We've successfully set up our temporary outdoor kitchen just outside the camper. The camper serves as a space where we store essential items like cooking pans, utensils, dish soap, paper towels, and cleaner. Once we create our permanent outdoor kitchen, we’ll have dedicated storage for all these supplies. I’ve been putting the kitchen to good use over the past week, and I’ll share more about that shortly.
We feel incredibly fortunate to live here, surrounded by nature at its finest. We finally attracted hummingbirds to our feeder, and the sight of birds, butterflies, and dragonflies flitting about is truly delightful. Little lizards scurry around our stumps and log borders, and at night, we enjoy watching the bats fly overhead. We even spotted a harmless black snake on our property, which we decided to leave undisturbed. One amusing incident involved a pair of birds trying to nest in the bumper of our Jeep. Rick would remove the nest, only for them to return immediately. Eventually, he had to stuff cardboard in the bumper to encourage them to relocate. And then there’s the rogue rooster left by our former neighbor, who insists on crowing outside our bedroom window every morning—it’s tempting to throw an alarm clock at him! At least he hasn’t been destructive to our gardens. Our flowers are thriving; our lilies, rose bush, and moonflower have all bloomed beautifully.
While waiting for payday, we’ve been tackling as many projects as possible without spending money. We love to repurpose and think outside the box. We broke down some free pallets, and Rick ran the boards through the table saw to create cupboard doors. He did an excellent job sanding the edges, but they’re on hold for now as we wait to purchase a bit needed to install the hinges we bought a while back. We also need to pick up more black stain, which we’ll get later this week, so that’s on our agenda.
As Rick worked on the cabinet doors, Cat focused on preserving our harvests. With the hot and humid weather and no air conditioning or root cellar, and limited fridge space, we decided to can and freeze as much as possible, with canning being the preferred method. After waiting to clean out the conex for the canning supplies, Cat finally got to work. She had a sink full of food that needed thawing, starting with two cow tongues. We know it’s not for everyone, but it makes excellent lunch meat. After boiling and slicing them, she packaged one bag for the fridge and the rest for the freezer.
Next, she boiled down some beef and pork bones to make bone broth. She didn’t have a lot of each, so we combined them in one stock pot, a method we’ve used before and likely will again. Once it was done, she canned several quarts of broth. While the broth was simmering, nine quarts of turnips went into the canner. Cat also made her first jelly using several bags of blackberries from the freezer. After cooking them down and running them through a food mill to remove the seeds, we ended up with a generous amount of juice, making it a two-day process. We now have several jars of jelly on the shelves. Cat also cooked down a bag of peaches and three bags of raspberries to make a delicious butter, resulting in three jars.
Cat harvested our fall garlic, though they didn’t grow very large. She minced them and stored them in molds in the freezer. The onions received another trim and are now drying, but we’ll need to rethink the drying process for the future since the humidity is slowing it down. Cat also harvested all the lettuce and radishes, storing them in the fridge, while allowing some radishes to go to seed. Fortunately, the lettuce is growing back, which is exciting.
We harvested our potatoes, and the next day, Cat spent the entire day dicing and canning them. We managed to can 30 quarts, though one jar didn’t make it—the bottom literally fell out! It was a clean break, so she turned the potatoes into mashed for dinner. The kohlrabi has been coming in gradually, and Cat's son suggested making kohlrabi fries, which turned out amazing! She’ll definitely be making more of those. Today, Cat pickled beet greens, and the beets will be canned tomorrow. They were a wonderful gift from our friends, as our own are not ready yet.
While Cat was busy in the outdoor kitchen, her foot and ankle were sore and swollen, but thankfully, that subsided after a few days. She tried to rest it, but with so much to do, that was a challenge. We managed to weed one half of the food forest, although we haven’t had time to lay cardboard, make wood chips and spread them yet. We plan to, but have to set priorities, even though it took us three hours to complete the weeding.
We've been busy tackling a variety of small tasks around the place. Cat prepared a batch of comfrey tea, which will be ready in three weeks. Admittedly, it will have a strong odor, but it will serve as an excellent fertilizer for our garden.
Rick has been hard at work as well. He caulked the sink and backsplash, made adjustments to the solar system, and crafted a trash can for under our kitchen sink. We found one that fits perfectly, but the prices for these are quite steep, especially considering they tend to wear out quickly. He just needs to apply a stain to finish it off.
Additionally, Rick installed a whiteboard in the conex, where Cat took the initiative to jot down all the projects we want to tackle, along with a second list of ongoing projects. He also built trim and a handle for our refrigerator slide-out.
Cat finally selected and purchased family photos for the frames we finally found in the conex. This week, she plans to frame them and mount them on the wall alongside the tree of life.
This past weekend, we visited Tom and Theresa's house. The guys focused on finishing the roof while Cat assisted Theresa with her gardening tasks. We all put in a lot of effort, and despite the humidity, we had a wonderful time together. We cherish our moments with them, enjoying great fellowship. Not only do we accomplish tasks, but we also exchange valuable knowledge. Theresa always treats us to incredible meals. Cat even joined her for a food and water preservation class, which was enlightening. On our way home, we stopped at a few estate sales, where Cat found a kitchen sink for my outdoor kitchen for just $2.50—what a steal! Theresa never lets us leave empty-handed; she has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. She generously sent us home with two grocery bags filled with beets and greens, red poppy seeds, a black-eyed Susan plant, hyssop, one sedum plant, two rhubarb plants, six tomato plants, two pumpkin plants, and one basil plant. She even included two homemade muffins—talk about being spoiled! We managed to get all the plants in the ground today just before the rain hit.
Remember Small Steps Get You Miles
Rick & Cat
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