Grandpa Witmer's Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Mixer Review and Stuff

After the tainted peanut butter last year (which I had a jar I had eaten half of ) I decided to start buying one of the natural (non-hydrogenated oil) brands. Anyone who has purchased this type knows that when opening it there is a layer of peanut oil on top that you have to stir into the peanut butter itself , not just to mix the oil but also the salt. Sometimes this can get very messy so I decided to purchase Grandpa Witmer's Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Mixer from Lehman's.
I am very pleased with it. All you have to do is screw the included lid on to the jar, insert the crank and turn for about a minute. The lid has a built in rubber grommet so when you remove the crank it comes out clean as a whistle. It is advised to return the original lid so you can clean and store the mixer pieces.
The mixer set's lid from Lehman's fits small jars but you can order larger diameter lids from the manufacturer, Witmer's.
I don't have much other else going on. The corn is about knee high, the first cantaloupe is growing, green peppers are finally producing and I'm getting about 5 pounds of squash a day. Hope everyone else is having a bountiful harvest and staying safe.
Jerry
P. S. I tried to upload some pictures but once again something screwed up!

Common Sense-Very Long!

I'll preface this piece by saying I'm not writing this to start a debate or discussion. I have to vent the frustrations I have building up somehow and this seems to be the easiest way to do so. I'm not trying to piss anyone off!

The earth does not need saving. This is a fact. It was here a VERY long time before us and will continue to be when man has ceased to exist. It is the height of arrogance to believe that we can destroy the planet. Man is no more significant than any other living thing. Countless creatures have become extinct and millions more have taken their place. Yes, we can and have wiped out whole species of animals,the Carolina Parakeet for example, and that happened not because they made them money but because people believed they are more important than anything else. I do believe in conservation probably more than any asshole that lives in the Hollywood hills in their 10,000 square foot ego pad. I actually go into the woods and enjoy the animals and plants and yes I even sometimes kill them for food. If it were possible to NOT eat I'd be fine with it but unfortunately it is not.

Man made global warming does NOT exist. Global warming DOES. The air has become exponentially cleaner in the last 100 years. This is also true of water. The people that have fought for this change haven't been believers in some doomsday prophecy scare tactic. Change has been caused by simple people who were tired of smelling a sewage laden river or grew tired of leaving sooty fingerprints in their bread. Yes,its hot. I live in Texas and 100 degrees is common in the summer. In fact it's 91 right now. That being said I could go 100 miles east to the Piney Woods area to a hunting camp and it'll be as much as 10 degrees cooler and that's because there's not concrete to radiate the sun's heat. Every inch of pavement laid makes the ambient air tempature higher, not my air conditioner. It is an astronomical fact that we get closer to the sun every day and the moon gets farther away. The moon will some day release it's hold on the earth and it will crash into the sun. That being said a volcano could erupt today and cause a new ice age by blocking out the sun.

I personally conserve and reuse things to save money and I once being a garbage man I've seen the ridiculous amount of waste in this country. I grow my own food (as much as I can considering I can't have chickens in town)because I like the taste of a REAL tomato grown in healthy soil. I'm organic(I prefer natural) because using poison and salt heavy explosives are expensive and contradictory to having fertile soil. I don't list all these things to get a pat on the back, only to show that you don't have to live your life like Chicken Little screaming about "green this" or the end of oil. There is still plenty of oil in this country. There are many who have become rich for NOT running their pumps.

I'm sure there's more I could rant about I've grown tired of complaining. I do feel a little better. I think I'll go use my flush toilet then turn down the a/c a notch and lie down and watch my cable television because I didn't work 13+ hours day in all weather 6 days a week and sacrifice a vertebral disc for nothing.

Busy for a lazy guy

Well,I have managed to get some things done the last few days. To start I decided against the Foodsaver. I had it in my basket and I started getting buyers' remorse before I even paid so I may just not get one. Can't decide. I did try for the sorbet' machine but they were out of stock(our Wal-Mart is awful). I was intending on buying some red chili plants and ended up with strawberries. They are everbearing Ozark Beauty. After buying them I did some research and discovered they may not produce for a year which kind of sucks because I don't know if I'll be in this house that long.

I went to a little produce stand by my house and bought four jalepeno plants and came across some ornamental christmas peppers and a new variety called "Black Pearl". I asked about the "Black Pearls" and they are supposed to be very hot so I had to buy both. The "Black Pearl" plant is black along with the peppers but when the fruit ripens it turns red.

I bought a straw bale for my strawberries and after I put it on my berries I decided it may work well for keeping the grass from coming back in the garden so I started using it to mulch the garden today. I don't know if it will work but a little straw goes a long way so I'm not concerned about wasting money.

