GBBD September 2008 Fall Flowers

I have fall blooms. The Autumn Joy Clematis is in full bloom.

My passion vine is blooming like crazy again.

Here is my favorite fall combo. Turks cap blooming with ox blood lilies.

Thanks to at Carol May Dreams Garden for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Basil Harvest

Wow that is some bad picture. The lemon basil harvest is in full swing. The dehydrator is totally full and I still have a lot left. There is even more in the garden. I smell like lemon basil, nice. I need to find a way to use all of this basil. Manly Man's favorite meal is Italian fried chicken and spaghetti with pesto. I put basil in our regular spaghetti sauce. Other than that, I don't have any other ideas about what to do with all this basil. I tried making a pesto based salad dressing adding more lemon juice and olive oil to make it more runny. That was good, but it needed salt. Any suggestions on what else to do with all this basil?

Squash Soup for Silence

Silence over at Poor Richard's Almanac asked for recipes using butternut squash that do not use sweeteners. I picked up a butternut squash at the store earlier today and decided to make soup out of it. I am planning the same thing for Mr. Carver up there come Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday).

So here goes

1 Butternut squash

2 Carrots

2 Celery stalks

1 Clove of garlic

2 1/2 Cups chicken broth

1/2 Teaspoon onion powder

1/2 Teaspoon cumin

1/2 Teaspoon curry powder

1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 Teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 Teaspoon ground thyme (I will use fresh next time)

1/2 Teaspoon paprika

Black pepper to taste

Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds, brush with olive oil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the squash can be easily scraped away from the skin. Saute garlic, carrots, and celery until tender. Put everything together in a blender and puree.

Make sure the lid of the blender is on tight. Trust me, I learned the hard way. Soup on the ceiling, not good.

Mine had a few carrot chunks, but I liked it that way. Milk or vegetable broth can be substituted for the chicken broth to make this a more vegetarian friendly dish. The soup was a little to spicy for the Monkeys. That's okay, more for me. I did a little research, and this soup is loaded with Vitamin A and beta carotene.

Is it wrong to tease a pumpkin?

Thanks a Lot Ike

We are all okay. We lost a tree limb or two and the Monkeys had to miss the last day of Cotton Festival, but it could have been a lot worse.

The rain barrel is full, so that is something.

Middle Monkey came in from outside to let us know the wind had picked up speed. How did he know? It almost knocked him out of the pecan tree. Anybody knows you don't climb a tree in a hurricane. Sometimes I think these boys have the common sense of plankton.

Here is the first of Mr. Carver's costumes. How do you like that paper cat mask?

The No Bag Lady

At our local Dollar Store I have become known as the "No Bag Lady." I can think of worse things. For some reason they think it is funny that I bring my own bags. Hopefully, very soon, I will be joined by a lot more "No Bag Ladies."

Hurricane Ike has driven South Texans all the way to our county. There are evacuees staying at a large church in Kaufman. I took out the sour dough bread starter and fed it. I don't know how many loaves I can stretch out of it. I am going to make as many as possible and deliver them tomorrow morning, before the wind and rain hits.

Picked the Pumpkin Today

Today was the day. I picked the pumpkin. In a little bit, I will go out into my garden and remove all of the wild pumpkin vines. This should do a lot to tidy things up. I saw some pumpkin costumes in a magazine the other day. So I will begin sewing pumpkin costumes soon. I think a cat mask would look quite handsome. Anyway, this pumpkin is going to be around a while as a decoration for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and just fall in general. Since it will be part of the family for a while before we eat it, I think we should give it a name. Any suggestions?

Red Noodle Beans

Our Friend Ben at Poor Richard's Almanac wanted to see the red noodle beans. Well, here are a few pitiful examples. It is late summer here in north Texas and everything coming out of the garden is a little stunted. Everything but the okra and peppers. Okra and peppers love dry heat.

I have grown yard long beans for years. This year I found the red variety from Territorial Seed Company. I love territorial Seed Company. They have all the cool heirloom seeds.

The green yard long beans produced a little better for me. The red beans were just too much fun though. I have not had enough to cook because the Monkeys keep eating the straight off of the vines.

Other heirloom veggies I have grown this year include yellow pear tomatoes, green zebra tomatoes, Cherokee purple tomatoes, Ronde de Nice zucchini, and a couple of varieties of popcorn and sweet corn.