JULY 2021 - What Did You Do To Prep This Week/Month?

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Started the new thread.

I canned 24 four ounce jars of pizza sauce for the visitors. Still have more to do as there have been requests.

My sister's surgery went well, but she had a blood pressure drop and nausea, they ended up keeping her in the hospital for four days, when the surgery was supposed to be same day/out patient! She is doing well now, has been being more industrious than she should at home, cleaning and gardening! Her arm is sore, but the wound is healing fast. I am currently going to their house each morning to get my Mom ready for the day, and to change my sister's dressing since she can't do it alone (she's my Mom's caregiver).

Our kids (hers and mine) came for a week to help me out while I took my sister to various appointments, we really enjoyed seeing them again.

Our gardening neighbor has been helping us out with zucchini, cucumbers, and bell peppers. The kids were making dinner every evening, so we had various forms of squash and cucumbers for every meal! Here's a refreshing cucumber salad recipe that goes with every meal:

German Cucumber Salad

3 medium cucumbers peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
1 thinly sliced medium onion
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 package Salat Kronung Spice packet
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients. Chill before serving. You can also optionally add sliced cherry tomatoes.


The other kid came the week before and brought a bunch her grocery store long-term food, some of which was ready to expire. Figured we'd eat it faster. I had some empty shelves in the LTS, so I put it all on those shelves and then let the visiting family/neighbors "shop" the shelves for themselves. There's still a lot left, but it's more manageable now.

I'm cleaning and scrubbing to get ready for the next round of guests, arriving in about 2 weeks.

I harvested and dehydrated the plantain medicine plant leaves growing in my yard. I've been using them to make a healing salve.

My sister gave me a 5 year old pineapple plant, with a pineapple on it! Also gave me two little orange trees she grew from seeds, a lemon tree she grew from seed, and one of the lime trees I gave her, she gave back to me since I have more room to grow things.

Rotated out 15 gallon of gas and 10 gallon of diesel.

Got the 2nd cutting of hay, cut, wrapped and delivered to barn.

Normal garden duties, weed, tie tomatoes, hoe, water, etc.. My peppers aren't doing too good.

Some of the grandkids camped out in one of the upper fields, of course I had to make a visit to sit around the camp fire and tell them a bunch of lies, and a few big foot stories.

I bought a inverter generator with my cabela points I had. Got a champion 1700/2000 watt, boy is that thing quiet.

I'm tired of cutting grass, seems like every 4 or 5 days you have to cut. Bring on winter

rick1 wrote:I'm tired of cutting grass, seems like every 4 or 5 days you have to cut. Bring on winter

Noooooo! There's nothing better than the smell of fresh cut grass!

I posted before but the post didn't go through!

Rick - about those bigfoot stories...we wanna hear them!

I made 18 more half pints of pizza sauce for the kids who are single - they told me it covers one 8-10 inch pizza well.

We've had a lot of rain. The plantain is growing wild, so I went out and harvested more to dehydrate for future use.

We also have short-leaf pine trees (pinus echinata) growing around our property. Found out that the pine needle tea can help with respiratory and kidney/liver issues. I'll be harvesting that shortly - have to figure out how to get it - the branches are pretty high. I did find a cluster on the ground so I washed it, pulled off the pine needles, chopped them, and made some tea...it was actually pretty tasty - not pine-tasting at all, just a slight hint that was more sweet than anything. This type of pine is also known for use in vanillin flavorings.

The jalapeno peppers are producing, the bells are putting off little peppers but not many.

The neighbor is still keeping me supplied with squash (I pureed 8 and put them in quart bags for soups and stews this winter), cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Between family health issues and other stuff going on, we've kept pretty busy the last few weeks. But despite all that, we're having beautiful summer days with family and friends.

Normal garden duties, tie up tomatoes, pinch off suckers, weed, water, etc.. My peppers are starting to perk up some.

Pulled my onions, they're pretty nice size this year. We'll be cleaning them up and quartering them and throw in the freezer for stews and soups this winter.

Gave the neighboring farmer one of my elephant garlic, he can't believe how big they get. The one I gave him was the size of a baseball.

Took the one granddaughter to the rifle range up on the hill, she's 11 y.o. (leader of the pack) and will soon be 12. She decided she wants a ruger 10/22 for her birthday, just like her brothers and cousins got on their 12th birthday.

