Check those pumpkins!

   Usually during this time of year, you can find pumpkins sitting just about everywhere in the Little Bayou House.  Yep, as seasonal decorations or foodstuffs, you cannot beat a pumpkin.  In fact, they are pretty good for you...not to mention quite tasty.  Like I said, you can normally find pumpkins in just about every nook and cranny...not just for Halloween but throughout the winter.  They are one of those fine things that can last for months just sitting in a cool, dry place....usually.

  Supposedly, there is somewhat of a shortage of pumpkins this year.  Whether this is true or just more media hype is yet to be seen.  Mark found plenty of pumpkins at the store so actually bought dozens!  He had two large (Jack-o-lantern style) ones and three bags of assorted pie pumpkins and the Jack-be-little sort.  I was elated to get them!  Thinking I had plenty of time to let them sit before processing them for food, the pumpkins were set in pretty baskets, on old crocks or simply on a mat on the floor.  In other words, I decorated for fall.   That "plenty of time" was a joke.  Within two days, the smaller pumpkins started rotting.  Ugh!  I began checking all of them every day and would process any that were showing signs of pumpkin rot.  I am now down to the final two pumpkins.  One was processed today and the other will most likely be done tomorrow.   Waste not, want not.

  Folks, if you are like me and actually use your pumpkins as food, you best keep a watchful eye on them.  It seems that this shortage may just have something to do with the rot.  I have a tendency to think the things were put in cold storage for a while before being put out in the stores.  Then, when they started to warm to natural temperatures, rot set in and they started to mold.  Trust me when I say that a rotted pumpkin is not a pretty sight (nor smell) no matter what fancy decorations you have around it. Keep check on your pumpkins, folks! 

Let's All Garden!

   Growing up on the small farm, I have gardened all of my life.  It was life.  There was no mollycoddling of kids back in the day.  Kids worked.  We worked....and we were all the better for that work.  Look at the mess the nation is in today and you can sure tell who got their butt whupped when they misbehaved as kids and also who did chores.   Now the world is full of a bunch of whiney babies who cannot do anything for themselves and full of adults who raised them that way.  Sorry, folks, but I call it like it is.  Don't like it, move along.  Chores are not bad things.  Being disciplined is not a bad thing.  The state of this nation is a bad thing...and is probably going to get a whole lot worse.

  But...we are not going to dwell on that.  The whole point of this post is to say that, as old as I am, I decided to try something new.  While the garden here is tended year round, I have never tried raising cauliflower until this year.  Yep, you can bet that will be on the agenda again next fall!  Cauliflower has to be one of the simplest things ever to grow!  Just this week, the heads started "showing" and now they are ready to be enjoyed!  The broccoli is the same.  Both rows decided that the cabbages and mustard greens could not be the only ones being flashy so now they are just as gorgeous!

  Speaking of gardens and plants, now might be a fine time for you folks in warmer climates to take up the hobby and you folks still in winter's midst, to start pondering seeds, garden plots and the likes.  Personally, I now have spinach, beets and sweet green peas sprouting and carrots on the way.  Also, the spring garden is already being planned.  Good stuff.  You can never have too many fresh veggies and fruits to suit me.  

Pumpkin Carving Time!

   I am probably the only person who looks at pumpkins as foodstuffs instead of decorations this time of year.  Mark came home with a huge pumpkin because the store had them and he was shopping.  If it is there...he buys it...whatever its is.  So, I got a pumpkin.  That is all fine and dandy except it is a wee bit early in the season and, well, this pumpkin was obviously in cold storage.  As soon as he brought it in the house, the thing started sweating.  Umm, a sweating pumpkin is not a good thing...at all.  When this happens, it means that the pumpkin will be rotted within the week.  There was nothing to do except salvage my prize!  Let the pumpkin carving begin!

  Son has an odd way of cutting the pumpkins for me to cook.  Without cutting the top or bottom, he makes about a dozen slices on the sides.  Then the top is cut out and each slice is merely plucked from the pumpkin.  Most of the seeds stay inside and he claims that it is easier.  Who am I to argue the point if he is doing the cutting?  Once Son pulled off a few of the slices, he was amused to find a plant growing inside of the pumpkin.  In fact, several of the seeds had sprouted!  This was yet another sign that our fine, fat friend would have withered before Halloween. 

  Now, the pumpkin is cut, cooked, pureed and stored in the freezer.  Two gallons of pumpkin puree is ready to be used in baking or cooking of some sort.  Mark has strict instructions to buy me another pumpkin from a roadside stand around mid October!  No more grocery store pumpkins that have been in cold storage!  It worked out alright, though, as now I have lots of yummy things to make!

