Finally -- fall planting

Lately, we have been waiting for just the right conditions to plant our fall garden. Work schedules and rain have interfered, but I am so happy to report that we were finally able to plant a fall crop.

We planted green peas and pea pods, spinach, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower and parsnips ...

turnips, carrots, beets, radishes and lettuce ...

collards, mustard greens, garlic, potatoes and you can see our pumpkin plants that are growing nicely. Will all these things grow and produce before frost? I don't know but I sure hope so. I think it is certainly worth a try. Fall vegetables are really great. We are especially excited about the root vegetables, greens and leeks. Right now it just looks like rows of dirt.

Since we were late in getting things planted, we had to forget about planting some more winter squash, but I think we have enough to keep us busy.

A Halloween magazine

I have enjoyed this special issue magazine of Martha Stewart Halloween for the last couple of years, so when I received an email with a coupon enclosed, I had to go out and buy my copy before they were sold out.

I don't think I like it quite as much as the dark and scary Martha/light and ethereal Martha that had two front covers. That one was especially good. This one has Martha and her horse on the cover and my favorite thing has to be all the great ways to carve pumpkins. I really love the pumpkins with carrot noses. There is also a great, candle-free way to light up your pumpkin -- wrapping lights around a jar and placing it inside the pumpkin.

This one does have some great decorating ideas, creative recipes, costumes and party hints and tips. It is worth the price, especially if you get the $2 off coupon.

Labor Day greetings

Traditionally, Labor Day is a day to celebrate jobs and working people -- but the message has been lost since it has become a day to celebrate the end of summer. Many use it to spend the last warm days at the beach or at the pool. I remember that it used to be the day we switched from white shoes to brown or black.

I plan to spend today planting greens, carrots and leeks in my fall garden and I might even take in a movie. I want to keep in mind how thankful I am to be among those who have a job on this Labor Day and while I am doing this, I plan to say a prayer for those who have lost their jobs because of our economy.

Have a great day. Be blessed, count your blessings and don't work too hard.

Needed: a book called "Fertilizers for Dummies"

Fertilizing my garden is very confusing. I wish I could go to the library and buy the latest copy of "Organic Fertilizers for Dummies," but I don't think it has been written, yet.

When we received the copy of our soil samples from the extension office with their recommendations, it was really over my head. I thought if you were trying to use organic fertilizers, like manure, it would be enough, but manure doesn't necessarily provide all the nutrients in the right quantities your plants need. I am intrigued by the science of plant care and even though we had a pretty good garden this year, it could have been much better. The plants would be healthier and more resistant to pests and disease if we could get the science right.

Our recommendations were for 16-4-8 fertilizer, (the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in the fertilizer) but when I checked on the bags at the store, we couldn't find any organic fertilizer with those numbers and even though I like to use manure, I quickly found out that the numbers on the manure bags just didn't add up.

My solution was to get three bags of organic fertilizer to mix together to roughly get the correct nutrients needed to amend the soil. One was an organic lawn fertilizer 11-2-2, a bulb fertilizer 4-3-4, and a chicken manure fertilizer, 2-3-2. It just didn't quite add up, but it is better than just using manure alone.

I hope this makes sense and I will let you know if this works. I am looking for a place that will mix fertilizer for me, but I don't know if I can get it in small quantities. Meanwhile, if you find that book I need, just let me know. I am sure I will still be scratching my head trying to figure out just how much fertilizer to mix together before my poor plants starve to death!

An old-fashioned relish recipe

The other day, we had to get rid of a few of our tomato plants to make room for our fall garden. There were still some sad-looking green tomatoes on the vines. My mother suggested I make some green tomato chow chow.

I do remember eating chow chow, which is a relish made with cabbage and green tomatoes. I looked at some old recipe books my mother gave me, and in the book called, "Canning for Your Family," by the Cooperative Extension service at "the University of Georgia College of Agriculture, 1961," I found a few recipes that I adapted into what will be my family relish recipe.

What did my mother think? Delicious. My husband agreed.


Chow Chow

6 cups cabbage, finely chopped
24 green tomatoes, chopped
4 large bell peppers, chopped
6 jalapeno peppers, chopped with seeds removed
2 onions, chopped
4 cups cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons ground mustard
2 tablespoons turmeric
1 tablespoons celery seed

Makes around 6 pints.
Put all ingredients in a large stockpot and let it come to a boil, stirring every few minutes. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Fill jars and follow all the normal procedures for pressure canning, to process for 15 minutes at 15 pounds of pressure.

If you decide NOT to pressure can, you should simmer until it is the consistency of relish and put in jars. At this point it can be frozen. I know it will last for at least a month in the refrigerator but this recipe doesn't have any preservatives so be very careful not to save it too long without canning or freezing.

This relish is great on hot dogs and with vegetables, especially beans.

Joys of coupon shopping

I really hate to clip coupons but I must admit they can really save me money. My main problem is that it takes so much time to clip and arrange them so they are easy to find when I shop.

Since it is still rainy and I can't get out and do anything else after work, I am using this time to update my coupon stash. It is painful because it is so boring but I can sit in front of the TV, clip and sort. If you have a better way to do this, please let me know because I could use some pointers.

One thing I do that saves time -- I go to websites that list what is on sale and also have links to online coupons. My favorite is www.southernsavers.com and another is moneysavingmom.com. I don't have to spend too much time on sales flyers because they have it all listed for me. You can even find out what the penny item at Publix will be if you look after church services on Sunday. That is very helpful because it lets me know if I need to go there while the special is on or if I can wait.

Other tips: Buy in bulk when it is on sale and try to use a coupon for everything you possibly can.

Don't clip out a coupon if you aren't sure you will use it. I used to save ALL coupons but later I found I was throwing so many coupons away. Now I clip the ones I want and then give the rest of my coupons away to family members.

Harvest greetings

This morning I woke up to rain and cooler weather. I would like to report on all the things I am doing for my fall garden, but I can only tell you I am waiting for it to dry out.

So, in honor of the harvest season, I turned this photo of mine into a pseudo-painting and decided to offer it as a note card you can download and use as a fall greeting, invitation or note card.

Just download here, print it on card stock on your color printer and cut in half, horizontally. Each page makes two cards. All you have to do is purchase invitation-style envelopes and you have some note cards on me. Enjoy, and enjoy the harvest season!