Canning

I was supposed to work outside yesterday.  But there were four recipes for canning prepped in the fridge.  And despite trying, I didn't get them handled over the weekend.  So instead of working outside, I got three of the recipes canned.  I now have a dozen jars of Sweet Garlic Pickles, eight jars of Bread and Butter Relish, and 13 jars of Bread and Butter Pickles.  Hopefully, tonight I'll get the Pear Relish done.   

That's all and yet so much.  I was going to leave the B&B pickles as fridge pickles but realized that they would probably go bad before I got around to eating them all.

All of these are "rebel" canning.  Due to health issues, I am on the keto diet.  So the sweetener used in each recipe is a mix of erythritol, stevia, and monk fruit.  There is a commercially available alternative that actually does taste exactly like sugar, but I react badly to the mix.  It has allulose in the mix.  I don't react badly to allulose by itself.  But all four mixed together is something my body does not like at all.  So instead I mix my own.

I normally try to put up enough for two years when I'm completely out of something in the pantry.  And I've been out of homemade pickles and relishes for a long time.  But since this is a "rebel" method and an experiment, I only did enough for a year.

Fingers crossed for success.

If I were just doing keto for the sake of keto, the amount of sugar in the recipes could be shifted to honey, or even just left as sugar.  Used in correct amounts, the carb count isn't high.  But since I need to cut sugar as much as possible, or anything that will be a possible issue for diabetes, I'm trying alternates.  I won't use any of the other sweeteners because of things learned over the years.  I am hoping to eventually be able to grow my own stevia and monk fruit.  Then I will work out a flavor balance between just those two.

Making Use of Old Wood

I have parts of an old pergola.  They were originally meant to be rebuilt to a half size to provide privacy outside the bathroom window.  But this is one of those projects that fatigue delayed.  As a result, this year the woodpeckers and carpenter bees have just chewed the wood.  And yeah, it's almost all new damage.  I'm not happy about it but I also refuse to waste the wood.

So today was spent first measuring it to make sure that it would work for what I was going to repurpose it to, which is the frame for another garden bed.  This bed will be slightly smaller on one side, which is actually good.  This garden bed will be going close to a water company access spot.  So slightly shorter on one side will give a better gap around that spot.

The next step was removing a few screws that were blocking my ability to remove the carraige bolts.  That done, I was going to use the drill to get out the carraige bolts.  But even on the hammer drill setting, it couldn't move them.  I had my suspicions why so I grabbed the socket wrench and went to work.  I lost count at 13 or 14 bolts.  All but one of the bolts are out.  All but 3 of the bolts snapped, leaving a good 2" in the wood.  I will have to be careful when cutting these boards.  Sometimes human strength and stubborness can do what power tools cannot.

As for the last bolt?  I'm waiting for feedback from someone who has used and abused many more wood projects than I have.  But I don't really want to pull out a demolition/fire rescue blade for this.  I already tried hammering the notched pieces back together some so I could possibly get just a bit of grip with the socket and work it from that.  That didn't work.  So my next resort, barring other suggestions, is to find my smallest wood chisel and clear out some of the wood around the head of the bolt.

And then, because my body said I needed more exercise, I did another foot and a half of mattock tilling.  By the time I finished the tilling and then getting all the weeds out of that section, I was done.  Now to take care of inside things.  Like those sewing totes.

That Job is Almost Done

So Wednesday I got back out there.  I moved cardboard around to get another area covered.  Then I mulched it all.  So I had the section down the side to just at the front of the house done.

As I was looking at the rest, I realized that I then needed to do the other end.  If I didn't I was going to find myself trying to maneuver in a very tight fit space and over mulch I had just put down.

The mulch is going down in layers that are 9" to 12" deep.  I don't really want to walk over it after they are down.  I definitely don't want to maneuver the wheelbarrow over it because the wheelbarrow will either sink in the mulch or drag it all over.

So Thurday, I headed back out and got the other end of this garden bed started.  I honestly thought that I was going to keep going for a few more days on this.  My body hasn't been exactly cooperating, and I've been tiring out much easier than normal.

I went back out this morning and spent the time to get the whole rest of the space covered in cardboard.  Thanks to a donation from a friend I had just enough to cover the whole needed area.  I'm now officially out of cardboard.

Anyways, I had to move a small pile of debris that had been raked up from the area.  I was originally going to just put it back.  But I don't know if it had gotten sprayed with the RoundUp and I didnt' want to risk my new plantings.  So it went back to the smallest compost pile where nature will have plenty of time to make sure that it is safe.

Then I started moving mulch.  At some point, I just started talking to folks upstairs.  "Hey, guys, you've been helping me keep my energy up but something has happened.  Did I miss something?  Could I have some guidance, please?" 

Why?  Because I have been sliding back to old fatigue levels.  And old fatigue levels means that chunks of the to do list go back to being a dream list.  And I'm really liking having the to do list shrink and the improvements that are occurring as it does.  I also really like feeling better, and the exercise from working in the yard has been going a long way to helping me feel better physically and mentally.

Did I get an answer?  I don't know.  But likely.  Answers don't have to be words. 

