Price increases

 Blessings Darlings!

We had another hard freeze Sunday night.  It did a lot of damage to my sprouting Swiss Chard, which we were hoping to use for salad and cooking greens right quick.  Most of the plants survived, but there will be delays.
HOWEVER - the freeze didn't bother the wild spring greens.  Today on my 10 minute break at work I filled a gallon bag with some lovely dead nettle.  It will become a creamy green topping for pasta tomorrow night. 
This all matters because my job exists, but doesn't really pay a living wage.  And the price of food has jumped . . . and so has the price of propane.  We are down to the point that out propane tank has only about 12% of its capacity left, about 51 gallons.  So I ordered another 100 gallons.  Which is more than 3 times the price per gallon it was when we first moved in here, some 4 or 5 years ago.  I DID get a small discount for our first fill, I'm sure.  But with Covid induced price increases (due to workers missing work from illness and/or deaths, leading to supply problems) followed by supply pressure from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, added to the fact that the past month was 3 degrees F colder here than it had been one year before (and that year wasn't a warm one) - I'm going to be spending $500 to just get 100 gallons of propane.  100 gallons.  We usually use 400 gallons a year.  In November I spent $1400 on propane (we really were sucking fumes at that point, 4% left in the tank).  It looks as if I'll be spending at LEAST $2000 for propane this year.
I expect there will be a lot of weed - excuse me, wild crafted vegetable eating in our future. 
Frondly, Fern

From Garden to Oven.

Blessings Darlings!

I have a lot of 'weeds' in my garden right now.  It's too early for most things to be planted, let alone producing ... unless you count the weeds.  As it happens, I DO count the weeds.

So I went out earlier today and harvested a colander full of 'wild greens', mostly chickweed, but some purple dead nettle was in the bunch.  Brought 'em in, cleaned 'em, chopped 'em, threw the lot of 'em in a big saute pan.  With a metal handle.  Then I went back outside, to the onions that had over wintered.  They have huge amounts of green onion action, but that's not what I harvested.  I harvested the onion snapes - the long stemmed onion flower buds.  Saving the thin tops and actual flower buds, I chopped the thick lower stems and threw them in the pan.  Added salt, pepper, and the NOT extra virgin olive oil I use for sauteing.  Once they were soft, I added diced canned tomatoes, some gorgonzola crumbles, and 8 well beaten eggs.  The frittata is now in the oven.

I'm probably the only one in the household that will eat this.  The Spawn doesn't like onions, the Chubby Hubby isn't enamored with gorgonzola, and both are suspicious of me and my wild greens.  But I expect wonders from it.  [later that morning - I was right.  About me loving it, CH not liking the gorgonzola, and the Spawn not being thrilled with the onions.  But the Spawn also thought there were too many greens in it.]

Plague deaths in the US have topped 1000 each of the last two days.  We're still at least 10 days from peak cases, and  longer than that from peak deaths - and those estimates are for WITH total social distancing compliance.  The asshole PM of England has Covid 19 so bad that he's hospitalized - after he fucking BRAGGED about going around shaking people's hands.  OTOH, Queen Elizabeth II gave quite an inspiring speech about getting thru' it.

We spent quality family time today working in the garden, until the backs of us two old farts told us to stop.  It only took one hour to get to that point.  Still, we got a lot accomplished.  The onions are mostly planted, and I should be able to FINALLY start the potatoes ... tomorrow or whenever I get permission from my back to do it. 

After the potatoes are in, I get to work more on topping the garden with the manure/straw mix, and start transplanting the  started seeds.  I'll begin with the radishes and go from there.  And I have a lot more seeds that I need to start. 

My back is NOT going to be amused. 

Let's see - also did laundry and line dried it.  Did two batches of dishes.  Baked bread. 

Let's finish with a song, suggested by Byron Ballard  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixbah9u234

Frondly, Fern

Achin' Bacon.

Blessings, Darlings!

Now the turnips are sprouting!

Dear Gods, my back went crazy after the garden work yesterday.  Along with putting cardboard down, I'd forked up and removed some grass from the already-established garden.  My back took serious offense at that.  But my knees didn't!  I really have to get the hubby and spawn doing more of this. 

I wasn't this out of shape last year at this time.  Last year I was working on regularly, losing weight, all those good things.  Then ... I stopped going to the gym to save $ because it was clear that at the very least my hours at work would be cut back.  And then they were.  And three months after that, business at work dropped again, due to the virus.

It's a good thing I put bricks on the cardboard yesterday, rather than relying on 'thoughts and prayers' - today is extremely windy, and everything is staying in place.

The Spawn shopped today - a day earlier than I expected that he would.  So the list he shopped with was, at best, 'incomplete'.  He spent $16 on what he thought were necessities.  But no lunch stuff, no salt (we're out of table salt to refill things, but have superfine and kosher), no provolone, etc.  We'll just have to wait a week for those. Oh, and no egg roll wrappers - we'll have to make our own.  Excuse me, *I* will have to make our own.  I'd better start the bean sprouts for the egg rolls, too.  We're smoking some pork shoulder tomorrow, and while we'll use most of it for bbq sandwiches, 9 oz of it will go into a big batch of egg rolls. 

Wintercress/creasy greens FTW! Using them as a Bi Bim Bap veggie today. Using it for 'spinach' crepes sometime this weekend.  Getting all the veggies ready for the BBB is a bowl-intensive thing.  Prepping them, and then washing everything afterwards, is a work intensive thing.  But it came out amazing.

I'm taking my achin' bacon to bed now.  Sleep tight.

Frondly, Fern

Eating on the Wild Side

Blessings, Darlings!

So, as some of y'all already know that my husband neglected to read some of his e-mail ... so didn't send in something that our health insurance needed ... so auto payment of health insurance emptied our checking account of not just our expected $245 payment but an additional almost $2000. The $2000 for rent, utilities, food, etc.

We scrambled to cover the bills this weekend, and we will EVENTUALLY get the $ back, but it will take 2 to 4 months. So we are in financial pain just when we thought things would be calmer.

So ... let's talk about eating weeds again. It's something that *I* can do, but my husband can't. Wild greens have more flavor, or as my husband puts it "are too bitter". My husband is a super taster.

Now, he's right that most of the current round of wild greens available ARE bitter. The weather is getting hot, which contributes. The younger wild mustards and shepherd purses were tame. Early (pre-blooming) dandelions weren't TOO bad. But wild green things now are flavored to repel leaf munching insects, and apparently the plants see humans as bigger insects.

Therefore, in keeping score so far this week - Narrow Leaf Plantain: bitter, but added to soup and hot sauce added was fine. Miner's Lettuce: bitterness lessened by soaking in a few changes of water, was fine added to a tomato based spaghetti sauce to top pasta.

Today's adventure will be bind weed. Which apparently I'll have to mix with some other greens because "too much can have a laxative effect'.

Tomorrow I'll be finding out if thistle leaves, lightly steamed, really do taste like asparagus.

Frondly, Fern