Thursday, June 24, 2021

Vegetables Galore


There you have a future field pea. Could be a white acre pea, could be a zipper pea, could be a black-eyed pea. I do not know for sure. But I know it will be a delicious pea. 
This morning when Mr. Moon and I went into the garden after we let the chickens out, I looked around and said, "Honey, maybe next year we shouldn't plant so much." 
I think I hurt his feelings. 
He just doesn't quite grasp the concept that sometimes too much is just too much. Especially for his old wife with her canning kettle and pint jars. But my lord, it is a beautiful garden. 


My husband is about six feet, eight inches tall so as you can see, some of those tomatoes that he is so gently tying up, are about seven feet tall. Some of the varieties have given us a lot of fruit already, some are just coming on. The banana peppers that you can see in front of him, are incredibly prolific. The other peppers, both hot and mild, are turning from green to red and are beautiful. The yellow squash is still coming forth and the cucumbers are just beginning to grow and ripen. The okra is somewhat disappointing this year in height but there are blooms (which look like hibiscus blooms) and a few tiny pods which look like nothing more than green baby boy penises. Or, alternatively, "penes" which I swear is also a form of the plural for the word. 
The Delicata squash we planted this year for the first time appears to be thriving. 


The field peas, all of the varieties we've planted, are making pods and I think that by this time next week, we'll be shelling them. 
And shelling them. 
And shelling them. 
Ah well, such a good excuse to sit on our asses and watch TV. It's a satisfying chore, watching the bowl slowly fill with the small firm beans, the bowl where the pods go filling ten times faster. Or more. Sometimes as we open the pods with our thumbnails, the peas fly out and there are probably many of them, dried now, hidden in the deepest recesses of the couch from who-knows-how-many-years ago? 
Knowing that we'll soon be overflowing with them, I took a package of the ones we froze from last year out of the freezer in the garage and they are simmering now on the stove with some sliced onion, a little olive oil, some salt and soy sauce. 
It's going to be a very hunter/gardener meal here in Lloyd this evening. I've made a gazpacho with tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers, onion, garlic, a kiss of salt, a splash of olive oil, another of balsamic vinegar. It would be perfect if I had realized BEFORE I put the peppers in that one of the types I was using was, ummm...a bit spicy. NOT the Red Flame, but another that I thought was a sweet pepper but which is obviously not. Luckily, I did not put too much of it in but next time I'll be more careful. 
We're also going to have some venison backstrap which is so tender that all I need to do is give it a very quick sear in a cast iron skillet. It's hard for me to cook it rare enough to make my husband happy so I have to remember that when it seems as if no one but Dracula would eat it, it is probably ready. Venison has almost NO fat in it at all so cooking it for too long does nothing but make it tough and chewy. If one is making a soup or a stew out of less tender cuts, it is quite acceptable to cook it in liquid for a long time but the truly tender cuts- backstrap and tenderloin- do not need that sort of time. 
And of course, there is a loaf of bread rising. 

Tomorrow is my eye exam and I just want it to be over. I can remember when I loved getting my eyes checked. It meant new glasses, better vision, that strange but not entirely unpleasant closeness of the optometrist's voice and face in the near darkness as he quietly clicked lenses on the big circle in front of me asking, "A, or B? One, or two? Now which line can you read?"
How I wish I could go back in time to the days when going to the doctor (any doctor) didn't send me soaring into dissociation. Well. It is what it is. Remember when I tried hypnosis for the problem? The doctor (and he was a doctor) creeped me out so much I never went back. 

I got my grocery shopping done today so that tomorrow I won't have to do it with my eyes dilated. And it would appear that the sun is finally out, just as it is slowly, slowly sinking below the trees to the west. 

Peace be with us all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

31 comments:

  1. FOOD is life!!
    I hope that you chose garish frames for new glasses, something wild and silly. The theme of my day.
    Tall man in his garden photo reminds me of Morris Graves in his leek garden, some sort of wisdom and gentility.

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    1. you could do organic Hippie Mama frames, they do make wooden ones- or frames the color of your pretty blue dress, that would be stunning!

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    2. I just looked up Morris Graves. He does look lovely among his leeks.
      Well, I couldn't figure out glasses frames. I need help! No wooden ones for me though, thank you. Or garish either. That's just not me.

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  2. what a garden *gnome* your man is! LOL.......not a gnome at all.....but a force! Your eye exam will be fine. I know you are anxious, but it will be good. Nowadays they can do exams without dilation (but there is a cost for this)......and that is what I have opted for last 2 times with such relief. Yes, ditto what Linda Sue said- go for the wild frames!
    Susan M

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    1. Me too on the no-dilation option! Hurray!
      Didn't go for any frames AT ALL.

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  3. I know you are not asking for advice, but if you truly have more garden produce than you can use or want to can, consider donating the excess to a food bank.