I just kept working.  I kept convincing myself to "just get this far".  I refuse to surrender easily to the fatigue. 

At some point, I started sweating and then it was like everything broke open.  I didn't need to keep convincing myself to keep going.  I wanted to keep going and get it done.  As crazy as it sounds, it actually felt good to be sweating.  And I hadn't been working up much of a sweat lately because the weather is cooling off. 

So instead of one more section, I finished off the mulching all the way around.  Everything is deep mulched all the way around and it looks good.

Over the next few weeks, as the spine permits, in between other projects, I'll continue using the mattock to till up the area for the fall blooming crocus and asparagus.  I think I've decided that one of the rosemary plants is going to go next to the garbage cans, in front of the camellia.  I'm still debating on that because of the rain water stuff I want to do.

As far as what's next, well, while finishing and working up that sweat, the brain popped right back on track for the to do list.  Next is setting up another garden bed.  And, as more cardboard becomes available, start deep mulching alongside the the vegetable garden beds.  The deep mulch "walkways" will, first, help keep some of the deep rooted, invasive grasses out of the vegetable garden beds.  And second, make less area for me to mow.  (You know I hate mowing right?)

There's a follow up to that garden bed.  Which project on the list happens depends on whether I can get some feed bags or sand bags and soil.  But one step at a time and we'll get there.  Somewhere in all of this, maybe this weekend, is getting the bucket seat made so I can get my butt moving on planting things.  And getting that pile of sewing stuff into its new homes in an organized manner, which may mean sewing some custom baskets for the shelves in the desk.

 

A Bit More Done

So last Thursday I dealt with roots and getting the last camellia planted.  And after that was done, for some reason, I decided that I needed to do more.  So I pulled out the mattock and tilled a section one foot wide by about 5 feet long.

Friday, from about 3 am onward, my spine had a few words to say about that decision.  So for the weekend I focused on cleaning the house, sorting through old stored totes of sewing stuff, and prepping recipes for canning.  Nature decided to help reinforce those decisions by providing lots of rain for the plants.

To be honest, sorting through the old sewing totes was surprising in more way than one.  First because there were twice the number of totes that I thought there were.  Second because there were a lot of my old projects mixed in with the items from my great grandmother and both grandmothers.  My button jar is now a massive button tin, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

 And then there was Monday.  I had to take a break in the work day to go get prescriptions.  Long story. Big headache. It was done and over but I wasn't able to get any outside time.

So today I made a few decisions.  One was that I was going to make sure that I got outside again, and that I would get the regular pattern reestablished.  It's been a bit too easy to slide out of the pattern of regular outside exercise time.

Second decision was that I was going to start going outside after I finish work for the day.  For right now, if I get started on my paying job super early, I get finished early.  That leaves me easily an hour before sundown to get some yardwork done.  And when the days get too short, I'll go out at lunch time.  This also leave me time in the evenings to just calm and settle, which results in me getting to sleep at a decent hour.

Third decision was that I'm going to start mulching my way around this section.  The cardboard will be moved to cover each next segment, and that will be mulched.  I'll keep doing this until I run out of cardboard.  At least this way most of it will be deep mulched as the cooler weather comes in.  And I can add on as more cardboard becomes available.

And last decision is that I will use the mattock to continue to till up the one foot area.  But only a little each day so I don't piss off my spine quite so much again.  When all of that is done, I will put in what plants and bulbs I have for that area and lightly mulch it as needed.

Running out of cardboard.

So some of my giddy up and go came back today for a visit.  The last three elderberry bushes got planted.  That was two holes dug with the mattock because of roots, and one dug with a shovel.

The plants that have been in the ground for a while now are definitely looking better and perking up.  

I went to do the last hole, for the camellia, and ran into a root that the mattock just could not go through.  It's not an ax.  Well, it has an ax blade side.  But the ax blade side had a chunk out of it when it came to me.  And the guy who sharpened it repaired it but you lose some of the edge and angle when you fix that big of a chunk.  An ax, or two, and a few other tools are still on the "get" list.

Either way, after fighting with it for a bit, the body was done.  Tomorrow I'll take out the sawzall with the pruning blade and handle the problem  Yes, cutting soil will toast the blade, but that blade is just about done already.

I wasn't quite ready to quit.  The body was actually pretty happy to be moving again, even if it didn't want to do anymore digging.  

So I started the next step.  With only one hole left to dig, I could start putting cardboard down.  I had a monster pile of cardboard, but it isn't enough.  I still have some pieces that didn't go down, because the body did finally declare a stop.  I'll grab that stuff tomorrow, after I finish the camellia planting.

From this point on it actually goes really fast for most of this garden bed.  Maybe.

I think I'm going to go ahead and do the one foot wide section for asparagus and fall blooming crocus.  It's easier to cover up an accident tilling up too much area than it is to cover up accidentally sending the mattock through mulch, landscape cloth, and cardboard layers.

Doing the one foot wide section won't be fast, depending on what is underneath.  It all depends on where the roots for the maple tree go through.  And how many more random shrubbery and sweet autumn clematis root bundles I'm going to find.

