Our Life Together

Canning, canning and more canning

2010-09-16T10:09:00.000-05:00

This week we canned the following items:

Banana Pepper Jelly
Basil Banana Pepper Jelly
Jalepeno Pepper Jelly
Hot Jalepeno Pepper Jelly
Pickled Banana Peppers

All in one day, close to 50 jars of good stuff.
Pictures to follow.

Best Tomato Harvest ever!

2010-08-09T10:29:00.000-05:00

150 regular and heirloom tomatoes were harvest on August 8, 2010 in our little garden. Wow. Crazy. Never so many tomatoes. The best tasting are still the whoppers, with the Black Krim coming in a very close second. Jeremy enjoys the chocolate cherry tomatoes and the black zebras. Jill likes the black krim and really, really ripe red tomatoes. Here are a few pics.

Mirror Lake

2010-06-05T08:23:00.004-05:00

This is Mirror Lake. A fairly easy hike on our first full day in Yosemite 2010. Overall, we estimate we hiked between 25-30 miles during our trip. What a beautiful place to hang out for a week. John Muir once called Yosemite God's Cathedral. So true.

Tomato Plants are In!

2010-05-11T10:25:00.002-05:00

Mother's Day 2010, May 9th, we planted our first set of around 50 tomatoes. We have more to plant and will do so this next weekend. We are waiting for them to grow a bit inside. We planted 300 inside and they have been growing under grow lights. Why 50 + and why 300?

Well, we like to give stuff away.

With 70+ plants planted this year, we estimate 1500 or more tomatoes. We can't can or eat that many. Sooooo, giving them away.

And 300 tomato plants will provide possibly 10,000 tomatoes for friends and family.

We will slowly be giving plants away this next few weeks. Show up to church and receive some free tomato plants!!!!!

So It's May 2010

2010-05-03T12:23:00.003-05:00

It is almost time. The tomato plants are growing well under their grow lights. Currently, we have approximately 256 tomatoes growing. We will need to split numerous more as there are three to four per plastic holder. We plan on planting on Mother's Day, May 9th this year. Last year we planted in April and although everything went well, the wind kept us worried for about a week. We had to purchase straw to place around the plants so they would not get wind-whipped.

Wind-Whipped: (definition)- When the wind blows your tomato so much that it lays over and dies. It gives up. The leaves lose their strength and the plant dies. NOT GOOD.

We did a topsy turvy last year and well, the tomato was wind whipped and died. So, protect your tomatoes as best you can and in one week, the fun really begins!!!!!!

Preparing Your Garden- April 19, 2010

2010-04-19T11:27:00.006-05:00

Well, we had over 8 yards of pulverized topsoil delivered from American TopSoil in KC this weekend. We placed a few wheel barrels of dirt on the herb garden. The rest of the dirt was moved by a Dingo, rented from Bledsoe's here in Lee's Summit. If we had just moved it ourselves, it would have taken two days. But with the Dingo, it took 3 hrs. So we placed most of the topsoil in our garden. Our main garden is 70 ft x 6 ft. The amount of topsoil might have been a yard too much, but we did not want to run out. American Topsoil delivered it in a timely manner and we were able to get it all done on Friday. Then we went mushroom hunting. Went looking for Morels at James A Reed Wildlife area and well, found nothing so far. We hear people are starting to find them, but we did not. So next Sunday we will go out again.

As for our seeds, currently was have over 200 tomato plants growing under our grow lights in the basement. We did our last move from the small containers to the bigger ones. We are patiently waiting now. The peppers are doing well. We only need to purchase two more sections of cattle panels and well, we will be ready to plant!

We did put some strawberries in this year. Never planted them before. We will have to see how they do. Rheau (our puppy) decided to attach the onions. She does not eat them, she just picks them from the soil and plays with them.

And, another GREAT DEBATE has started in the Vickers/Rilinger household again.

Can you grow potatoes above ground under straw? Well, we are trying it this year. We will see. So, get your gardens ready friends. We already have tilled once and are eagerly waiting for Mother's Day to start planting some tomatoes! Happy Gardening.

Heirloom Tomato

2010-03-28T21:51:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics from last years bounty. Last year we grew almost everything from seed. The Heirlooms were all amazing. The paste were very meaty and just downright good. The pinks were good too. One of the best was the Dixie Golden Giant. Absolutely amazing. As we plan for this year one new one we are going to try is the Cherokee Purple. It's an Heirloom that grows well in the Midwest.

