A Walk Around the Homefront AUG 2015

We've been on Guam for about 3 weeks, and in that time we've explored the island, been to the beach, taken delivery of our household goods, toured a local Medicinal Plant Farm (more on that in another post), and lost my beloved Aunt Audrey.  I knew the best thing for my hurting heart would be to play in the dirt, so Sunday afternoon I repotted all of the plants I'd accumulated in that short time. 

This morning, I realized it had been awhile since I'd taken a walk around the homefront, so today I took my camera with me so I could show you what we've got so far.  It was Aunt Audrey who took me on my first 'walk around the homefront', on her property back home in MA.  She would point out wildflowers ("Look at the Indian Paintbrushes!  Time to go back to school!" she'd say) and we'd check out the fruit trees and admire Uncle Leroy's garden and pick ripe blueberries.  It's no wonder, then, that I would take comfort from a walk around our new property to check things out.

In the built-in planter out back, we have this beautiful ornamental red ginger.  I was hoping it would be edible, but no such luck.

Out front, we also have this Bird of Paradise which is beautiful.  But again, I wish it was more than just ornamental.

Cathy, my friend and neighbor from Virginia, gave me this flag and as soon as I unpacked it, I had to go put it up.

 There are several coconut trees lining the "Alley" we live on.  Stephen has gotten good at cracking into them and toasting the meat to have with his morning oatmeal.  Yum!

This is a Strawberry Mango tree that I bought from Ralph, a retired military dude who sells his extras once a month at the flea market up on the Air Force Base.  Hopefully, it will start to fruit sooner rather than later, but it's still little.

I spotted this poor basil plant at the BX at the Air Force Base, so I had to bring it home.  I need to prune it so it bushes more.

We also have some papaya trees.  We aren't sure if they are ours or if they belong to our neighbors, but they don't seem to want them, so we are not above foraging!

Just a few days ago, I was looking out our bedroom window and noticed that there was something hanging off of this shrub.  Further examination revealed Guavas, and lots of them!

This is a Surinam Cherry that I also bought from Ralph.  We think it should start to bloom in about six months. 

And this one is called "Orange Berry" because... you guessed it... it produced orange berries.   It also came from Ralph.

These two plants came from Amot TaoTao Farm, which is a local medicinal herb grower.  On the left is Sambong (Blumea balsamifera) which will eventually grow into a larger shrub.  On the right is Miracle Plant (Bryophyllum pinnatum) which is VERY easy to propagate (just stick a leaf on the soil and it'll sprout a new plant!).

This Barbados Cherry was the first plant I bought, at the Navy Exchange Home Center.  In just 3 short weeks, it has blossomed and is now growing fruit!

This beauty right here is a Vietnam Gardenia which Abby brought home from the same place.  It's supposed to blossom year round, so we'll see.  It, too, has a blossom coming.

This pathetic little specimen is Lemon Grass, but for $2, I couldn't resist bringing it home.  It makes a great iced tea!

 Max loves this look-out point.  The big window in the kitchen is great for plants and starting seeds.  There's some cilantro, a vinca, and a pineapple top which I am attempting to re-grow.

 

This was my surprise of the day... bananas!  Again, not sure if this tree is ours or the neighbors, but I'm certainly going to keep my eye on them!

First Market in Guam

It has rained every day since we arrived on the island.  Not constantly, but it's been cloudy every day which has been a nice break from the sun.  Thankfully, the weather held and we were able to enjoy the night market in Mangilao.

I was all about getting my hands on local produce.  The husband and kids were all about eating meat on a stick.  In the end, we all were happy.

The first new-to-us fruit we tried was Santol.  It's the yellow ones on the left in the photo above.  It has a mild citrus-y taste (almost like a grapefruit?).  Apparently, you can make santol marmalade but I only bought a few so we'll be eating them raw.

We didn't buy any juice, but I had to take this picture because I was proud of myself for knowing what the purple Ube is.  (It's a purple yam/sweet potato very popular in the Philippines.  I know this thanks to my VA neighbor, Cathy, who once made us Ube ice cream!)  We also passed on the fish balls.

There were several vendors selling grilled chicken on a stick, and we tried one from everybody.  The unanimous winner was Dada's BBQ.  Yum-o.

For dessert, Joanna decided she wanted Tapioca pudding.  This was not at all like the chilled, thick goodness we know and love.  It was warm and soupy, and absolutely out of this world.  Even Abby ate it, and she doesn't like tapioca!

