Tag Archives: Home and Garden

Passion Fruit Juice: Glass Full of Magic

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Close up view of a passion flowerHave you ever had a glass of homemade passion fruit juice? If you haven’t, well it is truly a glass full of magic.

Passion fruit grows on a big vine. When it gets hot the vine grows extremely beautiful flowers. The flowers then turn into an oval shaped green fruit. As long as it stays warm the fruit will continue to turn a deep purple. When they fall off the vine they are ripe and ready to eat. If you’re not ready to process them right way, don’t worry because they will keep for quite awhile on the counter. Even if they’re shriveled up and not looking so good, they’re still fine to eat. After you’ve gathered up enough fruit, it’s time to make juice.

Passion fruit still on the vine

Image via Wikipedia

Here’s the recipe…

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups of juice
  • 5 cups of cold water
  • 1/3 – 1/2  cup of sugar (more or less depending if you like sweet or tart juice)

Directions:

  1. Cut of the tops of the fruit
  2. Scoop the seeds into a fine mesh colander
  3. Separate the juice from the seeds by mashing them over a bowl
  4. Add the sugar, water, and passion fruit juice together
  5. Stir it up and enjoy!
Delicious passion fruit juice

Passion fruit juice: Liquid Gold

When you add those three key ingredients you get delicious tasting passion fruit juice that is like no other. If you try this recipe you are bound to like it.

Have you ever had passion fruit juice? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Spring Planting: What’s Being Planted In Your Garden?

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If you haven’t started already, now is the perfect time to be preparing for your spring garden.

Here’s a list of some of the things we’re planting in our garden…

English: Tomato plants sprouted from seeds. Se...
Image via Wikipedia
  • peas
  • a variety of herbs
  • a variety of lettuce
  • string beans
  • strawberries
  • garlic
  • pinto beans
  • a variety of tomatoes
  • corn
  • a variety of peppers
  • a variety of squash
  • a variety of cucumbers
  • broccoli
  • cabbage

In my opinion the best way to plant seeds is to start them indoors. A great way to do that is to use a Jiffy Greenhouse. You simply get the kit, water the Peat Pellets, plant the seeds, and watch them grow! Then, when spring arrives you’ll have a head start on your garden.

If you don’t want to buy anything, there are many ways to make homemade pots for your seeds. Gardenbetty.com has some great articles showing how to create earth friendly, biodegradable seed pots from things you might otherwise throw away. Make sure to check out her articles on making newspaper pots and eggshell pots. I’ve tried them and they work great. My corn is loving their eggshell starters.

What are you planting in your spring garden? Let us know by leaving a comment…

Made in USA Composter

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A relative recently picked up a ComposTumbler from an estate sale for only $35 and then sold it to us for the same price! What a deal! I think our new ComposTumbler will be a great compliment to our other compost piles and our newly built in-ground vermicomposter.

I’m excited to see if the ComposTumbler can really produce usable compost in as little as 4 to 6 weeks, and what’s even better, it’s Made in the USA!

What kind of composting do you do? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Apples, Apples, And More Apples!

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A heaping stack of freshly picked Granny Smith green apples awaits processing
Granny Smith Apples

We have some relatives that have a Granny Smith apple tree that does nothing but produce fruit by the bushel. Recently, while shooting some family portraits, my relatives were kind enough to send me home with some so I ended up bringing home a bushel if not two!

Can you ever have too many apples?

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Decorate Your Preserves

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Canning jars full of preserves

For everyone that has ever tried canning or preserving their fresh fruits and vegetables from their garden, you know the challenge of a good labeling system.

We’ve tried labeling the lids of the mason jars with permanent marker, and we’ve tried paper canning labels. Writing on the lid with permanent marker works fine, but it’s not all that attractive when you decide to share those beautiful preserves with others. While the paper canning labels might look a little more decorative then permanent marker, they still have a very amateur look and feel that just doesn’t do justice to all the hard work that you’ve put into growing and preserving your delicious food.

How can I give my preserves a more professional look?

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Homemade Outdoor Vermicomposter

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Photo by Sippakorn Yamkasikorn from Pexels

Inspired by an article on building a worm composter that I read on Vegetable Gardener this morning, I decided to build one for myself.

Rather than driving down to the hardware store and spending money on supplies for my vermicomposter, I decided to check around the property to see if I had enough old scrap laying around to get this project done. Honestly, I found about 99% of what I needed and I only came up short a few screws required to secure the hinges to the lid. Luckily for me, I had a few 10 foot redwood 2×6’s that were part of an old deck that I used for the sides vermicomposter, and an old piece of 3/8 inch plywood that I used for the lid. This should amount to one of my cheapest projects ever.

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Photos From The Urban Farm

Gallery

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Assorted mix of fresh vegetables grown in a southern California residential neighborhood.

This gallery contains 11 photos.

Some may call it urban farming, while others may simply dismiss it as gardening. It’s true, but in my case, I call it urban farming because approximately 30% of my little one-third acre of residential property is dedicated to growing … Continue reading →