As you see by today’s title, Deb’s Garden, then it has to be obvious to you all just exactly who wears the britches in this household…and it ain’t me! Basically I’m just “the hired help,” and also she claims on her tax return that I’m…sub-contract labor.

By this she has no tax liability on my account, but this in itself, ALMOST throws me in another tax bracket in regards to my taxes. But by her only paying me $3.50 a day, no not per hour, but a day, I just barely stay under going into another tax bracket.

Her philosophy to me is simply, “Look Dub, I’m really doin you a favor here. If I paid you more, you’d end up paying more taxes, right? On top of this, I keep a roof over your head, let you borrow my vehicle IF, you need to go to town, and I cook your meals and wash your dern clothes. Ya got a pretty good thing going on here, so my advice to you is very simple…DON”T MESS UP A GOOD THING! Comprende?? I thought you might…cause I KNOW the judge would!”

Hence…IT IS, Deb’s garden, on top of everything else around here too! Marriage…isn’t it grand?? LOL!

The garden is doing very well, and my only complaint so far is…where’s the dern rain? Good night it’s been dry. Our pond is about 8 feet below where it should be, and may possibly be 10 feet. I believe it’s the lowest I’ve seen it before.

You know, I just got to thinkin, everything else around here is Deb’s to hear her tell it, so I wonder if she’s gone and took the water outta the pond too? I sure wouldn’t put it past her!

No, the greenhouse is doing great, the grow areas around the greenhouse are doing fine, and in our garden out in front of the house, what we’ve got in there so far, is doing good too! We’re blessed in all sorts of ways. The Good Lord does provide!

Well, here’s a few pictures for you guys to let you in on what’s going on…

Okay, this first picture is of, left to right, sweet peppers, squash (lemon and straight-neck), onions, and cucumbers. We’re getting squash pretty much daily now, and I’ll probably put up some squash pickles this weekend, or the first of the week. We’ve also been eatin some onions out of…Deb’s garden! LOL!

The next picture is of our tomatoes. If you notice, we cut the suckers and lower limbs off. Thanks for the tip Miz Sandy and Mr. Bill, from Mobile!

Inside the greenhouse now, check out our beets comin up between our okra sets. Beets are really, really good for you! Ours aren’t quite ready, but, they’re getting there! We planted Bulls Blood, Detroit Dark Red, Lutz Salad, and Golden.

Check out the height of those volunteer tomatoes. A couple are now bumpin the top of the greenhouse at the low end.

There’s the cucumbers. They’re the Japanese cucumbers. They get 22-26 inches long, but thin. We love the taste, and they’re supposed to be excellent pickling cucumbers…we’ll soon see! If you look closely, you can see some hanging off the vines. We’re fixing to have to tie more string across the rafters and let them run towards the center of the greenhouse.

There’s a close-up showing the cucumbers.

From left to right, watermelons, squash (crook and straight-neck) eggplants, and far left is hot peppers.

Another view of our tomatoes, again Sandy, we removed the suckers. And lower limbs. The cows ate good! I believe they’d of enjoyed us just pullin the whole dern plants up and chunkin em over the fence to them!

The missing spaces, a row and a half, will have black tomatoes planted in them by next week.

Here’s the garden out front, we’re planting a little as we go out there. Got irrigation to it too, now! YES!! The pictures out here were a little fuzzy, but you can see what we’ve done. Check out that water runnin!

This is a partial row of tomatoes, with eggplants finishing the row on the left, then squash and peppers in the right-hand row.

This is two full rows of tomatoes.

Last is a picture of the greenhouse from the other garden…

We hope you guys enjoyed the photos!

Please take care, and God Bless. I’m relaying a message from Deb for you to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

This is Dub…from Deb’s garden, out!

Dub and Deb

First off this morning, I have to tell you all that Deb is doing just great. Looks good (one of the reason I married her!), she feels good (another reason…aw, forget it), and is steady “upbeat.” She is truly one heck of an inspiration to me!

