Town House Homestead Tuesday

Yikes! Where did this past month go? Many differences since my last post, sooooo long ago. 

The weeds are higher and my sunflowers are as tall as I am and getting taller. All five have blossoms and I'm so hoping to get some seeds. The squash is also growing up the tomato cages and up to my neck.

Two five gallon buckets growing fast and steady. Lots of blossoms, and the start of some fruit. I am thrilled with this venture. Patty pan squash growing in five gallon buckets.

My ginger plant is now 35 inches tall. Lots of activity in the pot, so maybe in a year I'll be harvesting ginger. Watching ginger grow is a new experience. It's a different plant to say the least.

The zinnias I started from seeds are starting to bring wonderful color to the garden. In the next week there should be many more. I love the fact that a package of seeds gives me so many different colors.

This is butterfly milkweed that I started from seed and it's doing it's job attracting those beautiful pollinators. I will add more next spring. It is tall, dainty, colorful, and environmentally friendly.

I was literally gifted a 13 gallon kitchen bag full of freshly harvested basil. I do not say no to these or any food gifts. I got busy washing and preparing it for pesto. I froze 16 four ounce servings so that through the winter I can make pesto anything. I used walnuts this time because I had them on hand and I love the flavor just as much as pine nuts.

All individually wrapped and ready for the freezer. This was a wonderful blessing.

I was also given six wonderful fresh cucumbers that are all prepped to become bread and butter pickles tomorrow morning. I know they are not pickling cucumbers, but I had all the ingredients and they will be awesome.

I harvested the pot of shallots and ended up with eleven healthy ones. They are hanging in the breezeway drying and make a wonderful piece of wall art. Next year I will do a lot more, but not bad for the first time from seeds. I planted beans in the empty pots as a second batch. The bucket beans are almost ready to blossom and there are now three peppers that I can see growing.

The adventure I am on as far as gardening and becoming a little more self sufficient goes back a few years when I lost everything and hit bottom. My daughter and I started searching for ways to stop the waste and make everything work. All usable vegetable scraps go in the freezer for vegetable stock and gets canned for use. Then the scraps are added to the compost. I keep a small empty coffee container by the sink so I can add the scraps as needed.

Not everything goes to the making of stock or compost. This is the bottom of a red onion that I soaked in water to stimulate the roots. It will grow into a new onion and I won't have to purchase any. I do this when I buy different varieties because I'm the only one who eats the onions here and even though it takes time, I still benefit from waiting. Call me crazy, but it's working for me and I'm not starting everything from seeds. 

With my daughters back injury and the swarming we were sure we had lost the bees, but this weekend she did another inspection. To our surprise there is a queen and she is laying brood and they are producing honey. They seem to be very healthy and as I watched them daily thinking they were dying off they always appeared to be getting stronger. I guess mother nature was telling me that is was meant to be. We will be watching them closely to make sure they keep moving forward and will think about protecting them for winter.

And to put a nice end to this weeks blog, there is Hunter. I've admitted in the past that I am not a dog, or for that matter, a pet person. However, this little guy and I have taken those obedience lessons over the top and he is becoming a good puppy. He has quite a ways to go, but we are bonding. He is now six and a half months old and weighed in at 31 pounds. I would like him to stay this size, but who knows. For now the path to a good relationship with him is going okay. That's some of what's been going on at the new Town House Homestead. We grow more and more each day and learn constantly. Things are moving along well and we are happy here. Spread Love and thank you for stopping by.

Town House Homestead Tuesday

Today is a very exciting day for me. The blog post I have been waiting so long to write is ready. Now to get it out of my head and on to this page. For the past few months I have been posting so many adventures, but the one we've worked hardest for is close to done and more than functional as of Sunday. This is how it began. 

It was a dark and dingy basement. This photo is after we pulled down a drop ceiling and dragged out bags of refuse like old wood, broken cement, and left behind trash from previous owners. The windows hadn't been opened until we opened them, and the breathing status of the basement was very poor. After pulling out a lot of the old fiberglass insulation, after the wasp situation, it was doing much better. As of last week the new furnace was installed, and a dear friend of my daughters spent an afternoon placing the washer and dryer in their proper locations and got it vented correctly.

