Grandma's Banana Bread

As promised on the video, I have the recipe for that yummy Banana Bread! Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Grandma's Banana Bread
1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/3 Cup Shortening
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 Well Beaten Eggs
1 Cup Very Ripe Mashed Banana
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and set the bowl aside.

In a large bowl, work the shortening until fluffy and creamy.

Gradually add the sugar in 1/3 cup increments and beat well between additions.

Gradually add the eggs and beat well.

Add the flour mixture alternating with the bananas about 1/2 cup at a time. Do not over mix as this will work the gluten too much.

Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour and ten minutes.

Remove from oven and cool 5 - 10 minutes.

Turn loaf out onto a cooling rack.

This recipe may be doubled.
Enjoy!

Spring Hoophouse Garden

About five weeks ago, my spouse and I began unearthing one of our greenhouses.  The houses have sat empty since 2006 when I became quite ill.  I have spent years trying to figure out how to use these since I am now limited on the amount of weight at which I can pick up.  Getting crops to market just wasn't in the cards as they say.... Finally, I decided that I would try my hand at veggie gardening instead of the commercial perennial production that we had been doing, in the past.  I figured that I could feed my family and enjoy my houses once again. There isn't too much heavy lifting involved and it is a lot easier to pull out fresh produce a little at a time instead of hauling those 500-600 pound carts full of perennials.
Things are humming right along and we now have crops in the ground throughout most of the house. It sure feels good using these again!  I love walking to spring when the weather is bitter cold outside and it is a balmy 60 or 70 degrees in the hoophouse!  The smell of damp earth and seeing new growth is exciting when it is the dead of winter outside. I hope to take the camera with me and take a few snapshots the next time I go check on things at the farm. Until then, keep planting those cole crops and you will be harvesting in no time!

Armchair Gardening

It's that time of year again when the seed and gardening catalogs pile up in the mailbox. I like to lie back on the couch with catalog in hand and plan my spring garden. I have already been to my local seed store and mail ordered most of what I need for the season. Very soon, I will plant peas in my zone 6b garden but first I must prepare the soil. Just the other day we had a balmy sunny day with a high temperature of 60 degrees fahrenheit. (That's 15.55 degrees celsius for those of you on the metric system.) I took my rear tine tiller out for a spin and opened up a new patch of fallow land.  I just teased up the grass and worked the top 2 inches of soil a bit to open it up so that it could dry out a bit quicker. The next good day I get when the soil surface is dry, I'll finish the job and get my outdoor peas planted.  Until then, I'll keep trowel in hand and continue to prep my double poly 20x96 foot unheated hoophouse. Seedlings are quietly growing on a heated bench so that I can begin planting the cold frame as soon as possible. Happy planting!