Answering A Few Questions

Blogger, in it's infinite wisdom, only allows me to send replies to comments from a few people.  I've looked at my profile & can't figure out if I have my settings correctly set for when I leave comments, so I don't really know how this happens or what needs to change.  BUT, I don't want to appear to be ignoring anyone--I've gotten quite a few laughs, lots of encouragement, and some great ideas from the comments, so I do love them.  A few follow ups:

*  Carolyn asked how we got such great looking strawberries.  I have no idea.  I wish I actually knew what I was doing, but we just planted them last year, so this is the first year we've really gotten any.  We have a mixture of June-bearing & ever bearing, though since we let them send runners out everywhere, I can no longer tell you which is which.  When we prepared the bed, we mixed in compost & sand with the dirt because they supposedly like well-drained soil, and since I guess they are really heavy feeders, I gave them some of my fall horse manure endeavors.  With all the rain we've been having, we have had slugs, but we must have gotten Italian slugs as they mostly went for the basil.  The beer thing was only moderately successful, so last week I put down diatomaceous earth (and here's a little tip--don't try to spread that stuff in any kind of wind), and so far the little devils have not invaded the strawberries.  I'm losing a few to birds, but I think the fence people largely scared them off.  The birds must have seen what happened to the blueberry bush....and the compost bin.

*  Chica (who, by the way, has a totally amazing garden that is at least a month ahead of ours) asked if we could just freeze chicken or vegetable stock, and the answer would be--depends what we've recently done involving the freezer. 

We have a mid-size chest freezer out in the garage, and frankly, I don't think our lifestyle would be possible without it.  LOVE it.  And I have, on a few occasions, been able to make & freeze stock to keep for soup night, but the space available in the freezer is always the determining factor.  Right after I finished baking & freezing about 20 bags of squash puree, we couldn't have even fit a single fudgesicle in there.  (I should know--I bought a set of frozen pop molds and have been waiting for enough squash to be used to fit it in the freezer). 

What's interesting is that I just realized our freezer has "seasons" as well.  We're still in pumpkin season, though thankfully zucchini season (which did work well) is almost over, but broccoli season is about to kick in to high gear, and I've been freezing a few strawberries from each harvest until I have enough to make more of that marvelous strawberry-balsamic jam from our own strawberries.  Then in July it will be cherry season....and on it goes.  I also have to reserve some freezer space for the few things I've found that freeze well, since it's our only shot at convenience food.  SO, when my spine and I are reunited and I am ready for another shot at the pressure canner, vegetable stock would be the best choice to be canned instead of frozen. 

*  Abby had asked if I knew why onion sets couldn't be shipped to Idaho.  I actually didn't, but I did find the answer.  There are a LOT of onions grown around here & in the neighboring areas of Oregon, and the restriction is to protect the crops from a bad onion virus going around--the pronounceable being allium root rot.  Seeds can be imported, but not even ornamental allium bulbs can be brought here.  I think it's our version of the California fruit police that take your after-lunch apple at the state border (a very scarring experience).

*  And my personal favorite, Cindi asked if they had been served SPAM when she & her husband were over--having been given the hard-hitting white chocolate martinis.  To that, I answer:

What happens at Chateau Sutton-Goar

STAYS at Chateau Sutton-Goar........

:)