Tasty Tuesday~ Homemade Southern Sweet Tea

Southern Sweet Tea  

 Welcome to Tasty Tuesday at Dandelion House! Your go- to spot for trying something new, healthy, and frugal ( with a pinch of pretty) each week in your homestead kitchen. 

Boy howdy it's been hot and humid along the eastern seashore these last few days. They say water and drinks like Gatorade are the best for keeping yourself hydrated during very high temperature days, (even if you aren't exerting yourself ). Keeping hydrated is very important but there's nothing quite like an old fashioned glass of Iced Sweet Tea with a slice of lemon to quench your thirst on a hot, sticky summer day.

Did you know that Sweet Tea has it's origins in South Carolina? I always thought it was from Texas because my relatives from there always drank it and I grew up with it too because my Dad was a Texan.  It's a porch sit'n drink in my mind, but our back deck will have to do. Today's Tasty Tuesday recipe comes from the blog Dolly ( one of our Farmgirl Friday hostesses) is Cooking! 

 Dolly shared her husband Chuck's, recipe for Southern Sweet Tea along with the history behind this old fashioned summer drink on this weeks Farmgirl Friday Blog hop!

Chuck's Recipe for One Gallon of Sweet Tea

 3 family size tea bags

Put into a pot with the cold water

Bring this just to a boil

  Remove from the heat immediately and let it sit to steep for about 5 minutes.

Put 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar into the pitcher

Add the hot tea mixture to the pitcher that has the sugar in it

Stir while hot to dissolve sugar thoroughly

Finish adding water to the fill the pitcher

Let sit on counter for a short while maybe even up to an hour, it just seems to taste better if you do this.

Refrigerate

Add ice and lemon if you like 

Be sure to visit Dolly to get the full scoop on Southern Sweet Tea AND more fabulous down home recipes from Dolly! ( Pies, Cakes, Southern Fried Chicken and more yumminess)!

Thank you all for the wonderful bounty you share each week on the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop! 

Dip into The Farmgirl Friday Recipe Box when you're looking for an old fashioned favorite or a home- cooked meal made from scratch with love. You'll find recipes from the best homestead kitchens, inspiration for setting a beautiful table with all the charm of a farmhouse kitchen PLUS tips for stocking and organizing your pantry. 680 now following! 

Farmgirl Friday # 116, Dirty Finger Nails, Stiff Muscles and Cows.

 

  Welcome friends! It's week # 116 of the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop! Here it is just about mid - summer and I've finally got most of my planting and mulching done. I've been on a dead run for the last 7 days in preparation for my first ever garden tour and I

m almost ready.  I'm exhausted, sore, and I'm beginning to wonder if my hands and feet will ever be pink again! Between you and me, I wouldn't have it any other way! A massage and a pedicure  sure does sound good right about now...What would be even better is if you could all come!

  Have you ever hosted your own garden tour or garden party? How did it go? I'd love to hear about it so leave me a note on the garden gate on your way out.

I look forward to each and every entry you share so keep em comin'! It's so fun to learn new things... This week I learned about Miniature Cows. I had NO IDEA they existed until MaryJane posted about one of her very own bovines " now pregnant" mini jersey cows

Mary Jane and Etta Jane.

  I just adore cows. It's the eyes that get me every time! Oh if I had an extra one or two acres of pasture in my backyard I'd be looking for a mini cow of my very own. Oh, yes I would! 

In the meantime I'll have to live vicariously through all of my Farmgirl Friday friends and MaryJanesFarm! 

 Join us for another fabulous week of farmgirl fun! 

 Bring on the cows and other farmgirly things! 

Your Farmgirl Friday Hostesses~  

Heidi of My Simple Country Living 
and White Wolf Summit Farmgirl Blog
Dolly of Hibiscus House and Dolly is Cooking and me of course!

 Now, it's your turn to link up for your weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!
 Here are the rules for the Farmgirl/guy Blog Hop!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

2). Leave your entry in the  Linky tools space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.

3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!

4.) Enter up to three entries per hop! 
 DON'T BE SHY~  

Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop! If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too! 

As always, thank you for your continued participation! New friends and followers are ALWAYS welcome!