One note of caution with heirlooms in this area. We had three last year that, well, just did not produce.

Aussie, Blue Ridge Mountain and sadly, the Church did not grow well. The Aussie and Blue Ridge Mtn both produced less than 3.

The church did more like 7, but for our production desires, we were disappointed. The hope and anticipation of our slowly growing seeds means that we are checking the seed boxes every day, sometimes, every few hours. Six weeks from now we will have large plants to begin to give away. Again, this year we are going with the cattle panels, doubled up against each other in 8 ft runs. We should end up with 32 ft (doubled) of tomatoes.

Exciting!

Seeds Planted Today- March 27, 2010

2010-03-27T18:49:00.002-05:00

Jill prepares the soil. Jeremy plants.

Tomato-

Whopper, Early Girl, Fourth of July, Early Challenge, Starter Hybrid, Razzleberry, Sugary, Cupid, Big Beef, Big Mama, Red October, Orange Wellington, Big Pink, Kellogg Breakfast, Chocolate Cherry, Pineapple, Delicious, Yellow Pear, Jet Star, Early Girl, Better Boy

Tomato (Heirloom)

Black Zebra, Dixie Golden Giant, Bulls Heart, Dinner Plate

Pepper-

Mini Bell, Cascabella, Banana, Jalepeno, Jolly Yellow, Ancho, Karma

Herbs-

Thyme, Cilantro, Oregano, Basil, Dill, Chives

Flowers-

Cockscomb, Snapdragon, Jet Set Mixed

We still have seeds on the way.

Even though it has rained most of the day, we are planting our garden.

What we used-

Miracle Grow Seed Starter Mix

Grass Pad Seed Starter Mix

Seed trays- from the Grass Pad

Seeds- Henry Fields, Park Seed, Ferry Morse, Burpee, Tomato Fest

Anticipated day of planting is May 15th.

Today was a great day!

It's Time Again

2010-01-26T11:58:00.003-06:00

Well, it's time again. Time to start ordering seeds. Yes I know it was 15 degrees this morning, but spring and summer are not that far away. We are looking through the numerous seed magazines and trying to discover which seeds we want to plant. How many? Where? What? It helps me (Jeremy) get through the cold days of January and February. We are thinking, more tomatoes, less Okra, more peppers, more onions and more cucumbers- for pickles. And of course, expansion of the herb garden. We also have a new path that will work great to add more veggies. So for those of you that can't see beyond these very cold days, here are some pics to

maybe move your mind a bit

Crown Center, the Plaza and Christmas

2009-12-14T10:23:00.002-06:00

We traveled down to Crown Center this past Friday to spend the night at the Westin. We enjoy hanging out down there because between the lights, the music, the atmosphere, well, it just feels like Christmas. Friday night we had dinner at The Classic Cup on the Plaza. The grilled duck was awesome! Wholeheartedly recommend it. Jill had the Mahi Mahi.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at Eggtc. My Eggs Benedict were perfect. The french toast and omlet were really good!
The Classic Cup for dinner- 4 stars
Eggtc for breakfast- 4 stars

If you have a chance to visit either one, please do so.

Tomato Harvest Thus Far- August 28, 2009

2009-08-28T14:00:00.001-05:00

407 Tomatoes have been harvested!
That is 38 more than all of last year.

In Honor of Top Chef- Homemade Enchilada Soup

2009-08-20T11:28:00.003-05:00

So the Top Chef Masters finale was last night and Top Chef Las Vegas started. What a great evening. Usually, on Top Chef nights we cook something from one of the contestants or inspired as such. Last night we made enchiladas (Jill) and I (Jeremy) made vegetarian enchilada soup. Go Rick Bayless!

Here is Jeremy's recipe for vegetarian enchilada soup-
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can of tomato sauce or 4 small tomatoes blended
1 can of water
1/2 cup of diced green peppers
1/2 cup of diced red peppers
1/2 cup of onions
1 cup corn
1 cup black beans
1 tbls of cumin
1 tbls of red pepper
1 tbls of chili powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of black pepper
1 cup of Cheddar cheese (or whatever you like- the cheese makes a huge difference)
Cook on medium for 1 1/2 hours
Sprinkle crushed tortilla chips on top for some crunch!
Season to taste and ENJOY!
You can add chicken if you want- dice it, cook in skillet and toss it in!

