We made a successful trip to go get the pool. It's not much to speak of, but it's enough to get wet, cool off, and swim in! YAY! The drive there was a good two hours each way, so we didn't get much done at home yesterday, just the pool and heading to a Bible study at the home of some friends.
Here are those pics of the Swiss chard we hung on the net. I had wanted to get home and bring them in to the dehydrator that night, but we didn't make it until the dew had already settled all over them. Here they are still covered in dew the next morning.
So yesterday we hurredly got them into the dehydrator before leaving for Bible study, then of course, forgot to turn it on. LOL So we dried them overnight and just got finished bagging up a lot of them, and putting the ones that were not dry enough back in, cutting away even more of the stalk.
You really need to remove the entire stalk, so just figure on cutting every leaf in half to remove it. I like folding them over and slicing the stalk out in one motion.
I am not quite sure HOW dry they need to be. Not as dry as herbs, or they will crumble, but I don't know how much moisture is OK before you have to deal with mold. Another learning experience. We are going to know a lot someday. ;)
A neighbor of the pool place was just a little ahead of us on a greenhouse project, so I got permission to go and look at it and take photos.
Am setting some cuttings from my folks' lavender plants. There were not a lot of good growth areas, I'm not sure the flower stalks will make good cuttings. But I took what I thought was the best of what was there. If they don't work out, I can try again. The nursery downtown was completely bought out.
I tried to buy all my supplies at WalMart late last night for making bread and butter pickles. Most everything was sold out and all other stores were closed. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the cukes. I am not making another trip to town today, and there is no room in my fridge.
And our first sunflower bouquet of the season.
I LOVE having my own cutting flowers again!
~Faith
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It is always fun to come here and see how you are doing! I love your flowers. I am going to try my hand at dehydrating so I wil let you know how things go.
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
I look forward to hearing more about your swiss chard. I never thought to dry it before. I am growing more and more interested in preserving my harvest by drying. How do you plan on using the dried swiss chard?
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteAlways doin' something around here.
Right now, I'd like to be going to bed. ;)
I like dehydrating a lot more now with a quality machine. The old Ronco I bought many years ago was a real challenge, but a good introduction. It made very fine jerky.
~Faith
Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteI only just remembered today, after having more trouble getting canning going, that I had wanted to dry a lot of things.
The easiest thing is to dry most everything and use them for soups all winter. I love soups!
~Faith
Your sunflower bouquet is so pretty! What a long drive. Crazy that Wal-Mart is sold out already! I've heard bad things about them not re ordering! Hope you are able to find everything locally or online. I don't even know what I need I'm going to try ogorki this year. My first time making pickles!
ReplyDeleteJo,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I stopped there Wednesday night, and lots of things were out. I had to nearly get on my knees to reach back and get milk jugs! Weird.
Probably coincidence, but with this economy and the weirdness going on, makes me pay attention.
Sales are down everywhere, except...
DYI places; home improvement, garden centers, etc. People know bad times are very possible in coming.
See, that's why we need more sunflower bouquets. Makes us smile. :)
~Faith