A New Way to Shell Peas (For Us)

We were blessed a couple of weeks ago by a gentleman at church.  He gave us a pea sheller that he was no longer using.  For years we've been shelling peas by hand.  I love shelling peas.  It is a relaxing, therapeutic endeavor that is guaranteed to reduce your blood pressure and pulse rate.  I don't know what it is about sitting down with a bushel of peas and a big bowl and shelling, but it puts you in a good frame of mind.  

Our new pea sheller is electric.  It is fast.  You turn it on and put the pea pod into the mouth of the machine.  The pod is pulled through two rubber rollers.  One roller is on a spring.  As the pulley turns the rollers and the pod is sucked through, the peas are popped out into a tray below and the empty shells are thrust into a separate tray.

I'm trying to figure out which tray your fingers go into if you aren't careful!  If I get careless and lose a a couple of digits, I want to make sure Tricia knows which tray to retrieve my fingers so she can sew them back on.  I kid, I kid.

Depending on the size of your peas, you can loosen the wing nuts and adjust the opening.  That's the safety device that keeps you from losing a finger or two.

Here's the empty pods being pushed through.  We'll put these into the compost pile.

And here are the results of our first experiment with our newfangled, super duty, Cummins diesel-powered, turbo-charged pea sheller.  (I may have embellished that description a bit.)  You can see the results look pretty decent.  

As I look over the shelled peas, I can pick out several different varieties: black-eyed peas, purple hulled peas, Ozark razorback peas, and whippoorwill peas.  That is a nice diversity of pea varieties, but it ushered in a problem.  I learned that you can only feed one variety in at a time.  They must be sorted by size and the rollers of the pea sheller must be adjusted for each variety.  This is done with a screwdriver.

If you don't do this, you'll either squash your bigger-sized peas like black-eyes and purple hulls OR the smaller peas like Ozark razorback and whippoorwills will pass right through and not be ejected by the rollers.  As with anything new, you learn from your mistakes.  Tricia put on a pot of white rice and cooked the peas with some smoked sausage and onions and the first peas shelled in our pea sheller have already been consumed.

With the test done, we're now prepared.  If we still have electricity, the new pea sheller will come in mighty handy.  If we lose power, the old, manual pea sheller (our hands) will get the job done as well!

Growing Angel Hair Pasta in the Garden

It's all the rage today to eliminate the carbs in your diet.  Trouble is, I LIKE carbs.  Whether they be in the form of rice, potatoes, or pasta, I'm digging them and not trying to reduce them.  As far as pasta, I have many favorites: linguine, bowtie pasta, spaghetti for starters.  My all time favorite, however, is Angel Hair Pasta.  I don't know why, but it's just better to me.  I like it just plain with butter and garlic or with Shrimp Scampi.  We eat it a lot with homemade pesto.  I never get tired of it.

What if I told you that you could GROW angel hair pasta in your garden?  You can.  Below, you can see it growing.  There's a lot going on in this photo.  Some of the vines are for birdhouse gourds.  Some are butternut squash, but some are spaghetti squash.  Let's hunt through the jungle of vines to see if we can discover a spaghetti squash in its natural habitat.

Yes, there's one right there, and it is ripe for picking!  This one is about 8 inches long and about 4 or 5 inches in diameter.  It's a nice size - not too big, but not too small.  Tricia and I are empty-nesters, so this will be the perfect size for the two of us.  

Spaghetti squash are easy to prepare.  Simply cut them in half and scoop out all of the seeds out of the middle.  We pre heat the oven and brush with plenty of butter.  Then it's placed face down in a baking dish and put in the oven.

When it's done, we remove it from the oven and 'fluff' it with a fork.  Simply take a fork and scrape the sides and all around.  The 'spaghetti,' which closely resembles angel hair pasta comes off of the outer rind of the squash.  Unlike other squash like butternut or Tahitian melon which are creamy, the spaghetti squash resembles angel hair pasta.

We remove it from the squash with a fork and put it on a plate.  Can you see what I mean about its resemblance to angel hair pasta?

Most times we put a homemade tomato sauce on top or maybe a pesto sauce.  Today, we'll just eat it with real butter, garlic, and salt.  Last year we didn't have a good spaghetti squash crop at all.  This year we were able to have a decent harvest and I'm planning to plant a fall crop of them, too, in a few weeks. You can grow your own "pasta" after all!

Every Little Bit Helps

In these inflationary times, every little bit helps.  As we enter hurricane season or who knows what else is coming down the road, it's time to get prepared AND try to save some money while you're doing it.  Here's one little trick I just learned.  We use the 1 lb. Coleman propane bottles to power our Coleman camping stove.  We use that stove for cooking when we camp out OR during hurricanes when we lose power.  It is really a useful thing.

