will occasionally hide out in salads. I might even try some turnip in my oriental stirfry dish next time.
Have I posted that recipe? It's one of my favorite veggie user-uppers. We had a delicious stir fry two days ago with garlic scapes, canned corn (The last jar from '09), onion, garlic, green peppers, chicken and waterchestnuts. Then with the leftover rice I made some of my "Mexican fried rice" yesterday, another great veggie using meal that I stole from my friend Claire.

Preservation has slowed this week because I was working on that flower bed. I hope to make some jelly soon. Any day now. Really. :-P I'll get some more greens dried too, hopefully kale and turnip leaves.

I've planted almost all the herbs, finally got some squash seeds in the ground, even if it is too late to get maximum harvest, a few fruits would be worth the time and space.

My radishes are putting on seed. Which confuses me a little bit because I thought they were biennial, but I'll do some research and double check that. Lettuce is about to flower, same for spinach.

The potatoes are huge!!! They are 3-4 feet tall and covered in blooms. I'm hoping for a really good harvest.

I did mend something this past week, I mended one of Rowen's shirts that we got second hand with a hole in a shoulder seam. It was quick and easy. Dave has a pair of shorts with a busted zipper that I'm avoiding.

Garage sales over the weekend netted me a few books for Rowen to read someday and a couple of macrame books because they were a dime and looked interesting.

I've started on my flashlight round up. It has already produced valuable information. I would have sworn we had a large D cell Maglight in the house, but Dave says no. Perhaps I'm thinking of my father's or something. Who knows. That has moved up to the top of my list of things to acquire. One of our LED flashlights bought last year is broken, and I'm going to attempt to repair it. More on all of this later though.

It's always amazing to me how the little things add up. Hope everyone has a great week.