So this is what all this progress has been for. Five months of hard work with the help of several friends and this is what it is now. This portion of the basement any way.

One up and coming work/sewing studio. Room for growth and more than one person to work, play, create, and imagine. It was a race against mother nature to get most of the boxes out of the garage and unpacked before cold weather, but they did it and as of Sunday my daughter has had a couple of hours to relax and sew. But, all our time was not just spent on the basement renovations. 

This was a side project. We found this vintage cart on Craigslist for $25 and took it apart, and spray painted it. Now that it's cleaned up it has been set in the basement to use for the extra microwave and coffee pot. She will need coffee to keep going while she works and the microwave will be used for projects she loves to do. 

I have been busy during the day time hours taking advantage of sales and enjoying cooking in my cast iron dutch oven. This is a BBQ pork shoulder that I made into pulled pork and there it is all canned for the pantry along with another slow cooker batch of apple butter. 

I also cooked a reasonably priced turkey and canned some meat, made some soup, and put more broth on the shelf in the pantry. We are ready for cold weather when it finally arrives. Can you taste the pot pies and casseroles yet? 

For me canning is never over. There is always something to put up. I went to the farm market for my butternut squash, so next week it will be canned squash, canned squash soup, and for the holiday a squash pie. I was able to stock up on a few jars for the next month or so to insure that I could keep going. With all the expenses fixing up the house it has been a blessing knowing the pantry shelves are filling up. Along with what we did before we moved I think we'll be able to survive the winter. That's what's happened the last couple of weeks here at our new Town House Homestead. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

As summer progresses the desire to have a garden of my own strengthens and keeps the motivation strong for what may be in the next two summers. Here's hoping we can find that something that will fill that desire when we start our search for a home. For now I just keep going and appreciate friends who are letting me share theirs and for all the farmers that bring their goods to the markets.

The herbs on my small deck continue to do well. I harvested yet another bunch of basil that I used to add to my delicious stuffed portabella mushrooms for lunch and dried the rest for future cooking.

Last years tomatoes were approaching their expiration date so I use them up in this roasted garlic and basil tomato sauce. It was a low yield, but I have not lost them and wow did it come out great.

My Cilantro bolted with all the heat we've had but I am going to collect the seeds to start some more a little later this year and put the rest of the seeds in the cupboard in an up cycled pepper grinder so when I need coriander I can grind it fresh.

My parsley is providing an awesome amount and I've had it fresh and dried it for future use. It's nice to have for when I make my garlic bread. It looks like I may have to harvest more before the last bunch is fully dry.

My covert carrots have company. Temporarily any way. I started some butternut squash seeds that I'm hoping will be strong enough to transplant tonight when I go to my friends house to check on my tomatoes. I saved the seeds myself and was glad to know they will germinate. My container carrots are being called parsley so I can sneak them in on the deck. 

Saturday morning we got up early to go to a Church sale. The intention for going was large flower pots or containers for growing. I found two, cleaned them up and rinsed them with bleach and transplanted my rosemary. I sure wish I could bring these in for the winter, but I'm afraid I'd bring in insects and we don't need the problems. 

One of my daughter's co-workers sent her home with a large container of black berries and I got busy making black berry pancake syrup. It is so good and I was so grateful. Yes, I did send her some for her pleasure. This townhouse farm girl is doing the best she can with the space she has and it can be done. Thank you for stopping by to visit and have a wonderful week.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Well it has finally arrived. Warm weather in the northeast. We had one of the most wonderful weekends and I made good use of it. On Saturday my younger daughter and I went to the Rochester Public Market. I filled a large bag of fresh vegetables that of course was too much for two people, but I had my motive to start a shelf of dehydrated vegetables for my pantry. I've done a bit in the past few months, but the deals at the market were incredible. 