 DON'T BE SHY~  
Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop! If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too! 
As always, thank you for your continued participation and welcome new friends and followers!


Don't forget to grab your FEATURED FARMGIRL BUTTON if you've been featured!

FLOWERS AND FOOD: EASY Perennial Gardens for the Suburban Homesteader

 So you love flowers but you also want to grow some veggies too! No problem. Gone are the days when one would separate growing space for vegetables, herbs and flowers. These days suburban homesteaders are tucking in fruits and vegetables amongst the flowers to make the most out of their growing space and season. This makes good sense because sun loving flowers and some of our most common vegetables ( and some fruits)  have similar growing requirements. Good draining soil enriched with compost or organic materials, at least 6 hours of sunlight and room to grow! 

 

What you don't see in the above photo is my zucchini, rhubarb, cucumbers and blueberry shrubs, but  they're right at home they're tucked into the flowers. Did you know that this is National Blueberry Month?  Blueberries are ripe for the pickin' here in New England from Maine all the way down to south coast. Blueberries are one of my very favorite summer fruits.Who doesn't love blueberries? If you don't please leave me a note. We need to talk! Seriously.  I love them sprinkled on top of yogurt, oatmeal, in smoothies, pies, and crisps and of course  muffins and pancakes! As you can tell, I love them mostly for how they taste in just about everything. Did I mention Blueberry Jam swathed on top of a crisp piece of sour dough toast? I'll be back in a minute... I'm hungry!

THAT'S BETTER!

  When I saw that our local Home Depot had Blueberry Bushes for sale this year I bought three of them and put them in an unfinished section of my largest perennial garden knowing I would be completing this week which I did at dusk last night! Oh, was I ever a site what with the sweat, dirt and black mulch stuck to my body and in my hair but anyway... I was in FARMGIRL heaven!

Right about mid photo where the roses in the green tubs are is where the unfinished part of the garden started. Can you see the three little blueberry bushes right below them? I placed them at the back of the border. They will get between 4 and 6 feet high eventually.  If you look down the center of the photo you'll see that there is a color pattern ( albeit a loose one) that I aimed to repeat in the new section.  Because the lower section of the garden is narrower than the top half I planted shrubs and flowers that will be about the same height through out the entire garden.

 

I added more Double Red Knock Out roses and Cat Mint ( Walkers Low ) but I used different plants in the new section for splashes of yellow, pink and orange. In the top photo I planted Yarrow, Black Eyed Susan,  Pink and Orange Cone Flower for splashes of bright sunny colors in mid to late summer. All sun loving herbs and perennials that come back every year!

To continue with the pinks I also planted some Phlox. 

Happy Returns Daylily

And Daylilies for more yellow... This variety has a soft yellow flower that smells very much like a gardenia and it also a variety that re-blooms if you pinch off the old flower head. I like that! 

Catmint (  Nepeta ,Walkers Low ) will bloom all summer and if you cut  the dead stems it will bloom again into the fall.

 I topped off the finished design with 3 inches of Cape Cod Black Mulch. Planting in mid-summer can be stressful on new plants that need to be watered more regularly. The mulch will help keep those tender roots moist and I just love the way the colors pop against that dark background!

Well, if you made it to the bottom of this post, THANK YOU for reading. Your reward for making it through are a few garden tips from little ole' me.

 Some gardeners doubt themselves when choosing plants and worry too much about companion planting, color combinations, what goes with what etc. I say phooey to all that!

• Plant what you love! I truly believe your plants know it when you love them and will perform better for you.
• If you fall in love with a plant at the nursery, study the labels for plant requirements before you get to the cash register.
• Key things to look for: Soil and sun/shade requirements and size at maturity. If you are still unsure ask for help. I've been known to ask other shoppers if they know something about a particular plant I am coveting! Just yesterday a woman saved me from buying Cleome which is a major re-seeder that I didn't want in my garden scheme. Not the one I just finished anyway!

My final tip is this:

Have fun! 

It's YOUR GARDEN and the only person it has to please and fortify is YOU! 

Love and happy gardening!

Deb ( who needs to go take some Aleve now )