Camping in Arkansas

Remember how I wanted to get some time outdoors? Well, on a weekend between our other travels, Nathanael and I decided to take a 6 hour trek to Arkansas to camp at Crater of Diamonds State Park, somewhere we had been really wanting to visit.

 But I can't tell you about the diamond hunting in this post. Not yet. That portion of the trip will have to wait, because this post is going to have too many pictures of camping to make room for any of the others.

 When I finished my Masters Degree, my parents gave me a tent as a graduation present. My family did a good deal of camping while I was growing up, so it was an exciting present for them to give me right before Nathanael and I got married. But, even though we are getting close to completing our third year of marriage, this trip was the first time we had been camping together. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. As a result, my photo documenting makes it look like “Nathanael’s camping adventure storybook”. I am still developing the goal of getting more pictures of us together.

 

Nathanael getting out the tent.

  

Nathanael scoping out the tent pad.

 Nathanael putting the tarp down.

Nathanael laying the tent down.

  

Nathanael putting the poles in.

  

The tent popped up, 

   

and the fly on.

 When we planned our trip, we discovered that the park (or maybe the state?) had a burn ban. Some part of my mind assumed that driving mostly north for six hours, and going to a campground to be surrounded by trees would somehow grant at least slightly less heat and humidity than the 99 to 109°F that we had each been working in all week, but as we began setting up our tent I wondered if we would fall asleep, or just steam cook all night in our spacious shelter. 

I did help with the tent assembly. Really.
You can see evidenced by the following:

   

Nathanael’s knot to keep the fly attached to the stake

  

Sarah’s knot. 

 Nathanael asked me what kind of knot it was. That’s just it, it’s a Sarah knot. 

 Nathanael and I took a short walk, then spent two hours doing some diamond hunting. As the 8pm closing time drew nearer, intense winds and horizontal rain gave everything a thorough soaking, and cooled the night down significantly (cooled down = good sleep).  For dinner we filled tin foil packets with potatoes, carrots, onions, ground beef and seasonings. To my hungry self they were the best food ever. (“We should make these all of the time!”)

 Nathanael had coordinated all of the food for our weekend away, and when I awoke in the morning he was coaxing his home made wood burning backpacking stove to sit in the low-air-flow grill area and burn charcoal for the cooking of chocolate chip pancakes.

My morning view. Ahhh.

The fire ban rules required that we not cook on the ground, and that our fire not burn wood, so the stove was not using all of its typical high heat potential. It was fun to watch Nathanael’s pancake arrangement, and it was a delicious start to a long day of hard work.

  

The camping stove poised for pancakes

  

Nathanael tending pancakes

  

Our vintage maple syrup, from a case of them saved by Nathanael's grandparents.
(Wise grandparents.  If you're going to save a case of something, real maple syrup is the way to go.)

 For lunch we took a break for some ham sandwiches,

   

 and moved our tent from the camper site it was on, to a primitive site (made for tents, but without a spout or grill, so we walked across to the camper sites when we needed to cook).

When we moved it we just took the stakes out and carried it a few hundred feet away, which was certainly faster, though more of a workout then taking the tent down. When you are holding an already constructed tent with your arms spread wide to hold the poles there are a lot of muscles being used (and a lot of balance skills failing if you are me). What is even better though, is with a tent as large as ours it looks like you are carrying an elephant, so despite the slightly tired muscles you feel really strong. (Ok, so I felt strong, Nathanael probably had a better grasp on reality.) 

 

  

Coordinating sheets. That’s right. We that’s how coordinated we are.

 In actuality, the sheet matching the tent was completely accidental, but from here on out that will be deemed the camping sheet. 

 When our day of diamond hunting was done we followed it with a late dinner of chilli with fritoes. We discovered that you can have too much cheese on your chili, and we were also teased by surrounding campers, “Do you have other people staying with you in that tent?”, “Do you think that tent’s big enough?”. A six person tent is plenty spacious for the two of us right now, but we plan to have some little people in there with us someday, so we are glad my parents have our long term camping career in mind. 

 For our final morning we had bacon and eggs for breakfast,

   

and fashion.

