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The Green Thumb Mama Gardening, preserving, frugal living, and more!
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First cold morning and first fire in the cookstove. I love this time of year. I love the sound of the wood crackling and...
10/24/2026

First cold morning and first fire in the cookstove. I love this time of year. I love the sound of the wood crackling and how brisk the air is. I live by the seasons. And I can feel my body and mind leaning into this next season of rest.

Ya'll.I am so sick of canning. SO.SICK.OF.IT.Do I have to do it? No. So I guess it's all on me. This is it for me. For a...
10/23/2026

Ya'll.

I am so sick of canning. SO.SICK.OF.IT.

Do I have to do it? No. So I guess it's all on me. This is it for me. For a long while. I still have tomatoes in the freezer and that is where they will live for a few months.

Sad story. One of our turkeys got trampled on by his brothers. After realizing he wasn't going to get better, we decided we needed to harvest him and put him out of his misery. Poor guy. So, the turkey pot pie filling I was planning on canning in November after our turkeys came back from processing, was moved to today. Like always, I debone the breasts and thighs and leave the carcass and any remaining meat in a roaster for 24 hours. So, the thighs and breasts were cut into pieces and evening distributed into 4 jars. (Also, LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THAT MEAT! Heritage breed, pasture raised, baby. Gorgeous.) On top of the meat, each jar got 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon of thyme. Then the layers began, potato, peas (frozen from , link in the comments!!), onion, carrots, and then broth from the roasting turkey carcass. All the meat and veggies will release their own liquid, so I didn't fill the broth to the top. Did I need to add broth? No, not really. But I like how it flavors the pot pie filling and it adds some nutrients. Degassed, clean rims, add lids and rings.

Pressure canned 90 minutes at 12 psi (for my elevation). I also threw in a photo of my canning helpers. They are so helpful by always being in my way when I'm trying to work in the kitchen.

Following up with the experiment I tried -- tomato powder. A couple days ago, I put the skins from the tomatoes I used ...
10/19/2026

Following up with the experiment I tried -- tomato powder. A couple days ago, I put the skins from the tomatoes I used to make Rotel into my dehydrator to try something I saw online once. 12 hours at 135 degrees F was the right time and temp. They came out very dry and crispy. Kind of like a tomato chip....and I suppose if you're really hardcore, you could have salted these and eat them as a snack. But I'm not really into that. I put them in the blender and ground them as far as I could get them. Not a uniform grind, but it'll do. I got about 2 cups of tomato powder. I'll use this to flavor things like soups, stews, maybe even taco meat. Who knows? Labeled and put in my spice cabinet, I'm excited to give it a go.

As I mentioned the other day, I harvested the luffa that looked big enough to harvest to avoid losing them to frost. Fro...
10/17/2026

As I mentioned the other day, I harvested the luffa that looked big enough to harvest to avoid losing them to frost. Frost has been predicted in certain areas of our valley and I don't want to take any chances. Unfortunately, according to the internet, you can't just dry a green luffa in your house. It will mold and rot. I have no experience with this, so I decided to trust other people who have shared their experiences.

Step one was to cut the ends off the green luffas and slice vertically, shallowly, down each one. This allows moisture to release. Save any seeds you want NOW, because after they bake, they will be unviable. I arranged them on a baking tray and put them in a 350 degree F oven. A couple of the luffas were not ripe or webbed, and you can see the difference in the 2nd and 3rd photo.

Step two I baked them for 20 minutes, then turned them over and baked for another 20 minutes. You'll be able to tell they are ready because they release liquid and look pretty soft.

Step three.....I had to wait until they were cool to touch before p*eling them. Did I? No. I burned my fingers. I'm ok. I learned my lesson. Luffas are heat bombs.

Step four you p*el the skin off the luffa and begin rinsing under water, squeezing the goopy stuff and seeds out. Once the luffa is goop-free and all the seeds are out, then you set out to dry.

