Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

I love yard sales. I can find things I really need but not spend a fortune. Got a $5.00 hoe in the side of the road last week. See! (Get your mind it off the gutter!)

I've found some good things at yard sales as well, I just don't have the time to go to them!

Yesterday was my weekly trip into town, so we loaded up the new 3-wheeler and I took it to a bike shop for estimates. Unfortunately, they couldn't locate parts for the big drum brake on the front wheel, and it's too big for the typical "pinch brake", so the only brakes I'll have on it are the coaster brakes on the back wheels. He won't know if they work until he gets the chain put on. At one time, it had 3 gears, but parts are missing on that and I decided I didn't have enough money at this time to replace the hub, so it's going to be 1 gear only (I think/hope it's the low gear!). But for $150, I can get the 3 tires, with puncture resistant tubes, and the chain, and everything lubed and tightened as necessary, ready by Tuesday! Time to buy some plastic flowers to put on the basket, lol.

Someone (we won't mention DS's name) forgot to close the gate last night and the deer got into the garden. Luckily, the bird netting foiled most of their attempts at eating the plants, although a couple of the bigger broccoli leaves disappeared. On the plus side, he was able to fill 2 beds with soil so I now have the agreeable task of deciding whether to plant winter squashes, peppers, beets or beans in them. Decisions, decisions. I bought some good quality top soil while I was in town, since I don't have anymore I can dig up here, so we can continue to fill beds and plant more goodies.
I'm almost done building the wicking planters for the tomatoes. Hopefully I can get them set out this weekend. The potatoes I planted are starting to show bits of green leaves, but I'll need to wait a bit longer before I start piling the soil on.

In other plans, I have to get the clutter in the living room and kitchen taken care of before the repairman comes Monday. Our gas oven needs a new igniter; it's kind of scary right now when I try to use the oven: first you start getting a strong smell of gas and then a loud FWOOM! when the only working igniter finally lights everything. Then it takes upwards of half an hour for the oven to preheat to 350F. I'm trying to plan meals that don't use the oven right now, which is not easy.
The only reason I can afford the $175 repair bill AND the 3wheeler bill is because the plumber (remember my rental needed plumbing work this month too?) came in about $125 less than his estimate. Them Gods of Poverty are really having fun with me this month....

I'm waffling on dinner between Jambalaya and Kedgeree; I need to make up some new batches of Onion Soup Mix and Cajun Seasoning Mix and Seasoned Salt, and I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge that looks yummy...

It's always nice when bills come in lower than expected.

Love low bills! I wish it would happen more often!
How you get the oven fixed soon! That does not sound good!

I ended up making Kedgeree, and it was good! It's essentially a mild curried rice dish with smoked fish. The original recipe called for smoked haddock which I could not find in any of the stores here, so I used kippers. Surprisingly, DS wanted a second helping! He's usually pretty conservative.

Weather is warming up- it's supposed to get into the 80's today. I want to get the summer crops started as our average first frost will be in September, which doesn't give me much time. It takes time though, to put the beds together and fill them with soil.
I have 2 1/2 beds that can be planted, 6 more beds to make and fill; the favas and asparagus need weeding and feeding.

I wanted to move the rhubarb to another spot since I found out that it doesn't do well near lovage, and of course that is where I planted it before I found out. Anyone know if it will kill the rhubarb to replant it now? I'm getting lush leaves, but very short stalks hardly worth harvesting; not sure why that is...

Of the plants that I had in pots, it appears that the comfrey did not survive the winter, but the horseradish, sorrel, horehound, nettles, peppermint and jerusalem artichokes are coming back. All but 2 of the raspberries I planted are leafing out, the hazelnuts are all leafing out, and the currants and gooseberry are doing well too. I'm getting blooms from my irises for the first time this year (I planted them 2 years ago), and the poppies are getting ready to bloom.

It's time to clean out the duck's house too- they have a hard hill of poop right by the door as well as about 6" deep of dirty litter throughout. Wouldn't be a bad idea to rake out the yard as well, although it's not too bad yet. *rubs hands in delight at the thought of all that lovely compost*

Just got the vote for dinner tonight: Asian Noodles with a sesame/peanut sauce and shredded chicken and veggies. It won't require the oven, and it will go together very quickly; an advantage when I will probably be exhausted from working in the garden. Probably something simple for dessert like applesauce or chocolate pudding.

Why do I get hungry every time I read your journal.... ummmm... that might be because everything you cook sounds delish!

You should wait until fall to move them. And, since the stalks are small, that's a sign they need to be divided. Here's some info on it for you.

http://www.rhubarb-central.com/transplanting-rhubarb.html

Thanks Deb! I'll be reading that tonight!

Lol FEM, I do enjoy cooking a lot... and we both enjoy eating (you can tell from the avatar). We used to live near San Francisco, and had so many ethnic restaurants that we could patronize; but here in the wilds of eastern Oregon there's not a whole lot of diversity-- I have to satisfy our cravings somehow!

I ended up working on the homemade wicking Grow Boxes that I wanted to grow tomatoes in. My hands are so sore from cutting plastic totes! I made 4, enough to grow 8 tomatoes. Then I planted the jalapenos, and made a hoop setup for birdnetting to keep the birds from eating the cabbages. Set up a burlap shade for the salad section. I'll do the rest of the planting tomorrow, I guess.

You should post pictures! Is love to see your setup!
And I always get hungry reading your posts too!