My Potager

~ Summertime ~

August 10, 2016 by Patricia Fisher

Summertime….the pool, bee swarms, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

My “little’s” (I had that book as a kid, “THE LITTLE’S“, and loved it. I just realized that as I typed it!)…but I digress (to quote Pastor Bujno), are all learning to swim this summer. Such fun! The bees have not been behaving! The beekeeper has had to drop everything to catch swarms several times. Sometimes, literally in his hands. Diona and Delilah found the first swarm of the year, in my little blue spruce tree, which was sacrificed for the cause. My potager (kitchen garden) is doing well, but more weeds than I would prefer…… three year old’s don’t stand around in the garden long, and Greta, well, she is quite wonderful!

The motor home/playground is new at a park up the road, and I just couldn’t help but take a picture it’s so cute! I tried my hand at stuffed squash blossoms at my neighbors suggestion. Some were just blossoms, some had the baby zucchini still attached, so cute! They are time consuming, but tasty. The “Hubs” prefers fried green tomatoes. We have loads of blueberries again, so blueberry crisp and blueberry pie were in order. The pesto is garlic scape pesto and it is great on pasta.

As you can see “The Beekeeper” had to be pretty creative to get the upper hand on one of our honeybee swarms. Success was the word for the day! Those little buggers better be producing a lot of honey for the trouble.

Summer is speeding by fast, as usual. This coming weekend will be the first one in a month and a half that we don’t have a commitment. Yay!!! Maybe by Monday morning I’ll have a few less weeds. One can dream, right? I haven’t canned the first thing this summer, and I really don’t feel bad about it. I have found myself at my art desk more, which doesn’t usually happen in the summer. Carving out a creative space in the living room is proving to have been a good idea. Who knew when I did it that I would be entertaining a three year old this summer!?! Who by the way has her own “art desk” in the living room also. Start them young!

I’m reading a series of books that I found by default on Amazon. You know how you go on to search for one thing and they suggest another that sends you down a bunny trail, where you end up with a totally different thing than you started out looking for? Yeah that! That’s what happened. I found this book that looked interesting, read the reviews, bought it, read it, loved it, and then found out that it is the middle book in a series. As it turns out they don’t have to be read in order, in fact the author didn’t even write them in order. So, now I’m reading the second, which is actually the third, ha! I truly enjoyed the first one I read, which is actually the second. The books are her(Susan Branch) story, her life so far. They’re also filled with her watercolor illustrations and some photos. A lot going on, on the page. Maybe too much for some people, but it keeps the right side of my brain very engaged. I’m thinking that the one I started with may very well be my favorite, but I’ll continue on to see after I have actually read the first one..

The Beekeeper and I are coming up on our 10th anniversary, and I surprised him with reservations at a seaside resort in Maine. Needless to say, I can’t wait to go back to the rocky coast of Maine. It truly is one of those places that is a must for a bucket list. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures to share, and of course the hunt will be on for some great treasures to bring back.

Enjoy the sunshine!

This post contains my affiliate links.

Filed Under: Family, Grandchildren, Honey Bees, In the kitchen, My Potager

~ Tomato/Tomahto ~

October 20, 2015 by Patricia Fisher

I find myself overrun with wonderful, homegrown tomatoes this time of year….I’m not complaining! It does motivate me to find yummy ways to use them. So I decided to share a few….

First homemade salsa, so fresh and delicious.

The amounts are going to depend on how much you want to make of course, but for ingredients:

Tomatoes, green peppers,onion, garlic (we grow all these, so they are nice and fresh and chemical free).

I add fresh ground sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, fresh lime juice, red pepper flakes and fresh cilantro. These will be to taste, however you like it. I also drizzle a little of our raw honey on in the end.

This little gadget is from Pampered Chef, I really like it, but it is a little pricey. You can see it here.

I bought it thinking it would be handy for camping, since it doesn’t require electric, and my cousin’s daughter was selling Pampered Chef at the time. This Zyliss Manual Food Processor is one that looks similar,but costs a little less and this one Chef’n Veggie Chop even less, but I haven’t tried these.

So, just add your veggies, pump the little handle, it chops them all up…

….and voila! A bowl of fresh yumminess! (This is a word, in “my world”!)

Okay, next up, Tomato Cobbler. My Dad actually found this recipe and gave it to me. I made it three times, changing it up a little each time. In these photos you can see I used fresh leeks and Italian kale from our garden.

You can tell how late we eat by how dark my photo is, sorry!

Here is the original recipe that I began with. There are a lot of others on Pinterest.

Next, this recipe was found, made and shared by my lovely sister-in-law, Lisa.

