A Quick and Easy Recipe

I just realized it has been a while since I posted so I thought I'd post the recipe for the dinner we had last night (and I had for lunch today). It's a quick and easy one-pot dinner:

Monterrey Chicken Fajitas

1 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast cut into strips
1 med- large Green Pepper cut into thin strips
1 med Onion sliced into strips
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 c. Salsa
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Tortillas

In a large frying pan or sauce pan, heat a small amount of Olive Oil. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink in middle. Add Green Pepper and Onion; cook until tender. Add soup and salsa (it may not look too appetizing at this point but the finished product is very tasty!); cook until heated through. Spoon some onto tortillas (amount depends on size of tortilla) and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Fold like a burrito and enjoy!

Miss Kim Lilacs

While walking out of my house this morning, I noticed this:
This is a closeup of the new growth on my Miss Kim Lilacs. My husband butchered, I mean trimmed, them on June 7. This is what they looked like when he was done:

It was something that needed to be done; they were almost as tall as me (5'5") and were crowding our front porch. When we first planted them, I had read that they only get 3-5' tall. I have since found out that they can grow to 7'! I'm glad my husband trimmed them that much; now we will keep up with the trimming so they don't get that large again!

Farmstand Garden Update

Despite the Weatherman's dire forecast for strong storms today, all we've gotten is tons of humidity! It is really nasty- just standing at my computer typing I'm dripping in sweat!

The forecast seems to have scared people off from yard work; it's been somewhat slow here today. I had a Garden WOO, which means window of opportunity, a term coined by Carol of May Dreams Gardens (http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/2008/05/gardening-woo.html). I'm a little surprised at the amount of growth in the past week (http://lauram314.blogspot.com/2009/06/some-farmstand-garden-pictures.html) since we haven't had the best weather. Here are some pictures I took today:
View from North to South

Cucumbers, Zucchini, Pickles, Yellow Staightneck Squash. The pile of dirt off to the left in the distance is actually COMPOST! Wouldn't you love to have a pile like this of finished compost????

The staked Tomatoes are Early Girls; they have really grown a lot this last week! The Tomatoes at the far end that are not staked are Roma Tomatoes- I've had people request them in the past couple years so I grew some this year. The main reason I needed to get out to the garden was to tie the tomatoes again since they grew so much!

Once when I was a freshman in college, my Mom was visiting and complained about how boring the 2 hour ride was from our house in the south suburbs of Chicago to U of I in Urbana because there was nothing to see. My roommate, Sheila (who was from a farm in southern Illinois), overheard our conversation and told my Mom that there was plenty to look at: check to see what the farmers are growing, how far along the plants are, and if the farmer planted his/her rows straight. I was reminded of this when I was in the garden this morning and saw this:
It appears like the farmer that planted this corn had a few too many cocktails before getting in the tractor!!! Actually, this is a part of the corn maze that we've grown for the last 4 years. If we were to plant it like normal (in rows), a person going through the maze would be able to look from one end to the other just by looking down one of the rows. By planting every which way, that view is not possible; the corn is thicker and much more fun for a maze!

Wordless Wednesday 6-17-09

YES! We WILL have Sweet Corn!!!

I was finally able to get out into the field yesterday before we opened. Ken asked for help with planting the next blocks of Sweet Corn. It's been a few weeks since I've been out by that area so I was anxious to see how it was progressing. We were concerned that due to the weather this spring (wet and cold) that the first 2 plantings were lost causes. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the plants were growing:

This first picture shows the second block; it was planted in April. Ken didn't think it would grow because it was planted in mud. The first block is off to the left- it was planted in March and the germination was somewhat sporadic. Here is a closer view of the second block:

The next picture is a wide view that shows the progression of planting:

The empty sections are left so there is room to drive a tractor through if we need to water. Now all we need is some nice warm temperatures for the corn to grow!

I've wondered how a farmer spaces out the rows in the field. I mean, the planter is only so wide so how does he/she know where to make the next section? I found out this spring. The little disc shaped things at the ends of the arms on the side of the planter are markers. One side is put down to mark where to drive the tractor when planting the next row:

In the picture above, Ken is making a pass without planting to leave the space between the block he planted last week (on the left) and the one he's planting today. You can see how the marker is leaving a line.

On the next pass back, Ken aims the tractor down the center of the line made on the previous pass. He plants corn for this pass and the next then turns the planter off on the following pass to leave an empty spot. Today he is planting 2 different varieties of sweet corn so he leaves a space between varieties.

Ken is teaching me how to work the planter- maybe next year I'll be planting Sweet Corn!

Can you identify this plant?

Some Farmstand Garden Pictures

Earlier this week, the weather report was for showers on Wednesday and sunshine on Thursday. Since Thursday is my day off, I thought it would be a great day to weed the garden and maybe finally spread some mulch. Unfortunately, the weather was just the opposite. So, after my follow-up appointment with the doctor (more on that later) and the kids' dentist appointment, I took the time to get caught up on the laundry. The weeding and mulching may be done on Sunday if we don't get too much rain Saturday.

I walked out to the garden at work this morning and took some pictures of the farmstand garden:

The long view (North to South); there are soybeans planted on the east and south sides of the garden.

Closer view of the southern end. As you can see,I need to get out there and do some weeding. We used this section of fabric last year and I changed the spacing of the plants this year, so there are extra holes (and therefore weeds). The green in the background is winter wheat. The area with the brownish looking ground (it's actually corn stubble) is the area where Ken planted the pumpkins and corn maze. He also planted some Indian Corn in a spot not pictured. Ken really likes Indian Corn because every ear is a surprise. I teased him about being Forrest Gump- (paraphrasing, of course) "Life is like an ear of Indian Corn in the husk, you never know what color you're going to get."

This is part of the northern end. I've planted cucumbers, pickles, zucchini, and yellow squash in this area. I wanted to plant more, but because of the weather this spring, I wasn't able to do it in a timely manner.

As for the doctor appointment, there is some good news and not so good news. My back is much improved; now my hips are hurting. I had some more blood drawn and X-rays done and have to go back to physical therapy. I told the doctor that when I get up in the morning I move like my 88-year-old Grandmother and mid-late morning like my 67-year-old Mother. I don't feel like myself until after lunch (and 2-3 doses of Advil). Heck, Tuesday morning I could barely get out of bed but after work I spent 2+ hours in the perennial garden weeding and planting and would have worked longer if I felt like setting up the floodlights. Hopefully we can figure this out and get the appropriate treatment!

I'd better get back to work now- Have a great day!