Thankful Sunday, May 9, 2021

 Happy Mother's Day! 

I come from a long line of mothers.

My mother, Betty, and me. I was about three and she was pregnant with my sister, her fourth child. I didn't have a care in the world, but she looks very tired. I think she was. 

My mother with my grandmother, Donnie. My grandmother was very proud
since my mother was the first in her family to graduate high school. 

My paternal grandmother, Yula, with 17 grandkids. There were 6 more to come.

My great grandmother, Anna Estella, on my maternal grandmother's side.
In other words, this is the mother of the person above.

This is my paternal great grandmother, Lavenia Jane
In other words, this is my paternal grandfather's mother.

This is my great, great grandmother, Anna Elizabeth,
mother of Anna Estella.

There. Do you have all of that straight? Don't worry. I'm not sure if I got it all correct myself. What I do know is that each generation along the way has made me who I am and for that I am thankful.

So as you remember those who came before you, Happy Mother's Day!

Highs and Lows

Lilac

It was a weekend filled with highs and lows:

The Highs:

1.  This was the first weekend in a month when I didn't have to write a blog post, meaning the A-Z challenge was over. I did it! Having a theme this year was easier, but limiting at times. We'll see what next year brings.

2. The weather was good, so that we were able to work in the yard and enjoy the continuing blooms.

3. It wasn't my Saturday to work, so I was off all weekend.

4. Ward, Theo, and I are all fully vaccinated as of yesterday. Wally only has one more to go.

4. Because of our vaccination status, yesterday, we had a cookout to celebrate Ward's birthday. It was a small affair with just family, but it was so nice. The food was simple and we had a relaxed time enjoying each other's company. This was a first cookout since over a year ago.

5. There are good leftovers from yesterday to have today, including Key Lime Pie. Yum!

The Lows:

1. Something (deer probably) has broken or eaten all of the branches on our small apple tree. We need to prune up what's left and figure out if we can construct protection for it from critters.

2. I found out a friend has been put in Hospice Care. This was a shocker because last time I talked to her, she was doing well. These kind of events spur introspection and this time was no exception. 

More Highs:

Nature continues to put on a good show: More scenes from around the yard.

Tulip

Azaleas

This came from a pack of wildflower seeds. Can anyone tell me what it is?

Azalea and bumble bee

Nandina berries and azalea

Lanium

Periwinkle and Lanium

Apple tree

Wallflower

Until next time...

Z is for Zucchini

 I'm going for the obvious today-zucchini. 

I'm always surprised when I hear that someone has had no luck growing zucchini. We must have the right climate for it around here because in July and August it's shows up everywhere. We have had many bags secretly placed on our doorstep in the middle of the night. We were happy with these gifts, but I'm not sure that everyone felt the same way. The other thing about zucchini is how big it can grow. The perfect size is 8-10 inches but we have grown more than one zucchini over 2 feet long. They were seedy, but otherwise good. However, our big zucchini paled in comparison to the Guinness Book of World Records world record holder of 8 feet, 3.3 inches long. 

In case you have an abundance of zucchini this summer, below is a previous post about different ways to prepare it. 

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Our zucchini with tomato for comparison

A Week of Zucchini Dishes

or The Vegetable That Keeps Giving and Giving 

or Today's Equivalent of the Loaves and Fishes--Zucchini

Recently, Aunt Martha gave us a zucchini from her garden. It was one of those that somehow got hidden and grew to almost the size of a baseball bat before it was found and harvested. Our goal last week was to eat it until it was gone. We knew it was big, but didn't think that we would be able to cook it in five different dishes before we saw the last of it. But we did. Below are our results with links to the recipes we used.

 
Day One: Zucchini Patties
We were having salmon cakes this day so it seemed like a natural accompaniment.  The cakes were basically pan fried shredded zucchini and bread crumbs. Everyone liked the taste, but Theo and I weren't crazy about the texture. I thought they were a little gooey from too many bread crumbs, and Theo didn't like the stringiness of the shredded zucchini. I got a tip for this recipe from the Frugal Girl.  


Day Two: Zucchini and Cheese Casserole
This has been a favorite recipe in our family for many years and is a favorite of guests.  It is a baked casserole containing zucchini chunks, eggs, cottage and shredded cheese topped with bread crumbs. I usually add another vegetable like broccoli or asparagus to give it more flavor. This recipe comes from Jane Brody's Good Food Book.


