3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

postaday

Day 199/365:Weeding the Vegetable Garden

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One of the things I really dislike about gardening is weeding. Seriously, I’ve tried weeding to music, weeding when I’m mad, you know the whole therapeutic vision of yanking someone out of the ground by their head, doesn’t matter, I don’t like the task and I never will.

Weeding the Vegetable Garden

In order to raise a bumper crop of vegetables, weeding must be done. My favorite method of weed prevention is smothering them with grass clippings. I bag up my lawn grass (I don’t spray with chemicals) from the lawnmower and it not only helps to prevent weeds but the are rows nice and soft to sit while harvesting. It decomposes and adds organic material to the soil for the next year.

Weeding the Vegetable Garden

My friend Beth (pictured above) raises a large variety of vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, beans, spinach, chard, kale, romaine lettuce, spring greens. broccoli, watermelon, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, and a few others I know I forgot.

Tools To Make Weeding Easier

I have the diamond headed hoe and love how it easily pushes and pulls through the soil, even the hard concrete-like soil during the heat of summer. It actually makes weeding the vegetable garden fun, ok, maybe not fun, but less of a chore. I also really like the claw gardening gloves.

Flexrake 500W Hula-Ho Mini Flexrake Hula-Ho with 14-Inch Wood HandleAsano Japanese Ninja Claw Rake and CultivatorGarden Weasel Long Handled Garden ClawBadger Garden Digging Gloves, Durable Gray Claws on Both Hands – No More Worn Out Fingertips or Broken Fingernails!Nejiri Gama HoeCorona Clipper SH61000 Diamond Hoe

When I was younger I NEVER wore gardening gloves, I was tough, didn’t need any stinking gloves, just wash my hands afterward.

With age comes wisdom and it’s so much easier to just pull them off and not have mud and dirt under your nails. Plus with gardening gloves, you don’t get poked with sticker weeds.

My small handled tools stay in my rolling garden seat, yes, another concession to age, I can’t believe I said that.

Taking Extra Produce to Farmers Market

If you have extra produce, as I do, you can take it to your local farmer’s market. In Elmwood Nebraska, we have a small group of small but mighty vendors. It’s a great way to earn some extra money from your labors and socialize with other gardening friends.

Day 195/365: Imagine Changing This Flat Tire?

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John Deer Floater with a Flat Tire
John Deer Floater with a Flat Tire

I have never seen a John Deere sprayer with a flat tire, so when I drove by it just called for me to stop. Each tire is over five feet tall and designed to travel between the corn and soybean rows without damaging the plants. These sprayers cost close to $200,000 and the tires several thousands of dollars.

Changing a flat tire in the field is no easy feat as you can see. The corner must be braced to keep the rig level. It’s a job I wouldn’t want. I’ve changed plenty of car tires in the past twenty years, but this is one I’d leave to the experts.

Day 196/365:Pampered Chef, My Collection

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My Pampered Chef Collection
My Pampered Chef Collection

I am having an online Pampered Chef show! You have lived vicariously through my food, so here is some of what I use to make it. If anyone wants to order I have my own order page on the Pampered Chef website. A far cry from catalog orders of days gone by.

Seeing how I post so much food to my blog I thought I would highlight some of the tools I use on a regular basis. I love my Pampered Chef cookware and tools. My ultimate favorite is the stoneware bar pan, it’s the dark pan on the bottom for those of you unfamiliar with stoneware.

The date on the bottom is 1998 and it’s been well used for everything from cookies, chicken, pork chops, to biscotti. The rich brown cured hue has taken years to obtain and it is now a nice smooth non-stick surface which I love to use every week.

Who doesn’t love their handy chopper? It’s sturdy enough to chop hard candies that I use on my chocolate covered pretzels, and still stays sharp enough to prepare soup vegetables.

The mini roller in the middle is also a favorite for not only rolling pie crusts in the pan, but granola bars.

What is your favorite Pampered Chef item and why? I might just add it to my wish list.