"Farm to Table Guam" was there with some beautiful produce, and I got to introduce myself to Rita, their PR person.  Hoping to get some canning/dehydrating classes on the island!

Not a bad haul for my first market.  Clockwise from top left: some little bananas, long string beans, santol, guava, star fruit, avocados, dragon fruit, and soursop.  I feel a tropical fruit salad coming on!

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes... and Chincoteague

I am disgusted with myself that the last blog post I wrote was NINE MONTHS AGO TODAY.  Cripes, I could have had a baby in that time!!!  (Rest assured, I did not.  Thank you, Lord.  Although it would have been a great excuse...)

Since then, my life has been consumed with preparing for an overseas move and selling our house.  Which we did.  In fact, the last of the paperwork was signed today!  Yesterday, the movers drove away with all our belongings and we left Chesapeake.  I decided to take the kids to Chincoteague before we left the area for good because they both loved the "Misty" books.

The original plan was to rent bikes and ride around the National Park on Assateague.  But I decided this morning that we'd take a pontoon boat tour, instead.  It was expensive, but I was really hoping we'd see some horses (Abby is obsessed with them!) On our way to the dock, she spotted this statue and begged me to stop so we could take pictures.

 I saw these chairs and made them pose!

Shortly after we boarded the boat, the Captain announced that a foal had just been born, and instead of stopping and talking along the route as he would normally do, we were going to rush out to see if we could spot the foal.  The herd was still there and there were several foals.  But none of them were newborns.

 Then we spotted this little one, off on his own and struggling in the water.

Mamma and Daddy realized it, too, and rushed over.

Unfortunately, the mud was too much for him and he couldn't get out.

Captain Arthur's son, Hunter, is a member of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, who is responsible for the horses.  He wasted no time climbing off the boat and into the water.  While not deep, it was very muddy.  He carried the foal to dry land, with Mama watching closely.

He stayed to make sure that the foal could nurse (it is very important that they get the colostrum after they are born.)  Unfortunately, the mare's milk wasn't in yet.

At last, Mamma led the little one back to the pack.

 At one point, he refused to go into the mud and she had to go back for him.

 But she still let him back through the water, silly thing.

 Here's the whole family, back together.

 And back with the whole pack.

This was another pack we saw on the way back.  More foals.  They were beautiful.

A visit to Chincoteague wouldn't be complete without a visit to Island Creamery.  Ice cream.  It's what's for lunch.  Joanna had Cotton Candy and Cookie Dough and Abby had Chocolate and Pony Tracks.  I had a taste of theirs.  First and last time I'll ever pay $6.50 for a cone!  But the homemade waffle cones were good.

We went to several places that had ponies the kids could pet, and we did ride around Assateague... but in retrospect, I am so very glad we took the boat tour.  Otherwise, the only wild ponies we would have seen would have been from a great distance.  By 4, we were on the road again... made it to Dover, DE by 6 and had plenty of time for swimming.  Last leg of the journey is tomorrow.  So far, so good.

The Only Dehydrating Resource You'll Ever Need!

Many years ago, when I was still single and bees, chickens, and gardens weren't even a twinkle in my eye, I bought myself a dehydrator.  It was the cheapest model the big-box store had to offer.  I used it to dry apples, and make jerky, and not much else.  Mostly, it stayed it its box until many years later when I got bit by the 'real food' bug and had a husband and kids to feed.  It was around this time, when I knew I wanted to preserve fresh summer produce, that I found the website Dehydrate2Store.

The brain-child of Tammy Gangloff, this website held the answer to every dehydrating question I had.  I spent hours watching Tammy's videos, gleaning ideas and dehydrating all kinds of foods I never would have thought to dry.  You should have seen my triumphant face the day I scored pie pumpkins on clearance, and then fit 5 of them in a quart jar as 'powdered pumpkin.'  When Santa asked what I wanted for Christmas, the answer came quickly and easily that year... "An Excalibur!"

The new dehydrator meant I could dehydrate more produce at one time, which was fortuitous.  Shortly thereafter, we moved from Chicagoland to coastal Virginia, where fresh fruits and veggies are available just about all year long.  The dehydrator is running more often than it isn't.  On any given day, we eat several types of dehydrated foods... the kids take fruit leather or dehydrated apples to snack on at school, I use chopped veggies in soups and casseroles, hubby enjoys the dried fruit in his morning oatmeal or granola, we add dried herbs from the garden to our homemade pizza... the list goes on and on.

