The Garden Shedde

Every summer when we get together with friends this topic comes up. It’s because we all have a different way of preparing Bruchetta as well as have slightly different ingredients. No one ever complains about the other we just can’t figure out if there is a right or wrong way to make this wonderful dish.

If you are not familiar with Bruchetta it is made of tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese at its core. Of course some add salt and pepper, onions and garlic and a host of other things from time to time to make it even more interesting. All this is normally served over good hearty toasted bread in slices or diced up and scoped out on the bread slices. The main thing you need to know is you can’t ruin this dish as it is flipping fantastic if you use fresh ingredients and that includes homegrown organic tomatoes. There are so many recipes online you can have a blast just looking at them all. Experiment and let me know what you think is the best. In the end, that’s all that matters anyway!

It is possible to have a lush green lawn and be concerned about the environment.  Research has been conducted at the university level using organic methods to improve lawn health.  A few of the methods are easy and inexpensive.  That makes them a breeze for the average homeowner to do.

The most important way to keep a lawn green is to compost leaves in the fall and let the leaves degrade into a lovely rich soil.  Then that compost can be spread on the lawn to return the rich nutrients from the leaves back to the soil.  It is time consuming, yet free compost.  The trees really do all the work for us.

Another great organic cure is the use of corn gluten meal as a pre-emergent. A pre-emergent is a product that keeps seeds form germinating—all seeds, not just weed seeds.  Pre-emergents can’t tell good seeds from bad seeds.  Usually, pre-emergents are toxic chemicals.  Corn gluten is completely organic.  It is easy to handle and not difficult for a homeowner to apply themselves.

The first time I was asked about using a mandoline I was so confused. As a lover of Bluegrass music I was thinking about the mandolin that is played with the guitars and upright bass with a bluegrass band. I was surprised when the lady pulled out a portable slicer and unfolded it in front of me and proceeded to slice almost every type of vegetable and fruit known to man and I was impressed. It wasn’t long until I went out and bought one and now I am hooked.

Using a mandoline is much easier than hand slicing and just as easy as using anything else on the market. Most of them come with a few different slicing attachments for wedge cuts and crinkle cuts for potatoes and raw cucumbers or zucchini. You will now be able to spend most of your time actually cooking and not slicing. I love this because I like to cook but I do not like to prep or clean. I am open to any short cut or time saver that I can get in the kitchen and the mandoline has been one of the best I have ever used.

I overheard a conversation the other day that got me to thinking about the economic situation for small businesses. I happen to be in my bank waiting for someone to help me and overheard a woman with a small business who could not get any credit at a bank that she has banked with for over 10 years because she was behind on a couple of credit cards from another major bank. Needless to say, she was frustrated and in tears when I left.

So I got to thinking about that and called a friend of mine who is a credit advocate and found out that yes, banks and credit card companies are sharing information, through the credit agencies, to determine if you are credit worthy or not and there is nothing you can do about it. If this was true when I was a kid, my grandfather would have lost his farm one year and my uncle his feed store. If a small business person has to not pay a business account or a personal one they will choose to let the personal one slip. If, in return the bank then cuts their business credit; well, how are they going to make money to pay any of it back? This makes no since to me.