We wanted to ensure that we have extra propane in the event of another extended power outage.  I checked prices and a 1 lb. Coleman propane tank full is running $7.99.  That's a little steep.  I started looking for a fitting to refill the 1 lb. tank off of my "crawfish boiling propane tank."  I found it!  The attached fitting cost $9.84:

All of our little tanks were full except for the one that we used when we were camping recently in Pensacola, Florida.  I decided to test it out.  First, I put the somewhat empty tank in the deep freeze:

I googled what an empty 1 lb Coleman tank weighs and it said 1.3 pounds.  I weighed the one I had just pulled out of the freezer.  I could feel some liquid in it.  It weighed 1 pound, three ounces.

First, I put on gloves and safety glasses.  I screwed the fitting on the big propane tank and turned it over.  This ensures all of the liquid travels downward.  If you didn't do this, you'd fill your little tank with vapor.  I turned the valve on the bigger tank and you could hear the propane filling the smaller tank.  After a few minutes, I could no longer hear any liquid transferring, so I shut the valve.

I searched the Internet to see what a full 1 lb tank of Propane should weigh and it said 30 ounces.  I weighed the "full" tank and it weighed 26 ounces.  Although I wasn't able to get the full fill, that's okay.

Mission accomplished!  We were able to save some money by refilling the tank ourselves versus purchasing new ones.  After we fill one more, we've paid for the fitting with the savings.  As an added bonus, we don't contribute to filling the Parish landfill with empty propane tanks.  A true win-win situation!

And We Prayed for Rain

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.    1 Kings 17:1

And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.    1 Kings 18:1

Three years without rain!!  That is one heckuva drought!  Our lack of rainfall hasn't gone on for three years, but it has been very dry.  We have been praying for rain every single day.  I even saw this guy out by the garden praying (for rain, I assume?), too.

Rain is so important and unfortunately, we often take it for granted.  Our garden needs it... badly.  Watering with a water hose isn't as good as good old rainfall.  Then there's our pasture.  The grass out in the pasture is parched.  With no rainfall, there's no new growth.  The cows and goats and chickens have eaten it down to the ground.  This is not good.  When they eat it that close to the ground, they pick up parasites.  The only bright spot is that I haven't had to mow the yard a single time during the month of June.  Grass in certain spots in the yard is dying.  Landscaping and small shrubs that we can't get water to are starting to die.

For the past 10 years, I've tracked rainfall at Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.  Check it out:

So from January - June 2021 it rained 40.4 inches.

Average rainfall from January - June 2013-2021 is 36.63 inches.

Look at what it's rained so far this year:

For the period January - June 2022, it has only rained 17.675 inches.  The weatherman says that around here if you aren't getting an inch of rain a week, you are falling behind.  We certainly are!

If you look at the first two days in July in the above tracking chart, you'll see that it rained both days!  The cows are out eating fresh green grass that has grown.  I even mowed today.  I checked the weather forecast and it shows decent chances of more rain for the next four days.  Maybe the weather pattern has loosened up!  We certainly pray that the drought is over.

Happy Independence Day!

It was July 2, 1776 and the Continental Congress had just voted for independence.  Two days later, representatives from the 13 colonies approved of the Declaration of Independence that was written by Thomas Jefferson.  246 years later and here we are.  United States of America.  Most days it doesn't feel like we're very united.  In fact, divided seems like a more appropriate word to describe us.  Seeds of discord have been sown and the harvest appears ripe and plentiful...

However, don't count us out yet.  I still believe America is a great nation.  We were founded on great principles by great men with an ambitious vision and goals.  God has used our nation as a force of good in the world.  We are not perfect.  We have our warts and battle scars our sins and follies.  Over the years we've made mistakes, committed sins, and heck, we've even fought against our own fellow citizens in a bloody war.

Division.  It's nothing new.  Israel was once divided into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom.  This morning in Bible Study we studied about King Asa in the book of 1 Kings.  King Asa did not have a good role model to follow.  His daddy didn't serve the Lord.  His grandpa didn't serve the Lord.  King Asa, however, made a stand.  He was desirous of turning the nation back to the one true living God.  He repented.  He removed perversion from the temple and idolatry from the land.  The Bible said that his heart was "wholehearted" in following God.  People's hearts turned back to God.

Am I saying there's hope?  America has stumbled, but it is not too late for God to revive us again, if that is His will for us!  The Bible calls us to pray for our leaders.  We must pray that our leaders, as King Asa did, reverse course, and turn us back to God.  We may not agree with their decisions or policies.  We may find it hard to pray for those we adamantly disagree with, but we must.  Our nation can heal if we turn back to God.  I love my country.  I am proud to be an American, and I'll proudly fly Old Glory.

Happy Independence Day.  May God Bless America.

