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If you’ve ever lived in Indiana you know that spring means morel mushrooms! Over the years I’ve finally perfected my recipe for the breading to fry them in! Here it is! 20 small or 10 large morel mushrooms split into … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
With spring in full force I thought it was time to give a short tutorial on building a flower tower. I have used these in my garden for a few years now and people stop on the street to ask … Continue reading
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In light of today’s gas price hike I thought it was appropriate to re-post this article I found on www.goldcoastchronical.com. The following gas companies import Middle Eastern Oil: Shell……………………………….. 205,742,000 barrels Chevron/Texaco……………….. 144,332,000 barrels Exxon /Mobil…………………….. 130,082,000 barrels Marathon/Speedway…………. 117,740,000 … Continue reading
With a very mild winter and early spring the weeds in Indiana are taking over my garden! I have a very small plot in my raised bed where strawberries grow but I have noticed since it’s warm that I can’t find the plants! 
Today I’ll be going through my steps to make this little area weed free and discover if I still have any strawberry plants left.
1.) Gather all the supplies you need. I find that if I forget something major I walk back to the garage to get it in the middle of weeding and get distracted and stop my job!
Today I’m using a spade, (my shovel of choice) a push-pull hoe, and a garden rake.
2.) Use the spade or shovel to loosen the soil around the weeds making sure to go deep enough to get the roots. Remember to watch for the plants you want to keep. (I found some strawberry plants in the mess!)
3.) Hand pull the weeds and put them in a pile to carry off. Be sure to get all the roots too! Don’t pull up the strawberry plants by mistake!
3.5.) Watch out for dogs! Sometimes you will have a poodle that jumps up between the weeds. Try not to hit the dog in the head with the shovel!!
4.) Once your weeds are all pulled, take the push-pull hoe and run it back and forth underneath the soil to sever any remaining weed stems and break up the soil further. (This is my favorite garden tool.)
5.) Smooth out the soil around the plants with a garden rake. This will take out any other dirt clods you missed.
6.) Sprinkle some Preen on top of the soil to prevent future weeds for a while.
If you have poodles move on to step 7. If you are dog free you are finished! GREAT JOB!
7.) I found some caution tape in my garage and wrapped it around some stakes to keep the dogs out of the plants. Paris is NOT happy about that! (I think she can read!)
We did some compromising and she’s happy now; I do have to give her an extra pig ear tonight.
The soil was a bit muddy today so I had to wash the mud off of my shoes and feet.
Weeding a garden is pretty simple but takes some time. Just stick with it and before you know it, it’s done!
Thanks for taking the time to read my simple steps to a weed free garden!
I LOVE auctions! Today I went with my hubby to a small town about 45 minutes away for a great auction. Last fall we went to this same auction barn for another and it proved to be a great place to win with low bids so I was hoping for the same. It turned out to be a beautiful day and the drive was the same. All of the grass is greening up from the unseasonably warm temperatures and the Magnolias were in full bloom.
I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I collect crocks; big crocks, little crocks, interesting and simple crocks. I had my eye on one special jug that was shown in the advertisement for the sale. Here it is!
Wm. Radam's Microbe Killer No. 1
No. 1. For Headaches, Neuralgia, Croup, Mumps, Measles, Whooping Cough, Tonsillitis, Throat Complaints, Dyspepsia, Indigestion, Gastritis and other Stomach Complaints. Also for Asthma, Bronchitis, and Consumption.
No. 2. For Colds, Coughs, Malaria, Grippe, Catarrh, Rheumatism, Tumors, Cancer, and other blood and chronic diseases.
No. 3. Being very strong should be used only for very stubborn cases where No. 2 after a fair trial fails to bring improvement. Use for ten days only, then resume with No. 2.
Note the No. 1 description at the ends reads, “and Consumption.” Reminds me of Granny’s XXX rheumitiz medicine on Beverly Hillbillies! Eventually analyses showed that the remedy was more than 99% water, with traces of sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid and ash. (Journal of the A.M.A., 1910)
Also at the auction I had the fortune to win several other crocks, one being a 5 gallon dark brown crock, a 3 quart bean crock with lid, a small mouth crock and a set of R.P.P. Pottery, Roseville, Oh, nesting bowls. They are all awesome! My husband lucked into a Belgian Browning Slug Gun with a scope for $100 less than he’d expected to pay. 
