kerrykatiecakes

com·ment /ˈkäment/ Learn to pronounce noun plural noun:  comments a verbal or written remark expressing an opinion or reaction. "you asked for  comments on  the new proposals" I think I have figured out how to fix the comment section so if anyone is actually commenting, the comments should come through now.  Of course, if no one is commenting....never mind.  lol

The amount of work going on in the garden here has been insane the last couple weeks.  I worked away from home managing a campground for ten years, from the last snow in the spring to the first snow in the fall basically, and in that time my garden went back to sod.  What a job it is trying to reclaim it!  That is my excuse/reason for not posting anything for a couple weeks. The first job I accomplished is represented in these feed bags - completely useless work that should never have been there to do.  Someone (God bless his little heart) thought he was being helpful by taking all the bags I had filled when I cleaned the chicken house the last two times and dumping them in my garden in a pile.  Noooooo!!  Chicken poop is way too "hot" to just go into the garden like that, not to mention all the weed seeds it contains.  So, I spent a whole day digging it all up, scraping it together and then refilling the bags so I can drag it off to a compost pile to age for a couple years.

Once you have a successful and established raspberry bed, it tends to double in size every year so it isn't hard to find someone with raspberries who is willing to share some canes with you.  You really don't want to be buying them if you don't need to.  A quick google search revealed prices between $4 and $24 per plant in my area and even at $4 each, my 50 canes would have cost $200.    What do these two buckets look like to you? You likely see about 50 raspberry canes... I see a ton of work ahead in getting them planted.  My local garden guru, Ken, generously agreed to dig up some canes for me from his abundant patch of raspberries.  So, home they came the other evening gently nestled in these pails of enough water to keep the roots covered.  The buckets were placed in the shade until the next day when I got to work on planting them.  You want to get your canes planted within a day or two - no dilly-dallying! Just a word that there is a best time to dig up your canes

Mmmmm.... Look at all that goodness that is going into the spaghetti sauce!  Lots of veggies and meat get added into this great basic sauce before the tomato and spices go in and it simmers away!  For our family of two hearty eaters, we get one meal from it the day I make it and five or so for the freezer to enjoy later - a bonus as the busy summer season it coming. Here is the recipe for you to try and enjoy! MEATY SPAGHETTI SAUCE 4 T. olive oil 1-1/2 cup sliced mushrooms 1 onion, chopped 1 cup celery, chopped 1 red pepper chopped (or whatever colour you prefer) 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 6 cloves garlic, minced 2 pounds ground beef 1 pound ground pork 2 cups water 2 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes 16 oz tomato sauce 2 - 5-1/2 cans tomato paste 4 tsp salt 3 tsp basil 1-1/2 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper 1/2 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp cayenne  1 bay leaf 1/8 tsp pepper Saute the vegetables in olive oil until onion is translucent and veggies are tender