Sunday, July 26, 2009

From the back yard garden spot

I decided to see what was out in the garden this afternoon...and thought I would show you what I brought in...
or most of it. I did gather a few more full-sized tomatoes but did not try to fit them in the picture.
I could not believe all the cherry tomatoes...they are big cherry but little when compared to a regular tomato.
I have never used them to make salsa, but they seem to have lots of flavor. And I actually used enough of the Super Fantastic tomatoes to make more than half the salsa. So, it should have lots of flavor. My salsa has a lot of juice, which is what I like. I just hope I get to can several more jars.

As for the bell peppers, we cleaned them and I cut them into strips. I put a handful in a sandwich baggie and close the flap. Then I place all the pepper filled sandwich baggies into a large gallon sized Ziploc baggie and freeze for later use. I use them in chili and sometimes spaghetti sauce. And instead of making stuffed peppers, I make a bell pepper casserole. I also will use them in stir-fry if I don't have a fresh one available.

I sure enjoy eating tomatoes straight from the garden...right now I am eating them with salt. Later I will start using Italian salad dressing part of the time. And have you ever taken your favorite veggies-- in my case it is tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, onions, bell peppers--anyway, cut them in bite sized pieces. Use a big bowl that has a lid, and cover with Italian dressing....let soak over night preferably. They are so yummy and refreshing on a hot summer day.

Green Township Public School: the remains

Coming home from Indianapolis the other day, we decided to get off the beaten path for part of the way home. We never know what we will see when we do that. That day was no surprise...out in the middle of farm country we came across what remains of this old school.
It had been the Greene Township Public School at one time....it looks to have been a fine school from how it is pictured here in these top two pictures.
But looking at this mess, at first glance it is hard to even see that there is a building there, or I should say the remains of a building.
It was a jungle in front of the building...I picked my way through it in order to try to snap some pictures to show the actual building. It was sure a sad sight to see.
Everything seemed to be falling in on itself. That is the roof in the picture below with all the green weeds growing on it.
And below is one corner of the building...
The actual building is mainly enclosed in a cow pasture, so is not as grown up around as is the front.
One can't help but wonder why it was let ruin--maybe it was full of asbestos? I know a couple elementary schools here in Clinton were unusable because of that. But to me, this appears to have been let go long before the worry of asbestos.