Last of all I have have been starting to freeze this years batch of squash. I gave some to my parents already along with some of last years. I decided to slice it up so I can be more aware of how much I'm cooking each time. I'm trying to knock out out last years but I don't want to get sick of squash.

The corn is doing well but I don't believe the cilantro will appear this year or at least until fall. We'll see.

Weather not permitting

I've been busy helping my new buddy get used to life here. He is the most well behaved puppy I've ever seen. He still does the little things like biting with his little needle like teeth and digging in the compost pile but other than that he's been great. There was an accident his first morning but he walked into the bathroom to do it. Since then he let's me know when he has to go outside.

Other than hanging with the puppy I stay inside due to the heat. It has yet to hit 100 but walking outside is like standing in front of a pizza oven. I work the garden in the morning and stare at the corn and wait for it to grow. My single watermelon plant is doing well.

I received my stimulus check today and plan to take part of it and buy a Foodsaver and a used, in good shape, freezer.

Hello all

I followed Jerry home this morning after he tried to bum some cinder blocks from his neighbor for his rain barrel. I got a bath right off but I've still got some fleas. I may only stay until my original owners find me but between us I rather stay here in the cool a/c. When I get a name I'll be sure to let ya'll know. I hope I'm housebroken because Jerry looks like a neat freak.

A whole lot of nothing

Didn't do much today other than take some pictures in the garden. After yesterdays much needed rain the squash flowers were showing off. Word is squash flowers are tasty on their own, but I have yet to try them. Later in the day I took the mesh bags to my parents place and we bagged about 40 pounds of onions. I brought about 20 pounds home for myself to stash in my "root closet". The garden was a rain out so I just spent the rest of the day reading. Oh yea, the corn is poking out in the front flower bed.

Frustrated

I wrote a long post about today but when I uploaded the pictures it all got screwed up! Long story short, my dad tilled the garden, I mowed the front yard, made a little planter on the side of the house, got my onion bags, dad said he picked about 100 pounds and it finally rained. I hate machines!
Pictures now

I was sooooooo wrong

By some miracle of nature I managed to sleep late today. When I did finally get out to the garden I thought I'd pick a few squash and retire to the a/c since it was already 90 degrees but it was not to be.

First off there was a lot more squash than there was yesterday. No it didn't just appear over night but the few small fruits that were showing the day before had grown a lot.

Well I figured since I was already out I would cut and clean a monster batch of lettuce and gift it to a neighbor. It would bolt soon and I hate to see food go to waste. Unfortunately it had and I tasted it just to make sure. Oh holy night! Bitter lettuce is just that. Too bad all that stuff was wasted but I guess I can grow some this fall. So I proceeded to pull up all the plants that were left and gave them to the compost pile.

I can't say I'm too bummed that the lettuce is gone. I usually put something in it's place and I think this will become the new home to some jalapeno plants. I plan to jar some salsa this year and maybe pickle some peppers. I love hot stuff and it's hard to find a good pre-made salsa at the store. Now all I have to do is con my dad into bringing the tiller over one more time. I don't have my own tiller and even if I did I couldn't use it very well with the state my back is in.

The corn and cilantro I planted yesterday and the day before in the front yard haven't peeked their heads out so I finished the afternoon by sitting and watching the birds. I used to use a birdfeeder but now I just throw the seed under the mulberry tree. A Baltimore Oriole came to the hummer feeder to eat and even though I had seen him before he seemed extra beautiful today. The bright orange yellow on his breast stands out among all the green around it.

Back to my coffee,
See ya'll later

It's just too hot!

I picked my first squash of the season today and they look great. Although I prefer the straight neck variety, I suppose the crook neck taste just as good.

Please excuse the poor pictures. I only have a 10$ Wal-Mart camera, but I think you'll get the idea.

Amazingly enough my lettuce hasn't bolted or gotten bitter. It's great to still have salads but I usually use the space they're in to plant something else .

Other than watering the garden (we've been taunted by clouds all week but no dice on the rain) I finally came to terms that the heat had killed my poppies. Since the the Bermuda grass overtook my corn I planted in the garden I replaced the shriveled flowers with corn seeds. My only concern is the neighborhood cats will dig up the bed before the seed has a chance to sprout. We'll see if it's too late to grow but since it stays warm here until Thanksgiving I thought I'd give it a shot.

Preserving Your Root Crops

I didn't grow onions this year, but my dad did in two places. Needless to say,he's got a lot and this got me wondering how I could preserve as many as possible. The best way I found seems to be mesh bags,so I went surfing the 'net in search of some and while a may use the 1000+ bags I'd have to buy in about 20 years,I could not afford that many. I was bummed until I found some on Italian Seed and Tool. Not only do they have them in different sizes,but you can buy them 100 at a time. The value will be determined when I get them and maybe I can have stir-fry veggies year round finally.