It’s been hot, not as hot as say, Double Danger (they have a whole “hot as hell” category, you could not pay me enough to live in Texas), but it’s getting 90-95F with high humidity and no a/c, and if you’ve missed my whining on Twitter, you should know that means it’s been 86-87F inside my house. So there’s the whole heat induced migraine going on and I have an a/c in my garage and I’m really temped to say screw being able to pay the power bill and install the damn thing. To add insult to injury, it was 60 for most of last week and just awesome. The garden isn’t so fond of this heat either, but I have managed to water enough to keep it all from dying, what I haven’t already killed anyway. Lots of green tomatoes, I hope to see some red soon. We’re munching on cucumbers, there’s not enough pickling kind to pickle, so they’re snack fodder, and good.

I’ve become obsessed with Squidoo (see my list over to the right?) and really, you should too. If you know anything about anything, make a lens (what they call a page) about it. These pages are supposed to be constant works in progress, often updated and added to, so you don’t have to spend a ton of time making your first few. Make ‘em, publish ‘em and come back to ‘em later to add on. You might just make a few bucks for yourself or charity (and you can pick the charity). Go, make one! I want to see it, so come back and leave a comment!

I’ve been very bad about keeping up in the garden blog world. I’m afraid I’m a bit over extended these days and just starting to get each thing I’m working on fit into it’s own niche so I’m not running around like a crazed maniac on crack. I’ve been busy with work, both doing web design and now professional organizing, plus schooling my monsters, err kids, and the garden of course, and a million other things. Being self employed is so awesome in many ways, but the hours for the income sucks butt to start. It’ll be worth it though. But I still need to get back to the garden blog rounds, I miss reading about what’s going on with everyone.

It’s written kind of cheesy, but I’m glad it’s published.

“It’s silliness,” says Terri Frohnmayer, a commercial real-estate broker who is co-chairwoman of one of Salem’s 19 neighborhood associations and lives outside town next to a farm that has chickens. “Eggs aren’t even that expensive anyway. What’s next? Goats? Llamas?” Her advice to hen-loving neighbors: “Get a farm.”

Ignorant much?

Cruciferous (krew-SIH-fer-uhs) is the scientific name for a group of plants whose four petal flowers resemble a cross. These vegetables are a part of the cabbage family and include arugula, bok choy, broccoli, broccoli sprouts, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, turnip greens and watercress. (source)

Amy’s Enchiladas

1 recipe Meat Filling, below
Flour (or corn) tortillas
Oil and fry pan big enough to fit 1 tortilla at a time
La Victoria Enchilada Sauce Green 28 oz
Shredded cheese
Olives

Once the meat is prepped, heat enough oil in the fry pan to make it 1/4-1/2″ deep. Pour half the sauce in a pie plate. Lightly fry each tortilla just until it’s limp, then dredge through the sauce. Place tortilla in the final pan, and add meat filling (around 1/2-3/4 cup, spread from one side to the other), then lightly roll up. Repeat. Pack as many as you can into the pan, then cover with the rest of the sauce, spreading it as evenly as possible. Cover with olives, then cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

To get an idea of amounts, to serve 6, we used a little over half the meat filling recipe, around 10 tortillas, a 28oz can of sauce and 2 small cans of olives, plus a ton of cheese.

Meat filling

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 lbs pork roast or meat marked for “carnitas”
2 bay leaves
3 cups chicken broth

Place bay leaves in large pot, top with pork then sprinkle the spices evenly over the meat. Carefully so the spices stay in place, pour the broth into the pan (around the edges, in between chunks of meat). Cover, cook on lowest heat for 8 hours. After 4 hours, turn (ignore otherwise). Remove meat from juice and use 2 forks to pull/shred the meat. Juice can be added back in, a little at a time, if the meat seems dry (haven’t had to do that myself). Can be used for any dish calling for pulled pork, makes GREAT BBQ pork sandwiches.

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What is nofollow and why does it suck?

Here’s one of the plants before picking:

Cherry tomatoes (the romas are doing good too):

Cucumbers! I don’t remember now which is which – one is of the pickling cukes, the other is the slicing cukes.

Cucumbers
Russet Potatoes
Tomatoes (not great, but we do have baby ‘maters)
Green Beans
Carrots
Onions
Peas (done for the season)
Lettuce (it grew really well, too bad I let it bolt to seed!)

I thinned the carrots and got these (the onion was thanks to the kids “helping”):

Oh, and I flooded the garden today! First time this year, go me!

Have your bread machine ready with paddle in place and in this order, add:

2 tsp dry yeast
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 T sugar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 cup + 2 T water

Set your machine to dough cycle, hit start and walk away.

When it lets you know it’s done, grease a large mixing bowl, place the dough inside, turn over, then cover and let rise about 30 minutes, or til nearly double.

Next, knead the dough lightly, let rest 5-10 minutes then roll out to your pan shape/size.

Add your toppings and bake in a 400F oven for 8-20 minutes (depends on your toppings, so keep an eye on it!)

Let your pizza rest for 5-10 minutes after baking to let any cheese “set” and not be runny. Enjoy!