Friday, July 31, 2015

A Good Day Already and It's Only 2:30!

Would you believe this is our THIRD consecutive day of high winds?  Winds so high Painter Guy can't use his paint sprayer?  Yup.  In order to stay (ahlfway) on schedule (he has two really big jobs scheduled for the next nine weeks -- eeep!), he's been doing a lot of brush work for the last two days.  It doesn't go as fast as using the sprayer, but sometimes ya just gotta do the best ya can.

I haven't gotten involved in the painting today, but I have gotten a lot crossed off my list.

~ Filled six trays in the dehydrator with parsley, got it dried and packed away in a sealed jar.

~ Made a batch of cottage cheese.

~ Washed windows in the garage.

~ Watered the (temporarily relocated) window boxes and pots of flowers.

~ Spray painted four shutters.  (I guess I did paint.)

~ Harvested and processed some shell peas.

~ Made a couple of meals, did a couple of batches of dishes, scoured a sink, swept a floor, etc.

I went out to the garden early this morning because I wanted to make the first harvest of our shell peas before they had a chance to heat up on the vine.


Here's something for you to ponder.  These are the peas in their pods that I picked.  This bowl is big, about 12" across and a little over 6" high.  What quantity of peas do you think I will get when they're extracted from their pods?

It took me 20 minutes to shell the peas (which was not nearly long enough since it's one of the few sit down jobs I've had this week!), and I shucked the peas into a quart measuring cup.

Before I started, I guessed it would be about three cups.  What's your estimation?  Did you make a guess?  Here are the peas in the measuring cup.


They measured exactly three cups!  (Considering I've been shelling peas for about fifty years now, I should have had a pretty good idea.)  How close did you come?



 

23 comments:

Susan said...

Since I am math-challenged, I cheated and read ahead. What beautiful peas! I will be painting (well, staining) this weekend, too. In between the maybe sorta could be showers and thunderstorms.

DFW said...

You are a master of measuring!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - I didn't say you had to do any adding and subtracting . . . just make a guess! ;o}

I'll be thinking of you this weekend as I have a feeling I'll have a paint brush in my hand, too.

Mama Pea said...

DFW - Can I put that on my resume?? :o]

Laurie said...

I didn't guess, but those are some mighty fine looking peas.

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

Now that's a nice stash of pea's. Are you going to cook them up for a meal, can, freeze, or dehydrate them? I tried to grow peas last year, they took off nicely, grew about 12 inches and then stopped growing. I think it's too darn hot here for them.

That wind is just determined to hang around, hopefully tomorrow it will stop, and your painter can get your house completely done.

Have a great evening,
Hugs,
Sandy

Leigh said...

What I wanna know is, are you actually going to count all those peas so we can know the answer??? I have no idea!

I dearly love having a to-do list with a lot of stuff crossed off. Feels productive!

Mama Pea said...

Laurie - I'm always excited to harvest and process the first peas of the season . . . in a week or two, it will start to feel like a bit of a chore! BUT I know I'll appreciate the "chore" when we're enjoying their fresh flavor all winter long!

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - We have loads of luscious edible podded peas for fresh eating right now so all of the shelled peas coming in get blanched and stashed in the freezer.

I'm writing this Saturday morning and the wind is still very blowsy out there. We have only one upper story small wall with one window in it to complete and the house painting is done! It will be finished today with brush and roller. I'm hoping, at least!

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - You silly girl! Like I would take the time to count each individual pea! No, I meant what quantity cup-wise . . . the three cups I ended up with in the quart measuring cup. Before shelling it always seems like you should get many, many cups full . . . but the amount is always much, much less! :o]

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

Oohhh those look so good. Most of my peas usually end up getting eaten raw right there in the garden, or handed to kids or a husband. This year the rabbits have successfully mowed down my peas a number of times, so I might not even get 3 cups!! Hope the wind dies down enough so you get your painting done soon. -Jenn

Sue said...

Yum---love the peas. Mine were mauled by chipmunks this year. I put hubby on patrol. He's gotten 11 so far...though it's too late for the peas now. That batch of HOT weather last week killed the vines back (and my lettuceseseses bolted like a spooked horse as well!)
But on a bright note--it was just what the pumpkins and zinnias needed. Hooray!
Hope your painting progresses well. Enough with the crazy winds! There's so much to do before the snow flies in a month or two.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I kind of guessed on those peas. Having shelled some this year, I'm learning. Hopefully that wind will die down and you can get that painting done.

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - Happy to say the painting was finished yesterday!

Don't fresh peas right off the vine taste wonderful? We like them raw in a tossed salad, too.

Mama Pea said...

Sue - "Mauled by chipmunks!" Well, those &^*# chipmunks! Don't tell anyone but we are forced to regularly practice "birth control" with the chipmunks around here, too. They can be so destructive.

My lettuceseseses have all bolted, too. I have a raised bed all ready for planting a new batch of assorted salad greens, but I'll cover it with a shade cloth to start with so it will have a chance with this present hot sun we're experiencing.

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - Got another 7 cups of peas today. I now have a grand total of seven servings for us in the freezer. Wa-hoo!

Sue said...

I think peas (though the tastiest things on earth!!) have got to be one of the hardest things to fill the freezer with. Happy Shelling!
(yea. Everyone is just THRILLED with shelling......)

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Bateman Homestead said...

Delicious! And you have been a busy lady :) Can't wait to see pics of the finished house, I'm sure it will be beautiful!

http://batemanhomestead.weebly.com/

Mama Pea said...

We are so pleased with the "new" color of our house! Yes, we have been busy . . . how do I get a rest? On days when we can't work on the projects outside, I go like crazy to catch up on all the inside stuff. But it's my choice to live the kind of life we do, and I love it!

Lisa said...

And oh those peas are so worth it! Some folks get disenchanted with the amount of pods vs. amount of peas to eat.... but not us. That's our most favorite pea now to eat after growing our own for the last couple of years! You are one busy lady up there! You are getting so much done this summer, that you'll be ready to slow down and relax when the winter time weather arrives.

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - I'm always left in bewilderment when I hear so many gardeners say they never grow shell peas because it's too much trouble to do the shelling for so few peas. I LOVE to shell peas. It's one of the few times during gardening time when I get to sit down! I've had tremendous luck with freezing shell peas; they taste just like they were straight out of the garden all winter long. Yay for those little green orbs!

Slow down? Relax? What's that? I've forgotten. That's the mantra that has kept hubby and me going this summer: "I am going to do so much relaxing and fun things all winter long!"

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