Big Trees Down and others Trimmed

 Living on a rather big property, constantly asks for upkeep.

Trees do grow and we're now living here 31 years... 

Photo taken on October 15, 2021 and showing our Live Oak behind our home.

At one time, after an ice storm, a huge branch got ripped off, due to all the weight...

It never again had a 'good' shape since then.

See two links below post.

Our balcony's drain always got clogged up by catkins in the spring, then leaves and acorns in the summer and fall.

It also does stain the balustrade and lounge...

Bags full of leaves and acorns and one needs to scrub hard for removing the stains.

The other large oak tree you see over the roof, is across from our bay window area and between our home and that of the neighbors, on our side of the vinyl picket fence...

Several years ago lightning did cause a huge limb from the top section to come down; barely missing the neighbor's home.

Here you see how close to home, picket fence and everything else that V-shaped oak tree is!

To the right of it, right above the rose arbor, is our Holly tree that we want to save...

Our Southern Magnolia in the front (Magnolia Grandiflora) needed to be trimmed up in order to let the equipment pass by...

Photo is from October 15 with picket fence visible to the right.

Monday, November 1, around 8:15 AM this huge Live Oak had come down... It was easy as there was plenty of room for it to fall in its full length.

Quite a trunk size and huge root system.

Photo taken from balcony with one leaf from our Florentine Fig, shown bottom left...

Here, Pieter is standing on top of its trunk, for giving you an idea of its proportion.

Lots of wood did get hauled off...

After trimming off some branches from the huge Southern Magnolia, the truck with cherry picker could pass by...

Standing in our front porch...

One can tell that our exterior pressure washing and painting are the next jobs!

Literally branch by branch all of the tall oak's branches got taken down...

Branches stretched as far as above our roof.

By using a rope, via a pulley that got tightened onto a strong branch, the branches got guided down.

In the front to the right is our Oak Leaf Hydrangea.

Working at quite a height and being careful for not damaging the Holly tree next to this huge oak and the Japanese Magnolia tree visible to the right here. The Southern Magnolia is behind the vinly picket fence, not yet trimmed up...

Lots of limbs have already landed via the rope on a pulley and are below.

You see Pieter talking to the man from 🌳BUCKEYE PREFERRED SERVICES LLC

To the left you see the Southern Magnolia, center is the Japanese Magnolia and to the right we are freeing up our evergreen Holly tree.

Bird baths have been brought towards the patio area...

Those branches remained on the ground as a buffer for next days heavier limb parts to land on...

To be continued next day.

Related link:

Oh we TRIED HARD to have Jacarandas and Roses | previous post where we just had planted the Live Oak Tree...

{RARE Icicles in Our Garden} | previous post by me

{Our Garden White & Icy Today as Snowstorm Slams South} | previous post by me

Dad Grew Perfect WITLOF or Belgian Endive

 No wonder that this is one of my favorite veggies!

Yes, about seven years ago I did a post about Belgian Endive Salad (see link below) but then I did not have the negatives scanned.

Also my youngest sister Gerd Van den Munckhof did scan some old black and white photos from Mom & Dad's Estate since then.

Bet most of you have NO IDEA how this WHITE GOLD is being produced?

Strange Vegetable grown in the dark - Belgian Endive Cultivation - Golden Chicory Farm and Harvest (short informative YouTube video)

This shows how Dad was digging in the roots for their 220 chill hours, in December of 1956.

Those roots are being required to grow in a dark environment.

Dad did this outside, this was before he had his first greenhouse built.

The greenhouse to the left is from a neighbor.

December 1972, from my scanned negatives.

This shows Mom setting in those Belgian Endive roots for being grown in the dark.

With the two wheel wagon, Dad has dumped the roots along the section to be set in.

Tedious work!

Dad on his knees, doing the very same and to the right the 2 wheel wagon and part of the 4 wheel one.

Labor intensive!

Dad shown here using his Agria Baby 1100 a unicycle degree milling machine with single axle.

For that time quite an invention! Click link for seeing one in working...

