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Monday, July 4, 2016

Picking in the Teeny Tiny Garden


Did I tell you about the four guineas who walked off? Can't say that I blame them.

Beans hanging on the teeny tiny waddle fence, ready for picking up at the teeny tiny garden...
had to zoom in pretty close. Yep, I spotted these yesterday on our walk and thought to myself, "early Monday morning I'll pick these", and early it was! Rain and thunderstorms predicted "north of the Triangle", and that would be us, friends, first thing this morning! These beans were in my bucket at 6:30 a.m.



It's dark as night here at 8:00 am! Poppy will be home at noon. Maybe the storms will hold off.

Later, I'll snap and cook our first pot of mountain half runner beans. No, these won't be sauteed and eaten crunchy...these will be seasoned with a little fat back grease and simmered slowly in a cast iron pot and served with some cornbread and fried squash.


No cucumbers yet but what a vine! I expected to see Jack, oh wait, that was a beanstalk that Jack climbed. That little pepper plant is about to be swallowed up, and I fear, the tomato vine too!


we are getting lots of zucchini...to the left of the cucumber, about to be swallowed up too. Could it be someone planted these three too close?


inserting a little orange here to break up all the green. Aren't these wild lilies simply beautiful? 


a volunteer stepped in to add some color too. It was he who told me about the guineas. "Pardon me sir, but you have dirty mouth. Have you been in the compost bin again?"


"Smoke" said he had nothing to do with the guineas packing up. "Are you sure about that, Smokey?"


and now more green. A persimmon tree! I bought this one at Walmart, reduced to half price. Now to find a spot for yet another tree! But a persimmon tree, friends! I really really want a persimmon tree. "want, want, want," Poppy says!

Sure wish there were some red ripe tomatoes in the teeny tiny garden to brag about. Maybe soon.

Glad the beans are picked, it's raining here now. I might as well drag out the vacuum cleaner and the mop and get busy. Poppy called me in the laundry room yesterday and asked, "how long has it been since you looked behind the freezer"? Well, it flew all over me! I knew there was some dirt he wanted to point out, something else that needed cleaning. Leaning over the chest freezer as far as I could, sure enough, there were hundreds of little pellets of kitty cat food amongst the cob webs and dust. I'll have you to know, about a year ago, I cleaned and scrubbed behind this freezer!! "Get everything together that I will need to clean with and I will clean back there", Poppy said. No, I had just soon do it myself!

By the way, the guineas decided to come back. Anyways, where would they go?

Love,
Henny :)









46 comments:

  1. Dinner sounds wonderful, I have never cooked beans that way but guess I will be trying this year. I could eat cornbread every day of the week and I do keep the crispy bits of bacon fat to season it with. The guineas were just fulfilling their position as the farm yard policemen.

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    1. Oh Pam, you will love beans cooked that way. Extra special if you throw in a few small pieces of ham and also some onions. Delicious!

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    2. The beans are good cooked that way! I'll have to try adding some ham and onions.

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  2. Maybe they went to Walmart! The only time we've cleaned behind the washer and dryer is when we pulled them out to paint. Mac does pull the refrigerator out to clean behind it. No rain here so far. Your garden looks good.

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    1. Walmart! That's funny! A bunch of guineas in Walmart. You've made me feel better. I always figured everybody but me cleaned behind appliances once a week.

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  3. Good heavens! You PASSED UP an offer to pull out the freezer and clean behind it and all you had to do is provide the cleaning equipment. Are you nuts?! That's a bad job and definitely one to give to someone else, if only they will take it.

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    1. Well Vic, see what an idiot I can be. I need to change my thinking and instead of getting mad because he pointed out the mess, fix him a bucket of soapy water. No wonder I have back problems! Thank you! :)

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  4. Aren't you clever, the way you trained those guineas to march together in a line like that?
    I'm with Vic - anyone wants to clean anything - anything! - for me around here and I'll take them up on it.

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  5. I am so jealous of your teeny tiny garden! I planted a gazillion tomatoes and peppers but haven't gotten one thing off of those dang plants! I think our chickens and guineas have been picking the blooms off! I am the same way when my Mister points out an area that I haven't cleaned! I would just as soon do it myself! Makes me mad as all get out that he notices the things I don't do but never the stuff I manage to accomplish around here while taking care of three children and a yard full of animals! LoL

    Grace & Peace
    Pam

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    1. Pam, You are so right! We get mad because they notice the things we don't get done, but never notice all that we do. Thank you for pointing that out. I'm wondering if we will get any tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes are still tiny on the vines.

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  6. wouldn't it be lovely to have someone come once a month to get to all those spots in the house we don't regularly get to???? Your garden is looking good - mine needs some TLC at the moment, the darned mint is creeping back in among the veggies. I have my first tomato flowers, that's exciting! But a red, ripe tomato is a long way off!

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    1. Oh that would be a dream come true. Poppy has said that we will hire somebody to "help" me rake leaves this fall. I asked, how about someone to "rake" the leaves and leave me out of it. I'm just about worked out!