It started with mushrooms. I got three quarts of vegetables for $5, any variety of my choice. I chose two quarts (over flowing quarts) of mushrooms and one fresh green beans. The green beans we are eating with meals and as snacks, but the two quarts of mushrooms filled the dehydrator and condensed down to fill a one quart canning jar. They are all vacuum sealed and on the pantry shelf.

Next were sweet red peppers. They were two for $1 and very large so I got four and dehydrated them. Not quite a full pint, but there will be time to do more and they are now on the shelf. 

I got a five pound bag of carrots for $2 and four pounds of them are in the dehydrator as I am writing this post. It will yield one quart of dry carrots for the pantry shelf. I purchased a four ounce container of basil pesto for $1, zucchini squash and  yellow squash. I'm working these into my meal plan which is not going very well, but I am trying. 

I'm drying my orange peels because I have discovered that they are useful in everything from cleaners, to soups, to candy and even as a match because orange oil is flammable. It has become a matter of use everything to it's fullest before you dispose of it around here. Some people think I'm taking it to far, but if I can't compost I will make use of what I can. 

Chicken leg quarters are on sale for the next two weeks for $.59 a pound so we gathered up what we could afford and immediately put some in the oven to have available for quick meals and another few went into a pot to boil. In the refrigerator now are two large Pyrex measuring cups with my broth that I will be caning tomorrow along with barbecue pulled chicken. Eight leg quarters were put in the freezer. We aren't doing all that we can, but we are working on it. It's proving to be so economical but the work is constant and you have to be willing. That's what's happening with the kitchen and I hope soon to get ready to plant my herbs. Thank you for stopping by to read my post and I hope you all have a great week.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Yesterday a two page notice was slipped into our townhouse door to remind us about the clean up rules and the time frame we have to do it along with all the demands that no one enforces or follows. On the list in bold capital letters were the words "NO VEGETABLE GARDENING ALLOWED". I will put my herbs out again and I am going to sneak in carrots in a large pot on my tiny deck. I will tell them it's parsley. I really would love to find a place to grow more, but this too shall come and in the mean time I will use our farm markets. I did start tomato seeds thinking they wouldn't grow. I guess I was wrong and if I can't find somewhere to garden I will grow them in my window. These are container tomatoes. 

On the pantry supplies and canning end of the homestead I finished up my vegetable soup stock and ended up with six quarts. I can now take a jar off the shelf and make a meal in less than an hour start to finish. I have been trying new things and will continue working on my meal plan.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my post. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

How busy this little townhouse kitchen has been. It's been busy taking care of leftovers from Easter dinner and preparing more for the pantry. When I want to cook I would love to have all that I need ready so I am trying to go through my recipes and see what I need to do to be ready for summer. 

This week green bell peppers were on sale so we bought three pounds. It was seven large peppers in all and I cleaned them and chopped them and put them in the dehydrator. Away I go. Three pounds of peppers condensed to one pint dehydrated. Great way for me to store them in this little space.

If anyone was wondering if dehydrating vegetables works here you go. I needed carrots for my soups so I put one cup of dehydrated carrots in water and within two hours they were back to normal. I could have just added them to the soup, but I needed to take a few pictures for some skeptic friends. 

Also if I may point out that I put my daughter's Pyrex to good use here. I'm waiting for her to break one first. That way I won't be so stressed while I'm using them. I do have to say though that it's fun to use them and they add nice color to my preparations.

I have three kinds of soup underway for today and tomorrow. The first is white bean and ham and this one came out so good that I didn't want to can it all, so we are eating some too. I filled the crock pot with split pea soup and I finally cleaned out my tiny freezer and put all the vegetable scraps I saved for broth on the stove top to boil to make vegetable soup. 

Split pea along with white bean and ham are in the pressure caner as I am writing this post and tomorrow I will finish the vegetable soup. Adding these soups to my shelf is helping with my meal planning menu. It's easier to take something off the shelf than it is to stand and cook after a long day. That's what's been cooking this past week at the townhouse homestead, Going to start my tomato seeds shortly and have them ready, but I may be lucky and found someone who wants help with their garden and will share what is grown. That's a future post. Thank you for stopping by and have a great week.

