Asparagus Patch, Spuds and a Tomato Macaroni Soup Recipe

Greetings Earthlings:

Yard, Garden and Greenhouse Update:

We have spent several days happily out puttering in the yard this past week.  Puttering in the yard is an ongoing theme at our house from about April to November.  The ground is still very cold, but we have asparagus and garlic poking thru finally.  And we are already eating the green onions. 

Papa has been in a planting and yard tidying mood.  He rebuilt his Asparagus patch containment boards this week.  He had been meaning to do this for some time, but decided that this is the year to do it!  It looks fantastic!  I will be much less apt to step on the new shoots now.

Miss Smokey helping me as I walk about taking photos

New Asparagus Bed

He has also got his vineyard area ready to plant his grapes, has a new wind break up - to hopefully help save our poor fruit blossoms from blowing away before the bees can do their job and he has planted Alberta hardy Blueberry shrubs, Cherry bushes, a few more Haskaps and Saskatoons.  The back orchard is now officially full - or at least, I think it is full!  Time will tell.

The greenhouse is in full swing.  We have tomatoes in bloom, cucs are beginning to form and I noticed that the peppers are beginning to flower.  Yay!  It is wonderful to head out to the back yard grocery store whenever I need something.  It is such a convenience to have.  I so look forward to all the tasty veggies as they are ready to be enjoyed.  

Baby Long English Cucumber

Pepper plants beginning to flower

Tomato Plants are beginning to bloom

He came into the house the other morning and announced that the petunias had gotten so big that he was going to have to put them into their half barrels much earlier than usual.  They won't be going out to their summer location yet, but they were just getting too unruly in their cells.  He figured if he left them much longer, they would surely suffer.  I am surprised at how big they are already!

Transplanted Wave Petunia ready to go

And he pulled out the seed potatoes that he is wanting to get ready to plant.  We exclusively grow Alberta Blush here in our garden.  It is a cultivar that originated in the Wetaskiwin, AB area.  We originally purchased our first seed potatoes from T & T Seeds out of Manitoba, after seeing them offered in their catalogue a few years ago.  What first attracted us to them was the name Alberta Blush and where they were first field tried, very local to us.  We were hooked after our first harvest!  

These are the potatoes of your childhood memories.  They are creamy when mashed, don't go to mush when boiled, bake beautifully and make amazing fries.  And they store incredibly well.  In fact, we are still eating last year's crop which is stored in our veggie pit!  They are absolutely an all around multi purpose potato!  We usually grow more than we can use, so it is easy to keep back a few as seed to plant.  

We were especially happy we did so last year, as they had a crop failure and didn't have any seed potatoes to sell.  We were very lucky to have our own saved.  This is officially the only potato we plant any more.  If you get a chance to try some for yourself, you will quickly see what all the fuss is about.

Alberta Blush potatoes for this year's seed

Chicken Coop News:

Papa has also been busy getting the chicken coop ready to separate this year's chicks - the new layers from the fryers.  We don't mix our flocks.  We keep our meat birds separate from our layers and this year's pullets separate from our current production team.  It is a safety feature to contain any issues, should any ever arise.  

Current Production Team:  They have the run of the coop and the chicken yard

Papa brought in a Super Sized Egg the other day.  It was twice the size of one of our normal eggs.  When I cracked it, I expected that it would be a double yoker, but wow!  It was the equivalent of 2 full sized eggs!  Poor Chicken!

Look at the size of this chicken egg!  The ones to the right are farm sized x-large!

No surprise that it was a double yoke

Equivalent to 2 regular eggs.  Yikes!

Studio News:

Not much Studio time again with the extra yard work.  I did get the table topper finished though.  I decided to quilt it on the domestic and was very happy with the end result.  I also found another bag of Half Square Triangles that I have since sorted and pressed.  They range from 3/4" square to 2 3/4" square.  I am thinking making up small zippered bag(s) from this collection.  I haven't decided how I am going to lay them out yet, but it will be fun to think something up.  I am still crocheting in the evening.  I have one small purse made and am working on another one.  Too fun!

Finished Table Topper is 23" square

Cute little purse with beads

These items will be available for purchase at the Tin Chicken, after Chris opens in her new location, later this spring.  All of the items we will have available there will be individually hand made and unique, one of a kind pieces.  We are thrilled to be able to have a space there to share and show our works.  

