Well, the past week has been interesting, to say the least. Lots of new and different things floating around in our world! We submitted about a zillion and a half papers to start the pre-qualification process for a home loan, which is exciting but also nerve wracking! We’ve both been super busy with our day jobs, which is good but also time consuming. Then my laptop broke (actually, *I* broke it… long story), and after taking it into the shop I’ve learned that it’s not fixable, boo! So, I’m writing this on my super old school laptop, which still works, but is slower than you know what. Oh well, I guess the tortoise always wins the race, right?
Anyways, regardless of all of that adulting that we’ve been dealing with, we also got a bit of nature with a great view of some wild turkeys in our driveway this past week. They come through quite frequently, but this time they got pretty close.
Mmm, turkey. Pretty much my favorite protein source.
See those bluish colored flowers in the foreground? They’ve been blooming like crazy lately, looking pretty “weedy” if you ask me. But, you know how I love my weeds, so I looked them up and it turns out they’re Chicory flowers!
Chicory has edible leaves and medicinal qualities, particularly in it’s root. I need to do a bit more research on it before I share more with you, but it’s in the works!
Elsewhere on the homestead, more of our lettuce is going to flower, which is actually quite pretty.
And our eggplant also has several flowers on it, promising some beautiful purplish black globes in the near future. Did you know that eggplant is one of the least liked vegetables? I aim to change that!
We had our first carrot harvest of the year, which was a bit meager, but beautiful nonetheless. We knew we planted them too late in the season and they don’t like heat, so we felt lucky to get any at all. Now is the time to plant more for a fall harvest, however, so we’re working on that.
Back in the kitchen, I made an amazing lamb shoulder roast in the crock pot using an almost identical process as the slow cooker pork roast. It was divine, and has sealed the deal for my love of the crock pot for summertime cooking!
Also, I’ve acquired a Jun SCOBY (thanks to Sarah from Killer Pickles), which is made similar to kombucha, but with green tea and honey rather than black tea and sugar. My first batch turned out well, although quite strong. I’m still working out the details before I write more about it for you guys.
The last thing that I want to share with you today is this plum tree that is on the edge of the parking lot where I work. This picture doesn’t show much unless you really look at it… there are plums everywhere on the tree and all over the ground.
This is prime for gleaning, which means taking unwanted leftover crops. I have much more to say on this in a future post, but I’ll just leave you with this for now.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend full of wild turkeys and parking lot plums!
They still use chickory in coffee down south! ! took me a while before I liked it, then I eventually did, they still sell it in the stores there!!. Not sure what other uses for it, I wonder if it is medicinal?? as for eggplant, it has the most nicotine in it than any plant, so if someone is coming off of smoking then have them eat it. I slice it, lavishly put on olive oil w/garlic, grill it and when it gets turned over put on parmesan cheese!!! great on the grill, I love it. it also is a nightshade.
Broke your I pad? Noooooooo!
Not my iPad, my laptop!
Chickory was used to make coffee less bitter. It grows wild in almost every empty lot in Livermore. I think it’s because the same person mows all the lots and is spreading seed. Pretty when there is a field full.
I have really enjoyed your newsletters. I want to try the fermented vegetables but don’t think my husband would like them very much. I look forward to reading every issue.
Love all the variety in this post. Great pics! Good Luck with the house acquisition!