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  7. Your garden is certainly looking good, those beans are a sight for sore eyes wonderful. Love what you are going to do with them, sounds amazing.

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    1. Thank you! I am always amazed at all that you grow.

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  8. Glad the guineas are back. Sounds like they were just being guineas. I'm like your way of cooking green beans. I don't get with crunchy ones. Seems like it was only yesterday you were out there planting the garden. Wow, time flies. I know it's time for the days to begin getting shorter but seems like it took a pretty good leap overnight. I also was surprised at how dark it was when I woke up.

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    1. Linda, time does fly! The days are going way too fast.

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  9. I'm still waiting on beans, Henny, and will steam them and eat them with a bit of butter and lots of pepper. lol No red tomatoes here, either. soon. Guineas have wander lust, I guess but are happy to return home. "Hi Smokey"

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    1. Steamed and eaten with butter sounds good to me. I'm dying to make your macaroni and cheese dish again but forgot to buy a block of cheese yesterday.

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  10. The guineas look as if they know exactly where they are going! Probably heard of some delectable bugs down the the way, I'm thinking. Your garden is looking real purdy. I know you're gonna enjoy those beans tonight! Happy 4th!

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    1. Happy 4th Cynthia! I do look forward to that first pot of green beans.

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  11. Your garden looks great! As do all your creatures.
    Have a good week!

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    1. Thank you! Hope you two have a good week too!

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  12. I'm sure they followed the bug trail. You know how those bugs are. ;-)
    Your garden looks really nice. Even if the cucumbers are all over everything. We had a few beans; but all we really got this year are tomatoes! If we were closer we could trade. ^_^
    Hope you all have a wonderful, blessed week.

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    1. Hey Linda. Hope it was a trail of ticks they were following. :) I would sure love to have a tomato from the garden.

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  13. What a cute photo of the guineas!
    So, mice take the cat food behind there?

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  14. Not mice, it's those messy kitty cats. They can't eat dry cat food without slinging the little pellets everywhere! :)

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  15. Enjoy those beans. My cucumber and zucchini plants are still very small but they are doing good.
    Glad those guineas came back. They looked cute walking away all in a row.

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  16. Fresh produce from the garden is mouth watering but it's a very busy time to keep up with it.

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  17. I have been stir frying mine and they were delicious! I am so glad you told me about it. I hate it when the Farmer points out things to me that are dirty...arrrrrr!

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    1. Really? Even the half runners are good stir fried? Love you

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  18. I should clean behind my freezer too:0 Glad the Guineas came back from their outing:)

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  19. I hope you had a wonderful 4th

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    1. Thank you Adam! Hope you and Daisy had a great 4th too!

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  20. I'm just kind of shaking my head over this post. You are such a traditional country woman. Like your traditional green beans. I would have let him clean behind the freezer if it was bothering him.
    Maybe the guinea hens just wanted a day off! :-)

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    1. Believe me Linda, I am changing my ways! :) Thank you!

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  21. Sorry, I had to laugh. My husband does this to me all the time...especially the top of the refrigerator (which I am not tall enough to see) and under the stove (which I can't see unless I lay down on the hard kitchen floor. I just look at him when he mentions anything and go on about my business. If it bothers him enough, he will clean it himself. But more often than not- he just "wanted me to know" about it. LOL!!!!

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    1. Terri, I'm going to do that next time. Just look at him and let it go. I get all mad for nothing. Thank you.

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  22. "Did I tell you about the four guineas that walked off?" sounds like the beginning of a good joke!!
    Your garden is thriving, no doubt about it.
    Cat food behind the freezer? I once had a half of a rhubarb pie go missing and finally found behind the freezer. I had put it on the freezer until I could put it in the extra fridge ( which stands beside the freezer). Youngest son went in there in the dark, never bothered to turn on the light, and opened the freezer to get some cookies. Never even noticed the crash I guess. That was a sticky mess to clean up. ( He's 38 and still goes straight to the freezer for choc. chip cookies).

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    1. Oh my goodness. Cleaning up a rhubarb pie from off the floor must have been a sticky mess. That's funny though how the pie went missing. I feed the cats up on the freezer. That's how so much food gets back there. Thank you for telling me. It's good to know others have messes like mine to clean up.

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  23. Oh Henny, men are such children. It is certainly more work to set everything up for them than it is to do it yourself. My husband does the vacuuming and he had to order a new one because he said the old one was too hard to push! My stove gets dirty all the time, even if I just boil water. Everyone has their Achilles tendon.

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  24. Aren't things grown at home just the best??!! your Smokey is so much the twin of our Smokey--can't get over how much they look alike! Sending love and hugs to your Smokey from the Charleston Smokey!!

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  25. Your garden is so lusciously green! Mine is drying up :(
    I had my last two guineas up and disappear, but they never came back. What happens remains a mystery to this day.

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