Harvest Time

This has been such a long week, but it's finally over.  I'd actually started a post last night, but after I heard about losing Randolph Mantooth, I didn't have the heart to finish it.  I just mowed the yard and went to bed.  

What I was going to talk about was that Group Leader Shark went on a tear yesterday morning, yelling at all of us.  She said, "You brazers, when Cuz asks why you didn't get your numbers, do not tell him because there was no work ready.  That's no excuse for not getting your work done!"  

And we're all wondering just what exactly they expect us to do?  If tubing doesn't have any parts ready, are we supposed to pull orders out of our behinds?  Or maybe we can pretend braze pretend header assemblies.  Do those count?  I mean, if there's no work, we can't do any work.

I suspect she only said that because it makes her look bad--not having work ready for us-- but sometimes it's not her fault.  If the front office isn't adding orders to the schedule, tubing can't make the parts we need.  Yet, we're still supposed to somehow braze 2100 headers...go figure. 

I was going to get out last night and plant the baby tomatoes, but after a long day at work, then enduring the madhouse that is Walmart on a Friday afternoon, doing two loads of laundry, and mowing the yard, I just didn't have it in me.  

So I got up this morning and gave all the garden beds a good watering, then set out to harvest my banana peppers.  They sorely needed it, too.  Some of my plants were so loaded down they were falling over, even with being staked.  I even got some of the yellow ones, just to give the plants a break.  

I was thinking when I get around to making pickled peppers, I could mix the colors for variety. I've also heard that the redder they get, the sweeter they get and lose some of that peppery tang.  At least one of them went into the chicken salad I made this afternoon.  

I had a leftover rotisserie chicken that I'd put into the freezer, which I'd gotten out a few days ago.  The day I made the Spam salad.  I'd had a hankering for chicken salad, but it wasn't thawed yet, thus the Spam.  But I think I told you that already.  Anyway, it was thawed by today, so I cut it up and made the chicken salad I'd been wanting for nearly a week.  Then I boiled down the carcass and made chicken broth for the tomato soup I'm going to make.  Some of the recipes I saw called for vegetable stock, others for chicken stock.  All that to say, 2 1/2 quarts of chicken broth are now safely tucked into the freezer.  

After I harvested the banana peppers, I went back and harvested quite a few of the cayenne peppers. 

Most of these will get hung up to dry, but I'm thinking about slicing some and putting them in with a couple of the jars of pickled banana peppers, just to give them a little kick.  

And look, the first three of my Roma tomatoes!  

They're not as red in real life as they are in the photo.  I'll give the a couple of days, then they'll be just right for a sandwich.  

The last thing I did before it got too hot was to really give my basil a good whacking.  

Unfortunately, most of this went into the compost, but I did pick off a few leaves and dry them in the microwave.  I put them into an old mayonnaise jar with one of my silicone packs until I'm ready to use them.  Next year, I'll know to plant two basil plants.  Not six.  Two.  

I hated to waste so much basil, but at least it's opened up that bed a bit so more air can flow around my tomatoes. 

By the way, can anyone tell me what type of plant this is on the bottom shelf?  

It doesn't look the same as the other cacti.

I pretty much spent the rest of the day watching Emergency! reruns, and avoiding slicing up all of those banana peppers.  

I remember when it first came on.  I was...almost 8, and my brother was almost 10.  Our next door neighbor was staying with us while his parents went somewhere and he wanted to watch this new show about firemen who go out and rescue people.  Of course, since he was company, we let him watch what he wanted and that's all it took.  One episode and we were hooked.  

The funny thing to me was that what was considered cutting edge equipment in 1972 looks positively stone age these days. 

Speaking of, I noticed that every time I tried to dry my sheets outside, the slightest wind would tump over the whole clothes horse.  Naturally, I did what any red necked American would do.  I bought some tie downs for it. 

Worked like a charm.  Fresh, line dried sheets are now back on my bed, ready for me to crawl into it.  Which, this being the weekend, I don't have to do that quite yet.  I think I will go fix me some supper and watch more Emergency! on Roku channel. 

Laters...