The luffas that were not ripe ended up cooking like zucchini and were total mush. You know, you can eat luffa when it's small and tender like this. I guess. I've read. I don't wanna. I want sponges! SPONGES!!

This was fun. I have a lot more to do, so I'm doing about 5-6 each day, as time allows.

Today I canned a "Rotel" type tomato product. I used a recipe I found online that called for tomatoes, celery, onion and...
10/16/2026

Today I canned a "Rotel" type tomato product. I used a recipe I found online that called for tomatoes, celery, onion and green bell pepper. I skinned the tomatoes like I did the other day, put the flesh in a big pot, diced up the other veggies and brought it all to a boil. Jarred, degassed, lids, rings and I pressured canned for 25 minutes at 12 PSI.

I thought I'd also try an experiment I heard about using the discarded skins. Take the skins and put them in the dehydrator until thoroughly dried, then run in a blender to make tomato powder. Apparently you can use the tomato powder to add flavor to all kinds of dishes. So I'm giving it a whirl. I put them in the dehydrator at 135 degrees F and started out with 12 hours. Will adjust time depending on how fast or slow they dry. I'm not sure I would do this with any tomato I didn't grow myself. Mine are spray-free, grown organically. So I would caution doing this with tomatoes you might buy at the store, or fruit stand that isn't explicitly organic and spray-free. My opinion.

As of this canning batch, I am done canning for the next month. I still have frozen tomatoes to turn into sauce, but my pantry is now at max capacity and I can make tomato sauce during the winter with my frozen tomatoes, when I have the room. My next batch of canning will come after our turkeys are processed, end of November. I plan on canning a bunch of turkey pot pie filling (minus the thickener). And then.....THEN....I WILL BE DONE!!!!

Hallelujah!

Welp, the forecast is calling for a "frost warning", so I am taking no chances with my luffa. I picked all the big, matu...
10/15/2026

Welp, the forecast is calling for a "frost warning", so I am taking no chances with my luffa. I picked all the big, mature luffa. Some were already beginning to brown, so they are continuing to dry on my back patio under the ceiling fans.

The rest? Well, I'm going to spend the next week drying them in my oven. I have luffa as long as my arms! I don't wanna lose them. I have never done this before, so I consulted the internet and found that I can dry them in my oven at a low temperature. So that's what I'm gonna do.

These luffas will last us a long time, PLUS, I have some holiday plans for some as well. We had a luffa dry completely and we've been using it. We cut it in half, and got the seeds out. One half is being used in the shower, and the other half is in the kitchen. I absolutely love it! I really enjoyed growing these, and I love the idea of having all natural sponges in my house.

I had a 7 gallon bucket full of ripe tomatoes and I decided rather than freezing them for sauce, I would make some crush...
10/15/2026

I had a 7 gallon bucket full of ripe tomatoes and I decided rather than freezing them for sauce, I would make some crushed tomatoes with roasted garlic and Italian herbs. I started by washing and slicing each tomato in half, scooping out the inside seeds, and placing them face down on a large baking sheet. They went into the oven at 500 degrees F for about 5 minutes. The p*els came off easily and the inside of the tomato went into a pot.

While I was doing all of that, I roasted up 3 heads of garlic from my garden. 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. Once cooled I squeezed the garlic out and chopped it up with my small manual food processor and added it to the pot of tomatoes. I then added dried Italian herb blend and heated it to boiling.

Ladled into clean jars with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, I degassed and placed in my pressure canner. The reason I pressure canned is due to using fresh garlic, rather than garlic powder. These pint jars processed for 25 minutes (as if I was canning sauce).

Next up will be a Rotel type crushed tomatoes that will have onions and green bell peppers, also from my garden.

10/14/2026

🛒 **LET’S TALK AZURE HAUL!** 📦

Once a month, I place an order with Azure Standard and pick up my groceries at our local Azure Drop. This month’s haul was a little bit of everything, but I was mainly stocking up on **cleaning products, school lunch items, and some of those pantry staples I just like to have on hand.** ❤️

One of the things I really love about Azure is that I can buy things I’m already using in bulk and have them delivered to a local Drop without having to run all over town looking for them.

