Copyright © 2007-2015 Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Piddlin' in My Hangout



Preparedness Challenge

Hallooooo! Anyways, here's where I've been hangin' out lately - in the garden. The zinnias are finally in wonderful bloom.

And the vegetables are starting to come in - here is chocolate mint, cucumbers and mullein flowers. We'll talk about the mullein flowers in a bit.
See the beans on the section of fencing in the garden? They're asparagus beans, and boy howdy, do they get long.
Most of them measure around 20 inches. They're oriental and great in stir fry.
I've been freezing them in small batches and putting them in bags with other vegetables for stir fry mixes. (I recently noticed that some frozen vegetables I'd bought were all the way from China! O.O Ahem, no thank you! Ain't no need for that. I'm making my own now.)Have you seen any of these lately? They're mullein plants, and they are popping up in profusion everywhere this summer. It's a wild herb with wonderful health benefits. I dry the leaves for a tea to break up congestion...

and the yellow flowers make a great earache oil when....
steeped in olive oil, strained, and put in a dropper bottle till needed.

There has been knitting in the foothills, a pair of socks for Goodman. I've been refreshing my sock knitting skills with this tutorial over at Come To Silver. It's great for beginners & whoever needs a li'l jump start.
Burgundy stella d'oros. Hope you're having a great summer!

14 comments:

  1. Your vegie crops look great. We have those long beans here, we call them snake beans. I love them.
    Lots of healthy food there
    Cheers
    Helen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your garden goodies make my moth water!

    Glad things are producing well for you.

    Blessings~

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have never seen such long green beans!! Awesome :) Very interesting info about your mullein plant. Pretty to look at and it's "parts" so useful. You know so much about herbs and such. Love your day lily! The color is super. I have orange ones on one side of my driveway. No blooms yet, but hopefully soon :)

    Glad to see you are getting in some knitting....happy knitting :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the color of those socks. Your beans are huge. Never seen those before. I remember sitting by my Grandparents pool eating green beans and peas right out of the garden. MMM

    ReplyDelete
  5. It was nice of you to pick me some cucumbers, but just go ahead and pickle them, and I will pick them up later ! great zinnias and interesting beans ! my rattlesnake beans are not doing too good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your blogger profile doesn't have an email connected to it, but I wanted to tell you the gumdrop recipe is fixed - I don't know how I missed that key info!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Always love seeing your gardening pics (and of course the knitting). Makes me want to get outside and get my hands in the dirt -- if only I was ever at home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hiya Toni,
    Beautiful crops and socks :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Our cukes are just starting to come on. I can't wait for pickling! :) Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your garden is gorgeous! So weed free! You must spend hours on your knees! I didn't plant my zinnias this year.:~{ Yours are so pretty ~ I will be sure to plant some next year ~ I love them!
    Wish I would have know about the mullien flowers in olive oil for earaches when I was a kid! I had horrible, horrible ear aches as a child and have some hearing loss because of it today! My Grandma used to put warm(hot!) eucaliptus (sp?) oil in my ears. Would have felt good if it weren't so hot!
    Oh, I love the socks you are knitting. I don't know how to knit but I am envious of those who can.
    Thanks for droppin' in at my place today and leaving a sweet comment~ love to meet new friends!
    Be Blessed!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I saw some mullein growing along the railroad tracks ! Now I know what it is thanks to reading your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks some garden! I'm loaded with cherry and grape tomatoes around my back porch and cuks are starting to produce in the backyard garden. I love this time of year!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. We learned about mullein tea last winter---it is wonderful for breaking up chest congestion! Do you add other herbs to your tea? I am drying mullein as I write. :D

    Love asparagus beans, reminds me I need to order seeds.

    I think we may be kindred spirits...
    Missuz C

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments!