Peanut Butter Raisin Chews
½ cup peanut butter (if crunch style, a little more)
2/3 cup no-fat dry milk solids
1/3 cup corn syrup or molasses
½ cup confectioner’s or granulated sugar
½ cup raisins
Mix all ingredients together.
Roll into balls
Chill in refrigerator
Makes about 2 dozen
Tip: Measure out the dry ingredients first. You can then use the same measuring cup to measure out the wet ingredients.
I decided to make the new trash patio nearly twice the size of the current trash containers to allow for extra bags and cans. I dug out the weeds and some of the dirt to below the grade of the grass and the crawl space access. Leveled it was nearly 2” below grade.
I back filled the whole with three 50 pound bags of paver sand.
Then came the hard part, moving the stones. I dragged the largest piece of flagstone (slate) from the pile in front of the house to the back of the house with the family’s little metal red wagon (they get to play with it and I get I to haul heavy stuff). The one stone covered over half of the area I was working with. The other smalles stones were much easier to bring around to work into the oversize puzzle. I used another 25 pounds of sand to leveled the stones and fill in the cracks. I used 2 bricks to hold the crawl space cover in place and allow for easier removal for access. 
In one afternoon I took a potential eyesore to a spot that looks neat and tidy.
The first year I had my garden I used tomato cages to prop up my plants. They worked but they are hard to store and easily get twisted if you hit a stone or something while installing them. They are also a bit cumbersome to put around a plant if you wait too long. In spite of my best efforts I usually broke off multiple leaves. Last year I used Velcro plant ties to tie my tomatoes to the movable fencing in my garden. It worked very well, maybe too well. Not only did the fencing hold the tomato plants security in place it also provided seating for the squirrels to dine on my tomatoes.
This year the fencing was occupied by peas when I planted my tomatoes. The fencing was also in the same bed as the tomatoes were last year. I truly believe in crop rotation. It is better for the soil and the plants. Rotation is becoming even more important here in the northeast since late blight is on the rise. It can devastate tomato and potato crops. Think Irish potato famine. Mike McGrath recommends a compost tea sprayed on in the morning as a preventative precaution. The over all recommendation is to removing any affected plants double bagged and trashed it. There is also a call to report any blight to your local exchange so they can track the disease. This is nasty stuff in the plant world. (Tomato/potato disease warning: late blight is here! http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1714789&nid=47 )
With that said, this year’s tomatoes were grown from seed and are located in a different raised bed to help decrease the chances of infection. I’m staking them to keep them off the ground to help… and as painful as it is I’m taking out one or two to keep good air flow around them. On a recent cable segment by Merrifield Garden Center I heard a recommendation for a Rainbow Tomato Spirals for tomato plants. I was skeptical if a single metal pole would work. I picked up a few to see. They were easy to install. I was able to gently guide the plants around the spiral. I was able to do ti without breaking any leaves off and they are surprisingly sturdy. I have occasionally have to cokes the new growth to continue up the spiral with very little effort.
Now I just wait for that tasty summer treat of fresh vine ripen tomatoes right out of the garden.
The clutter in the driveway is starting to get to me. I really need to clear out the last of the flagstone to free up some space and make it look a bit more presentable. I had held onto the leftovers from the front walk way for a garden path between the raised beds. I had also hoped to use some of the stone for under the trash cans to decrease the potential muddy mess when it rains.
I worked on the garden path between the raised beds first. As I dug out the foundation for the flagstone I decided I really need to redo the center raised bed at the same time. It rearranges project orders but it was in the plans. I started by digging out a 4-5 foot long section of the old walkway. The garden weed cloth did little to stop the weeds. Two types of grass grow right through it and many things just grew on top of it. I’m tossing the weeds into the compost, sifting out the remains of the weed cloth to toss in the trash, pulling out the big rocks (fist size), and all of the dirt and old multch is being set aside for a new raised bed. The old bed edging was removed and the edges trimmed to fit the new garden wall retaining stones. After leveling the dirt, I added three bags of sand were spread out across the bottom. The garden stones were carefully set in place. To be honest I didn’t use a level, I did it by look and feel. After the section of retaining wall was done I sorted through pieces of flagstone for the walkway. After a lot of rock lifting, sand shifting, stomping and jiggling I think I got it. I even worked in one of the pieces of rock I dug into the walkway. It had a nice smooth side and fit the space wonderfully. I used two pieces of the old garden edging bricks to separate the portion I finished and the part yet to get done. If the stones weren’t there a summer rain storm could wash out the sand and require repairs before it was even finished.