July 31, 2009 Tomato Report

2009-07-31T20:00:00.005-05:00

210 Tomatoes Harvested as of today!!!!

76 Yellow Pear-thanks Tomato Fest for the free seeds

New Vickers Family Salsa Recipe (Jeremy's experimental salsa)

1 Mortgage Lifter Tomato

1/2 Vidalia onion

1/2 red pepper

2 banana peppers

1/2 teaspoon jalapeno pepper

1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of cilantro

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon lime juice

Blend well!

And of course, was have canned:

Sweet Pickles

Pepper Relish

And working on Cinnamon Cucumber Rings

FAVORITE TOMATO SO FAR IS STILL- The Black Zebra

MOST DISAPPOINTING TOMATO- Mortgage Lifter (hence, the use in salsa recipe)

The Black Zebra Heirloom Tomato

2009-07-21T20:29:00.004-05:00

(Black Zebra)

So far this has been the most interesting heirloom tomato in our 2009 garden. Here is what someone wrote about the Black Zebra-

"This stunning, perfectly round 1½" to 2" fruits with tender, deep dark red to caramel colored skin beneath vertical dark green and mahogany streaks . . .Black Zebra has opulent, rich flavor with hints of smoke and sweetness"

It is an absolutely stunning and delicious tomato. We had no idea that a tomato could have so many flavors all wrapped up in one small package.

I (Jeremy) have been anxiously awaiting this one to ripen and after months of waiting, we finally tried it.

This is the best tasting tomato (or maybe a close second to the whopper) I have had this year. I encourage you to find one of these and try it with anything and everything. It is perfect on BLT's!!!!

Our List Thus Far of Top Five Favorites-

1. Black Zebra (heirloom)

2. Whopper

3. Dixie Golden Giant (heirloom)

4. Argentina (heirloom)

5. Bull's Heart (heirloom)

We have 41 tomato plants (6 whopper plants-year, we like whoppers)

And our total harvested tomatoes-

134

And it's not even August.

Total Tomatoes As of July 16, 2009

2009-07-16T15:07:00.002-05:00

17 Yellow Pear Tomatoes
75 Tomatoes
And we just picked the first Black Zebra....it should be very interesting.

Right now, impressive of course, the Whoppers-23 of those so far. The perfect and best tasting tomato out there.

The Mortgage Lifter was interesting and we are excited to taste the Ultimate Golden Giant.

The 1st BLT of the Season

2009-07-11T14:07:00.003-05:00

It's July 11, 2009. 2 pm. Simply perfect.

Smoked Bacon

Iceberg Lettuce

Tomato- Mortgage Lifter

Wheat Bread

Mayo

July 11, 2009 Garden Report

2009-07-11T10:57:00.003-05:00

A total of 35 tomatoes have been harvested.

67 Cucumbers- ready for pickling.

55 potatoes

9 Okra

45 onions

8 peppers

67 yellow beans

The heirlooms are doing really well this year. Absolutely beautiful. We anticipate the last week of July to be the BIG harvest.

Fresh Summer Salad

2009-06-19T13:14:00.002-05:00

Jeremy's version of a great salad that Jill would enjoy (and she did).

Iceberg Lettuce
Spinach leaves
Basil
Red Onion
Feta Cheese
Croutons
Bacon bits
Fresh Strawberries
Pecans

Lightly peppered, lightly drizzled with EVOO and homemade pepper relish.

And as a side note- basil and fresh strawberries (lightly sugared) is amazing.

Heirloom Tomatoes- Still Growing and Keeping the Bunnies OUT!

2009-06-04T09:32:00.006-05:00

June 4, 2009
Our tomato plants continue to grow well. We did plant them a little early this year, so we have almost 10 little green tomatoes already. We also are using the Topsy Turvy to see if it really works. We have two patches of cucumbers, two patches of potatoes (red and white), two patches of beans, lots of okra. And of course 42 tomato plants. Not sure if they will all make it, but hopefully we will enjoy some tomatoes by 4th of July! There are three bunnies that have decided our yard is interesting. They appear in the mornings and evenings. Rheau has done her best to keep them out. One of the little ones is making it's way over to the herb garden. Rheau can't protect that. So it looks like it's time to pant a few extra marigold flowers. We've heard they keep away the bunnies. We will see. We will keep you all posted.

These pics were taken with our brand new Canon Powershot. Our last camera died. This one works great and we found it at Office Max on sale.

