Heirloom Petunias - Onion and Garlic Harvest - Pumpkin Sheet Cake

It is a  very cold morning here; our first hard freeze (28° for three hours).  We will sink down to around 26 by daylight.  I meant to get some rose cuttings...may be too late for that.

So far the heirloom petunias I grow have been improved by the cold....I will see what this does to them when I go out to milk this morning.


This is a little patch that reseeds itself  right by the garage door.  I just leave them be and we walk  around them.
These are growing outside the back porch door among the late lettuce I planted.  I just tossed the seeds out during the summer.

They are such a carefree plant...no hybrid ruffly things for me!  I love the simpler blooms of all heirlooms the best.

The lettuce is still good too.

If I have shown this picture before, forgive me.....I didn't want to look it up...I did gather all the cured onions and garlic a couple of weeks ago and got it stored in a freeze-free zone (the milk parlor).



The onions will be gone long before winter is over...the garlic might last forever (it will go bad before then).

I made the Pumpkin Sheet Cake as promised and we kept out 4 pieces and the rest is in the freezer for the Holidays.and iced and cut into squares.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat pumpkin, sugar and oil together. Add eggs and mix well. Combine flour, b. soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture, mix well. Pour and spread over a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or done.

Cool and then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese softened (3oz)

5 Table. butter softened

1 teas. vanilla

1-3/4 cups powdered sugar

3-4 teaspoons milk

Chopped nuts (optional)

Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix well. Add enough milk to get the right spreading consistency. Frost cake and sprinkle with nuts.

Yield 20-24 servings.

My kudzu - Plants good for hot and dry weather

When I took the trash out this morning I looked across the road at the front ditch.....this is my kudzu! Grandpa Otts and a blue morning glory run amok! This is why I never plant them anymore. I did this deliberately in the ditch and I hope it runs willy nilly along it.



Did you ever see anything so lush....ditch with no additional anything.



And this is why I never plant a morning glory anywhere on the farm anymore.

I planted my leftover lavender vinca by the back porch door. Then some of my favorite petunias came up beside it. I love the colors together. There is also a self-seeded Jewel of Opar on the left. This is where I planted lettuce seeds a week or so ago. The only one that came up was the old standby Black Seeded Simpson.



I wish more of the darkest petunias had been open this morning. They are the ones that look so good with the lavender color of the vinca.



These three annuals are very good ones for hot and dry weather. I grow the vinca from seeds and the others reseed them selves annually so, in essence, are considered perennials by me. I wouldn't be without either.

I originally wrote this August 30...it is still hot and dry but is supposed to be out last really hot day for a while. I hope it is true. Still no rain.

Note: I knew this would happen. The country road crew came by and mowed right up to the mailbox! Oh well.................
.