Reuse Recipe: Vegetable broth made from ends and rests

I started blanching and freezing my abundance of greens last week. That left me with the long stems of kale, collards, broccoli, and beets. After I had a big bag of them in the fridge, I chopped them all up and put them in the crockpot. I added extra cabbage leaves, plus one onion and a couple bay leaves, stewed them together in a pot for a day to make a lovely organic vegetable broth. 

In case you are wondering what I did with that broth. I removed all the now mushy vegetable matter, leaving the liquid in the crock pot, added white beans, green chiles (from last years garden), 5 chicken thighs, and hot sauce to make chile. The kids love "bean soup" as they call all my chile variations.

Garden Progress: Blackberries are ripe

A is ready for a bucket full, but there were only about 15 so far

Sew Special: Warm Fuzzy Woolen Cape

Another project from the Oliver and S book Little Things to Sew -- The Red Riding Hood Cape

Oliver and S Red Riding Hood Cape

This is made with a vintage wool that I've had for awhile on the outside and a wool blend inside.  I originally planned to have the maroon wool on the inside, but A said that it was too scratchy.

Winter cloak pattern

This is a size 7 to allow room to grow and also A wanted it longish.

Home Schooling Summary for Last Week

 Last weekend we visited my Grandma who we call "Goomie". We had a great time with her. I am so glad that the kids get to visit with her.

 This week we made some Father's Day preparations. Here are all the kiddos, including the cousins coloring the wrapping paper for Daddy's gift.

We also decided to make a cake that day. The girls chose a layer cake from the cookbook. They helped some with the mixing, but EVERYONE wanted to help with the frosting and decorating. Notice big sister A's finger in her mouth?  It was a big frosting tasting extravaganza.

 On Wednesday, A. requested that we talk about Rodeos. The request was specifically based on our mutual enjoyment of this book -- Armadillo Rodeo.

Coloring pictures of cowboy things while wearing a cowboy hat

Putting the cowboy ropes in order by size

Wearing her apron "to keep her clothes clean" and eating watermelon on the deck

 Peas we shelled together from the garden:

Big sister A had her last gymnastics class of this unit so we got to go in and take pictures. Daddy came to see her too, which made A. very happy.

Recommended Reading: The Once and Future King

I posted about The Once and Future King already when I review The Sword in the Stone. I have since read the next 2 books - The Witch in the Wood and The Ill-Made Knight. I am part way through The Candle in the Wind.

Summary:

In part two, The Queen of Air and Darkness, White sets the stage for Arthur's demise by introducing the Orkney clan and detailing Arthur's seduction by their mother, his half-sister Morgause. While the young king suppresses initial rebellions, Merlin leads him to envision a means of harnessing potentially destructive Might for the cause of Right: the Round Table.

The third part, The Ill-Made Knight, shifts focus from King Arthur to the story of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guenever's forbidden love, the means they go through to hide their affair from the King(although he already knows of it from Merlin), and its effect on Elaine, Lancelot's sometime lover and the mother of his son Galahad.

The Candle in the Wind unites these narrative threads by telling how Mordred's hatred of his father and Agravaine's hatred of Sir Lancelot caused the eventual downfall of King Arthur, Queen Guenever, Sir Lancelot, and the entire ideal kingdom of Camelot.

As you can see from the summary, these stories while entertaining, are not as light-hearted as The Sword in the Stone. I am still enjoying reading them, but the themes and reflections are more adult than I would expect from a children's story. I recommend them to anyone who is curious to understand the King Arthur story better, but not to readers under ages 10 or 12. 

Reuse Recipe: Pine Needles

Pine needles are a natural way to make the soil more acidic. Our soil tends to be slightly acidic here, but blueberries and huckleberries thrive in acidic conditions.  I mixed them with composted rabbit manure when I planted the new blueberry bushes and also spread them around as mulch.

Blueberry bush with pine needle mulch

 This picture shows the front landscaping progress. I am slowly switching the foundation plantings to edibles. There are 3 blueberry bushes and the rhubarb so far. Next week I will finish taking out the holly bush and put the other currant plant there along with another blueberry in the corner.  I am trying to make this transition slowly so that they landscaping around our house does not look too crazy in the meantime.  All the blueberries will eventually be 3-5 ft tall and the currants up to 6 feet tall.  I am planning to trim them in "hedge" shapes once they are well-established.

Garden Progress: Growing like weeds

This has been the best summer (weather-wise) I've had in all my 8 years here in Maryland. It is nice and cool and rainy. I think the plants would do well with a bit more sun and less rain, but they are still growing like weeds.

Here is a broad overview:

Blackberries

The Honeyberry bushes seem to  like their new  home and are showing lots of new growth

Peaches

Only two apples survived the deer

It's a good year for broccoli - cool and wet

We've eaten these peas like snow peas and also shelled some with the kiddos

Kale and lettuce

The first pepper is out - we need to wait for it to get red though

Red Cabbages

Corn growing tall with cucumbers growing up the stalks

Eggplant and corn are good companion plants

My favorite new addition - 3 red currant plants.  I am planting them in 2 different locations , trying to see which they like better

Black Rasberries taking hold. I hope they will eventually be trellised to cover the radon pipe on the side of our house

Oregano from our neighbors

The first tomatoes

Sew Special: So Lucky

Aaron's Grandma is a super quilter with ridiculously good taste. I am always excited to see what kind of blanket she is going to send for the next baby.  Sammy has been spoiled with yet another lovely piece of workmanship. 

Oh my! Is this for me?

I can't post this picture without also mentioning that his other baby blanket, embroidered by my mom, was featured on the embroidery company website! Isn't he spoiled?!

Home Schooling Summary for Last Week

 Last week we had 2 themes directed by the kiddos interest. First was spiders and spider webs. We talked about why spiders are different from other insects and that they are called "arachnids".  We made  some spider webs with glue on foil. It was supposed to peel off once it dried, but they did not work. Maybe we were using the wrong kind of glue?

 Then we made a HUGE web of our own in the doorway. That was big hit.

The kids let their imaginations run wild with that one.

We recently discovered the "Magic School Bus" show on Netflix. Our library also has many of the books.  MSB has spurred lots of science discussions. We read the book and talked about electricity one day.

 Then we played with balloons and hair and talked about electrons. It was fun for all.

Recommended Reading: Extra Yarn

Extra Yarn is well, I'll just say it, a picture book. It is a story for kids.  According to Amazon it is for children ages 4-8. I beg to differ and think that must be a typo; ages 4-80 would be more correct. I have had this on my "To Read" list for some time and I'm glad that my local library finally procured it for me. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is about knitting and a do-gooder, both wonderful topics. I promise it will make you smile.

Summary: Extra Yarn, winner of a Caldecott Honor and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, as well as a New York Times bestseller, is the story of how a young girl and her box of magical yarn transform a community.