UPDATE

Fresh from the caner 10 pints of split pea soup and 4 pints of white bean with ham. Yummy!

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

It's another week later and I've turned another year older. Birthdays get to be just another day when you get older, but you learn to be grateful for them and appreciate time. I was taken out to dinner twice which was a great treat. I really don't need fancy food so we had special burgers and desserts for my official birthday dinner. I bought myself some circular knitting needles so I could make hats from leftover yarn and was given a canning jar cookie cutter complete with sprinkles. 

Work at the townhouse homestead this week meant using the uncooked cabbage and carrots left from the St. Patrick's day meal. I used some of it to make coleslaw. This is canned coleslaw and is so good. I put it up in half pint jars because it's just me who eats it and I get two servings from each jar. The remaining carrots I dehydrated.

I have what I call my micro mini farm kitchen here at the townhouse, but if I hadn't told you how small it was you wouldn't have known. Doesn't every farm kitchen look this busy?

This week I also got a head start on my soups for the end of cold weather now and for the upcoming winter. I know, I know. It will be warm soon. Anything I can get done now will make time for other canning and dehydrating projects later and as long as I can vacuum seal it, it will keep. I made one pint of onion soup mix, two quarts of chicken rice soup mix in which I used my dehydrated peas and carrots, and I made six half pints of bean and rice soup mix. I'm hoping that I can get to a point where a rotating meal plan works. I'm prepping ingredients and building new recipes. 

Recipes here for what I made:

http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/canned-coleslaw/

http://countrifiedhicks.blogspot.com/2014/01/chicken-rice-soup-mix-in-jar.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/461970874251772337/

I'm trying hard to let people know through my blog that living frugal can be done even in small spaces. Storage is an issue, but we seem to overcome that too. Food preparation takes little time and keeps things simple if you think it out. We're eating better and are building a good variety along with having fun trying new recipes. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

Autumn has officially arrived!
The days of soup with garlic bread and warm oatmeal apple crisp.

The days when trips to the farms brighten the days of we city dwellers who dream of the farm.

On a breathtaking day when you can pick your own raspberries and pumpkins and watch the silly goats walk the planks above the barn.

When you can see the most majestic blue sky behind a windmill, walk the corn maze, see the leaves turning and enjoy the bright colors of nature.

But best of all getting to try and purchase new kinds of apples (sweetangos) and produce which is the reason we visit the farms and support local farmers. 

I love the squash this time of year. I start thinking of all the things I can make. I purchased two butternut squash at the farm. It's still early here so I know there will be plenty more. From these two I got seven servings. As you can see I prepared some for oven baked squash fries and some for future cooking and baking. I see a squash pie coming.

Harvesting at the townhouse itself this week included the sweet potatoes. I was hoping for better, but I tried and there's the results. Once they've cured a while longer I'll peel them up and enjoy the fruit of my labor. There's a good amount for a side dish of mashed with the sage butter I froze earlier this season.

I was gifted a bag of green tomatoes this week. I am blessed  to have had two ripen to red, one going on the top of a white garlic pizza and the other still waiting for me. We enjoyed for the first time ever fried green tomatoes and I managed to put the remaining tomatoes up. I have four pints of garlic dill pickled green tomatoes, two pints of sliced tomatoes for future frying and three pints of pickled green tomatoes with jalapeno peppers and onions. Thank you Nannette for your gift.

To add to my freebies this week, although not as exciting as the tomatoes, I got a corn bread mix, Milano raspberry chocolate cookies, and coupons for free organic mac and cheese, yoplait yogurt with Hershey's toppings and from my super market a free can of tuna.

I have to admit that I don't have gardening fever any more. I have barnheart which is just the desire to have a barn. I would settle for a large garage that looks like a barn right now. This has been a wonderful learning and doing summer for this townhouse farm girl. I still have peppermint to harvest along with rosemary and sage so that I am sure that I have plenty for winter. From here on it will be what I can get from the farmers markets, but I have gained so much respect for where my food comes from. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week everyone.