Garden Soup

Ahh, it is climbing above freezing this afternoon, and there is a little sunlight, so it's all good.  I had to chip out the water from the birdbath this morning, although not all in one go.  First, a bucket of hot water, some chipping, then another bucket and on and on.  I won't let that happen again.  Instead, I will tip the basin when I think it will freeze and start fresh the next day with more water.  The chickens have a deeper, water reservoir, so ice is not as much an issue.  Also, theirs is an indestructible, livestock bucket that I can tip over and hammer from the bottom to release the ice.  No, this chore is not pleasant when a cold wind is blowing off the river, but it is definitely VITALIZING!


I made garden soup this morning, and I have pics!

The first picture is my collection bucket straight from the garden.  This is also my water bucket.  [Notice the 2 gallon jug filled with beans in my background.  I finished the shelling!]

 Below, my second picture is of the ingredients nearly ready for the pot, carrots, potatoes, onion, sage, kale and Swiss chard.  I boiled small potatoes in their skins in one pot and chopped carrots in another.  Salted both.  When the carrots were soft, I added the kale, Swiss chard, onions and sage and boiled until the onions were translucent.  When the potatoes were super soft, I drained then roughly mashed them with a fork, which gave me chunks and mashed, which I wanted for making the soup creamy in place of using a dairy product i.e. making roux.

 Last, I combined everything, checked the salt by taste, added pepper and let it simmer a while longer.

I had a bowl of my garden soup with a fat slice of bread and butter on the side while I watched the first half of the k-state/okla game and plan to eat another bowl for my dinner during a later game.  Best cold-Saturday, football-watching soup ever?  Probably!