Day Three: Hearty Tuna Casserole
This recipe was given to us a few years ago from a friend when were trying to find new ways to cook zucchini. We make other tuna casseroles, but this is my favorite. The dish contains the standards for a tuna casserole including noodles, tuna, sour cream, and shredded cheese. However, there are layers of zucchini slices in it as well as diced tomatoes on the top. We leave out the mustard and green onions as a favor to Ward and still find it very tasty. A word of warning: the zucchini and celery take far longer to cook than the 30 minutes allotted for the casserole. We cook them a little before we add them to the dish so it doesn't take forever to bake.


Day Four: Oatmeal Zucchini Bread
For years, I have been carrying around this recipe for zucchini bread that included cooked oatmeal. Last week, I finally made it. The bread was very good but was dense and gooey. This may have been because the recipe called for three eggs and I only had two. I read somewhere on the internet that you can substitute milk for an egg and you will never know the difference. Well, I think we knew the difference. However, the four loaves disappeared in less than 24 hours.


Day Five: Continental Zucchini
 As we were brain storming about what we were going to do with the last of the zucchini, Ward remembered a dish he had as a child-- continental zucchini. This dish is stir fried zucchini and garlic with corn and pimentos added. The whole thing is topped with melted mozzarella cheese. When we made it, we also added some yellow squash that we had. Everyone liked this dish. However, Ward thought it could use black pepper. Also, this dish would lend itself well to the addition of sweet or hot peppers We may try that next time.

Zucchini dishes from last week.

Y is for Yellow Fruits and Vegetables

 or What Pictures Do I Happen to Have of Yellow Fruits and Vegetables.

I've made almost to the end of this blogging challenge. Yay! But I must admit that I'm running low on energy and motivation, so here is an Instagram-type post. 😏

Gold potatoes for soup

Bananas. We eat these mostly with cereal.

Pears from our tree 

Yellow zucchini

Peaches from a tree at our old house. I guess the yellow was more on the inside.

Yellow watermelon from Uncle Billy's garden

Yellow squash blossom from last year.

Corn is, perhaps, my favorite summer vegetable along with tomatoes.

Crook neck squash (and potatoes and mushrooms)

Corn and Beans pattern on barn quilt

X is for Xeriscape Vegetable Gardening

Fig trees like dry feet, so would be good for xericaping.
(I know. Figs are fruit not vegetable.)

 If someone had asked me if xeriscaping was compatible with vegetable gardening, I would have said no, at least not for the vegetables I'm familiar with. I would have been wrong. There are some vegetables that will do okay without lots of water. With a bit of poking around, I found information that will be useful to me while gardening here, even though on paper we have adequate rainfall. The problem is it's all an average and we usually have a long dry spell at some point in the summer. Here are a few tips I learned about growing vegetables without much water.

Miss Lander's oregano

--There are many herbs that do well in dry conditions. Oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and lavender are some of them. Currently, I am not growing any herbs, but I have had good luck with oregano, rosemary, and lavender in the past. They thrived in the "plant and forget" environment I provided for them.

--Plant vegetables that mature quickly, so they will be ready before the long dry part of summer arrives. Good ones for this are radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, leaf lettuce, and beets. I have all of these growing now. I got them in earlier than last year, so maybe I will have a better yield before the warmer, drier weather sets in.

Miss Lander's sweet potatoes

--Okra, sweet potatoes, and muskmelon do well in drought. I won't be growing any of these since they're not my favorite.

 --Raised beds and/or well tilled soil allow roots to grow deeper, so the plant will be less effected by no rain. We put in raised beds last year and tilled the soil below them before we filled them. The soil in them is a big improvement to the native rocky soil.

 --Mulching is a good way to retain moisture. We mostly use straw for this and we have some leftover for last year.

 --Legumes do not need as much water as many vegetables. We're growing peas now, but not sure we will have room for any of the warmer weather ones. 

--Install a rain barrel to collect water to use later. Ward installed a rain barrel last year for my birthday. It has been very handy this spring for watering the new plants.

So how about that. I am already doing some of the things recommended for xeriscape gardening. I was just doing them to make things easier.

How much rainfall do you have where you live? What do you do about watering plants?

Sources:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/xeriscape/integrating-vegetables-and-herbs-into-the-xeriscape-garden.htm

https://www.rainharvest.com/blog/?p=474

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeriscaping#:~:text=Xeriscaping%20is%20the%20process%20of,eliminates%20the%20need%20for%20irrigation.&text=In%20some%20areas%2C%20terms%20such,smart%20scaping%20are%20used%20instead.