Now, They've Done It!

  Well, I normally claim that animals are far smarter than humans.  Critters have a natural survival instinct that does not leave them time to meddle in other's affairs.  They do their thing and let others do theirs.  That is the way things should be but humans always have to be nosy....and bossy....and greedy.  Critters have got it down pat...at least, some do.

  Along about mid-morning, I thought it wise to bring Son a cooling drink as he had been working on the pier again.  It is hot work and I can no longer help him.  He was appreciative and as I was waiting to fetch his glass back up the hillside, I noticed something amiss.  Thousands of hickory nuts were strewn across the lower section of the yard.  Odd! Hickory nuts should not be falling for a few months yet and we had no storms to knock them from the trees.  This was a mystery that required investigating.  I assured Son that I would not venture too far and set off on my mystery-solving party.

  As near as I can tell, the nuts were knocked down by hungry critters whether raccoons or squirrels (or both)!  It appeared that some of the nuts had the green outer shell gnawed a bit before being discarded. Obviously, the green nuts were not as tasty as the critters had thought but they were determined to find a "good" one so they kept trying and discarding.  Now, they have done it!  With the nuts knocked to the ground, they will not be fully matured.  The meat inside will wither and dry.  The critters' winter supply is going to be short.   In fact, even the nuts on the ground will be gone by then.  Tomorrow, I shall gather them and store these fine things for winter.  They will not be used as food but as fuel for the old cast iron stove.  Once hot, the hickory nuts last a long time and put out good heat.  Sorry, critters...your loss is my gain!

Free Food Is Good!

  Mark and I usually head to the pier early in the morn to catch our lunch.  With crabs and fish plentiful right now, it does not take too long before we have a meal in hand.  It appears that in a few weeks, we will be able to add shrimp to that menu, as well.  Each morning, Mark throws the net to catch bait and mullet.  I sit and fish for whatever will bite.

  This morning while throwing the net, Mark caught several small white trout.  These were about 5 inches in length so they got a reprieve!  As I slipped the small fish back into the water, I pondered several things.  What was the true name of the fish and how long before they will be large enough to eat!  Most of the white trout we catch are about 14 inches long so these two have a long ways to go before they wind up on my plate.  As for the true name, the fish are known as sand seatrout with white trout being a local term.  We call them that simply because they lack the specks that their cousins the spotted seatrout  (speckled trout) have.  These fish are mostly white with golden fins.  After their first year, they get a lavender sheen down their backs.  The lavender looks so pretty with the golden fins.  It is almost a shame to clean the fish for food!  Nah.  Free food is good and I gotta eat!

Fish Bait?

  I was pondering the lowly fish that locals around here only think of as bait.  It must be a sad day in your life when you realize that your major role is to be used to catch something bigger and better.  What does that say?  Then again, maybe it is a sad day in their lives anyway as they are caught so it really does not matter what the end result is unless they are returned to the water intact.  But still....

  That thinking got the wheels in my brain a-turning and I had to find out more about our bait of choice, Menhaden.  I have to admit, the little fish are excellent bait but that is not as far as their worth goes according to the human rating system.  The fish are used for far more things than I ever imagined.  The largest use is as fish oil.  Billions (yes, billions) of pounds each year are caught and the oil is extracted.  This oil is used in dietary supplements, in human food, in pet food and...get this...as an additive to fish food.  (The fish are caught to feed other fish?)  After the oil is removed, the rest of the fish is dried and ground into fish meal which is also added to animal food. A bit of further investigation also revealed that these little fishies are big money to those folks who create makeup and lipstick.  That shimmer and glimmer in many makeup products and lipsticks is due to added fish scales.  The Menhaden scales actually do resemble glitter! (So the next time you wear some glittery makeup, think fish.)

  The fishing for the pogies goes back a long way.  For centuries, the tiny fish were caught and used as fertilizer on farms and as food for hogs.  As fertilizer, the fish decay quickly making the soil much richer and promoting rapid growth of the plants.  Farmers of old used the fish instead of chemicals that are now dumped into the soil.  While some folks would decry that this is unsanitary, it was a far safer mode of fertilizing plants than that of today.  I have tried it...it works.  The garden did well with only a few flies in the ointment...literally.  While that saying usually means "problems", I actually had flies...coons, birds, cats, dogs, coyotes, turtles and a myriad of other critters digging up my fishy fertilizer.  So...if you try this, make sure to not use it in a garden near the house.  Once critters dig up your fishies, the stench gets pretty bad.  Also, bury them deep!  Very deep.  And wait a week or two before digging around in there.  You really do not want to dig up any surprises.  Other than that, as a fertilizer, the fish did well.  I had some of the best tomatoes that year!  