Now, about ole Mississippi. For those that don’t know, Mississippi, is actually Sandra. Sandra lives in Mississippi, which happens to be why I call her “Louie.” Just kiddin Mississippi.
Sandra has been in her own battle with cancer, since 1998 I believe. If I’m wrong Sandra, just give us a shout.

Anyway, Sandra has been such a big help to Deb in this regard. They talk quite frequently anymore, and she has become an extended part of our family, along with so many others that we’ve met such finding out Deb had cancer.

Honestly people, it is as if you’ve joined up with one big family. Everyone is concerned with everyone else in their battle. It is so inspiring to share your experiences with others in the same fight, and comforting too.

Let me say to all of you out there once more of how much we appreciate ALL your prayers and concerns. You all are truly blessings to Deb and I both. Thank you! Your response has been overwhelming to us both!

You guys have probably picked up from our site that Deb and I just LOVE fried okra. Sadly enough though, we’ve not been eating fried foods hardly at all…zip nair un!

We do, once in a great while, fry some okra. Yesterday was only the second time this year. Again, we take one day a week and eat what we want. We don’t go crazy with it, just eat one good meal, of our liking.

Mississippi had put up her recipe in our comment section the other day. It was…fried okra. So yesterday Deb gave Sandra a shout and asked her a couple questions regarding her fried okra recipe. Sandra gave Deb a heads up on her “how to’s,” and Deb fired off the cook stove.

Sandra, I gotta tell you…it was EXCELLENT! Very, very good, and so crispy. No wonder ole Chet has put up with you for so dern long…you can COOK girl!!

Let me share this recipe with you guys now. If you like okra, and you’ve never tried it like this, give it a whirl, cause I promise you…you’re gonna like it!

Deb always does hers pretty much this way, but Sandra has a couple twists that Deb and I weren’t aware of, but boy what a difference in the taste number one, and it’s appearance, number two. Excellent, excellent okra. I even called my Mama this morning and quizzed her some, but she too doesn’t do the two steps that Sandra “turned Deb and I on to!” Big, big difference in the end result.

Fried Okra:

Since I am feeling quite well today think I will do more than one post.

• Best fried okra in the world
• Lots of Okra (like a bucketful). Cut in the slice width of your choice
• Salt & Pepper
• Flour
• Cornmeal
• Oil or fat for frying(for you fat, concerned people use canola)

Put cut okra in large container. Salt and pepper it. Toss it around.

Dust with the flour and shake off excess, let it set and it will get gooey. When it gets gooey add the cornmeal, let it set, toss it around. Make sure it is quite covered. Heat a big pot with oil or fat. Shake off excess cornmeal. Put in enough for the okra to float and fry until brown.

You do not want to crowd your fryer, so do it in batches. Drain on paper.

You want to cook a mass quantity of okra because while it is cooling and waiting for the table it will start disappearing. If you have any leftovers leave it on the counter
it will disappear too. We eat it like popcorn. This makes a very good product and will stay crispy for a while. Enjoy!

She wasn’t kiddin either people, this okra is really good. I have to admit it…I gorged myself with it. Had a piece of Hawaiian chicken, and a baked tater with it. If you haven’t had this, the chicken, it is in our archives and is really good itself, it’s cheap to make, and is very easy to do. If you can’t find it, holler and we’ll repost it.

Anyway, I ate my chicken, tater, and my helping of okra, then went and got the remainder of the okra and…down the hatch! Good Lord we did enjoy the okra. It helps too though when you walk outside, pick it, wash it, then fry it up, just boom, boom, boom. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.

The secret to her okra is simple enough, but man what a difference it makes.

You see, Deb or I will flour and meal our okra, then fry it. With Sandra’s recipe you don’t. You let it sit. Yep, that’s it.

As an example, Sandra says after cutting up your okra and washing it, put it in a colander, then salt and pepper it. Next, pour your flour in over it, mix it well getting your okra covered good, then walk off. Yep, just walk off and leave it 20 to 30 minutes.

