Heirloom Tomato Panzanella Salad

I'm taking a break from all the nature photography to offer up a recipe I made from my last good haul of tomatoes from my garden (a few weeks ago).  It's called Panzanella salad -- it is easy to make and you can add or subtract from this recipe as you please:

Gather heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden, red onion, garlic, green olives, and fresh mozzarella -- chop, chop, chop.  Blend olive oil and balsamic vinegar, add salt and pepper.  Mix it all up.  Use day old crusty bread and chunk it up.  Mix the bread in a few minutes before serving.  It soaks up all the juices and softens up.  This salad doesn't really keep more than a day because the bread gets too soft -- but don't worry -- it disappears quickly.  Healthy and delicious!!!

See, I told you it is easy!  You could also use cucumber or bell pepper and feta cheese instead of mozzarella.  It is really up to you.  Look around the internet for other recipes to see the variations or if you are the kind of person who wants to know specific measurements.

Vacation Photos - Part 2. Some of my favorites

The day we spent exploring the Grand Tetons, smoke was thick in the air.  The smoke came from control fires that had been lit nearby.  I'm really happy with the resulting photographs though.  We kept running into photographers with their tri-pods and huge lenses that were complaining about the smoke, but you gotta roll with it -- use it to your advantage, ya know?  The mountains were breathtaking!  These photos hardly do them justice... 

Vacation Photos, Part 1

As promised, I have some photos to share from our vacation "Out West".  I'll be posting them over the next several days.  I hope you enjoy them.  This first batch is heading from East to West through Nebraska and Wyoming.

I am still alive folks -- I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything on here.  I am on vacation (with plenty of photos coming soon).  It has been a very busy month for me with starting a new job and then taking a long vacation.  Please don't give up on me....  I really will post something on here soon.

They keep growing, and growing, and growing...

The raised bed garden is still in full swing, although I can tell the end of the season is very near.  The sunflowers finally decided to show their beautiful colors.  I tried growing a giant variety and they seriously are huge!  I'm talking 12 feet tall!  I've also got broom corn that towers 9 feet tall as well.  The green beans have grown up an 8 foot teepee and are finally producing a large quantity of beans.

This was the first time I've ever tried growing okra before and I will continue to grow it in the future.  It is a unique and decorative plant that is absolutely carefree.  I planted the seeds and then next thing I knew I was frying up okra.  They show no signs of disease, mildew, pests, etc.  The unique foliage helped choke out weeds too.  If you've never tried growing them before - I would highly recommend it.

This is also my first time growing sweet potatoes in my garden.  I want to dig them up to see how big they are, but it isn't time yet.  Both the okra and the sweet potato would make an excellent addition to any edible landscaping project.  They are pretty and carefree.

The stray kitty keeps growing too.  He is a very handsome cat and he has a lot of energy!  He is always running around the yard, climbing up trees, jumping on top of the chicken coop, or attacking my leg.  Yes, he likes to play - but sometimes he gets carried away and starts getting too aggressive with me.  I'm hoping he calms down with age.

And finally, here is a photo of the chickens in their chicken tractor.  I think they are just about done growing and they are bound to start laying eggs soon.  They are turning into gorgeous birds, don't you think?

Ripe

Here is a look at what I have been pulling out of my garden lately and a bit of good news I'd like to share.  Things are finally starting to ripen.

I have a plethora of tomato varieties this year with different colors and flavors.  Green zebra, pink brandywine, white currant, etc.  They are like the jewels of the garden.
This year I haven't had success with my zucchini at all but the yellow summer squash and patty pan squash are doing great!  I've also had a few "volunteer" squash plants growing out of the compost pile.  The plants on the compost pile are going insane!  Leaves that are bigger than dinner plates on waist high stems!

This year I tried a few items I've never grown before.  Sweet corn is one of them.  I need to get the corn in the ground earlier next year, but I've been able to pick a couple of ears so far.  I also tried planting broom corn and have had incredible luck with that.  My intentions are to use it for fall decorations then feed it to the chickens (they already got one stalk that broke in a rainstorm.  They loved it!).
I had some amazing results with the okra I planted and Charlie and I ate fried okra this week.  Yum!  Soon I will post some photos of the unusual plants I grew this year and discuss some of the failures I've had as well.