I am so enamored with dehydrating that one of the classes I teach as a Master Gardener is entitled "Dehydrating Throughout the Year."  Many people are surprised at not only WHAT can be dehydrated, but HOW it can be used. One of the resources I make sure to share with attendees is the Dehydrate2Store website because I believe it is the most comprehensive dehydrating site there is, especially for visual learners who like to see it before they attempt it.

You can imagine my excitement, then, when I learned that Tammy recently published "The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook."  Would I be willing to do a review of the book?  Youbetcha!  Not only does it talk about the hows and whys of dehydrating, it also includes hundreds of recipes using dehydrated food.  I've been dehydrating herbs all summer, hoping to use them in teas.  Lo and behold, there is an entire section on this in her book!  From camping foods to holiday feasts, there is something for everyone... and from now on, this is the book I will be recommending.  Those new to dehydrating will appreciate the alphabetical list of instructions for almost every fruit and veggie you can think of.  Those who already have jars and jars of dehydrated food on the shelves will appreciate the HUNDREDS of recipes making use of them.  This is truly the only book on the subject you will ever need.

If you haven't tried dehydrating yet, I encourage you to give it a go.  Dehydrators are relatively inexpensive and are an invaluable tool on the homestead (you can even build your own solar dryer!)  If you're a dehydrating pro, I encourage you to branch out and see what else you can be doing with your appliance.  There's always something new to learn and someone new to share it with! 

Homemade Red Wine Vinegar

So it's been forever since I've posted.  I get the 'bad blogger' award.  Hoping to rectify that with a quick post to share my latest project.

I've been making my own apple cider vinegar for awhile, and I just started a new batch with the drops from my neighbors apple tree (I only use organic apples for vinegar).  When I opened up my old jar to dig out the mother (or SCOBY), I discovered she'd reproduced... which gave me the opportunity to try my hand at making some Red Wine Vinegar.

I just took the second mother and added her to a jar of homecanned grape juice.  I topped it with cheese cloth, and hopefully I'll have some great RWV in a couple of weeks!

In Bloom

Every February, I curse the Knock-Out Roses that came with the house.  I hate pruning them, and no matter what I wear, I always get cut up.  Last year, they suffered terribly with what I now know is Black Spot (thanks to my Master Gardener training!  Knock-Outs are supposed to be highly resistant.  HA!).  This year, they appear to be rewarding me for my diligent care.  I have never seen so many blooms.  The yellow roses by the front steps:

 The container I assembled between the garage doors.

 The pink Knock-Outs around the maple tree (with blueberries in the containers):

Me playing with my Aperture Setting:

 More pink Knock-Outs around the Crepe Myrtle:

 One of the last Azalea's:

 More Azalea's, from the bush that had been languishing in full-on sun.  I moved it this Spring, and it is thanking me profusely (more Aperture playing):

 The Garden.  Sam the Scarecrow came home with me from the thrift store yesterday:

 Chives blooming, as well as German Chamomile:

Yarrow, a gift from a friend:

The Amarylis that I planted out front in the daffodil bed.  I am relieved it made it through the winter.  It has thrown off 4 babies that I will separate after they are all done blooming:

We are in the throes of Strawberry Season here.  I picked my 55th pound of the year today.  So far, they've all been either made into low-sugar Strawberry Jam (I also tried Strawberry Chocolate Mint and Strawberry Lemon Verbena) or dehydrated.  I will freeze less than I did last year, but I do need to go get more and freeze some.

Happy Spring!

Here's the Buzz...

Got in the hives today.  It's been about 3 weeks since we last checked on the bees, so it was time.  I wanted to make sure they weren't building any swarm cells, and I was also curious to see if they were storing any honey.

Our neighbor, Tom, who is in 3rd grade, wanted to tag along.  So he suited up and joined right in.

His Mom is afraid of bees.  She stayed far away. 

We were pleased to see lots of larvae and eggs.  We had to add another brood box because I wanted them to have enough room.  There's a box of honey which was left from last winter, and another box that they are filling but haven't yet capped over, and another one for future stores.  I think we're in good shape.  After the honey flow, we'll make a split and get back to two hives.

It makes me happy to know the bees are thriving.  I wish we hadn't chose the hottest day of the year to get in, but it's good to know they aren't planning on swarming anytime soon!