To Put in Place

The days are long now.  Tricia and I have embarked on a new routine.  After we milk the cow and do the afternoon chores, we walk.  We take Belle with us.  Tricia sets a fast pace.  As you can tell, I've drifted behind.

I have a goal each day to walk 10,000 steps,  That equates to about 5 miles.  There is a step counter on my phone and that's how I track it.  The trick is to get your heart rate up, so you've got to try to do your walking all at once and briskly.  You burn between 250 and 600 calories in a walk of 10,000 steps, depending on your weight.  It is enjoyable.  Tricia and I talk about plans, goals, and sometimes I just ramble.

On days that Tricia doesn't walk with me, I generally will listen to a podcast.  I like listening to the Art of Manliness podcasts.  They are on a wide variety of topics that are really interesting to me.  The podcast lasts for about 45 minutes, which is perfect for the walk.  Yesterday I listened to one that discussed a concept called "Mises en place."  In French that means "to put in place."

It was about efficiency and the talk was from a chef who wrote a book based on how to tame the chaos that goes on in the kitchen of a restaurant.  Even though you may not work in a restaurant (I don't), it was an interesting talk.  First, mises en place.  Everything must be put in place.  A chef has everything prepped, everything within arms reach.  Everything is there so that you don't have to move your feet.  So, at your desk, if you are right handed, is your phone where you have to reach across your body?  Your pens?  Reorganize your workspace to make the most of your motion and effort.

Lists!  I am definitely a list guy.  Lists are good and chefs use lists.  However, have you ever found that of the seven things on your list for today, you only got four done.  The other three move to the next day, which already has nine things on it, so you are always chasing your tail?  Yeah, that's me.  The podcast explained that a list is nothing without a calendar and an element of time.  When you make a list, have a calendar and allocate time, schedule the item at a particular time, so it gets done.  

The call back.  The podcast says that in the kitchen of large restaurants it gets crazy.  Yelling, movement, clanging, banging...  Despite that, there is communication.  It's the call-back.  Someone comes in and says, "I need 3 filets medium rare and 2 chopped salads."  The meat guy calls back, "3 filets, medium rare," and the salad guy says, "2 chopped salads comin' up."  Once the orders are called back, the first person leaves, knowing his communication was retrieved and understood.  That's a good concept in business (or marriage!)

Clean as you go.  If a kitchen at a large restaurant is dirty, people can die!  Bacteria, cross-contamination.  It'll get you.  Cooks keep their work area clean - for safety, but also for clarity.  If the dishes and cutting boards, pots and pans are piling up, you can't think straight.  Once it piles up, it seems overwhelming, but if you clean as you go, it's manageable.

Lot's to think about.  Those concepts work in the kitchen, the homestead, or the workplace.  Tomorrow, I'll think some more about how to implement some of these ideas to tame the chaos.

Right now, I'll finish getting my steps in and enjoy the sunset.

Heat and Drought-Proof Gardening

It has been exceedingly hot and dry.  It always is this time of year, but even more so in 2022.  I haven't mowed the grass in a month.  We are watering everything in the garden and the landscape every other day just to keep things alive.  It is a good exercise to see what in the garden is able to survive and even thrive in the dog days of summer.

This garden plant wins the contest hands down.  Can you guess what it is?  I'll show you the flower as a hint:

It looks almost like a hibiscus.  That's because this heat and drought tolerant plant is in the hibiscus family.  That is an okra blossom.  Okra seem to really enjoy the heat.  I have a few inches of mulch around the base of the plants, and I'm sure that helps them, but I really hardly ever water them.

They keep producing.  The photo below shows okra at almost every stage.  You can see the blossom about to come out, small pods, and then finally pods that are ready for harvest.  The variety you are looking at are called Clemson Spineless.

The colorful okra you see below are called Burgundy okra.  They really stand out in the garden, but when you cook them, they lose their color.  The taste is the same as the others.

As I pick a pod off the plant, I cut the bottom-most leaf off and let it fall to the ground.  I call that "chop and drop" and learned that from a blogger named the Florida Survival Gardener.  Chop and drop employs the usage of the plants leaves to create mulch around the base of the plant.  It ultimately forms organic matter that adds fertility to the soil.

Here are the three varieties of okra that I plant (from left to right):

Beck's Big Okra
Clemson Spineless Okra

Burgundy Okra

All three are non-hybrid heirloom.  I save their seed every year and replant.  I end up with more saved seed that I can use.  This year, in a test, I planted some okra seed that I had saved from 10 years ago - the container was marked "Clemson Spineless - 2012," and they still germinated.

I have three rows of okra planted.  Every other day I go out with a bucket and a pair of clippers and harvest a bucket-ful.  It seems like the hotter it gets, the more they produce.  If it wasn't so hot, I would definitely be wearing long sleeves.  Okra always makes me itch something fierce!