I finished a small section. Hopefully I can do this bit by bit and have it still work out well. I’m going to need another pallet of stone but it keeps me busy and out of other trouble along with increasing the appeal and value of the house so I guess it is worth it.
Once I had the new Step2 Naturally Playful Sandbox home I had to find a good place for it in the yard. As I pulled the big brown box out of the van I realized it was going to be one more thing to mow around. I have been trying so hard to decrease the number o things I need to mow around. I tested it next to the slide on their swing set but I was afraid it would be too tempting for them to jump into the sandbox instead of sliding down the slide. Then I noticed it was about the right size to fit under the fort portion of the swing set. It is a perfect fit. It has a little space around it to allow access to the swing set for reapplying water sealer. The fort provides some protection from the weather which should help the sand box last longer. It provides some shade for the kids while they play. AND I don’t have one more thing to mow around. They love it and have been spending a lot of time in it.
I’m happy to say the box came with a lid. I have explained to the kids that some wild animals like to use sandboxes like cat litter boxes and we need to keep the lid on. They have been very good to keep the lid on when they haven’t been playing in it. They even announced that the lid will keep dirt and leaves out of their new sandbox. They have been very happy to play in the sandbox instead of digging in my garden but they still expect to be called if I find any earth worms or interesting bugs while working in the garden.
When we first moved into our home we could barely see the neighbor’s house through the hedge. Actually ‘hedge’ isn’t the right term. It was an over grown combination of 50+ year old trees, bushes, bulbs, and vines. Over the past 3 years I’ve done some trimming but it barely kept up with the grown of this mini jungle. It was time to tame the beast. I went in armed with a pair of pruners and a small handsaw. Over the month of June and into July I have cut down all but 3 of the 15-20’ high Rose of Sharon, pulled vines and trimmed the remaining bushes waist high. I stacked two piles of Rose of Sharon branches 5 feet high along with 25 bags filled with leaves, twigs, and weeds.I’ve sacrificed the fast growing Rose of Sharon hoping the other bushes will now fill out and will still allow some light in for the white azaleas, day lilies, lily of the valley, and other plants that have been struggling for light and water to thrive.
The project isn’t done. The Rose of Sharon is doing its best to come back from their wood stump remains. I’ve tried scoring the tops and painting on herbicide but they are determined. I’ve been cutting off the green leaves as they reappear. My next attempt to kill them off will be splitting each of the stumps with a small hatchet to encourage natural micros and rotting process to kill them off. I really rather not use more herbicide. I don’t want to risk hurting the remaining plants, my kids, or any wildlife.
I left 3 of the Rose of Sharon plants because they are nice bushes when maintained. According to all of my web surfing they can be trimmed to be more tree- like and looking around the neighborhood I found several beautiful ones that have been. Out of the three I have saved I hope to see how they do with more light and space and choose one to trim for a more beautiful and controllable shape. I’m holding off trimming the three for a few weeks since they are starting to bloom. The kids and I really enjoy their big trumpet shaped purple blossoms.
I’m happy to say after 6 weeks of slowly taming the ‘hedge’ the neighbor said it looks better then it has in any of the 30 years they have lived there. So I have a better looking property line and happy neighbors. It is definitely a win-win.
I started to consider growing luffa after reading an article in the Sierra Club blog. The blog had a link to a web post about growing your own luffa sponges called How to Make (and grow) a Luffa .It sounded simple enough so I planted a few at the base of the old maple tree near the garden. I’m hoping I can train the vines to climb up the tree. The spot I picked seems to be a bit dry for the plants but they are putting up a good effort. The surviving 6 plants are currently are less than 2 feet tall/long and I’m trying to train them to climb up the tree. The kids are currently concerned that I’m grown another ‘strange’ vegetable for them to eat. Even though luffa is edible we won’t be eating them. I plan on letting the fruits mature and try to process them to make home grown sponges. I believe the kids might have lots of fun squishing the fleshy parts out to make the sponges. I’m hoping to have at least a few for the kids to make some for themselves but if the plants take off and are fruitful we may have nice holiday gifts to share with family and friends.
Look for a posting in the fall for the next stages of this gardening experiment.
