Bunny in Garden Problem Solved

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For some reason this year, we had (notice past tense) a horrible problem with bunnies eating the leaves off of our green bean bushes. They wouldn't eat the lettuce (which is right next to the green beans), or the white clover (which is very plentiful throughout our yard) or any other plant in our gardens. They would only eat the green bean leaves. While they didn't kill any of the bean plants, they ate the leaves off of the plants, so that only the stems were left. Lucky for us, the beans recovered, but we knew we needed to do something to stop “Thumper” from killing the plants.

What we finally ended up doing to stop this from happening was to go to one of those “big box” stores and we bought enough decorative border fencing that would go completely around the outside of our raised gardens. Then we took some plastic window screens that we had in storage, and cut into 12 inch wide strips. We then attached the strips of window screen to the border fence using twist ties. Problem solved!! It is hardly noticeable to look at and the Bunnies have not bothered our garden since then.

Another way that would work, is to buy lattice decorative border fencing and put that up around your garden.

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)

Gravy Mix Recipes...Make Your Own

When I was growing up, having gravy at every meal was an expected thing. It was poured onto everything...potatoes, biscuits, vegetables, noodles, you name it and gravy was on it. Which was fine except for the meals when we would either grill out, or at breakfast when no meat had been fried. When those meals happened, we used a gravy made from one of the following recipes that my Grandma had for making gravy mixes. Personally, I like the chicken one best, but the beef one is pretty good too especially if used for a base to make a stew.

[Shirley's Notes:]

• You can use bouillon cubes rather than the loose granules. To do so, substitute the three Tablespoons of granules with 6 cubes. You will need to smash the cubes and break up the chunks before adding them to the mix.

Chicken Gravy Mix

1-1/3 cups of nonfat powdered milk

¾ cup all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons chicken bouillon granules

¼ teaspoon ground sage

1/8 teaspoon ground thyme

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

To Use:

• In a medium size sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
• Combine ½ cup of gravy mix with butter and slowly add 1 cup water, whisking mixture continually.
• Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until thick and smooth.

Beef Gravy Mix

1-1/3 cups of nonfat powdered milk

¾ cup all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons beef bouillon granules

1/8 teaspoon ground thyme

¼ teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon sage

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

To Use:

• In a medium size sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
• Combine ½ cup of gravy mix with butter and slowly add 1 cup water, whisking mixture continually.
• Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until thick and smooth.

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)