Heirlooms- Giveaways- Bunnies

2009-05-18T19:37:00.004-05:00

As of yesterday we have given away 105 tomato plants, mostly heirlooms. The plants grew well on our shelves with the grow lights purchased from Westlake. Almost every tomato plant has done great, except the Aussie and the Blue Ridge Mountain. The Aussie seems to be a late grower and we have two plants doing much better. So we will hopefully see a few Aussie tomatoes this year. As for the Blue Ridge Mountain, we have one plant in the ground and it's not going to make it. We do have one under our grow lights that might be able to replace the one already in the garden. We hope. Right now we have 40 tomatoes growing quite well. 30 different varieties. Last year we harvested 369 tomatoes.

We are trying to reach 500 this year, which we might easily do if the weather cooperates. We have already had to spray for blight once. Now all we have to do is feed, water and keep the plants safe from bunnies. Several of you have told me that bunnies have already destroyed a few of your tomato plants. Sorry to hear that. We are more than happy to share the harvest. So throughout July, August and September there will several tomatoes at the church during the week and on Sundays. Hope to also take some to Restart if they harvest falls correctly.

We have seen one baby bunny running around the yard but that poor thing has no chance against the mighty Rheau (roo).

She stand guard over her backyard like no one else. Bunnies have a very small chance of taking out the garden, as do squirrels or another other rodent. She chases them and when she catches them, it's playtime!

Here are the tomatoes we can't wait to harvest- Whopper (6 plants in), Valencia, Church, Grandfather Ashlock, Yellow Pear, Aussie and the Black Zebra. Very unique sounding eh?

Alright, good gardening to all.

Mother's Day- The Time to Really Plant a Garden

2009-05-11T13:55:00.004-05:00

Well, as many of you know, we already planted most of our garden. We are up to 41 tomato plants. 15 heirlooms and 26 regular. We planted 5 whopper plants because those are our favorite tomatoes for BLT's. Why 41? Well, we could plant more and probably will but that is how many we have planted so far because we grew most of them from seed and were not sure how many would take. So far the Church heirloom is doing very well, as is the Grandfather Ashlock. The Blue Mountain and Aussie are absolutely terrible. They did not grow well in the seed starter and after transplant into the garden did not do well at all. Could be the climate, could be the seeds or maybe it's just a crummy plant. Not sure. We also planted cucumbers, green beans and red/white potatoes. Everything seems to be doing well.
The herb garden has already yielded spinach and onions. We are pleased with it's progress and hopefully will see some of the herbs we planted- cilantro, oregano, thyme and chives start really growing. The pepper plants are growing nicely, but some bugs are starting to eat them. Have to get rid of those pesky bugs soon.
Finally, we are still giving away tomatoes. We have given away of 30 of them so far and will continue to do so. Get those plants in the ground soon so you have ripe tomatoes in June!

The Harvest Begins- 2009

2009-04-27T10:55:00.005-05:00

Last night we had our first meal from our 2009 Garden. Alright, the whole meal was not from the garden, but we did have spinach salad. Here was the bountiful delight that we experienced.
1. Spinach with carrots, celery and relish. The relish was a gift from Beth Mumper (member of the church I serve).
2. Toad in a hole.- if you don't know what this is then well, sorry you are really missing out.
3. Fried Morel Mushrooms!!!! (Jill picked them yesterday)

So Morel Mushroom season has started, as has the garden harvest. I guess Spring really is here. We did finally put the peppers and herbs in the "herb garden". Hopefully this rain will do everything some good. Might have to go out to Longview Lake in between rains to see if any more Morels pop up.

Happy hunting!!!

Garden Continues for 2009- April 24, 2009

2009-04-24T22:36:00.005-05:00

28 Tomatoes went in this weekend. We grew them from seed. They were ready to be planted before we wanted them in the ground but, we had to put them in because they outgrew their little planters. We will probably plant another 14 tomatoes. Potatoes are looking great, as are onions and spinach. Here are a few pics of today. What a beautiful day, despite the wind.

Potato Plants, A Puppy, Spinach, Onions and Flowers

2009-04-23T15:33:00.005-05:00

April 23, 2009

It's Almost Time

2009-03-19T14:45:00.004-05:00

We uploaded a few pictures for everyone to see our seed progress. Also, Heartland Nursery looks like they are full of plants and flowers again. We will be visiting them soon.

Here are the pics.

