Much of my time lately has been spent in the garden. As with any garden, when the produce is ready, it must be picked and dealt with. And as usual, I have too much at one time. I have made 4 pints of beets, 8 or 9 jars of pickles, 4 pints of “dilly beans,” picked countless green beans and peas, plus zucchini and yellow squash. I have a very good yellow squash recipe that we all like so have made that several times. None of the produce in jars is “canned” so I just keep it in the refrigerator. In fact, we have so much in our refrigerator that I have moved it out to the RV refrigerator.
Nice Romaine heads and green beans
"Dilly Beans"
Recently I picked lots of Anaheim chili’s, roasted them on the BBQ and then made Chili Relleno’s. They were really good! I have a pan of them in the freezer to use later this week. I used a recipe from an old camping friend. He and I had made these in Death Valley years ago so I do them in his memory.
Anaheim chili's in the back and green peppers.
Chili Rellenos
The extra Anaheim Chili’s I roast and cut up for salsa. I just add a little onion and some chopped tomatoes and garlic salt.
Speaking of tomatoes, my Roma’s are getting ripe but they don’t have the filled out shape of a true Roma. They have more of a pear shape. Our problem is a lack of heat for real good tomatoes. Too many foggy mornings here on the coast.
One thing that is really growing are the Bird House Gourds I planted. They have taken over a whole area of the garden. We built trellis's so the gourds can hang down and maintain the true bird house gourd shape.
Gourds hanging
Today I cut off all of the old Boysenberry canes from this years crop and tied up the new canes which will have next years crop. That job requires long pants and a long sleeved shirt as the canes have thorns. I have a real system so it goes fairly quickly.
A few weeks ago I decided that it was time to replace our house roof. This was to be a major effort as it was a double roof with the original wood shingles covered with fiberglass shingles. Also, there was no sheeting on the roof so that added to the cost as the whole roof had to be covered with CDX half inch plywood first. We also had the old skylight in our entryway removed and replaced with a Solar Tube. We added a Solar Tube in the hall bath as well. Now it looks like the light in the hall bath is always on as it is so bright in there.
While this was being done a plumber replumbed our master bath shower as this had never been done when the house was plumbed overhead years ago. I figured it was only a mater of time before that leaked somewhere under ground.
The roofer had to replace many of our starter boards on the roof overhang as they were dry rotted or termite damaged. After the roofers were done a drywall guy finished off the entry ceiling around the new solar tube. Then the painter came and primed and painted all the starter boards and the entry ceiling. I am glad to have it all done.
The flag plaza in front of the house is done and planted and Craig is working around the mailbox. I had put broken cement going up to the driveway but never did the cementing in part so he is working on that. He also sand blasted and clear finished the wooden base for the mailbox.
Next week I will pick lemons from our tree. Periodically I do this so the tree keeps producing. I give them to the local food bank. We still have plenty for our own use.
