Spinach quiche

I had this bed of spinach that was getting ready to bolt so I decided to use some of it to make spinach quiche.





I like making quiche because it uses four eggs, and that is one good way to utilize some of the eggs from our chickens.





Also, I made my own crust, which uses the recipe (without shortening) from one of my previous posts.






And here is the finished product. A good bit of work, but not bad.

Update on the black widow

Recently, she got really fat so I suspected that she was getting ready to lay an egg sack. To get a better picture, I got really brave and stuck the camera lens into the top of the jar. Warning: don't try this at home!


Then today, when I checked on her, she (in fact) did lay an egg sack, just as I thought would happen. Now I need to either destroy the spider or get rid of the egg sack. I will probably just get rid of the egg sack. However, I have to be very careful, and make sure to wear leather gloves because black widows can be very aggressive when guarding their egg sacks. I will probably just poke something down in the jar (like pliers) and pluck out the egg sack.

Black widows

I found this one in my compost pile, not exactly in it but in one of the cinder blocks we use as a border around the compost pile. At first, I noticed the web. Then I started looking around and found the spider. We have so many black widows around here that I can now recognize their distinctive webs. Believe it or not, I actually found one in my garden bed one time. The bed was heavily mulched, and there was a small crevice in the mulch so the spider apparently took up residence. Why do I have it in a jar? Well, I have a strange fascination for the black widow, perhaps because their bites are venomous; and they have interesting markings. Therefore, sometimes I will catch one and keep it alive for awhile. However, I am extremely careful by wearing gloves if I catch a black widow. Thankfully, I have never been bitten yet.

Spider bites: First aid - MayoClinic

This will serve two purposes

This is something we put together with scrap material. Hopefully, it will serve two purposes: for one, we loosened the soil (and added some extra) so the chickens can have a designated dust bath. Unfortunately, they have been digging holes close to the house and dusting there. Also, I noticed that a hawk has been watching the chickens so this will give them a place to hide in the back yard if the hawk comes back around.

Bread experiment

I am working on a bread recipe using a combination of half all-purpose flour/half whole wheat flour. So this is my latest attempt, which turned out the best so far. Each time, I have been making adjustments to the recipe. With this attempt, I used 3 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and a pinch of ginger. Also, I have read soy lecithin can be added to soften up the texture of bread. If I can find it in the store, I may try that next. The flavor is excellent, but it still has a somewhat dense texture. My goal is to come up with a bread recipe to use for sandwiches, something lighter in texture. Perhaps I am just so accustomed to eating store bought bread so this may take some getting used to. And of course, without all the preservatives, the bread gets stale after only a couple of days.

Three small garden beds

Here is the latest project. We used patio bricks leftover from another project to make a few garden beds. I wanted something to plant in (on the other side of the yard) that looked nice, since it is close to the front of the house. For only three small beds, this was a great deal of work. Those patio bricks weigh about twenty or more pounds so they are very heavy, and trying to get them level with each other is not exactly easy. Also, I think I may have ruined my knees in the process. Definitely, I need to start wearing knee pads. I planted a red pepper plant yesterday in one of the beds. This morning, I noticed my dog had scratched the plant up entirely. Apparently, he was smelling the bone meal. Then my chickens were digging in these beds as well. Thankfully, our main garden is enclosed by a fence. So now, I have to come up with an idea to keep the animals out. Needless to say, this has not been my most productive project. Oh, I forgot to mention getting attacked by fire ants.

Portable Greenhouse

This is my portable greenhouse that I mentioned in another post, not really much to it. The yard cart is practical for carrying heavy things around the yard. The sides also fold down. I had the idea to build a frame that fits inside the cart. Then we added clear plastic and a little duct tape and some staples. At the present, I keep my seedlings in there in the day time. In the evening, I pull the cart under the carport. Tonight, I brought the seedlings inside because the temperature is supposed to drop.