Preparing the Garden and Herb Garden

2009-03-17T18:22:00.008-05:00

Monday March 16, 2009
Well, it is that time of year. We purchased 1 yard of compost/top soil from Randy's Lakeview Nursery on Friday and went back for another yard on Monday and we were told that they were unable to sell it because it was too wet. So we traveled out to American Topsoil and picked up a yard and a 1/2 (their bucket was a little more full than Randy's) for $10 more. Jill went to tilling on Monday afternoon, and sadly, cut the cable line ;0(

Sometimes it good to have no cable and no access to the internet.

Anyway, we planted potatoes and onions.

The new herb garden we added is coming along nicely. We still need to put up edging to keep the soil from washing away, but we will do that on Friday. Here are a few pics that might show the scope of our amazing garden.

560 sq ft main garden --------105 sq ft herb garden

Gardening Tips from Jeremy and Jill

2009-03-16T18:25:00.004-05:00

So a few of you have asked about planting your own garden. If this is a recession necessity or maybe a new hobby, let me say that it's not that difficult to have a wonderful garden. The soil around here is great for tomatoes, okra, peppers and cucumbers. Here are a few things we have learned over the years.
1. Plant potatoes and onions around St. Patricks Day.
2. Plant tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, etc. around Mother's Day.
3. Place a few tablespoons of fertilizer below the plant as you plant it.
4. Water your garden
5. Weed your garden
6. Search the web for tips on how to fight pesky bugs.
7. Leave the rabbits alone, then need to eat too.
8. If you want to get rid of rabbits, get a puppy, they chase everything.
9. Till up the area you are going to plant in, don't just dig a hole.
10. Great places to shop- Heartland Nursery is awesome!!!
11. Never buy cucumber plants, use seeds.
12. Plant whopper tomatoes, they are amazing.
13. Plant a few herbs, basil grows well here.
14. Plant at least one heirloom tomato just to see how difficult it is to garden.
15. Don't garden alone, get the family involved.

Last tip- Make some great dinners with the bounty of your garden.

There is much more to share, but that is a good start for the first time gardener.

Seeds That Have Been Planted So Far

2009-03-09T10:43:00.003-05:00

Alright, here is the list of seeds that we planted. Mostly tomato seeds and they are all heirlooms. We have others ordered from Park Seeds and Henry Fields, but are still waiting.

Heirlooms from TomatoFest that received a place to grow.
Argentina
Aussie
Black Zebra
Blue Ridge Mountain
Bull's Heart
Church
Cuostralee
Church (personal favorite)
Grandfather Ashlock
Carol Chyko's Big Paste
Dixie Golden Giant
Giant 11
Giant Belgium
Giant Oxheart
Green Giant
Ultimate Giant

Don't all of those sound just amazingly strange and beautiful? Well, the seeds are planted and now we are closely watching for that first sprig of green to pop through the soil.
Hope you have a wonderful day and of course we planted way too many of these so there might be a few plants to give away.

Seeds and the Garden

2009-03-07T08:16:00.005-06:00

We planted seeds on Friday. We are starting Tomatoes from seed. It should be a very interesting year in our garden. Right now we have 24 different varieties of heirlooms planted. Many of those plants will be given away because we are also planting regular tomato plants. Here we are planting the seeds and prepping the garden to be planted in early May.

Seeds Have Been Ordered

2009-03-03T22:35:00.003-06:00

The tomato seeds have been ordered, as have numerous other plants. It's a time of anticipation. Waiting. Patience. And yes, one order is on it's way. We received the confirmation today. Friday, this Friday, a great Friday, not Good Friday, but a great Friday, we will have seeds to plant. This year we ordered from several different places. We ordered from TomatoFest, Park Seeds and Henry Fields. Lots of heirlooms and many other tomatoes. Hopefully soon we will begin to plant, grow and maybe, just maybe give a few plants away.

Has Spring Sprung?

2009-03-02T16:48:00.000-06:00

Any guesses as to what is growing up through the snow????

Chopping Wood

2009-02-09T11:08:00.006-06:00

Here we are chopping wood at the Rilinger farm. What a blast it was!