Today was a great day to add to my crock collection and these I’ve incorporated into my fireplace display.
Did I mention that I LOVE crocks?
When I was growing up I stood on a chair next to my grandmother in the kitchen and watched every move she made, hoping to be as good a cook as she was; she was the best! Years later I practiced my skills baking cookies for every event, having dinner ready when my mom got home from work, and creating world class salads. My attention to detail became very handy when I got married and started raising a family. I cooked meals that were great, taste tested, sent to neighbors and friends and I was admired for my great talents. We wont mention all of the pounds I gained! The only thing I didn’t like about cooking was cleaning up the mess!! But, you really have no choice if you want to cook.
As the years went by I started changing and getting into the routine of the easier favorites; spaghetti or tacos, and after that making chili because if used up the left over sauce or taco meat. Hamburgers! Hamburgers! Oh, and cheeseburgers! The grill in the summer became my best friend. No messy stove to clean up! My youngest daughter, Amy, begged me to come up with new things to cook but I was at a loss.
Now that I am older, 50 years old to be exact, I have come to the conclusion that everyone is born with a certain number of meals in their DNA; once you hit that number you are finished!! No more cooking! OH wait, on Sunday I try to cook a meal and make sure it’s something that can be used for left overs! Usually once a week I’ll boil some chicken thighs. I get enough chicken to have chicken for lunch, chicken salad the next day, broth to add cheese and spices to for chicken tortilla soup. If I’m lucky I have enough broth left to boil some noodles in for dinner. Everything goes with hamburgers, doesn’t it?
My husband has finally stopped asking me to cook, if I don’t cook he stares at me like a lost puppy dog for a while, then gets up and makes his way to the kitchen for some chocolate milk and toast, or a bologna sandwich. I stopped feeling guilty! My number is up! I’ve thrown in the dish towel!
Welcome back to day two of my new blog! As I promised yesterday, today I am doing a short tutorial on starting hot pepper plants from seed. Right now it’s approximately 8 weeks before the last frost date in my area 5B so it’s the perfect time to start them.
Here we go! This is the list of things I use to start the seeds.
First thing I did was label the bag with the name of the seeds and the date I started this. Then I took the paper towel and dipped it in some water mixed with a little bit of peroxide. Ring the paper towel out, you only want it slightly damp. Peroxide is a little trick that I personally use on anything growing inside my house. Peroxide gives it extra oxygen and prevents any fungus or dampening off of the plants. It’s like the wonder drug of plants!
Next I folded the paper towel into quarters and put the seed in rows so that I could fold it and keep the seeds inside the fold. I’ll be folding this one over twice. There are 16 seeds. 
As you can see, now I have folder the paper towel one last time and put it inside the bag. It’s all sealed tight and ready to go. I can’t wait to see how many of the seeds germinate!
Finally I’m done! That took forever!(just kidding)
Since pepper seeds need no heat or light to germinate I tossed them onto my computer printer and we will check on them tomorrow to see if the magic has happened!
Stay tuned!!
Today is a big day in my world; it’s the day I begin my first blog! Originally Lucky Poodle was the website for my poodles but wanting to learn Word Press and seeing how others have such fantastic blogs I thought I’d give it a try.
I have always felt like I have so much to say! I know a lot about many things and nothing at all about most things. Today I’m speachless! HA! I do know that tomorrow I will try my hand at starting some seeds for my garden. I have some chilly willy pepper seeds that are ready to go. I ordered 25 seeds and they arrived this week. My friend and I are both master gardeners and she came to visit me this week; at her visit I gave her half of the seeds to start at her house. If I plant these seeds and they don’t make it and she plants her seeds and they do make it we can split her plants, and vise versa. Pretty ingenious eh?
How about tomorrow we get the seed starting on the road and I’ll post a tutorial on how it’s done? Sounds good to me too! Thanks for reading my very first post! Nighty night!
