ONE PERFECT ROSE ~ GARDEN UPDATE ~ RECIPE OF THE WEEK-COWBOY CANDY ~ PARTING SHOT

ONE PERFECT ROSE

When Linda and I moved out to Yakima in 2007, we brought with us some of the plants that we had at our house in Lumberton. Some of them lived and some of them didn't make it here, but the one I am most happy about is one of my mother's roses. We actually transplanted this rose from her house on 14th Street over to our house on 17th Street. It did pretty good there, so when we moved out here we brought a couple of small cuttings with us. I am happy to report that both of them lived and have been doing very well in the Yakima weather. They actually do better here than they ever did at our house in Lumberton. Below is a picture of one of the roses. I call this my "perfect" rose because whenever I look at the flowers on this plant, it reminds me of my mother.

The Mary Rose

Another plant we brought with us was a variegated Solomon's Seal. We had this plant and another native Solomon's Seal at our house, but we only brought a piece of the variegated variety. We planted it and the next spring we had one lone Solomon's Seal come up. Over the years it has multiplied, and below is a picture of the area where it finally settled in. The changing weather makes the leaves on these plants so stunning this time of year.

Change of Season Colors

GARDEN UPDATE

This week Linda and I finished taking down the garden. I did a lot of last-minute cooking of produce so I am just about done with that. I still need to dig up the zucchini and tomatillo plants, but that won't take long. We got about two buckets full of tomatoes and Linda was able to stew up another pot of those for this winter. I gave some to a friend of ours and the rest are on the card table in hopes that they will ripen up.

Fried green tomatoes, anyone?

I know everyone is wondering about the little Hab (yeah, right). Since we had a couple of nights that went down to freezing this week, I cut it off near the bottom of the main stem and put it in a glass of water in the window in our living room so it would get some light. Believe it or not, it is starting to turn red!

The little Hab, hanging in there

After we were done with taking down the garden, I discovered why my plants produce so well. I have a green thumb, plus four fingers!

Getting my hands dirty

RECIPE OF THE WEEK - COWBOY CANDY

After I pulled up all the pepper plants, I had about a half bucket of hot peppers (jalapeno and Anaheim peppers), plus another half bucket of the mild peppers (bell, banana, and Shishito peppers). The mild peppers are going to be made into another batch of jelly for Linda. I decided to make some pickled hot peppers and also one of my favorite things, Cowboy Candy. I used this recipe here from the website Old World Garden Farms. I have used different recipes over the years for this, but this was a new one so I gave it a try. I was quite pleased with the results as they were pretty hot. Now they need to sit in the fridge and cure for a couple of weeks. Here is what the finished product looks like.

Mighty tasty!

PARTING SHOT

As we move further into fall, the weather gets increasingly colder. So, it only stands to reason that during this time, Summer Girl gets increasingly inside. At least she can sit in the window, watch the birdies, and pretend like she is still outside.

That's all for this week!