Saturday, June 28, 2014

wow! has it really been a week since the last post? yep. uh-huh. my bad!

so it's been another one of those weeks where you are so busy that you can't even remember what you were busy with! we had a couple of rainy days, nothing crazy, just some nice rain for all of the plants, grass, trees and garden. but we have also had a few stellar days as well. we are finally at the point of mid20C's all week - it's been an incredible june!


ok - on to the aphid problem - arghghghgh! we tried the soap and water thing on our pepper plants and it worked, but then i found another recipe on the internet. write this one down kids - it REALLY works! you chop up about 2 cups of tomatoe leaves and mix that with 4 cups of water. let it sit overnight. you will see immediately that the water starts turning a funny colour brown and has a strong tomatoe smell. strain out the tomatoe leaves and pour about 1/2 cup in a regular sized spray bottle and fill the rest of the bottle with water. spray your pepper plants with this. this really did the job and the aphids are gone from the pepper plants.

however, our amazing pepper plants now look like this:



because it's still early in the season and because some of the peppers are bouncing right back, we are not panicking. all of the pepper stalks have new buds on them. so fingers crossed kids!

and even though they were planted in sifted soil which contained 5yr old manure, our own 3yr old compost, and peat moss, i'm not taking any chances! i am making comfrey tea and then feeding them watered-down comfrey tea tomorrow and once a week from here on in until harvest time. comfrey is a wonderful fertilizer and we have tons of it growing on our land! here is the tea - it's kind of stinky but i don't care!



and here i am drying comfrey leaves and flowers! my friend Dani has a super-duper solar powered oven and i recommend everyone visit her site - she lives totally off-grid and cooks almost everything and anything in her solar oven! she also has recipe books for solar cooking and i really enjoy mine. but here at the Manor we just have screens and pallets - bahhahahah! but on a hot day like today and for the next few - we can just dry the leaves and flowers on screens and make comfrey tea, salves and ointments!


if you aren't aware of the medicinal value of comfrey - go here or here. or just look it up on the internet! comfrey has been used medicinally for centuries! here's the flowers below:


here's a big bunch that will be turned into mulch to mulch around the tomatoes:


when foraging or harvesting from natural-growing plants, we us the Mi'kmaq rule of thirds: one third for you, one third for insects, birds, bees, etc. and one third for Mother Nature.

oh and speaking of birds and bees - no, not that kind PP! - hummingbirds and all kinds of bees love comfrey flowers! you know what else they love? lupins baby! and we got lupins all over our land! they are so beautiful and come in so many colours!


in this group on the driveway you can see a beautiful pink lupin and a beautiful white lupin:



we also have beautiful scotch broom growing all over our land - the bees and birds love them too!



want to see some more beauty? how about kymberz famous sorta-eggrolls/sorta-potstickers? ok, here ya go:



i can eat 3 of those babies 25 times a day and never get sick of them! recipe coming on our recipe blog soon!

and more beauty - beef raosted in the slow cooker and smashed potatoes - oh, when i sat down to eat this plate, i swear i was in heaven!

i found a new recipe for kimchi and i WILL NEVER make kimchi the old, traditional way again. bless my poor Korean teacher's heart who taught me to make traditional proper kimchi - this is faster and way more delicious. recipe coming on our recipe blog soon!



people - if you have never tried kimchi - try it! it is so good for you! and this recipe is made with regular cabbage - NOT nappa cabbage which is 3 times the price of regular cabbage. you can grow your own cabbage like we do or you can buy it for real cheap at the store. get some cabbages when they are in season and on sale, put them in a box in a cool room, basement or closet, cover them with a towel and you can be making kimchi all year for very little cost!

more beauty:



again - that is the front yard view and the blue brook is called Strachan's Brook. i love that view!

lastly how about a nice light dinner to keep you working until supper? raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, homemade pickles, radish and carrot kimchi, pineapple and apricots - deelish!


anyway - it's been a great week! i'm off to catch up on your blogs soon! much love to all of you!

12 comments:

  1. I like Dani's blog too. I think they are the only people I know who live 100% off grid and still have a normal life.

    If I ever write the great postapocalyptic novel, there will be two Canadians who live in their own little world up on their island. They will be very colorful.

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  2. I hear that comfrey is invasive, so maybe I could grow it. Maybe it would even survive the deer!

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  3. I think the Wife got some of those Lupin seeds to sprout. I know she was excited about giving em a go. This year I don't think the Bees are gonna get very far from the Clover down here at all. It is literally booming everywhere and every clump I look at is filled with Honey Bees.

    Aphids are one thing I rarely have issues with. The Lady Bugs around here are on the ball when it comes to aphids. Now if something would kill the Japanese Beetle invasion...

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  4. Lovely looking food ! I hope you get a chance to put your feet up soon ! Love to you both,

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  5. time flies when you are having fun.

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  6. Summer sure does hit you in the face doesn't it. Wham! everything in the garden is growing like the clappers and weeds seem to grow faster don't they! I have given up trying to have a perfect weed free garden. it just isn't going to happen, not with a full time job.

    I cant wait for the kimichi recipe. we eat lots of sauerkraut the eastern European version.

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  7. G'day Kymber, your place is looking nice and green and you are always busy with something. How hot does it get there in summer? It is the middle of winter down here and I have been raking up leaves all weekend ( we have 2 big trees in our backyard that are from the northern hemisphere hence all the leaves).












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  8. Thanks for the recipe. I often think how will I control bug invasions in my survival garden after a major SHTF event where today's common bug warfare chemicals may not be available for years but you still must control the problem or lose your garden and your largest food source.
    I pity the poor uniformed people who purchase "survival garden seed cans" and think they can actually grow an acre garden right out of the can on unimproved land. I'm pretty sure they will be badly surprised as they may harvest next to nothing. Only constant gardening, like even my small garden, teaches me the skills I must have for a serious garden some day.

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  9. Sweet Kymber,

    Oh dear, I just now remembered I promised to send you an e-mail. I don't know where my head is lately. I promise I will get one out to you soon ;-) We've been pretty busy, and I haven't really done much posting on my blog either. I'll have another give-away soon to post.

    Great recipe for killing off the pain in the butt bugs, thank you for sharing. I will be making this recipe up and having it ready for those darn bugs when they start paying me a visit.....you know they will!!!

    My husband doesn't like kimchi, but I can't wait to borrow your recipe (the new easy one) and see how it turns out. I love cabbage, and can eat it every day.

    I love the view of Strachan's Brook from your place, it's a piece of heaven.......God's Country!!!!

    You two don't work so darn hard, how's the ACE game going?

    Sending love the you and Jam
    Your Friend,
    Sandy

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  10. My Bok choy bolted but that is good news as I can grow bok choy! The celery is really starting to grow and is about 12 inches high and putting on stem growth.

    I learned a lot this year as far as growing a garden and see how the front yard edibles can augment my garden. Less sun seems to make lettuce slower growing and less prone to bolt.
    Cabbages are forming heads and I got my first brocoli floret. Not giving up on gardening and good weather is paying off.

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  11. I am so glad you posted this too~! my peppers are getting blasted by something

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  12. Can't wait to see your new kimchi recipe - nappa cabbage is impossible for me to find...

    You've made me (sort of) wish it was summer already so that I can make some tomato tea mixture. Thanks.

    Thanks for the shout-out :)

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