WHEN IT REALLY HOT OUTSIDE, I GET REALLY BUSY INSIDE!

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER HERE IN SOUTHERN INDIANA!

While we have sure had some hot and humid days so far here in Southern Indiana and are definitely lacking the rain we need, I have been really busy harvesting and working in the garden early in the morning and working inside the rest of the day! The harvest have been good!



After harvesting my veggies, I took a trip to a local orchard here in southern Indiana and got some wonderful peaches!  With these peaches I made some sliced peaches in syrup, some Peach Cobbler Bread, and 14 jars of peach preserves!  I also made 4 jars of strawberry preserves with some strawberries I had purchased.

 I made several mini loaves of Peach Cobbler bread and Grandma Bagby's Pumpkin bread!

I made some special deliveries to several very special families with some of my mini bread loaves and preserves!  I saw lots of smiling faces!

What a days worth of very rewarding work!

Happy Gardening and Baking! 

Mindy

A GREAT 4TH OF JULY SUMMER RECIPE

Happy 4th of July to All!  Hope you have an enjoyable day!

What reminds me of the 4th of July???  When the big tomatoes start turning red!  While I have had cherry tomatoes turning red for a little while now, it is not until the "big" ones start turning that I feel it is truly summer!

This one is getting really close to turning!  This is one of my Big Boy plants that I started from seed back in the winter.  This plant is planted in one of my hanging buckets!  I will keep an eye on this one!

I would also like to share a recipe that I have made today for the first time.  This recipe is featured in the cookbook from Gooseberry Patch called "SUMMER IN THE COUNTRY". 

BLT MACARONI SALAD

("SUMMER IN THE COUNTRY" - PAGE 167)

16 oz. pkg. macaroni, cooked

1-1/4 c. celery diced

5 green onions, finely chopped (I used 1/4 c. finely chopped Vidalia onion)

1 tomato, diced (I used several cherry tomatoes, diced)

1-1/4 c. mayonnaise

5 t. white vinegar

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

GARNISH:  1 lb. bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

In a large bowl, combine macaroni, celery, onion and tomato.  In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients except bacon;pour over macaroni mixture, tossing to coat.  Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.  Just before serving, sprinkle with bacon. 

Serves 6 to 8

The ingredients are fairly easy to prepare!

Salads are very good and refreshing to have during summer get togethers!

I will be combing the bacon into the salad once it is time to serve!   ENJOY!



STUFFED MUCHO NACHO JALAPENO'S

My Park Seed Mucho Nacho plants that I started from seed this past winter are coming along well!  They are producing some nice, big jalapenos.  These jalapenos are great, as they are on the mild side of the heat spectrum, which makes them great for this recipe.  Yum! 


This picture was taken about 20 minutes before they were done baking!  You want to the bacon to be completely cooked and brown on the edges!

STUFFED MUCHO NACHO JALAPENOS

1 dozen Mucho Nacho jalapeno peppers or other jalapeno pepper of your choice

8-oz pkg of shredded mozerello/cheddar blend cheese

1/2 lb bacon, halved
toothpicks

Slice jalapenos lengthwise without cutting all the way through.  Remove seeds and veins.  Stuff with cheese; close back up.  Wrap a half-slice of bacon around each jalapeno and secure with a toothpick.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until bacon is cooked and cheese is melted. 

This is a great party appetizer as well as an awesome side dish to go along with any dinner! 

If you have any great jalapeno pepper recipes or any other great summer recipes, I would love for you to share them here on my blog!  Thanks so much!

Happy Gardening and Cooking!

Mindy

PENNYROYAL MASTER GARDENER DAYLILY CLASS AND GARDEN TOUR

 

This past weekend I drove to Madisonville, Kentucky and attended and class and tour put on by the Pennyroyal Master Gardeners at the Hopkins County Extension office.  This class was on daylilies!  It was an amazing time, I learned so much, and even picked up some more daylilies for my collection!  My girls also went along with me and had a great time learning as well.   The class was on everything daylilies, including the subject of hybridzing, to which I am very interested.  I learned a lot and want to send out a special thanks to the Pennyroyal Master Gardeners for putting on such a great event.  After the class we toured one of the master gardeners gardens, and boy does she love daylilies!  I wanted to share a few pictures I took of her amazing garden!

Happy Gardening!
Mindy

THE MASTER CARVER AT WORK AGAIN!

As those of you who follow my blog know that my husband is very good at creating masterpieces in my garden; however, he also has another past time of which he very talented at . . . . . MASTER CARVER!

He has been making turkey calls and competing in national level competitions at the National Wild Turkey Federations for many years!  He has several awards to show for it! 

We have been taking very enjoyable drives to the river to collect driftwood for some of his work!  On one of our trips he found a piece of driftwood which was very unique and he carved me an amazing piece for my living room!  I thought I would share it with you!

He carved the face into the piece of driftwood!  He is very talented and definitely has an eye for carving!  I am so happy to have this piece made by him!

HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!!

Hiding under the broccoli leaf is a little gardening buddy of mine!  His name is Mr. Toad!  This toad actually climbed up the broccoli plant to the second level of my raised garden pots!  He had quite the hiding spot up there!  We decided to try to feed him some mealworms we had!

He moves to get a closer look!  And to our surprise he was interested!

And then BAM!

And then after his meal, he looks just as happy as can be!  He definitely thinks he has a great "spot" for hunting!  We just helped him out a bit!  Guess we'll have to watch for him in the future.  My daughter's gecko will have to share her mealworms with Mr. Toad!

Be sure to look in your garden for hidden little creatures like this one!  You might just find them where you least expect them!

Happy Gardening! Mindy

THE HEAT IS ON!!!

Well the heat is definitely turned up in our neck of the woods!  Our garden is growing great!  I can't believe the difference in growth from the pictures I posted just about two weeks ago!  AMAZING!  To the left of the garden gate is a piece of driftwood we found.  My husband buried it into the ground and placed a bird house on top!  I love it! 

Here are two of my very own tomato plants grown from seed.  The plant to the right is a "Big Boy" and I believe the one to the left is a "Roma".  I had some issues with the labeling of two different types of tomato seeds that I planted so I will not know for sure which plants are "Roma" and which are "Jelly Bean" until they actually produce fruit!  Next year I will definitely be more careful with labeling!

Here are two of my potted tomatoes.  The front plant is a volunteer "Husky Cherry Tomatoe" and the back pot is a Parks "Choice Container". 

This is a Basil plant I started from seed!  The herbs do very well in my garden.  I planted this one as a companion to the tomato plants!

Here is a new bed that I am working on!  This is an all natural bed.  I found the tree pieces on the front of our property.  They work perfectly as "trough" style flower beds!  I will be adding another row of daylilies to the existing row.  In the back of the pictures is my compost bin, hiding behind my Magnolia!

Happy Gardening!
Mindy