Fingers crossed, and if the giddy up and go sticks around, I might have that part done this week.

 

Chugging along.

Back to work outside.  The weather interrupted for the weekend.  I don't have rain gear that will let me work in rain without getting soaked, so no outside work this past weekend.

I got back to it this morning despite my body desperately trying to convince me that I shouldn't.  The last of the old plantings are now gone.  Despite all the rain, I had to use the mattock to get out the last of the plastic edging and the liriope.

Then I took the mattock to the root mass for the smilax and got that out.  And when I saw that the sweet autumn clematis was going to try for yet another comeback, I took the mattock to that root mass as well.  There is room for another 3 elderberry bushes and the second camellia plant.

How long it takes to get those in the ground depends on how hard the holes are to dig.  But unless natural interferes again, I should have them all planted in the next two days.

Then I start the next two parts of this project.  One is getting the mulch layer down for the plants.  The cardboard will be two foot from the house.  The landscape cloth will be over that.  Both will go out to 7.5 feet from the house.  From 7.5 feet to a little over 8 feet will get turned with the mattock and have more soil added.  Then asparagus and fall blooming crocus will be planted.  I will be carefully placing paper board, not cardboard, to keep the weeds down as much as possible until both of those plants take over enough to crowd out the weeds.  

While I hate weeding, this section of this garden bed is going to need maintenance until the plants grow in enough.  But it will always be blooming because the asparagus will bloom for the warmer months while the crocus start popping up in October and stay green through early spring.

I'm truly hoping that being moved into the ground will help the crocus to do better.  They've only been surviving in the planters. I'd like them to thrive and expand.

 

Detours on the path

Yesterday I needed to try to get as much work crammed in before errands as I could, paying work that is.  So I woke up and started working.  Before it was time for errands I was within $35 of my weekly goal and had a $20 job on hold.  That was a lot of work to be honest because when I started I was over $70 down for the week.  And that typically is a day and a half worth of work on this job.  Someone upstairs was watching out for me and tossed me some decent paying jobs.

Then I ran errands.  I debated on that, but the groceries orders had already been placed and I did not want to be out and about on Labor Day weekend.  Not that it helped much because lots of folks got off work early.  Then I came home and unloaded all the groceries.  And then I tackled the $20 job.  I managed to get another job and ended up $12 short for the week.  My budget is pretty precise with very little wiggle room lately, so I hit the computer again this morning again.  On a holiday weekend, it was a miracle, but I'm down to $3.  I might be able to grab something in the next few hours.

When work disappeared at the rate of no new jobs in 15 minutes, I started cleaning out the vehicle.  I needed to move my body and be outside for a while. In the last couple of weeks, with all the insanity, there was a bunch of stuff that was "waiting" in the vehicle.  It was all getting on my last nerve.  So I got stuff out and where it belonged.  I got the reusable shopping bags back into one bag in one place.  I got the little bits and pieces of trash cleaned out.  I generally tidied up the interior of the vehicle so it wasn't driving me nuts.

And as I was cleaning out the vehicle, I realized that the rain yesterday afternoon and last night had a whole bunch of cucs growing oversized.  Now National Pickling cucs taste okay when they're oversized, but I really didn't want a bunch more of the oversized ones.  So when the vehicle was finished, I picked a large bag of cucs.  And then a small mixed bag of tomatoes and sweet peppers.  And then another big bag of pears.  And that pretty much means that I've got more pickles to make this weekend, mixed in with everything else.

So detoured.  I may get back to the garden overhauls tomorrow.  Or I may breakout all the stuff to wash the vehicle and give it a really good scrubbing.  Because it really needs it.

Lions and Tiger and... Yellow Jackets! Oh, my!

 So I went back out yesterday and got more cleared.  The third compost bin is now not only full, but over full.  And after learning lessons earlier this year, I trimmed thing off in sizes that would easily fit the compost bin, although not the wheelbarrow.  

So when I left off, it was with the Nandina bushes about halfway down.  And the smilax stabby vine off and tucked to the side.  

Now you can actually see the old door that hasn't been used for over a decade.  And things are starting to look better.

Today I went out and took down the last of that.  And got to discover that deep in the last Nandina was a pretty decent size yellow jacket nest.  I'm highly, nastily allergic to yellow jackets.  Not quite anaphylaxis point, but not far from it either depending on where the sting is.  So it was an immediate stop and inside to get hornet spray.  

I don't normally have hornet spray on hand, but we had found another yellow jacket nest about two weeks ago.  So I got to play shoot the yellow jacket with moving targets.  And I've got better aim than I realized.  Only one survived, and it took off until I was almost completely done. 

The last bit of clearing out was done with the sawzall and a pruning blade because the canes of bamboo were too close together for the loppers.  And it was multiple times.  I had to get most of them down low enough that I could get the rake through there again.  And then take them down even further.  I finished today at this point.  I decided it was time to stop when the last yellow jacket decided to come back to explore. 

Tomorrow I'll pull that last section of edging with the mattock.  And the last of the liriope.  And then probably measure for the last of the elderberry and camellia bushes that will fit in this space.