GARDEN, TOMATOES, AND SCHOOL!

Good Day!

 Green beans are getting taller.

Before long we will be harvesting them.

 This is the other half of it. At first I thought nothing was gonna grow. Tim said give it time, it looks like it might be a little deeper. He spotted some shoots coming up. I waited until they came in more before I took the picture.

 The smallest watermelon.

Strangest thing with this plant. It hasn't grown much at all.

The pumpkin plants have and they were out of a seed.

Some critter ate my one and only cantaloupe.

I was looking forward to tasting it but, I guess they needed it more.

It seems as though we compete with the animals for our food too.

  We have 4 pumpkin plants, all have flowers on them.

 The last two pictures are my zucchini plants which all have flowers on them.

 Today's lunch!

Yummy Fried Green Tomatoes!

 Got them all sliced.

I have never made these before. Kaitlin and I were hungry for them since we came back from the State Fair. We planned on one day last week to make them, life gets busy. The tomatoes turned red. So sent her out to get green ones.

 Got the batter ready. Stove heating up!

 I really pray this turns out good. Not sure what it looks like before the cooking. I do know what it should look like done.

 They are done and this is the test.

I bet I made you hungry for them didn't I?

Well, they tasted delicious!

Did I mention its back to school here on the homestead. Yep, the girls started last week. They have been doing a good job of getting back in the swing of balancing school and homestead chores. They have also been making time for some of the fun things they like to do too. So far this school year is getting off to a great start.

 Skylar working on her history.

Kaitlin working on her math.

 Our sky this afternoon. Just amazes me how pretty the clouds are.

Ok, I don't like to waste much. I had used two lemons for its juices for a drink I make.

Next I was wanting to find something to do with the rest.

I decided to peel the skin off to dry.  

This will be used as dried lemon power to replace when I don't have zest for a recipe.

 Next, lets make some vinegar-lemon cleaner. 

And don't forget those seeds. I saw a vlog on how to grow your own lemon tree. Skylar thought she would like to try doing this. Wasting nothing!

Tim snapped this photo.

It looks like he got them to pose. They never do this for me.

 Looks like a storm is moving in. Getting evening chores done with the animals. One of our dear neighbors stopped over. They are a wealth of information. Mrs. M and I have been talking a lot  about canning (she has given me great recipes), herbs, and things that grow naturally and what you can use them for. So a couple of weeks back I found something growing on our property. I wasn't sure what is was.

So, Mrs M and her family bought over a plant and berries that almost looked like these. I was confused about the leaves on it. So, we all went down to the woods. Mr M pulled back and found the exact leaf as the plant they brought over to show me. It is Elderberry - Wild Elderberry!

 This is what we got picked before it got dark and started to rain. Kaitlin then said there is another area on our homestead that also has the same thing. Ya'll know what I will be doing. Harvesting some wild elderberry. 

Thanks neighbor for all the info you have given to us.