roosters beak

pico de gallo, yes it is true we harvested our first tomatoes yesterday and today. tabitha roasted one of our recently butchered chickens and i suggested that i make salsa (pico de gallo style) and have roast chicken tacos. this occasion was one where we produced most of the meal on site. tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, chicken, sour cream, milk, cheese and a sliced cucumber on the side were all home grown right here at the pile of omelays. what a great feeling of accomplishment.

onto further accomplishments, i finished the pour on the root cellar. i have another week or so of curing time before i can get back at it. i also finished tearing up the floor in the bathroom. it looks like hell right now but we are one step closer to a new beautiful bathroom. the new tile is on order from home depot. i tried to buy local but none of the local shops carried`our choice. as an interim solution for showering i made a makeshift outdoor solar shower. 100 feet of black hose concentrically draped on the roof and sent to a shower head with cold water mixed via two hose bibs and a ball valve for abrupt on and off capability. eventually we'll have an outdoor bath and shower but the piles of dirt that will re-cover the root cellar must be moved out of the way first.

saturday i plan to get the bath tub ready and tear out the old, now leaking from several cracks, bath/shower. the new tub needs some cleaning and slight repair of the surface. we will also paint the cast iron underside and decorate with kids hand prints.

the garden is really coming to the front. i'll try to get a panorama together tomorrow. tabitha pickled beets yesterday almost 12 hours straight. that was about 1/3 of the beets that we have in the garden. the tomatoes should really start cranking here in the next few days. the cucumbers are about to burst at the seams. there are so many little ones just a day or so away. summer is here, the true tell-tale-sign was having fresh pico de gallo. i wish you could be here to taste the first fruits of summer at the pile of omelays.