How to care for your Trees…

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Deborah

I bet you are wondering what the heck is she doing now? She does so much on so many different things, she can’t possibly be into the tree business too!

Relax. I am not ‘into’ the tree business other than to keep my own trees barely pruned and alive. But sometimes I get myself into a situation where I need professional help (yeah, you can stop laughing now) with large, overgrown trees and/or limbs hanging precariously over a house, car, swimming pool or heaven forbid the beach cabana manned my Manuel the bartender.

If this happens, I call Andy. I … Read more...

Abra Cadabra-Presto its Pesto!

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Deborah

If you are like me, you are probably wishing you could wiggle your nose like Samantha Stevens and turn your seemingly endless supply of Basil leaves into cute, little bottled jars of pesto in an instant. Complete with bows on the lids and fancy labels. But the reality is, you are not a witch like Samantha Stevens, apparently they only exist in tv land. Therefore you must roll up your sleeves and deal with the Basil acreage on your own. Dammit…why is tv make-believe only?

I have 2 Basil plants at the Homestead and one in my garden in the … Read more...

A Chipmunk’s Legacy…

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Deborah

Chipmunks are cute.

Chipmunks are also hoarders.

They seriously could compete with that new American T.V. show.
They need an intervention.

We have a bird feeder at the homestead…for the BIRDS….but the Chipmunks in the area insist it is there for them too. The scamper up the tree, leap onto the feeder and then proceed to stuff their cheeks full.

Most of the bird seed is millet, cracked corn, red and white milo seeds, striped or black-oil sunflower seeds. Chipmunk’s love ALL of them, but especially the sunflower seeds.

They scamper back and forth to their underground storage silos a … Read more...

Chiles Rellenos….Meets a Jalapeño Popper

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Deborah

How many things have been invented over the years that have actually come about from either a mistake, or the crazy notion that putting two seemingly oddball things together just might be the next best thing since the day someone dunked a hunk of chocolate in a jar of peanut butter.

I had that revelation today after heading out to the garden and picking the first 2 Poblano Peppers that were ready, and as I looked at the Poblanos, dinner popped into mind.

Chiles Rellenos – Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Chiles Rellenos (pronounced Chi-leys Rey-yeh-nos) are an extremely popular Mexican … Read more...

Garden Harvest # 1…Peppers, Tomatoes, Garlic…and what is that in my pool?

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Deborah

I arrived home yesterday to a mini-bounty of vegetable goodies after being up at the Homestead for almost 2 weeks. Usually when I have to leave the Homestead, I drag myself to my car kicking and screaming (not easy to do and the neighbours look at me funny) and then I proceed to pout for the entire 3+ hour drive. I am not kidding, its true. Happens every week. I can’t help myself.

But yesterday I was actually a little… just a *little* excited about coming home. Because I knew after such a long absence, there would be beautiful, colourful … Read more...

Drying Herbs

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Deborah

Herbs….Herbage…Herbaciousness….are fantastic for livening up your culinary experiments in the kitchen, whether they are fresh, dried or even fresh/frozen.

Most people use dried herbs purchased in dusty little glass bottles that have been sitting on a store shelf since at least 1982 and cost as much as a small car. These are *ok*, if you like blandness in your food that is. As opposed to the smack-in-the-face whiff of fresh or freshly dried herbs that makes your nose happy to be first in line to smell the wonderful aromas coming from your stockpot.

I have been growing and using fresh … Read more...

‘Lettuce’ Help You….

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Deborah

Actually….can someone help me to help yourself to some lettuce? Seriously, please come over and save me.

Sheesh…who knew lettuce could grow this fast. I have been snipping away daily at them for salads and sammies….and then I went to the cottage for 5 days.

I just got back in today and wow….there is no way I can eat this amount of lettuce without the help of a herd of rabbits, 5 goats, 4 sheep and maybe a pig or two. They are literally over a foot high and just as wide and the row is over 4 feet long.… Read more...

Straw + Berry = Best Taste of Summer

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Deborah

Not many people I know turn their nose up at a red, ripe, delicious Strawberry. If I knew anyone that did, then I’m pretty sure they grew up in Antartica and therefore were deprived of ever knowing what a strawberry was.

Here in Ontario, our Berry season is s-h-o-r-t, painfully short. So short if you are not paying attention, you miss some of the best berries in the world. You then kick yourself continuously until next year, sticking post-it notes all over the house with these words on them – “DON’T MISS BERRY SEASON”. Your spouse then wonders if he … Read more...

Garden Update ~ Haircut # 2…

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Deborah

Actually, some things have gotten their third and fourth buzz cuts already. I tell you, things are just bustin’ out all over in the little garden patch in my backyard. I am really, really having a hard time taming the Sage ‘BRUSH’…pun intended. This thing is getting bigger by the millisecond, and if it has it’s way, will soon take over the whole space. That is the ginormous Sage Brush in the middle of the pic below, it literally is 3 feet high and almost as wide.

The Tomatoes are right behind the Sage in growth spurts. Zero to 3 … Read more...

When life hands you Tomatoes…and more…and more….

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Deborah

You can do one of two things. Either grab your hundreds of bushels of tomatoes and head over to Bunol, Spain for the La Tomatina Festival (the world’s biggest Food Fight) OR…scour the internet, your cookbooks, and while your at it, even your neighbours cookbooks, for as many recipes using tomatoes as you can find. Then get set to cook, can or eat your way through your bounty of tomatoes until you are so sick of them, you never want to see another tomato for as long as you live.

Or at least until next February, when you pull out … Read more...