Reminds me of a story about my sister-in-law-- she went on a date with a boy who kept on talking about how much he loves olives. So she told him they had an olive tree and the olives were ripe right now, did he want some? Oh yeah. He tried to eat them right off the tree. I don't think he...
I believe the Mayhaw is a Hawthorn. The fruit are called Mayhaws because the tree fruits in May, usually. It's related to the rose family, and like rosehips I believe mayhaws are rich in Vitamin C. It is also an excellent cardio supplement- lowering high blood pressure and raising low blood...
We have a gallon of wine from our greengage plums, still sitting with the fermentation lock on it from last year. It turned out a lot darker than I expected, considering they were green plums. It should be bottled, but the wine-making is usually DH's baby, and he's had his arm in a cast all...
For some reason, those two ladies remind me of a Birthday Card I found once... Front of the card said
"Do you remember when we were young and beautiful, and the boys whistled when we walked by?"
inside it said
"Me neither. Happy Birthday anyway!"
I've just about given up growing brussels sprouts because of the aphids. They will ignore everything else in the garden if I have sprouts growing. One the other hand, I suppose I could just think of them as the best trap crop I've ever seen....
On the subject of canned goods and expiration dates... I read about some folks that were cleaning out the farmhouse of a deceased relative and they found some jars of food in the cellar. One was labeled "Roast Veal" and was dated a little over a hundred years ago. They took the jar to the...
Years ago, my best friend got a tattoo; a sprig of mistletoe, on her bottom. Whenever she is in a position like yours, she just puts her hand on her hip and thinks about that tattoo ;)
I love green beans almondine: steam or boil your green beans just until tender. Meanwhile, melt a knob of butter (as much as you can manage without feeling guilty!) and saute your slivered almonds until they are brown and the butter is fragrant with almond. Tip it into the green beans and listen...
@Lavender2 the tarragon vinegar is so easy it's embarrassing- I just take a bottle of wine vinegar (white is traditional, but red could be used for a slightly different taste) and stuff as much fresh stems of vinegar into the bottle as will fit. Recap and let it sit for a month or so. I...
I grew up in an old Victorian house-- 4 bedrooms plus the maid's room, electric outlets stuck in the middle of the wall (they wanted people to be immediately aware that THEY had electricity, I guess), a stable and carriage house instead of a garage...the whole bit. Woodwork inside was all...
I think the artificial grass is a wonderful idea. Back when I lived in CA, we had a pretty bad drought (this would be about 30 years ago now) and people were spraying their lawns with green paint! This sounds like a much better solution. Save your water for the important plantings.
I live...
If you have all hens, sometimes one or more will "turn into roosters"- including crowing at all hours. They aren't really roosters for fertility purposes, but other than that they stop laying eggs. And unfortunately it doesn't go the other way (roosters don't turn back into hens). My first...
I heard we were supposed to get a La Nina in the West here... which will mean another year of drought for us. We had an early spring which caught everyone off guard, and now it looks like we'll have an early winter too.