These photos are not good, my very first Kodak camera!

It almost looks like Dad used some straw to cover it up...

Can't ask my Dad anymore; wish I'd had these negatives scanned before he died on June 30, 2019.

Photos got scanned by my sister.

These are from 1973 where Dad used his Kramer tractor and the 2-wheel wagon behind it and the 4-wheel wagon.

Showing wooden crates with the dug up roots that now have grown the Belgian Endive on the top.

Quite a harvest...

For cleaning them and preparing them for the auction, the job could be done indoors.

Here Dad did bring in some of the wooden crates with Belgian Endive into the greenhouse.

With some plastic curtains and the use of a HiLo petroleum heater, they kept it more 'pleasant' during the cold winter days!

Too bad that this is not in color as the paper used is BLUE, which perfectly does set off the white, now cleaned Belgian Endives. The outer leaves are being removed and also properly cut off.

Mom took this photo of Dad holding two wooden crates with cleaned and weighted, ready for auction, Belgian Endive.

It was Dad's pride, he always loved growing them and as with most veggies, he grew them well and with excellent quality. Not loose but rather dense heads.

Did any of you KNOW how this special veggie is being grown?

Related link:

{Belgian Endive Salad with Chia Seeds} | previous post with my favorite recipe

Working with my Kodak Negative and Slide Scanner | previous post

Nature's Gold | How it is done anno 2022 the modern way!

Honey Mushrooms or Armillaria Mellea Recipe

 Of course we do see lots of mushrooms in our garden!

Honey Mushrooms or Armillaria mellea in our garden. 

Showing also the underside with its lamellae.

There used to be some trees on our front lawn...

Still the roots are below the lawn and that's where toadstools love to grow, as they need some cellulose and lignin for food.

Love their fragrance when the Honey Mushrooms are fresh and good quality!

Next morning I did collect some for preparing a Honey Mushroom risotto...

Maybe they were even better yesterday? Their caps have a little curled up now.

Pieter did gather the other cluster and I've already boiled them, will freeze those for later usage!

Still looking very fresh and good!

Showing you a good detail of their stem.

For preparing in a dish, we ONLY use the caps!

They have to get boiled for about 3 minutes and then drained.

Using one of my baskets, for gathering fresh food.

Here it is, except for the melon in the back... 😏

Those are all the fresh ingredients needed.

Oh, a great tip I once read is to keep pine nuts in the freezer to keep them from going rancid.

After trimming off the Honey Mushroom stems, add water and boil for 3 minutes.

Then pour into strainer to drain and cut into smaller pieces, set aside.

In a non-stick pan over medium heat do dry roast the pine nuts.

Set aside.

For the entire bag of 454 g of arborio rice, I use a bit over 2 pints of water to boil with just one Porcini tablet. If not available, you can substitute with vegetable bouillon.

Chop the two onions, cut the Italian parsley for having it ready towards the end.

You add enough olive oil into a large enough non-stick skillet for stir frying the two onions.

Add the arborio rice and stir till the rice has been fully covered. 

Then pour half of the small bottle of white wine over it, while stirring.

Start adding the hot bouillon and keep stirring.

It will take about 20 minutes in total preparation time.

When most of the liquid has been absorbed, add the pine nuts, the Italian parsley and the Honey mushrooms and stir again till all liquid is fully absorbed.

We ate ours with baby arugula with a bit of Agave nectar whisked into white Modena vinegar (Trader Joe's) as dressing.

 We dusted the risotto with Trader Joe's Pecorino Romano & Parmesan blend grated cheese with only 2% cholesterol and fat. Sodium is low too with only 3%. See FRESH Made Pasta Sauce below with image.

Husband Pieter liked it very much and so did I; will prepare it more often!

In this photo there is no grated cheese added as I wanted to show the other ingredients clearly... 😉

Hope you find yourself some Honey Mushrooms...

Related link:

{Toadstools Digest Lignin in Nature} | previous post showing Honey Mushrooms or Armillarea mellea

{FRESH Made Pasta Sauce} | previous post showing the grated cheese