Lately ...

Lately, I have been so busy, with so many things. Things I want to share with you. Things that all require at least one post by themselves, yet I never quite get past the beginning, as the next thing demands my attention.

So, as a result I have a flurry of unfinished blog posts, that never quite made it onto my blog.

What kind of things, you ask?

Well, there is

• Gardening in general, gardening in the dessert specifically, my experiences with Square Foot Gardening in the desert summer heat and gardening with children. Permaculture, what and why I am turning our backyard into a veggie garden and all that! Oh, and organic pest control. And building your own raised beds and other structures the cheap and easy way! And what about grow bags and root pouches! Yes,  gardening has taken up a lot of my time of late!
• Then there are the mason jar meals. Tips, tricks, experiences, recipes and other useful things.
• Tying in with both of the above, doing real food, good food, organic food on a budget. And I mean a fairly tight budget.
• I have also dabbled in sausage making of late and have some German/Bavarian recipes to share!
• And since it’s the season of abundance everywhere it isn’t as blisteringly hot as in Phoenix, there is also a lot of processing and canning and preserving going on. Which ties into the gardening and the budget and the organic and real food topics!
• And there’s the bread baking! So many recipes to share, so little time!
• Oh and some more tips and tricks, from money saving recycling ideas, to time saving practices around the house, to some crafty (ad)ventures around the garden and with the kids!
• I have also dabbled a little more in the homemade shampoo and other cosmetics area with great results and I have recipes to share!
• And then there are of course the kiddos. They are on break. And home. And in need of entertainment, learning and activities. Since it’s really hot here, we are mostly confined to the indoors, which always makes for a bit of a challenge!
• Then my husband had a somewhat unexpected health challenge, which involved surgery, hospital, recovery at home and all that good stuff!
• I have also always wanted to share with you some blog posts about mental, emotional and spiritual well-being practices. EFT, Access Bars, Body processes, meditation and so many other things that I practice regularly and like to involve my children in too. Ah, yes, one of these days I will get around to all of that!

So yes, it has been an eventful summer! And for the moment, at least until the kiddos are back in school and we resume some kind of normalcy, the unfinished blog posts probably stay that way!

 

However, I will leave you with a few photos!

 

Some of my pots. They are starting to go somewhat scarce and dormant for the summer. With those it’s not so much a matter of production but sheer survival. However,  if they survive the summer heat, they usually go into a second production cycle after the heat lets up a bit!

 

 

Growing potatoes in grow/root  bags and coffee sacks, filled with mulch! The potatoes you see here were planted at 4 different stages, so the harvest should keep us in potatoes for a few months, without having to store them much (no cellars/basements in Phoenix!)

 

 

Bavarian Leberkaese, which literally translated means Liver Cheese. The funny thing is, it neither has liver nor cheese in it. But it is a very delicious Bavarian sausage!

 

 

I have found some more things that you can grow/re-grow from grocery store produce!

 

 

Mason Jar meals galore!

 

 

 

We scored more inexpensive organic peaches, nectarines and figs and I’m canning and freezing like a champ!

 

 

My kids have been involved in quite a bit of gardening and fruit picking this year! They are really getting into the whole growing stuff! Good thing that I am too!

 

 

Yummy breads coming out of the oven every week!

 

 

 

At a 120 F you have to get a little creative with the shade cloth in order to give your plants at least half a fighting chance! What’s climbing up on the side are sweet potato vines! They LOVE the heat! Did you know that you can eat the leaves of the potato vines? You just sauté  them like spinach leaves.  Oh, and the sweet potatoes are another thing you can grow from store produce! This particular one I grow mainly for slips and the leaves, but I have a couple of other containers that I am growing for the sweet potatoes!

 

 

Field trips and new adventures are a necessity during the long summer break! And so much fun!

 

 

How is your summer going? Are you looking forward to the start of school or are you going to miss the little people being home all the time?