To Dig or Not Dig

2009-02-09T10:54:00.003-06:00

So our lovely, amazing, beautiful and brilliant puppy dog Rheau continues to dig. Now, when we picked her up a last April we knew she was a dog who liked to dig. We walked to the back yard to pick her up and she was digging. We never knew how much she liked to dig. Saturday when it was 70 degrees out (in February), I walked into the backyard and noticed that Rheau, had been digging up against the house behind the bushes. There are probably six holes there. That is now in addition to the eight holes in our back yard, plus the hole she dug that is deep enough and wide enough for her paws and head to get down in. So, yes, our dog is amazing, but geez Rheau, quit digging up the backyard!!!!!

Wedding Pics

2009-01-22T15:32:00.003-06:00

Garden Update- Oct 11, 2008

2008-10-11T13:42:00.008-05:00

Jeremy standing next to an Okra plant that is over 6 ft tall.

Wow, so we really feel amazingly blessed to have such a good year for our garden. The weather has been perfect. So here is where we are today.

Giant Belgium--29
Black Brandywhine--23
Old German--18
Pink Oxheart--47
Brandwhine-7
Jetstar--28
Valencia--36
Celebrity--19
1st Lady--55
Whopper--51
Jet Setter--22
Better Boy--34
Total Tom--369
Sweet Baby Girl Cherry Tom- 388
Yellow Pear Tom- 643
Okra- 176
Total Tomatoes given away 100+
Tomatoes lost to silly puppies, squirrels, rabbits and other critters- 75+
BLT's--50+ and no, bacon does not cause depression, it's causes great joy!

Looking forward to next year- Valencias, Whoppers, Giant Belgiums and Yellow Pear...not sure what else we will plant but it will probably be a few more heirlooms.

Favorite quick and easy recipe- Fried Okra (flour/cornmeal/milk) dipped in Chipotle Mayo. Wow, that was good.

And yes, we are still harvesting as long as the plants keep producing.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T09:14:00.003-05:00

Labor Day on the farm was a wonderful few days of hard work, good food and being the in the quiet and peace of creation. The RV was a rental, was in pretty good shape and served us quite well. The airconditioner was a must in the 110 degree weather. The cabin is coming along. It's held up pretty well. As a rest from our labor, it was a perfect weekend. Church was great as was all the homecooked meals. We gave away all of our tomatoes and we came home to a new harvest of approximately 20+ more.

August 22nd Harvest Report

2008-08-22T19:31:00.002-05:00

Giant Belgium-23, Black Brandywhine-18, Old German-11, Pink Oxheart-29, Red Brandywhine-7
Jestar-10, Valencia-15, Celebrity-19, 1st Lady-38, Whopper-32, Jet Setter-13, Better Boy-8
Total Tomatoes- 233
Sweet Baby Girl-256
Yellow Pear-235

Tomatoes given away--approximately 50+
BLT's- 22

We really liked the Whoppers and Giant Belgiums early season, now the Valencia and Old German are tasting the best. It's interesting what just a few short months of growing and interesting Missouri weather can do to a tomato.
The most interesting thing this past few weeks has been the absolutely crazy Okra crop we have seen. We may be fighting squash beatles and have ony 3 zuccinni to our name, but those Okra are growing like crazy. We have harvested 66 Okra 9 plants, and there are probably another 20 ready to be picked! Wow. It's been a wonderful year to garden.

August 10 Harvest Report

2008-08-10T19:46:00.002-05:00

Giant Belgiums- 22, Black Brandwhine-16, Old German-8, Pink Oxheart-23, Red Brandywhine-7, Jetstar-9, Valencia-13, Celebrity-19, 1st Lady-24, Whopper-26, Jet Setter-13, Better Boy-12
For a wonderful total of 192 Tomatoes!!!
240 Sweet Baby Girl
166 Yellow Pear

Other veggies of note-
47 Okra
18 Squash

We wonder if Toby Tobin or Paul Harvey would be impressed with our small but bountiful effort? We feel very blessed and still continue to enjoy our garden. What a blessing.

Trip to Weston

2008-08-10T13:39:00.006-05:00

Wow, what a great place to go. We spent a few days in Weston and really enjoyed the food at Pastimes and America Bowman. Our best meal was a lunch at AB- We had Corn Chowder (corn, sausage, potato, pepper, celery, onion all in a wonderful white soup mix), Jill had a turkey sandwich, and Jeremy had a cooked sirloin with potato. Probably the best and most authentic Irish meal in a while. We stayed a Laurel Brooke farm. A great place to stay. We also road our bikes on the 3 mile trail at the State Park. We also caught a glimpse of the Iatan power facility (whoa!). Lots of fun.

Pickles Anyone?