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  4. If you are being tested for new glasses, then you won't be dilated ... just take a deep breath and you'll do great and pick a frame that you love and compliments your face!!

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    1. Well, it was a complete exam but they have new technology and I didn't need to be dilated.

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  5. Your writing projects unease and dissociation so calmly. I know it cannot be that way in your skin. I wonder what sort of new glasses you will select? I cannot imagine you in wild and crazy.

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    1. It is very easy to make anxiety and dissociation sound like no big deal. But you're right- it doesn't feel like no big deal. Today was fine, though.
      No wild and crazy for me.

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  6. I was also going to suggest seeing if a local food bank can help with the garden surplus. A local church pantry is happy to take fresh vegetables off our hands.

    Best wishes for an easy eye exam. By this time tomorrow it'll be over - something to look forward to.

    Gazpacho sounds so refreshing!

    Chris from Boise

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    1. And it is now all over!
      The gazpacho was very nice.

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  7. I'd love to come past and buy some veg from your little stall by the gate 🙂

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  8. I always loved how they wanted you to pick out new frames after they've dilated your eyes and you can't begin to focus them. Solved now as I no longer have eyes dilated at my annual exam. Unfortunately, due to an eye condition, I now have to see a retinal specialist every so many months. Not only do my eyes get dilated, but part of the exam involves an IV. Good times. :)

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    1. Oh, honey! That sounds pretty intense! But it's good that they're keeping an eye (haha!) on things.

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  9. it's so easy to get carried away when planting a food garden and then if all goes as planned it's what the hell am I going to do with all this food! give it away. put a box out front with a free sign. I've got butternut squash out the wazoo and I didn't even plant it. your garden is gorgeous!

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    1. Exactly! And I do need to take veggies to some of my neighbors. That kills me that your volunteer butternuts did so well. They do keep a long time.

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  10. You and Mr. Moon sure are talented when it comes to gardening. That is a lush garden!
    Hope your eye appointment goes smoothly and you enjoy your new specs!

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    1. It's Mr. Moon's baby for the most part. He has done almost all of the work.
      Eye appointment went well.

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  11. You two have green thumbs and fingers it would seem. I can see that it's a lot of work though. I had a patient a few years ago whose husband planted a lot of cucumbers, a lot. She was so sick of making pickles by the end of the season.

    Perhaps it's the chicken shit that makes your garden grow. Sounds like a kids book doesn't it?

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    1. I remember once when Glen's daddy grew about one million tomatoes that I finally told him not to bring one more tomato into my house! My kitchen had become a tomato-processing factory.
      "The Garden that Chicken Shit Grew". Yes. I like that. Although this year, I think it's the mushroom compost that Mr. Moon shoveled on the garden.

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  12. I could have used your husband today when I was trying to get the last pack of baby food from the top shelf at the supermarket. My DIL asked me to stop by at my local supermarket as that's the only place she can find the babe's new milk, but that last pack (there were only 3) was just beyond me and I couldn't see any stepladders. Luckily I found a young man who must be your husband's French grandson and he was able to get it for me! But 6'8" - that can't be easy all the time!

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    1. Yes. Mr. Moon is quite helpful when it comes to getting things off high shelves. I would say that he's good at cleaning off the top of the refrigerator too but he never does that! Of course, whatever's up there doesn't bother me as I can't see it.
      And you're right- in a few ways, being that tall is a disability. Especially when it comes to airplanes.

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  13. How wonderful to have such abundance to share.
    Have been busy this last week with sad family news - my wife's mum diagnosed with untreatable pancreatic cancer - but will try and drop by when I can. Comments may be brief. As you say - peace be with us all..

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    1. Oh! That's so sad. Another friend of mine's brother-in-law has recently been diagnosed. Not good at all. I am sorry to hear about your wife's mother.
      Yes. Peace.
      And don't worry about comments!

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  14. That abundance. You live in Eden! Around here you never leave your car windows down in zucchini season. Or you'll return after a quick dash into the shop, to find the back seat full of zucchini. I'm not saying you should do this with the surplus. Just mentioning it for next time you're passing empty cars in a lot..


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    1. Haha! Have you heard the joke about the musician who left his accordion in his back seat with the doors unlocked? He came back to find two more in there.
      (Truthfully- I love the accordion.)

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  15. "Penes"? Really? I've never heard that!

    Your garden is looking amazing. I guess you can always give some of the produce away if there's too much to can. A food bank or something? And I'm sure some of it is destined for the kids and grandkids. I wish I could take some!

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  16. Your garden looks amazing. You Moons are a green thumbed team! My garden is struggling this year due to the severe drought in CA and the watering restrictions we are under. I am saving shower, dish and wash load water for some of the watering. It all has to be carried by bucket and by me at this point. I'm glad I am here this summer to do the work.

    If I lived nearby, I'd take some of that surplus produce off your hands and/or help you process! Sending strength and love. x0x0 N2

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.