  So, in thinking about these little fish and their many, many uses, it seems to me that Menhaden need to be recognized as more important than just a fish bait.  Think of how many things revolve around their very existence and with the billions of pounds harvested each year, be thankful for that female that can produce up to 300,000 eggs per year!  She keeps things running like a well-oiled machine.  (Yeah, I went there...sorry.)  

The Empty Net

 Not only do I view the Bayou as my home, my peaceful place and my paradise, I see it as a source of sustenance.  More oft than naught, we can at least catch a few fish to supply our table. Shrimp, crabs and fish are staples to our diet since they are, not only free(!), but definitely fresh.  Seafood is still something that I can eat since I cut meats from the diet (I am semi-vegetarian).  We depend on the Bay and Bayou and it rarely fails to supply.  This evening, however, things were different.  No fish, no shrimp, nor crabs were to be found.  The net came up empty even though Mark tried.

  This lack of critters in the Bay, Bayou and surrounding area is due to the deluge of rain we have received over the past few days.  The torrential downpours dumped so much fresh water into the Bay that the salt-loving fish fled to other areas.   Most have moved off to deeper waters and will return later once the salinity rises back to an acceptable level.  

  The lack of fish also led to a lack of waterfowl.  Fish-eating birds follow fish...makes sense.  Early this morning, I noticed that nary a seabird was in the area.  Overnight, they, too, made haste to follow their food source.  No herons, egrets, ducks, seagulls nor pelicans dotted the area.  It seemed mighty strange to not hear the constant splashing of the pelicans dive-bombing the mullet.  

  It will take a few days of no rain and tide changes before the salinity is back to normal.  Then, the fish will return with the seabirds hot on their trail.  Perhaps then, I can have a nice redfish for supper!

Gifts From Nature

  Pop always used to tell us that we needed to make sure that we could find sustenance in nature.  To him, it was highly important that his kids could find food in some place other than a grocery store.  "Grow it, catch it or hunt it." was something that I remember him drilling into my head at an early age.  One of my earliest memories was going hunting with him.   Afraid that I might dally along the path, he used to tell me to hang onto his belt loop.  It was a far reach for a toddler to reach waist-high on a man that was well over six feet tall but I knew that I had better do as I was told for fear of being lost in the woods.  He showed me how to spot trails on the ground, markings on and under trees and to listen...always listen.  Then, later, I was allowed to hunt on my own and felt comfortable doing so.  I had learned from the best.  Fishing was much the same.  I was allowed to go to my grandparents' pier before I was even school.  With a canepole and can of worms in hand, I fished for whatever bit.  Once a catfish was hauled onto the pier, it became crab bait.  A piece of string and a fishhead could lure more crabs to bite than any other bait or trap!  Nary a thought was given that I might hurt myself or that an accident could happen.  If I had learned my lessons well, there was no need for fretting.  

  For the past week, I have become more aware than ever before that food is there for the taking.  There is really no reason for hunger if you only use your head.  As I wander about the Bayou and surrounding hillside, it astounds at the bounty given to us.  Just this week alone, the empty crab pots provided meals.  Three mullet, a trout, a croaker, a sheepshead and a shellcracker were all pulled from the empty (non baited) traps.  Had I thrown the fishheads back into those pots, plenty of other fish and crabs would have ventured inside to dine.  Actually, I had no intentions of using the traps to catch fish but the water provided.  Not only did the crab pots provide fish, a baited line and five minutes of time found me catching a nice sized trout!  Many more could have been taken but the one was plenty as a meal.  The point is...fish are there for the taking.

  Besides the fish, food also was obtained from the waning garden.  The last remnants of the summer/fall garden rendered enough vegetables to round out meals. (The winter garden is now in the process of being planted.)  Then, there are the wild plants that can be added to the plate.  With just a proper identification, many of what are never considered are plants that can be eaten.  It is not uncommon for me to gather wild plants to add to our meals. There is really no reason for hunger.  Grow it, catch it or hunt it.  Too many folks have never learned any basics whatsoever. Yep, we are blessed with more than we can imagine if we would only use what is given.  The gifts are there...sometimes we are just too blind to see them.

The Right Idea!