I have quit of few of them, took her to the gun safe and she picked hers out. I already have them sighted in for 50 yards, with a 3x9 scope. She shot 3-50 round boxes of shells and did very well, her biggest group was about the size of a 50 cent piece. She'll be hunting with me this year under the mentorship program, I can't wait.

This girl is the TomBoy of the family and I want to keep her that way, but, once she gets into boys, like they all do, I'll lose her.

rick1 wrote:This girl is the TomBoy of the family and I want to keep her that way, but, once she gets into boys, like they all do, I'll lose her.

Maybe not. Our daughter is not a TomBoy, but she is still 'Daddy's Girl'. Even after getting married. Same may be true of your granddaughter. If the bond is tight enough (and you seem to spend a LOT of quality time with your grand-kids), it'll keep.

ReadyMom wrote:

rick1 wrote:This girl is the TomBoy of the family and I want to keep her that way, but, once she gets into boys, like they all do, I'll lose her.

Maybe not. Our daughter is not a TomBoy, but she is still 'Daddy's Girl'. Even after getting married. Same may be true of your granddaughter. If the bond is tight enough (and you seem to spend a LOT of quality time with  your grand-kids), it'll keep.

Hope so. This granddaughter is our daughters daughter and she was the same way, and she is still somewhat of a Tomboy, she used to be attached to my hip when she was young.

All 10 of our grandkids are attached to me and my wife, even the 4 that live out of state. When they come in, all they want to do is go 4 wheeling, fishing, feed the cows and chickens, go swimming in the pond, etc.. They think it's amazing (only because they live in the city) and never had this type of experience.

I'll admit that my wife and I are blessed.

Cut grass and cut some more.

Received 400 watts of solar panels I ordered, that'll put me at 5kw total. Had to order a bigger charge controller too.

Got everything hooked up and have been running on solar for the last 2 days, off and on for 12 hours a day.

Been fishing down at camp, caught a nice 20 inch small mouth in the Junita River, threw it back in. I won't eat nothing out of that water way.

I'll be glad when this hot muggy weather is down, I can take the heat, just not the high dew points that make it muggy.

Canning tomatoes for now, the neighbor is keeping me supplied. Another neighbor gave me 15 ears of corn. Stripped off the husks and silk and cleaned them, then cut the ends and bad spots. They're in the fridge for future corn-on-the-cob.

I sliced a Roma tomato, threw a few slices in a pot of dirt, and it's growing - 2 plants off the two slices. I saw the idea on Pinterest. I'm amazed it worked. They will need transplanting soon. I started them late, not sure if I'll get anything, but it was worth trying. If they remain healthy, I plan to have them winter over in the cabin. We'll see what happens.

The dog has been stripping the jalepenos off my plant! He doesn't eat them, he just plays with them! GRRR.

The yard sales have been lean, but I have scored some clothes for the grand-niece, some fabric (50 cents for 2 yards!), and some odds and ends here and there.

My sister is doing her chemo now, we're visiting the cancer center on a regular basis. She is doing well, they're happy with her progress. Boy, chemo has changed from the old days! She's usually down for the first 2 days, but after that, she has about 8-10 good days before the next round.

This heat, we've not been doing much except keeping the yard mowed, and the plants watered.

Cinnamon wrote:Canning tomatoes for now, the neighbor is keeping me supplied. Another neighbor gave me 15 ears of corn. Stripped off the husks and silk and cleaned them, then cut the ends and bad spots. They're in the fridge for future corn-on-the-cob.  

I sliced a Roma tomato, threw a few slices in a pot of dirt, and it's growing - 2 plants off the two slices. I saw the idea on Pinterest. I'm amazed it worked. They will need transplanting soon. I started them late, not sure if I'll get anything, but it was worth trying. If they remain healthy, I plan to have them winter over in the cabin. We'll see what happens.

The dog has been stripping the jalepenos off my plant! He doesn't eat them, he just plays with them! GRRR.

The yard sales have been lean, but I have scored some clothes for the grand-niece, some fabric (50 cents for 2 yards!), and some odds and ends here and there.

My sister is doing her chemo now, we're visiting the cancer center on a regular basis. She is doing well, they're happy with her progress. Boy, chemo has changed from the old days! She's usually down for the first 2 days, but after that, she has about 8-10 good days before the next round.

This heat, we've not been doing much except keeping the yard mowed, and the plants watered.

Sorry to hear about your sister, my wife went through chemo last year, 6 months worth, she's doing OK for now.

As far as tomatoes, cut off a branch and plant it, takes root right away. I do that every year, saves on seed and having to baby them until it's time to plant.