So fresh and delicious, I felt like I could have eaten the entire bowl!

We had a lovely “catching up” time with a close friend, enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon in NY.

Here is the recipe she used.

Sad to say this last recipe, which was given to me by a friend, has no picture, because I waited too long to try it out and we got an early heavy frost. Which, of course, was the demise of my tomato plants for this year. Do check it out though, it looks like a keeper….Quick Pickled Tomatoes.

While you are contemplating all these juicy tomato recipes, I’ll leave you with this….

Enjoy!

Filed Under: In the kitchen, My Potager

~ On The Home Front ~

July 8, 2015 by Patricia Fisher

So much time has passed, I have no idea what to post about. It’s been months! Something must have happened that is post worthy! My garden is growing, somethings better than others. My baby girl and her little family visited from Florida (I don’t know why I didn’t take pictures of this!) We’ve been camping, to a pig roast, going to another, invited to a third. We’ve been on a couple of great picks and a really good, on sight auction. The booth is full, as is the shop at home and the overflow tent! We have 20 hives going right now, so the Beekeeper has been busy. For now let’s take a walk through the garden.

The Beekeeper and I designed (well, my design, his measuring, cutting, welding skills) my new potting bench, from an antique iron bed. I’m loving it!

He is a handy one….swoon!

The galvanized tub holds my potting soil (which has a cover to keep the rain out). On the top he cut a hold and we set in an old iron grate, so when I’m potting my plants it allows excess soil to fall back into the tub. The front pieces that hold the wood are the actual side rails of the bed. The small shelf at the top is made from a piece of another bed. The whole bench is constructed so that the wood could come out to be stored inside for the winter and only the frame would be out in the bad weather.

We went to the Adirondacks camping with our new puppy and new camper. It was awesome!

This young man graduated pre-k….(proud Nana).

One last thing for this post. I’ve had a special request from a faithful follower (and awesome cousin), for more recipes on the blog. So, this is my favorite soup recipe just for you, Lisa!

I add a little pasta to the bowl before I ladle the soup in.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Adirondack Mountains, Grandchildren, In the kitchen, My Potager, Photography

~ Reorganize ~

November 10, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

Time to reorganize some things, furniture, rooms, closets, my schedule. With the change of the season my daily routine changes considerably. Our horses get stabled at night, and therefore stalls need to be cleaned every morning. My garden gets put to bed for the winter, now that next years garlic is planted. All the winters wood is split and stacked, the barn is full of gorgeous second cutting hay, and my raised beds are mulched down with chopped up fall leaves. Time to enjoy some inside projects that have been put off for the busy summer months….like this blog! I’ve missed the blogosphere, posting and reading everyone else’s post. So, time to begin again. Here is what is happening now….

We had an abundance of beautiful concord grapes this year, so we made 35 quarts of delicious grape juice. I’ve always made grape juice like my grandmother did, grapes, sugar and boiling water in a quart jar, process in boiling water and wait a few weeks….and grape juice! This year we tried something different and bought this 11-Quart Stainless-Steel Juicer Steamer. It worked well and I like it, but the juice is much thicker than the other way. Good stuff but 35 quarts was enough, so we decided to try our hand at wine making with the rest. The Beekeeper found a recipe for dry wine using our grapes, as neither of us like sweet wine. We truly have no idea what we are doing here, all new ground for us. So we went to this local shop for help. They suggested the book, Joy of Home Wine Making . Can you make “good” wine from concord grapes? Time (lots of it) will tell. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.

This post contains my affiliate links.

Filed Under: In the kitchen, My Potager

~ All of The Flowers in My Life ~

June 2, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

There is one female family members missing in this photo (you know who you are….hurry home, we miss you!)

P.S. Your son took this picture for us. What a blessing he is.

Jan knows how to host a get together.

Sam, keeping away from the little girls.

~ And this happened ~

Coming soon to the Beehive Shoppe!

Beeswax lip balm & hand cream.

(As soon as I figure out labels!)

….and then this happened….

My baby girl and her baby girl went back to the sunshine state.

My skies are a little less blue….

Till next time…..

Filed Under: Family, Fishers Beehive Shoppe, Grandchildren, My Potager, Photography

~ Out of Hibernation ~

May 17, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

Eek….I haven’t blogged in two months! I told myself that “I haven’t had anything to say”, which may or may not be true. Trust me I have said plenty over the last eight weeks! I’ve even written some things down…in my journal. But, I did however take a breather from the blog world, posting myself and reading others. But I’m back, at least reading what others have to say, and maybe adding my two cents here and there.