  Several times today, Mr.PJ and I made our rounds about the place.  The old dog found hog tracks in the back by the canebrake, romped through the goldenrod and waited patiently for his no-show of a friend, Mama Nutria Rat.  On each of our hikes, the constant splashing of the brown pelicans could be heard even above the brisk northeast winds.  It seemed as if there were an awful lot of the birds around the Bayou!  When we made our way to the pier, that assumption was proved correct.  While we normally have four or five of the birds that hang around the pier, nearly a hundred could be counted within view.  These birds were drawn into the Bay for some reason...but what?  Hundreds of gulls could also be seen making the dive-bombs into the rough waters.

A few casts of the net soon gave me the answer.  The birds had all followed a school of shrimp into the shallows.  It is about that time of year that shrimp make their way of into the Bay.  Each year, I am able to catch enough shrimp to feast upon just by throwing the net a few times.  So...I threw. Yep, we eat shrimp tomorrow!

  The brown pelicans and assorted gulls and terns all follow the massive schools of shrimp.  For the next couple of months, the birds will dine upon the shrimp and fatten themselves for the leaner times of winter.  Their splashdowns will be heard, not only during the day, but all throughout the night as well.  The pelicans will hunt by moonlight if necessary while shrimp are in the shallow waters of the Bay and Bayou.  I, too, will shrimp by moonlight!  For the next month or so, shrimping will be of utmost importance.  Most locals do not pass up the chance for catching the free shrimp that others purchase at an exorbitant price.  Yep, that is just one of the perks of living on the Bayou.  Cast the net a few times each night and fill the freezers with food for the next few months.  If nothing else, we eat good here on the Bayou!  Fish, shrimp, crabs....all free for the taking.  Yum!  Those pelicans have the right idea!

Treated Like A Queen!

    It is not often that I have someone come to the Bayou and serve me.  More oft than not, I do the cooking.  Mark does cook occasionally and when he does, it is phenomenal but usually I do the food preparation.  I do not see myself as a "good" cook but at least what I prepare is edible and at times tasty.  I prefer home-cooked meals over fast food or any other type restaurant fare.  If the food is cooked here, I can control just what goes into a dish and there are no nasty surprises to be found.

  With my son and daughter-in-law visiting the Little Bayou House, I have been treated to a life of luxury.  They have prepare most, if not all, of the meals that have been served.  Both of them are extraordinary cooks!  They not only create the tastiest of dishes but the presentation is stunning!  (That is one of the parts that I am lacking!  While my food meets the need it is not pretty.)  Yesterday evening, they went out to dine at a really nice restaurant.  When they returned both of them were fully impressed with the meals they had eaten and decided to replicate the food for us.  Tonight, we dined upon some of the most delightfully tasty and beautiful foods to ever grace our dining room table!  Wow!  I felt like a queen!  How nice to have such wonderful kids!  I am blessed beyond words.

 

Not Just Another Pretty Face

  Years and years ago, Pop tried to teach us all to be survivors.  "To survive, you have to know things.  You may not necessarily need to be book smart but you do need to know things."  For a while, that made no sense whatsoever to my feeble brain but, at his insistence, I kept listening and learning.  I am glad I did and I am still learning.  Now, his words not only make sense but seem brilliant.  Not every life skill can be gleaned from the pages of a book. Some need to be hands-on knowledge.  There is a lot to be said about those hand-me-down teachings from long ago.  I find it a bit humorous  and a lot ironic that "science" is suddenly saying "Your grandparents were right!" about so many things.  Tidbits of information that we could have possessed merely by listening...really listening...are now suddenly all the rage. Books are published daily with "Grandma's remedies", "essential oils" are a huge fad after being used for centuries and "survival" classes have no vacancies.  Why? All because we were too all fired ready to pass on the teachings of ones like Pop to "move forward with progress".  Yep, now that progress is telling us we should have listened.  We should have learned.  Didn't?  Oh, no problem!  Pay us big money so you can learn what used to be common knowledge.  It seems like a lot of folks got a little too big for their britches, so to speak.  So, for whatever it is worth, I try to pass along information occasionally.  To bad others do not pay heed.  A lot of good stuff is going the wayside.

Henbit starting to bud.