And check out the new business card/hang tag

Kitchen  Happenings:

I just finished baking up 5 loaves of sour dough bread earlier today.  Three sandwich style and two rustic loaves.  This will freeze well and last us two about a month.  They also thaw beautifully and are a real convenience for me to have made up.  

Three sandwich style and two rustic style sour dough bread loaves

We haven't bought bread in years.  I first started baking bread way back in the early 1980's, when we were first married.  I would bake 8 loaves every Monday.  Papa would take a full loaf a day to work.  He worked at a feed lot in Czar, Alberta at the time.  The hours were long and the work was very physical.  His day would start at 7 in the morning and end at 6 pm.  The loaf of sandwiches was convenient and easy to grab a bite throughout the day, as he needed to refuel.  My bread was more filling and far more economical during our salad years.  Considering a 10 kg of flour would go on sale for $3.99 and a loaf of bread was about $1.50 at the time, it didn't take a genius to do the math on that one.  

I don't bake anything like I used to in those early years, but we still prefer my homemade bread to this day.  And he still hovers, with his knife in one hand and a jar of peanut butter in the other, waiting for the loaves to come out of the oven.  Then complains that he is burning his fingers as he cuts off a slice!  I guess he still likes his fresh bread, too.  😉

We had finished up our beef stew for supper last night, so I needed to make another soup for today's lunch.  I didn't know what to make, but it needed to be quick, as it was a busy morning.  I was also prepping for our Supper Club tomorrow night and decided to make a macaroni salad to go with the BBQ I am planning.   As I got a pot of macaroni cooked up for the salad, I became inspired for today's soup.  

Tomato Macaroni Soup:

1/2 large onion diced

1 rib of celery, diced

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp butter or oil or both, if you like!

1 litre of stewed tomatoes

1 litre beef broth (I used my pressure canned stock with beef included)

*1 lb of ground beef or left over cooked beef, if you are adding meat - it is great without as well

1 can tomato soup, undiluted

6 cups water, divided: 4 cups to cook the macaroni with 1 tsp salt added and two more cups to add to the soup

1 cup raw, uncooked macaroni or another smaller style noodle

1 handful (about 2 tbsp dried or 1/2 cup fresh) basil

1 tsp each of salt and pepper, to taste

Put 4 cups of water with 1 tsp salt onto boil in a separate pot.  Add macaroni and cook per instructions 8-10 minutes.  Pour cooked macaroni into colander when done and set aside.  Discard cooking water. 

Meanwhile:

Dice up the onion, celery, garlic and saute in butter/oil or both if you like, in a 4-6 litre stock pot until clear.

*If using hamburger, add it to the soup pot and scramble fry until done.

*If using left-over beef, dice up and set aside.

Add to the soup pot, the beef stock, stewed tomatoes, can of tomato soup and the remaining 2 cups of water.  If using left over beef, add this as well.  Add seasonings and bring to a boil.  Simmer about 1/2 an hour to let flavors meld.  About 5 minutes before serving, add the previously cooked macaroni.  Bring back to a boil to reheat the macaroni and simmer a few minutes more.  Makes about 6 servings.  We two, get three lunches out of one pot.

I have found that precooking the noodles in a separate pot saves them from absorbing all the stock in the soup pot.  This and they don't tend to go to mush.  

Serve with crusty bread

It has been lovely to sit on the deck with a cup of tea lately and enjoy all the birdy antics as they shop around for the best nesting boxes to set up housekeeping.  It is wonderful to hear them sing in the early morning.  Such a lovely way to start they day!  I am watching for the hummingbirds as I have heard reports that they have arrived in Southern Alberta.  Time to get the feeders out and some nectar made up.  They are always so much fun to watch!

Not much else for news this week.  I am always amazed at how quickly a week slips by.  I don't think I would have anything to write about until I go back over my calendar and realize just how much we got done in the past 7 days.  We always seem to run out of day, before we run out of things to do!

For all you Mom's, Auntie's and Gramma's out there, we wish you a very Happy Mother's Day!

Enjoy your weekend and we'll chat again next week.

Take Care,

Gremlynn