2008-08-02T09:36:00.004-05:00

It started this week at the Vickers household...canning. Yes, by August we are already canning. With two huge bumper crops of cucs, we just had to try it. So we are canning dill and sweet pickles. Dill pickles are rather easy, it's the sweet pickles that will take several weeks. With over 80 large and small cucs picked already, it might be a busy fall ;0)

Homemade Pizza with Homemade Sauce

2008-07-29T22:30:00.002-05:00

So, we felt like pizza this evening. After looking at a few different recipes, we decided to have some fun and experiment. Here is the recipe we came up with-

Pizza Dough-

1 Cup warm water

1 Package of dry yeast

2-3 cups flour

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

Soften the yeast with the water. Add the flour, salt and oil. Add in enough flour to make soft dough. Knead. Let rise 30 mins until doubled. Grease pizza tray. Roll out dough and prebake for 10 mins at 400.

Pizza Sauce-

2 tomatoes from the garden

1/2 green pepper from the garden

1 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar

1/2 cup tomato juice

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon of garlic

1/4 cup Olive oil

1/2 Cup fresh chopped Basil from the garden

2 teaspoons fresh chopped Oregano from the garden

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

Blend tomato, green pepper, Basil, Oregano. Saute garlic in olive oil. Then add Italian seasoning. Add blend, brown sugar, tomato juice, salt and vinegar. Cook on medium until reduced to sauce.

Pull crust out of oven, place sauce and other toppings on and cook for another 20 mins, turning once on 375-400 degrees.

July 25th Harvest Report

2008-07-25T13:30:00.005-05:00

Crop Report- 1:31 pm, July 25, 2008

Wheat- $8.18-----Corn-$5.98-----Soybeans- $13.88-------Tomato prices are drastically down today due to one of the largest backyard harvest reports in history!!!!

Giant Belgium- 2, Black Brandywhine- 1, Pink Oxheart- 2, Jetstar-3, Celebrity-5, 1st Lady-4, Whopper-4, Jetsetter-4, Better Boy-3

Total Tom Harvest as of Today- 74!

Sweet Baby Girl Cherry- 25, Yellow Pear-9, Cucumbers-34, Red Onion- 5, Jalepeno-3, Ancho-1, Squash-3, Zuccinni-3, Okra-4

Oh yeah, thanks for the help Rheau!

#1 of Many Great Debates- Culinary Synergy and Add-Ins

2008-07-24T11:22:00.002-05:00

Since our 4th date, Jill and I have greatly and lovingly debated, discussed and surmised the different tastes, methods and appropriateness of certain additions to our favorite dishes. We will call them "add-ins", as for most people, they are a peculiar and sometimes off-putting additions to an otherwise perfect meal. As we all have different and unique tastes, there are some add-ins which are absolutely and firmly inappropriate! So, this one has been under topic for a while....so we ask our family and friends to weigh in on this one.

#1- When serving hamburger gravy, mashed potatoes and corn in what is the perfect farm meal, is it appropriate to place tomatoes on top of the hamburger gravy?

Jill says yes.
Jeremy says...ummm, gross and yuck! The integrity of the dish is compromised...why Lord, why?

*If you don't know what hamburger gravy, mashed taters and corn have to do with each other and never heard of hamburger gravy...we are dearly sorry that you have missed out. You can rarely order it in a restaurant, so google it and enjoy making it yourself.

July 23rd Harvest Report

2008-07-23T16:11:00.003-05:00

As of July 23rd 2007 - 6 Tomato Plants- 8 toms harvested
As of July 23rd 2008- 12 Tomato Plants- 46 toms harvested

Best Tasting thus far- Whopper
Most disappointing- Brandywhine- When oh When will they be ready... (a rabbit got one)
Most surprising- Old German Heirloom

# of Plants replanted due to puppy damage- 3

# of BLT's this year to date- 9 (YUM) some peaches and cream corn (no butter, no salt) makes it the best summer meal ever.

Advice from our second year of gardening thus far-- Planting Cucumber plants does not work in our area of Missouri. For the second year in a row we had to plant seeds late after losing plants. Oh well, live and learn.

Just for Fun- So, after church one day we were waiting for a roast to finish. We walked outside, pulled some okra and onions. We washed them off, dunked them in milk, then rolled them in corn meal, flour, salt, pepper, seasoning salt and cooked them in some oil. Add a mayonnaise with chipotle seasoning side dish, and well, it was a great appetizer.