What this does is that the flour becomes dampened and forms almost like a paste on it. Now it’s ready for your cornmeal. Do the same thing. Coat it good with your corn meal, then let it sit again, another 5 to 10 minutes. Shake off any excess, throw em in some hot grease, and in a matter of minutes you’re into some fine eatin! Once more, Deb and I both loved it.

So thank you again, Mississippi…you’re one fine lady.

Now, shifting gears once more, I have some very sad news to share with you today. It broke Deb and my heart to hear this, but sometimes things happen for the best. We all know that when it’s time, and the good Lord calls us home, we must go. This happened to a very good friend of ours this past week.

Ken and his wife Trisha, from Texas, lost their battle with lung cancer. Trisha was diagnosed almost to the day that Deb was diagnosed with breast cancer. Last Tuesday, Trisha was called home, I believe Ken said around 8 am.

A remarkable story comes from this though. Ken had told us that Trisha had been bedridden almost a week. Couldn’t stand up on her own, and not talking. He stated he came in the room one day, and all of a sudden Trisha stands up on her own, hugs him, and plants a kiss on him.

He said he didn’t know where she got the strength from, but yes, he really does, don’t you? It was our Lord. Yes, Trisha and Ken are both Christians, and Ken knows that his Trisha is in a much better place today. No pain, and no suffering.

Yes sir, for the ones left behind, this is a very sad time, and hard to deal with, BUT for the one who was suffering, it is only an answered prayer, and by this, they’re in a much better place than this world we live in.

Trisha is survived by her husband Ken, and their son David. Please, put them in your prayers if you would, they are good, good people. Ken, we love you brother, and we’re only a phone call away.

On that note, we’ll close for today. God Bless you all, and please, if you notice anything different in regards to your body, or you just don’t feel “up to snuff,” please go and have it checked out.

If caught in the early stages, you have more options in regards to your treatments. If you get nothing else from anything at all we write, please let this sink in. The earlier it’s caught, the better chance of survival you have.

Deb says to not get out of here this morning without telling you all to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

The ole garden has been good to us once more. Deb and I have been canning peas for the last couple weeks now and man, we’re putting some up. As of last night, we’ve canned over 120 quarts. Not bad for a couple amateurs!

We’ve also pickled 21 pints of okra.

The black –eyes did really well, shoot, they all have, but the black-eyes were the first ones to come in, and they were the first to go. As a matter of fact we just pulled up all the plants, stripped what few peas remained, (two 5-gallon buckets full), and fed the plants to the cows.

They’ve been eating good the last couple weeks. We feed them all the pea hulls after we shell them, and now they just finished up the black-eye bushes. They kinda like Deb and my garden too!
We tilled the area where the black-eyes were, and today we’ll be planting mustard greens, 3 rows I believe is what we’ll plant. Once more, greens, like peas, our whole family loves…all but Deb (greens). She won’t eat them cooked, but she does use them in her juice.

I went to Summerlin’s Feed Store yesterday to pick up the seed. I asked her if she had any mustard seed and she said that they did. I picked up 3 ounces, and then asked if they carried ketchup and A-1 seeds as well. She just kinda looked at me.

So, when Dale and Bob get in to work this morning, they’ll soon find out we’ll be planting in the garden again. They’ll love hearing that, huh? We MIGHT be just a little late with these, but we’re gonna give them a shot. They like cooler weather, just as long as it doesn’t get too cold. I believe though, they’ll be fine!

I called and asked Dad about planting them now, and he said this will be no problem, they’ll be fine. I then got to thinking about what a crazy guy I was when much younger, and some of the grief I caused him while growing up.

Thinking about this, I wouldn’t put it past him for “setting me up!” You know, have us do all this work, then our mustard freeze and don’t make, while he sits back and goes, “Dern Ruth…can you believe that boy of yours planted those mustards so LATE in the year?? What in the world was he thinking??” Payback comes in all forms, huh? LOL!

