garden walk ~ part two

Ready for the second part of the

GardenWalk?...

{amazing carriage house}

{100 year old fountain}

 

{love the gray-blue color with the brick!}

{so creative--two walls covered in hanging baskets}

 

{one of my favorite combinations of all--the peeling

blue-gray paint revealing brick, the roses, and

the very rustic trellis!}

{would love to find a spot for an old chair with

pots like this one}

 

{a cool outdoor kitchen sink}

Thanks for coming along :)

garden walk ~ part one

Sunday was a beautiful escape from the

busyness that life has lately been...

we headed to one of the largest garden tours

in the country.

For me, it's as much about the architecture

as it is about the gorgeous landscape.

Let's venture through the garden gate...

Coming soon, Part II...

your questions

There were several questions from the last

post, so I thought I would answer them here

in case anyone else was wondering the same.

How do I freeze my broccoli?

After removing any leaves and woody stalk,

I soak the broccoli heads in a salt/water

brine {1 cup salt to 1 gallon water} for

about a half hour.  This gets rid of any

insects or those unpleasant little green

worms.  I then rinse the broccoli, and

cut the heads into smaller pieces.

I put them into a pot of boiling water

and scald for about 3 - 4 minutes,

then immediately immerse the broccoli in

some ice water to cool.  It's now ready

to drain and pack into your freezer containers.

This year, I laid all the broccoli pieces out in

a single layer on baking sheets which I placed in

the freezer.  As soon as the broccoi was frozen, I placed

it all in a very large freezer bag--later it

will be easy to just take out as much as I need.

I have also used my vacuum sealer in the past, and

that does do a better job preventing freezer

burn--I just didn't have the special bags on hand

this time.

Can you tell me how you freeze grated zucchini?

After washing the zucchinis {I leave the skin on}

and cutting off the ends, I grate it using

my food processor.  Then I just put it in a freezer

container or bag and freeze--super easy.

This year, I vacuum sealed mine in glass pint

canning jars.  I really like the idea of using

glass versus plastic, the jars were cheap from a

yard sale & are resusable, and the vacuum seal,

as I mentioned, will help prevent freezer burn.

Is it possible for you to share your recipe for

the refrigerator pickles?

I found the recipe here last year.  This year I

did alter it--I omitted the pickling spice {as

I wanted more of a plain dill} and I tried

cutting the sugar amount in half {they were

too sweet for us}.

Do you just know how to freeze the zucchini and blueberries or do you recommend a source of info?

I couldn't do it without my Ball Blue Book!

I'm sure there are many resources online for

home canning and freezing, but I have used

this book forever, and I love having it handy

year after year to look up whatever I need.

Yesterday, I picked blackberries and blueberries.

My next 'preserving project' is to pull out

the dehydrator and dry some blueberries.

I tried it last year for the first time

and loved them--I'll be back with more on

that later...

{Picked the first tomato yesterday!}

the busy season

The garden has been demanding a good

bit of attention of late.

These sunny faces are all volunteers,

transplanted from the potato patch...

If only I had some tall, strong volunteers

of the human sort to help with all

the weeding :)

Early morning is my favorite time to

weed the garden,

and I actually made it out there

several mornings last week.

Zucchini has been grated and frozen,

made into muffins & cakes,

sliced, fried, and sprinkled with grated romano,

and cubed & skewered on shish kabobs.

Cucumbers have been thrown into salads,

cut up and eaten plain,

and made into refrigerator pickles...

The blueberries have been on now for

a couple weeks.

They've been added to breakfast smoothies,

eaten on yogurt with granola,

thrown into pancakes,

made into pies,

and pounds of them have been

frozen for winter enjoyment.

Today I froze up lots of broccoli,

and tomorrow

I'm heading out to the blackberry patch.

The 'Busy Season' is here.

my first baby sweater

I started a One Skein Hooded Baby Sweater

awhile back for friend's baby.

The baby shower was fast approaching

so I took it along with me to the lake

to finish up...

I took the finished pictures moments before wrapping it up

and heading out the door to the shower.

The yarn is Nature's Choice organic cotton

in almond and is very soft.

There are some errors in the pattern

so I followed thejill's corrections...

more details on my ravelry page here.

postcards from the lake

Last week we took a 'staycation'.

The weather was hot - 90's - and sunny,

perfect for a day spent at the Lake {Ontario}.

We enjoyed the cool breeze,

...the beautiful bits of nature,

...this baby donkey--{I really wanted to

bring him home to pal with Duncan and Jess!},

...a trip to the top of the lighthouse,

...beautiful views,

...and a cool breeze.

It was a perfect day!

I also fit in some knitting while Mike

was fishing,

so I will be back with pictures of the finished

results soon.

painting away

Lots of painting going on here...and lots more

to go--it's endless.

I thought it best to put another coat of paint

on the green benches before

the holiday, or one of our guests

would be sure to end up with a sliver.

The old toy box my dad made for us kids when

we were little is being put to use

on the back deck and was painted light green.

The clothesline trellis is all stained white

now--I actually never finished it last

summer because the morning glories climbed

faster than I could paint.

Honestly, I hope I never have to paint

it again--have you ever painted lattice??

it's a nightmare!

I also painted the hens' fence and the front

of the hen house, the rest hopefully to be finished

another day.

And, the color on this little metal table, which

I painted this spring was just not quite

the blue I had wanted {I do have trouble with

choosing colors}, and so when

I spotted a can of Krylon 'blue ocean breeze'

at the store, I decided to repaint...

How can you not love a color called

blue ocean breeze!

Have a great weekend :)