Barbara Simoes

A friend was so intrigued by my hazels that she wanted a few nuts to try and start her own. She had a tree and talked me into getting a hazelnut for myself! My trees had a good crop so I didn't think there would be any problem, but when I went out to check on the mulberries nearby, I realized that all of the nuts were gone! Shells littered the ground...grrr! After much searching, I was able to locate maybe four nuts, which were still kind of white, like in Nancy's picture, but I had no choice, so I picked them for my friend to plant.  Interestingly, as they sat on my kitchen counter for a few weeks, they progressively darkened...I don't know what was going on inside the nut, but it would make an interesting experiment.  

Perennial: I grow asparagus (I have 50+ crowns). I eat it almost every day for months starting in May and I also pickle it.  I can also make asparagus soup or have it with eggs or on buttered toast.  Love it. I have a friend who froze some that I gave her, and then used it in a quiche. She brought me a piece and I wasn't able to tell that it wasn't fresh, so that was a good thing to realize.  She said that she didn't even blanch it.  I will definitely try that.

I grow basil like a crop. I think I have about 15-20 plants which allowed me to have all that I could possibly use, and be able to give bags full to many, many people.  I make batches of pesto and freeze it in cup amounts which is perfect for a box of pasta or stirred into a pot of rice. You can add tomatoes, chicken, whatever. I pick enough of the leaves to make two to six batches at once and use one and freeze five or however many are left.  Because I'm out of freezer space, I have a pile of leaves in the dehydrator and can use them throughout the winter without taking up much space at all. While it's not a perennial, it is a work horse that doesn't take up much space at all. I started the seeds indoors and then planted them out when it was warm enough.  I've made pesto with parsley, as well.  There are all sorts of pesto recipes, and having it made and in the freezer makes meals pretty instant!
🌿 WINTER BASIL (FOR PESTO)
o 3/4 cup dried/dehydrated Basil
o 1/2 cup Walnuts (Toast first!)
o 1/2 tsp Garlic Granules or 3-4 cloves
o 1/2 cup EVOO + 1/2 cup Water
o 1/2 tsp Salt + Pepper
o Optional: 1 tsp Lemon Juice (at the end for brightness)

I don't know if you can at all, but I have a peach tree that provided me with so much fruit.  (My friends are all very happy!) Along with canning straight 40 quarts of peaches, I also make a lot of Peach Salsa.  I use it as a side dish usually, but, again, with rice, it could be a substantial part of a meal.  Salsa can be made with many different fruits and vegetables...tomato being the most common. A meal can be as simple as salsa mixed with cottage cheese or with eggs...all sorts of possibilities.

I also grow wine cap mushrooms, which is a very Permie thing to do! They have two large flushes a year: spring and fall. I end up sauteing them, letting them cool and then popping them in the freezer.  I saute them first because they release a lot of water and it brings the sheer quantity down to a reasonable amount of space.  I also freeze-dry them, but not everyone has a freeze-dryer.  Mushrooms are a no fuss thing to grow.  In the fall I "feed" them leaves that have fallen on the lawn.  They digest them, so it's a pretty neat cycle.  Mushrooms on toast, mixed in with pasta, cream of mushroom soup, stuffed...so many options again.

I hope some of these ideas help.

Congrats on your new book! I wish it and you loads of success.

Yes, I made 11 pints of peach salsa yesterday, and the recipe calls for only a 1/2 cup of vinegar.  To that, I also added a glug of lemon juice which wasn't in the recipe but it seemed like a good thing (and it was delicious!). All the other salsa recipes called for salt, but the peach one didn't have that as one of the ingredients. I think it must've been an oversight and added in a few teaspoons which made all the difference in taste. Last year, I didn't notice the omission until tasting my first jar! I plan to harvest another peck tomorrow and make another few batches. The Ball book specifically mentions not using white peaches because they're not acidic enough, so I figured adding some extra acidity to my Red Haven peaches (which are fine to can) in the form of lemon juice was just good insurance.  I eat the salsa like a side dish throughout the winter; sometimes a pint will be my lunch.  We've been fortunate with some cooler temperatures. It makes the process of working around steaming pots for hours possible!

I have throws and quilts on every chair, couch or loveseat!  As a matter of course, I use them every time I sit down, and just by covering my legs and feet and trapping that body heat, I can easily keep the thermostat down.  When I was having my sunroom built, I knew that I wanted a sauna.  There is nothing better than to sit inside it while watching the snow fall outside.  It really heats me to my core and there are a lot of health benefits. It sips electricity, so that doesn't even really count. Yes, it was about $1,000 at the time, but it was a one-time expense that I've used for about ten years now, and hopefully, for many more!  I pretty much live in that room.  My sewing machines, laptop and plants are there, and it has lots of skylights and windows, so I often will heat it using the mini-split, and leave the rest of the house a little cooler.  

I do have an appointment to have the furnace cleaned, which helps tremendously with efficiency.  I pretty much use it when it's below zero and the geothermal needs a boost, but it's been a number of years now.  In October, I have a fella coming to fix cracks in the foundation, and that's got to help with cold getting in, too!  I cook lots of soups and stews, and the moisture helps to also warm the air.

As I gather lavender, I bundle it and use a rubber band around the base.  I then hand it around the house to dry.  Sachets are great, but I also plan to fill some sleep masks with it.  It is my intention to give these to friends.

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!