And if you’re thinking, *“That sounds great, but the Drop time doesn’t work for me…”* — or maybe you work during that time, don’t have a vehicle, don’t drive, have little ones that make pickup difficult, or just can’t make it to a Drop — **Azure also has a Drop to Home program!** 🏡

Depending on your area, you may be able to have your Azure order delivered right to your home. That can make Azure a much more accessible option for families who can’t make a traditional Drop work.

If you’re new to Azure Standard, you can use **my affiliate link to get started:**
👉 https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=5a46e10ae5

And if you’ve never ordered from Azure before, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned about ordering, Drops, and how it all works!

What would be on **YOUR** Azure haul? 👇

This weekend, I had 4 glorious days all to myself since my husband took our daughter to go see his parents. I'm took adv...
10/12/2026

This weekend, I had 4 glorious days all to myself since my husband took our daughter to go see his parents. I'm took advantage of this time to get some canning done. I am in the HOME STRETCH ya'll!!

This day I canned carrots. These beauties gave me 10 pints. There are still more carrots in the garden, and I'll be using those over the next couple months in things.

Canning carrots is so easy. You'll need a pressure canner, as these are a low acid food. I clean, p*el and chop up the carrots and raw pack them in clean jars. I try to keep the sizes of the carrot pieces as even as possible. Boiling water goes in next, leaving a 1 inch head space. Degassed, put the lids on, and these were canned at 12 PSI (check for your elevation, I'm at ~2400 ft) for 25 minutes.

Also, round three tomato sauce is thawing as I type!

I want to share something that happened to us yesterday to bring awareness to everyone. Yesterday afternoon, one of our ...
10/11/2026

I want to share something that happened to us yesterday to bring awareness to everyone. Yesterday afternoon, one of our big dogs suddenly became lethargic and unresponsive. She then began to p*e herself and eventually could not stay awake. We rushed her to the emergency vet where she was immediately taken into care. Tests were done and she tested positive for buprenorphine poisoning.

If you don't know what buprenorphine is, it is part of a drug called Suboxone. This medication is used mainly to treat drug addiction (there are other uses). No one on our property takes this medication. As we sat there in shock, worried if our dog was going to die, or recover, we racked our brains as to how our dog could have come in contact with that kind of medication.

Then it hit me. See, we share a well with one of our neighbors. The well house is on our property. The other day, their well pump went out and they have easement to access their pump on our property. We assisted at first, but then a plumber was hired and life resumed. I suspect it was one of our neighbors. I know from conversations that several members of their family struggle with drug addiction. It is highly probable that this medication was in the pocket of one of them, and could have fallen out. This is speculation, but 1+1=2 and I think my assumption is highly likely. Do I think it was intentional? NO. There are other, easier ways to kill a dog. Leaving a small pill *hoping* a dog will find it is an unlikely scenario. Am I going to talk to them. Also NO. We are not on great terms and they'd likely lie anyway, so what's the point.

Our dog stayed in the vet hospital overnight where they monitored her respiration and pushed fluids hard to flush the toxic medication out of her system. We brought her home and she seems back to normal. We are expecting a full recovery.

The reason I am posting this is because I want to bring awareness about human medications of any type and how it's so important that they are kept away from the animals who live with you, and around you. Professionally, I was once a pharmacy technician and I can't tell you how many times I heard people say they put their medication in their pockets, only to have it fall out and be lost. It is SO IMPORTANT that if you're going to carry your medication in your pocket, **put it in something**. A plastic bag or a small pill box/container. Sometimes you have to bring medication with you because you won't be home and need to take it at odd times. PLEASE put it in something, not just lose in your pocket. Your medication, if found by an animal, could be their death.


Photo courtesy of www.urgentpetcareomaha.com

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