Hail

It IS May, no?

We managed to drive out of the range of the beating our house took last night.

Here's what we saw on the way home...

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

And so it begins...

A strange summer this is, to be sure.

Wheat is ready to harvest in the fields on our way to the land.

Grasshoppers are devouring green in hordes.  Truly, I don't remember seeing a fraction of the number of grasshoppers in years past.  A consequence of a mild winter, I suppose.

Our onions are the largest I've ever managed to grow, which is a pleasant surprise after several rows of starts were swept away in the heavy (and frequent) spring rains.  So far, we've harvested a little over 2 pounds of onions, some due to hoeing mishaps.  (We are quite good at mishaps this year!)

First onions hanging in the basement

In March, we planted some well-sprouted potatoes remaining from last year's bounty as a "children's garden," hoping that being involved from planting to harvest would help our kids weed a little more with us.  Last Friday, due to grasshopper ravages and general dying off, we opted to harvest three rows.  From three rows, 30 pounds of lovely, well-formed, scabless potatoes.  Some plants were discovered to have both red and white potatoes growing.

Potatoes with green skin or hoeing damage
Our "USE ASAP" pile

Medium to large potatoes

Baby potatoes

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Potato Update

Grasshoppers are devouring potato foliage.  Plants nearest the edges of the beds are leafless, and we'll probably harvest them next week before we lose sight of where the denuded plants are.

The All-Blues look fabulous, strong, and tall.  We're actually hilling potatoes this summer, and I'm hopeful that should increase our yields, barring destruction by the grasshoppers and emerging potato beetles.

Beautiful purple flowers and stems on our All-Blues.

Looking good!

Garlic, already browning, and tree onions

The south bed

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Man vs. Poison Ivy

Round 3

Tree onions
Their tops remind me of aliens.

Boy-who-likes-to-crawl-through-potatoes

Break time

Baby blankets make awesome face guards

when you're scalping the grass to keep down
poison resistant poison ivy

Apparently, little girls' dresses are equally effective

Thanks, gentlemen.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.

It's Purgatory Ranch.

It's the little things

... that can be so annoying.

Take, for example, the fact that the serious poison we bought to take out the poison ivy has done... nothing.  You can tell we sprayed, but even after a second dosing, the plants are still happy.  What is the deal?  If I'm going to invest in poison, I want it to work!

Or the fact that, after weeding the onions so assiduously while James trimmed, taking care to avoid hacking off the green tops, I not once, but three times IN A ROW hacked off the green tops of onions.

Or, ponder with me, the death of two potato plants, rotted from the stem up.  What did we do (fail to do)?

But then, let's think of more positive things, such as...
... sharing cupcakes with Uncle Bruce
... full ponds
... hundreds of healthy potato plants
... copious ladybugs
... trimmers to cut the knee (or more) high grass around the beds!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch!

Same old, same old

Yesterday (yes, yesterday as in Sunday), we ventured out to week, kill poison ivy, entertain Uncle Bruce, and enjoy popsicles.

Saturday was booked by a trip pushed back from Friday for me (to buy plants... gotta do it when I can start plants inside due to house showings), so Sunday afternoon, we went out to wrastle with weeds.

I did accidentally dig some baby potatoes, so we'll enjoy a handful fried for supper.

Until next time, remember.  This is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Homemade Tortillas

Today, since it was chilly in the house, I made a double batch of flour tortillas.  Last time I made tortillas, the experience ended in a rush to minor emergency for a double ear infection.  This time, the day was quieter, the process smoother.

Making tortillas first joined my list of recipes to try because the local Aldi's stopped carrying the smaller flour tortillas, and when I looked at the salt and fat content, I knew I needed to try my own.  Many websites called for tortilla presses, but they are either expensive or poorly made, and I don't need another kitchen implement that has limited uses.  Besides, the girls LOVE rolling out tortillas.

The basic recipe:

4 c. flour (I used half whole wheat and half white)

2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 T. lard

1 1/2 c. water

Mix together first three ingredients.  Add lard.  I cut it in with a pastry blender, then smooshed it around in my fingers, but you could go straight too smooshing it with your fingers.

Add water, stir in.  Because my home-ground whole wheat flour can be slow at absorbing water, I mixed in the water, then let the bowl sit while I mixed a second batch before dumping onto my counter and kneading.

Start heating your skillet(s) to med high heat now.

 Add flour to the counter, then knead into a smooth ball.  It won't be stretchy, but little excess flour should be on the counter.  If the ball is sticky, stop.

Cut it into pieces.  The original recipe (whose source I lost) called for 24 pieces, but I was afraid the pieces would be too small.  I opted for 16.

With a WELL-FLOURED rolling pin, roll out each chunk until it is as thin as you want.  Mine are not perfectly round, and some are thicker than others, but they will all taste great.

Drop into the skillet.  Cook for 1 minute, then flip and cook for another minute.  Because I forget to start my skillet early enough, my first tortillas took longer than one minute on each side.

I used two skillets to speed up the process and may try the grill some time when my husband is home.

Enjoy your tortillas.  They're quite yummy!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.