I know I have been neglecting this blog lately and I apologize for the lack of updates.  I have had something else the has had my attention this month that is very exciting to me -- another thing coming to ripeness...
If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you have probably noticed that I don't talk about my job very much.  I really believe that talking about work in a public manor is not usually very beneficial.  On this occasion, I am going to break my own policy because I am very excited and want to share my joy with you.

For those that didn't know, I have worked in the Customer Service Department for a large utility provider in Michigan for the last 6 years.  I am very blessed to have had steady employment during this time since Michigan is really having a rough time with it's economy right now.  In fact, we have had a lot of overtime for the last 3+ years and the paychecks have been really nice.  The job I have can be very stressful though and I was really starting to feel discontented in that position -- I needed more of a challenge.
So, for the past few years I have been waiting for the right position to open up elsewhere in the company so I could apply for it.  Finally, the department that I wanted to get into had an opening and I applied for it.  I managed to get an interview that was scheduled last Monday.  That is why I only have one blog post in August before this one -- I've been prepping for the interview in my spare time and brushing up on some of the computer programs they use in that department.  The interview was intense!  Five people sat in on the interview - which lasted an hour and 20 minutes.
Anyway, to make a long story short, on Thursday I was notified that I got the position!!!  I will be in a scheduling department which will involve a lot of technical skills (like reading prints) mixed with customer service skills (interacting with a variety of departments).  I'm sure there will still be overtime involved in this position, however the shift is earlier than the one I have now so I will be getting out of work earlier.  I will be working in the same building as before so I will still have contact with all of my dear friends I have made over the years.  Oh, and the people in the scheduling department are nice as can be and I already love my new boss.  I really am lucky and I'm happy that all of the hard work I have put into this company has finally ripened into something I could call a career!
So, I have a couple more weeks before I make the transition.  Then Charlie and I are going on vacation at the end of September (I hated even bringing up the vacation we had scheduled when I was hired - but it didn't end up being a problem at all).  Charlie and I are going to go on a road trip but we are still determining which way we want to go.  We were thinking of heading westward to see what we could see -- toward the Badlands or the wild west.  I'd be happy heading east though too -- to Vermont and Maine and to see the ocean again.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a good road trip starting in Michigan and lasting about a week?

Pullets, Portable Coop, and One Scary Predator

The pullets are growing quickly and developing some beautiful feathers.  They are 3 months old now and so far they are staying healthy (knock on wood).  Their portable coop has been a secure home for them so far.  We have raccoons and possum in the area and so far they haven't been able to get in.
There is one predator that constantly hangs around the coop -- shown in the photo above.  He is the little stray kitty that I have been harboring.  At first the chickens pecked at him when he would stick his paw inside the coop.  Now he just likes to sit on top of the coop instead.
To be quite honest, I think the kitten is just looking for a play-mate.  He has been orphaned and his siblings disappeared shortly after his mama vanished (you can see a photo of his mama here).  He sits on the same back step that his mama sat on to beg for food.  Because his siblings are gone, he pounces on tufts of grass and bats at flowers instead.  I've given him a few toys and I play with him when I can, but he is still lonely.
This evening, when I was feeding the chickens, the kitten was on top of the coop again.  I pet him for a while (something he just discovered last week -- being petted by that big scary human feels nice) and he even started purring for me.  I noticed one of his toes on his hind foot looked wet, as if it had been bleeding or something.  I vowed to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't get worse, then husked the corn for dinner and left him alone outside.  While cooking the corn, I discovered the cause of the wet toe.  The baby had fallen asleep on the back step and was "kneeding" the air and sucking on his toe.  It was the most adorable thing I have seen in a very long time (since Sassy used to suck her tail when she was very little)!  I'm glad his toe is okay, but I feel bad for the little guy because he obviously misses his mama.  I crumbled and gave him a little bit of milk to comfort him.  Yeah, I'm a push-over.
Anyway, we need to figure out what to do with the chickens this winter.  The coop is too small for them to be closed in and it gets wet inside too easily.  We would like to get a shed, but they seem pricey.  We are, of course, concerned about security for the chickens so it needs to be a sturdy home too.  If anyone has a brilliant solution, feel free to share your ideas.