He wouldn’t do that to me…would he? Hmmmm…

Our purple hulls and cream 40’s have done well also. They’re really giving us a good crop, and good quality peas as well. Very, very little bug problem, and they have actually been pretty much care free.
We fertilized them once, and sprayed for bugs once, and other than that, they’ve pretty much just taken care of themselves. An easy crop to grow. This is why we plant them on the full moon in August. Less bugs, and by the time they start coming in, we’re having cooler days to an extent. This means less need for water too.

We’ll have another good picking of purple hulls today, and we’ll get a few more cream 40’s as they’ll be the next to go to the cows. They’ve about had it. The purple hulls are capable of having another picking after today, and maybe two.

Our crowders we’ve gotten one pretty decent picking , but those things aren’t really quite ready. They’ve been the longest pea to make, BUT, this has helped us in our canning by them simply holding off a little making, thus not completely overwhelming us with sheer volume of peas coming in at the same time.

Look at it from this standpoint. Our pressure cooker holds 7 quarts at a time. To heat your water, get your peas jarred up and starting the pressure canning process takes, I’m guessing, 30 minutes or so. The cook time once the proper pressure is reached takes 40 minutes.

Then once you take your canner off the burner, and sit it somewhere to cool, this takes another 40 minutes or so. With this the case, for every 7 quarts canned to put up, you have approximately 2 hours in every 7 quarts canned.

The picking, shelling and washing is not included. So, there is some work involved, BUT, Deb and I both enjoy doing it, plus the benefits of doing so are numerous. Good quality vegetables, knowing exactly what you’re eating and where it came from, much fresher and better tasting by far than store bought, plus the convenience of having these stored to eat any time of the year. You always have them available.

Plus, once you purchase your pressure cooker, and the jars to can your vegetables in, the cost factor is pretty light from there on out. Your jars can be used over and over again. One other big point with the canning process…no electricity is needed. Only a dark, cool spot….

Deb and I will grab a pan, kick back in the recliner, shell peas, and watch TV. While doing this, we keep a pressure cooker pan full and cooking. It works out well, and once more, we both enjoy doing it. The benefits far outweigh the negative in our opinion. A good fresh mess of peas on a cold January evening sure has a tendency to…”hit the spot!”

I mentioned we’d pickled 21 pints of okra, and we did. BUT, the okra is JUST NOW starting to come in, and unless something happens, we’ll produce a bunch of this too. Deb and I absolutely love it fried, but we can’t have it fried now. So, we’re pickling the fire out of it!

We did “cheat” the other night and had one mess fried up. We just had to do it, and good gracious…it was so good! We satisfied our craving, and are good to go without eating any more fried for a while. Deb SURE better not take a little 4-5 day trip in the near future, cause if she does…I’ll be having me some MORE fried okra!! LOL!

In regards to our mustard seed we’ll be planting today, I’ve already “goofed up” in one regard…the moon. We always try to plant all our above ground vegetables a day or two PRIOR to the full moon. This is a rule of thumb we use, and it works well for us. The below ground producing vegetables we plant on the declining moon.

My granddaddy always told me to use the moon, because if you don’t, you may have beautiful vines or bushes, but little to no produce on them, so we just always try to keep this in mind.
In planting our mustards though, I just missed the full moon…I think it was the 13th. We’re going to try it anyway, though I don’t normally do this.

I’m figuring that the greens aren’t like most above ground vegetables in that they don’t produce pods of vegetables. You eat the leaves. With this being the case I’m hoping the moon will not deter our mustards to badly. We shall soon see! I am kinda curious about how well they do.

Anyway, we’ll share a couple photos of the peas and okra we’ve put up from the fall garden so far. We have three piece of cases of peas still in the house, that we’ll fill as we continue on with the peas.

You guys have a great day, and God bless! Deb says once more to keep a smile on your face and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb