Barbara Simoes

My house was built in 1850, and the foundation has cracks.  Ants, mice and other critters are able to get in while I don't have access to these points. The ants in the kitchen were coming in from somewhere under the porch floor and gaining access through the cracks.  I have to say, I did not find the "crack" about a clean house amusing.

I wonder if you could do sort of a culvert/French drain idea with a perferated pipe--perhaps on either side of the path.  I wouldn't think you'd have to go too deep, but you could run a perferated pipe (wrapped in some sort of landscaping cloth to help the holes and pipe from getting plugged with soil), run it the length you want and then cover it back up with whatever path material you have.

I use Borax and sugar; they come for the sugar, but can't help but also get some Borax.  A day or two and they are gone.  I have not found this successful with the teeny-tiny hard to see kind of ants, but it works with your regular, run-of-the-mill ants and with carpenter ants.

I have changed direction and have decided to drain the pool and have the liner, steps, etc. removed.  It has metal sides (which I'll keep in place, both for stability and as a barrier) and a compacted base, so after the removal process, I'll have the base broken up and then have clean fill brought in.  On top of that, I'll have three feet of topsoil, compost and manure.  This will be my new vegetable garden.  I am having them keep the three foot cement walkway that surrounds the pool area, and the chainlink fence that encloses the space probably eight to ten feet out all around.  This should keep out all of the critters that make the present spot so tricky!

I had planted asparagus behind some Regent serviceberries out front, along the entire length, bordering the sidewalk.  I had no idea that it would top eight feet.  Many people say they like the look, but to my eye, it looks sloppy and unkempt, and it's difficult to deal with.  I have to leave them in place until they turn brown, which is October or November, so most of the year it irritates me!  My new plan is to dig out the asparagus from the front and move it into the north end of the pool.  I had planted 50 crowns which are now six years old, so I'll have my work cut out for me, especially being that the serviceberries have suckered into where the asparagus is growing. (I'll start digging and moving it after I cut back the browned fronds)

Once moved though, I won't have to be horrified every time I look out the window, and it's not like I have to move them all in one day!  It's a 20x40 pool and my plan is to plant a double row, pathway and another double row, planting them 18" on center. I also plan to move my ten bush cherries and ten gooseberries into the "pool" area.  All of this will quickly eat up a lot of space, but it will be worth it.  I then will plant my current vegetable garden with strawberries in conventional rows.  I had had them out front as a ground cover, which worked as it should and they produced much more than I expected, but it was always like playing a game of Twister when I went out to harvest.  I'll be 66 this September, and it just isn't safe to do that.  I will now mainly have just the fruit trees and shrubs out front, and it will be such a relief!  I'm in a chapter of my life where simplification is paramount!

I don't know if you have a dehydrator, but it's my plan to make some apple rings with some of my apples. I probably would leave the skins on and just core them using my little gizmo that slices them into thin rings.  Easy storage. Dip the rings in lemon water to preserve good color. I finally purchased my dehydrator about a year ago and it's amazing what I can make.  I make a gallon and a half of yogurt in it, Yesterday, and for a while now, I've been slicing cherry tomatoes in half and dehydrating them for winter salads: I don't dry them until they are crisp, so to be on the safe side, I freeze them after drying.  They take no room at all. I can fit a giant bread bowl of cherry tomatoes into a quart ziplock and still have room left over.  (My stainless steel bowl is like 24" across...it's big!)

After waiting seven years...which is a very long time given that peach trees aren't known for their longevity, my tree finally produced for the first time last year, and boy, did they ever!  I canned 24 quarts of sliced peaches, another 24 pints of peach salsa (The recipe didn't call for any salt, and it took about 6 months to settle in with the right flavor, but it was worth it. I often used it as my side vegetable dish!) I made quite a few jars of peach mustard, but I need to find a better recipe as this one is too runny. It was wonderful in the crockpot with pork loin, though. Talk about an easy meal! I made peach wine, which also takes a while to age.  It tastes stronger than other varieties I've made, but it is really good. Maybe with time it will mellow more. I also gave away a ton of peaches to friends and neighbors.  I'm looking out at my tree and realizing that I will be very busy again this year processing peaches!  My quince didn't do anything last year, but this year there should be enough to also can, so that will be a nice treat that will augment that flavor profile.

r ransom wrote:I messed up dumplings.

Back to pasta for now.  I'll try dumplings again in the winter weather.

I think you might be overthinking it; Dumplings are basically pasta cooked and kept in broth; they are just a different shape.  I prefer them smaller rather than larger, and sort of have the consistancy of potsticker dough, which I love!  The 1/2 tsp. dough balls would be just about right.  If you make a batch of pasta dough, you're already there!  As a kid, my mom would sometimes serve us Campbell's chicken and dumpling soup and boy, I loved the dumplings.  She never made dumplings from scratch, but I have because of those memories! I don't know if they still make that soup or if they've kept the recipe the same...hmmm.

I have a serviceberry tree that is native to the region; ever since it was planted, it has dropped leaves over the span of months.  The leaves get a washed out color and gradually fall.  I also have a Stella cherry that has had noticeable leaf drop this year, but to be fair, about half the tree was amputated because it was showing signs of brown rot and that half of the crown never leafed out.  That tree might not be long for this world.

I'm wondering if some sort of metal tree guard/baffle like you see to protect bird feeders would help; they are solid metal and encircle the tree for about 3+feet from the base, and some flare out like a cone.  Animals wouldn't be able to gain purchase and just slide down.