Spring has finally come to the Northeast, and I think I can speak for most of us…..we’re thrilled, relieved, excited and very thankful! I’m sure this Winter wasn’t that much different than the ones of my childhood, but frankly that’s been awhile and I guess I’ve become a wimp. I was among those saying “UNCLE” this year!

So here’s what’s happening in our little world…..

We had three hives of bees that survived the long cold winter. We ordered in five more packages, they’re in the hives and doing well, and we have four more nucs coming soon.

Spring around here reminds me of when the movie The Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to color. Such a happy, hopeful, magical (not that I really believe in magic) moment. Likewise, we too have color again….YAY! Our Magnolia tree was beautiful this year, such a welcoming sight in the front yard, along with the Forsythia as a backdrop.

Lots of new plants “springing” out of the warm ground….Sunflower seedlings (from fallen seeds last year), I need to thin these and find new homes for some…Rhubarb (so cool looking)….peas just starting….and kale, that will produce through the late fall (gotta love that!)….and those sweet little survivor Johnny Jump Ups, that pop up even in the stones between my raised beds.

Riley and I have a lot of work to do!

We’ve been busy buying and reorganizing the shoppe, lots of fun new things to see.

I’ve been playing around with these wood blocks, leftover from one of the Beekeeper’s projects.

I finished this little afghan (thinking of lining the back with fabric, we’ll see). This is the same pattern as Angelina’s baby afghan.

This is my current project. I started this on the drive back from Florida. I think I have ripped out as much as I have completed. For some reason this pattern was tweaking my brain. It really isn’t difficult. I’m on a roll now. The pattern is called Daisy Garden, from this book, Crochet Afghans by the Pound .

This is what is taking precedence in my world right now…..my daughter and granddaughter flew in from Florida for a two week visit. I’m enjoying having all five of my children and three grandchildren in the same state. God is good!

This post contains my affiliate links

Filed Under: crochet, Family, Fishers Beehive Shoppe, Honey Bees, My Potager

~ A Burst of Color ~

January 30, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

It has been very cold in NY. We don’t have much snow, just single digit or below readings on the thermometer. So truly, it really isn’t even pretty out. I’m feeling the need for a reminder that Spring will come again. With that in mind I decided to search the archives of my photos and put together a colorful post. Here are the results of my search….

Well that made me feel better. How about you? Time to start ordering from those seed catalogs that have been arriving daily.

Think Spring!

Filed Under: My Potager, Nature, Photography

~ Beginning Again ~

November 10, 2013 by Patricia Fisher

Here I am, beginning again. I’ve moved my blog to a self-hosted spot in the blogosphere and I’m facing the new challenges of learning a new, much more complex theme. There have been frustrations along the way, but also a satisfaction of seeing it through. So, I’m here, lots more to learn, lots of room to grow and very eager to make this space mine. It’s kinda like building a new garden bed and deciding just what you want to plant and where. I’m picking out my seeds in anticipation of great things to come. So come follow along and watch things grow!

Filed Under: Events, My Potager, Nature, Photography

~ Peach and Plum Jam ~

September 22, 2013 by pafisher

We only have one peach tree and one plum tree, and they are both young, but they are producers! The Beekeeper had to prop their limbs up to keep them from breaking under the weight of all the fruit. That always reminds me of Aaron and Hur holding Moses’ arms up during battle ( Exodus 17:12 ). I know, really one has nothing to do with the other, but still those propping sticks always bring that bible story to my mind. Anyway the point of all this was, we had a lot of peaches and plums this year, and they were delicious! So we ate some, we sold some on our little farm cart out in front of our house and I made jam. Here’s a look…

…just like that!

Delicious!

~ Here are the recipes ~

PEACH JAM

1 quart chopped peaches (peeled, pitted/cored)

7 1/2 cups sugar (mine came out a little too sweet for me…next time less sugar)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine fruit, sugar, lemon juice in a saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam. Ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process for 10 minutes in water bath.

PLUM JAM

2 quarts chopped plums (pitted, but not peeled)

8 cups sugar (you may want more, mine came out a little tart, but I like it that way)

1 tablespoon butter (cuts downs on foam)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 package of pectin

Combine plums, sugar, butter, lemon juice in a saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. I used my hand blender just a little at this point. Add pectin, return to boil, boil 1 minute. Ladle into hot jars, add lids. Process 10 minutes in water bath.

*my plum jam was silky smooth and a little thinner than the peach. I was really happy with it, but if you like it set up more cut back on the amount of plums per batch.

Happy Canning!

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, In the kitchen, My Potager Tagged With: peach jam, plum jam