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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Growing Panes

Yep, panes, not pains! We have windows! Well, most of them anyways. The upstairs windows haven't been installed yet, but I think they are waiting on the stairs because I assume it's pretty hard to carry a giant window up a ladder!

Here's what part of the upstairs looks like. There is going to be a bonus room over the kitchen and garage, and the rest will be storage.

The showers and bathtubs are also in! This is the shower in our master bath. I love the two seats!

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Our cotton has gotten pretty tall too!

Almost too tall for Lance to hood spray! The "hoods" (those yellow things behind the tire) keep the chemicals from getting on the cotton leaves and killing it.

All the spray in the world won't keep these pests out of the cotton field!

Our peanuts are also about to overlap in the middles of the rows! Our neighbor, who is also growing peanuts, has had some problems with people stopping on the side of the road and digging up the peanuts to see if they are ready. If its not bad enough that they were going to steal his peanuts, if they leave the dug up peanuts on the ground, the deer will find them and know that there are peanuts under the ground, and they will dig up an entire row! So far, neither us, nor him have had that happen, but I'm sure its only a matter of time.

We also got baby chicks back on Tuesday!

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Our garden is also producing like crazy.
Look how pretty our corn is! Unfortunately, I think we've almost ate it up.

I always cook my corn in the oven this way:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Put the corn in aluminum foil.
Put butter all over the corn.
Sprinkle salt (or garlic salt, if thats your thing) over the corn.
Wrap the foil around the corn and place on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Try it! You'll never boil again!
I've also been frying squash like crazy!

If you live in a 3rd world country, and do not know how to fry squash, here's how I do it:
Slice squash.
Batter squash with corn meal (sometimes I put meal and squash in a ziploc bag and shake it to batter, but mostlyI just put the meal in a plate and mix the squash around).
If you're using fresh corn meal like me or would just like more, add salt.
Cover bottom of skillet with vegetable oil and heat.
When oil is ready, place squash in skillet in one layer.
When that side of the squash is brown enough for you (I peek) flip it over with tongs.
When both sides are done, I place the squash on paper towels to drain the oil.
Eat up!
You can also fry okra the same way! I would've had some pictures of that, but somebody beat us to the okra row in the garden and swiped all but one pod!

I may not have a green thumb...
But I definitely have a purple thumb!

Fungus? Frostbite? Bitten by the purple people eater?
Nope, its thanks to the mountain of purple hull peas coming from the garden!

8 comments:

  1. Corn ~ 6 to 7 minutes for 2 ears in the microwave & you'll never boil or bake corn again! Love following the house progress & your fields look wonderful. TTFN ~Marydon

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  2. Your house is coming along nicely. Let me tell you a secret about handy attic storage --
    If you don't have enough stuff to fill the storage up, just wait a year. Suddenly it will be full.

    The corn, squash, and peas have made me hungry.

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  3. Your garden is doing great! The only food we are getting out of ours is squash, banana peppers and thousands of jalapenos.....what can you do with that many jalapenos???? The rest of everything looks PITIFUL! It is the first year, though...hopefully next year it will be better!

    The house is GORGEOUS!! I can't wait to see it in person!!

    ^^WAVES^^

    Robin ;o)

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  4. WHoo Hooo! House is coming along great! I have never seen the progress of cotton or peanuts. This is cool! LOL I am going to try to bake my corn. We BBQ ours last weekend, it was so yummy! Had that BBQ taste to it too.

    This is for Robin and her JALAPENO dilemma. LOL

    Jalapeno cranberry jelly

    Ingredients:
    3 cups cranberry juice
    1 cup chopped seeded jalapeno peppers
    1 cup white vinegar
    7 cups sugar
    2 pouches (3 ounces each) liquid fruit pectin
    10 drops red food coloring, optional
    Directions: Place cranberry juice and peppers in a blender;
    cover and process until peppers are fully chopped.
    Strain through a double thickness of cheesecloth.
    Pour the strained juice into a Dutch oven; add vinegar.
    Stir in sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.
    Stir in pectin; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute,
    stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; skim foam.
    Add food coloring if desired. Carefully ladle hot mixture
    into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. head space.
    Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for
    5 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
    Yield: 8 half-pints.

    You can serve the jelly with cream cheese on crackers or use as a condiment with meat
    or baste you poultry to BBQ. It is so YUMMY!!!


    Note: When cutting hot peppers, disposable gloves are recommended. Avoid touching your face.

    Sorry it is so long :)

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  5. Wow the house, garden, crops and chicks all look great. I'll definitely try the baking method for the corn. My boys can eat 4 or 5 ears each!

    Another way to use those jalapeƱos is to try Pioneer Woman's recipe for Bacon-wrapped jalapeƱo thingies.

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  6. Hey there. No problem about following. I think the monkey thing is soo hilarious! It looks as though we might have some things in common... feel free to follow me as well. I can alwasy use more. =0)

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  7. your farm is massive...put up some spy cameras that run on batteries (moultrie... made in georgia i think)and catch those thieves. it time stamps too! call me stupid, but how do you keep the rows so clean? they are perfection! the house is looking good! you'll be moving in, in no time. love your blog, steph!

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  8. Thanks yall!

    Kritter Keeper-The cotton we grow is called Round Up Ready Cotton, which means that Roundup can be sprayed on it and it will not kill it. So we spray all of our fields about once a month with herbicides and pesticides.

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