Newest Creation- Jill and Jeremy's Banana Pepper Relish
Cucumbers, Banana Peppers, Jalepeno, Cilantro, Dried Red Peppers and a special sweet sauce mix and BAM, wow, delicious relish for hot dogs, brisket or roast.

Our 2nd Garden

2008-07-18T20:02:00.002-05:00

As we enter our 4th month of marriage, we thought we would do some updating of our wedding/now life together site. Since one of our greatest passions is gardening, here is what we are working on this year.
14 Tomato Plants
Heirloom- Giant Belgium, Black Brandwhine, Old German, Pink Oxheart, Brandywhine
Regular- Jet Star, Valencia, Celebrity, 1st Lady, Whopper, Jet Setter, Better Boy
Small- Sweet Baby Girl, Yellow Pear
8 Peppers
Fat & Sassy, Red Beauty, Blushing Beauty, Golden Bell, Big Bomb, Super Banana Supreme, Jalepeno, Ancho
Herbs
Cilantro, Italian Oregano, Blue Hyssop, Sweet Thai Basil, Spicy Globe Basil, Chives, Sweet Basil,
Other Stuff
Okra, Zuccinni, Squash, Yellow Onion, Red Onion, Gourds, Mini-Pumpkins

Our first post

2008-04-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our wedding site. You can find out about how we met, where we have been and where we are going with our life TOGETHER.

Our Wedding is set for April 12, 2008 at 1 pm at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lee's Summit.

Thanks for all your prayers!

The Proposal

2008-04-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

So, November 1st I (Jeremy) had planned a nice dinner on the plaza at the Classic Cup. We had been the Classic Cup on our first date to the plaza. I had hoped to eat at 6:30 pm, be out to one of the bridges over brush creek by 7:30 pm so I could ask Jill to marry me. Well, it didn't work out that way. We arrived at the Classic Cup and waited over 50 mins for our meal because they gave our food to the people next to us, then promised us it would be about in "just a few minutes". We left Classic Cup around 8 pm. The whole time I wanted to say to one of the waiters, "Hey, you are messing up my time schedule for asking Jill to marry me". So I waited, waited and waited. Finally left and headed out, and Jill wanted to go shopping. So we shopped and looked, and looked and shopped, all the while me checking my pocket every 5 mins to make sure the ring was still there.

So after much waiting, shopping and walking, we slowly walked out over brush creek on the main bridge. I had called her parents (Larry and Nancy Rilinger) for their daughters' hand in marriage the day before. I got down on one knee and asked Jill to marry me. She was speechless. She put both her hands on her face and said "Oh my goodness". She was very suprised. I then said, is that a yes? Yes, yes, yes, she said. And so on November 1, 2007 Jill said yes.

The First Shower

2008-02-15T22:58:00.004-06:00

So, we traveled to the amazing metropolis of Wamego for our first shower. We shared our first shower with an amazing couple (Andy and Kim- whose wedding is the weekend before ours), and it was their first shower too. After a wonderful dinner of soup and sandwiches, we sat down to open a few gifts from our loving family. Here are few of the pics Jill's nieces took...they profusely apologize for the out of focus, fuzzy pics, as they were interfered with by a 3 yr old grabbing at the camera. (sadly Jill's goddaughter, and ONCE favorite niece was unable to fufill her purpose of official shower picture taker, although she did get one in focus nice picture of her shoes which is not posted).

How We Met

2008-01-25T21:24:00.000-06:00

So, here is the story. Jill's sister Jamie lives across the street from Kelli. Kelli knew Jeremy through church. Kelli thought Jill would be perfect for Jeremy. Kelli knew Jeremy as someone who had a sense of adventure, and she also knew that Jill had recently returned from a 3 month trip to Alaska. They would be perfect for each other! So after a few phone calls Jeremy and Jill had lunch at Jason's Deli on February 7th 2006 and well, we just knew! Jeremy was told to look for a short girl with dark curly hair, green glasses and a "deer in the headlights look". She was easy to spot!

Our Favorite Places

2008-01-25T21:23:00.001-06:00

We love animals!!!

2008-01-25T20:30:00.000-06:00

Well, over the past few years we have been priveledged to enjoy some time with a few pets...some here as friends, and a few rescued puppies! Here are the pics of the dogs! Feel free to smile.

Our First Garden

2008-01-25T10:18:00.000-06:00