  These thoughts plowed through the old brain today as I was snipping a bundle of Brussels Sprout leaves for lunch. No, my great tip of the day is not that you can eat the leaves as well as the sprouts but rather about another plant most folks deem as a weed.  Henbit, Henbit Dead Nettle, Dratted Weed or whatever you wish to call it, the plant is edible as well as quite pretty as a wildflower.   Pop always called it "Henbit" so that is the name that stuck in my head all of these years.  "Learn what plants are edible and you will never go hungry."  Good advice, Pop!  If ever need be, I know that I can gather henbit along with about a thousand other plants and survive.  I will have food, albeit food that some folks think of as unconventional food.  Henbit is a great plant to have about the place.  It is ready to grow in any given soil and climate.  To go along with its attractive appearance, it has sort of a peppery flavor making it a great addition to salads.(Henbit is in the mint family but to me, it has more of a grassy/mustard green flavor)  It can also be cooked as any other greens or added to stir fries.  Both the leaves and the flowers are edible!  Think of how pretty this would be in a salad at your next dinner party!  One word of caution though, in herbal remedies, henbit is used as a laxative.  You might want to hold off overeating it!

  Now another good point about this so-called weed.  Honeybees love it and that, my friends, is a great thing for us.  With the decline in the honeybee population, having a clean bunch of flowers makes for happy bees.  Since I prefer that no harmful chemicals touch my gardens, the henbit plants (and all other plants) produce pure, clean pollen and nectar.  Another important lesson from Pop which is just now making news..."Take care of the bees.  Without them, there won't be much left.  Bees take care of the plants and so take care of us. No bees, no us."  Pop was a smart man and it did not take a lot of book learning for him to get that way.

Hey! I am your best friend! Give me FOOD!

  Happy New Year!  It rained...and rained...and rained.  Then!  Then, it rained some more.  At times, the storms were so severe that I could not hear anything save the water pelting the rooftop.  Thunder, high winds and torrential rains seem to have settled in for the duration.  Once it started yesterday, it seems that the system forgot to move on out of the way.  Last night, it poured.  Today, it poured.  And now. it is doing the same.  Nonstop, torrential rains seem to be the norm.

  Since I could not get out to the pier today, I sat looking at some of the pictures that I took just before this storm settled in on the Bayou.  One made me giggle since it was of Cinderella, the pelican.  She (or he? I am not sure which) is such a friendly thing and will follow me around just begging for a handout.  The day of the photograph, Cinderella was almost too friendly.  I had just gone down to make sure the fishing gear was secure when I turned to find Cinderella following a few steps behind me.  I sat down on the bench to have a chat with the bird.   "Well, now!  I suppose you are wanting your lunch."  I said to the pelican.  I had no intentions of throwing the net but the big, sad eyes made me change my mind.  I got up to retrieve the net.  The bird followed.  As I tossed the net, Cinderella stayed right with me.  The net came back empty.  Poor Cinderella!  No lunch for her!

  I sat down again and watched as the bird sidled up along side of me.  I put out my hand to show that I had no minnows and the silly bird nigh on snapped off my fingers!  It is a good thing I was quick handed!  I pulled back my fingers just in the nick of time!  SNAP, closed with the bill!  Ok, so the bird thought my fingers were little fish!  Not good!  Now, every time I wiggle my fingers, Cinderella and Gus come running up the pier.  They both want minnows!  My bait bucket will never be safe again!

So That's Why!

  I am one of those weird people that ponder the most unusual things. Things like why did someone ever give a critter a name like "elephant" or "mouse" or "butterfly"?  What possessed the early folks to call a frog by the name "frog" or owl by the name "owl"?  There has to be some logical reason.  Sure, most of those are common names and the critter has some unpronounceable scientific name but why?  What gives? Sometimes there is a bit of logic, I guess...be it an appearance or action that dictated the name but others are just pure made up words.  Case in point.."aardvark" or "platypus".  Yep, I think those are there just to confuse us.  The name for today's critter is easily explained and you will see why in the photographs!

  Out on the back porch, there sits a small table and two chairs.  Mark had used these, today, as he boiled a bunch of crabs.  Obviously, he left a bit of "crab smell" on the tray and table afterwards because flies were quickly gathering.  I was just about to snatch the tray and give it a good scrubbing when I was halted in my tracks.  It is not good to disturb anyone in the midst of prayers.  A Praying Mantis was also on the tray and appeared to be praying for (or giving thanks for) its next meal.  As I watched, the little mantis actually tilted its head skyward and appeared fully to be praying.  At that exact moment, a fat fly landed on the tray next to the mantis!  Had God answered a bug's prayer?  Hey, why not? God made the bugs so who says they cannot pray to him?

  The Praying Mantis does appear to be praying with its "hands" folded in front of it but that action of looking skyward did, indeed, make it appear that the bug believed in some higher power.  Perhaps the mantis could teach humans a thing or two about being thankful.  It seems as if a lot of us have let that go the wayside.