 And then packed things up for the trip home. We are still reading the C.S. Lewis space trilogy and just finished the second book, Perelandra. It was intense. If you are unfamiliar with the writings of C.S. Lewis (thanks for asking Liesl!) , I would recommend starting with his most well known work, the Chronicles of Narnia (I prefer them in the original published order instead of the currently published order, because it leaves more surprises to be discovered, but that is really up to your preference). Though it is a children’s series, there are some really beautifully presented truths throughout the series, which is one of the reasons I always think of C.S. Lewis’ (and George MacDonald’s) books as “teaching fiction” rather than plain fiction or fantasy. If you prefer to read one of his adult books, The Five Loves (non-fiction), Mere Christianity (non-fiction) and The Great Divorce (fiction) are also fine works.  C.S. Lewis books have been available at every public library I have visited (which is quite a few now!), so be sure to take advantage of that!

I would love to hear about your summer adventures, and maybe get some ideas!  Have you spent some time sleeping outdoors this summer?  What have you been reading?

Do you have any favorite camping foods or fun tips?

Beneath the Clemson Spineless...a Tiny Turtle.

A couple of months ago, when we were uprooting the old amaranth bed, we found a dozen of what we thought were snake eggs.

We relocated them under the okra, but I forgot...and when I went to plant the spaghetti squash I found this little guy.

The last one to hatch. 

I think the fire ants scarred him a bit, and may have gotten to a sibling or two.

He was groggy, until I put him in the water.

Only a puddle really.

Then he swam like the expert he was born to be.

We set him free.

A bounty of Dill

Nathanael and I have been having a very fun time sharing our harvest with our friends and neighbors. When we have given them beans, peas, carrots, spinach or even beets, everyone is ready to share with us how they plan to use them. When it comes to herbs, however, particularly dill, most people have looked in the bag and said, "So how do I use this one?"

   I have to admit I am sort of in the same boat. I love dill, but I don't have a plethora of ideas to utilize it. My first thought is always pickles, but I do have a friend who always makes dill omelets. Our neighbor from Romania recommended tossing dill with other vegetables in a salad, and my dear walking partner from Iran told me she makes dill rice to go with fish (which I recommend by the way, especially with a flavorful brown rice and butter). But, despite the beloved fish and dill combination, I was really looking for a dish to recommend to everyone that would use things they already had...because we really have a ton of dill.

  

If I were a Black Swallowtail Butterfly (also known as Parsley caterpillar), I might spend my whole life surviving on the stuff, and wandering around looking resplendent. 

Papilio polyxenes asterius

These guys were rawists...dill-ists in fact, but had no recipes to share with me.

Inspired by the enormous bunch of dill I gave her, my friend Hannah discovered just the thing I was looking for. A very basic dill potato recipe from Veg Recipes of India. It is simple and quick, but also a perfect way to really appreciate the flavor of dill. The amounts are imprecise; you could spice it up, or add other root vegetables if you wanted to be creative*, but leaving it basic will also please your palate.  

Dill Potatoes yield 4-6 side servings
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 big bunch of fresh dill leaves, chopped (about 1 cup or more when hard stems are excluded) 
3 to 6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch rounds
5-6 medium cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper to taste

1. Heat a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the oil, and once heated add garlic and saute for one minute.

2. Add potatoes and saute for a few minutes until they begin to soften, perhaps 6-7 minutes.

3.  Add dill leaves and spices, mix well. Then, add salt and 1/2 cup to 1 cup water, cover, and cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes. If the water dries up add more.

4. Remove the lid and cook until liquid has evaporated and potatoes are very tender.

Serve as a side dish, or with dal and rice or chapatis.

*Dill and carrots are related so they are also a delicious combination. Prepare them similarly, adding about 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds to the oil at the beginning, a bit of ginger with the garlic, and some powdered cumin and coriander with the other spices.

What recipe comes first to your mind when you think about having boatloads of fresh dill?

Cucumber Beetles

Elevenspotted Cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata)

Cucumber beetles are beautiful little creatures. Unfortunately, they love to munch on all varieties of cucurbits (cucumbers, gourds, squashes, melons, pumpkins, etc.)...and anything else they happen to land on apparently. Early on Saturday morning, Nathanael and I found them on the tomatoes, peppers, corn, beets, basil, peas...everything really. So despite how interesting they are whether spotted...

Striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittata)

or striped...

Banded cucumber beetle (Diabrotica balteata)

...or banded, (and all of them fast moving and attempting to escape the paparazzi), we had to do something about the thousands of them crawling around. 

So we did...we squished them. After about twenty minutes of doing it by hand, I said to myself, "If only we could vacuum them up." And then I remembered that Nathanael could with his entomology aspirator! So for about an hour more, Nathanael used that and I continued to turn my hands yellow and sticky. And you know what? I didn't mind at all, in fact I enjoyed it. Not because I enjoy killing, but I liked the idea that we were dealing with them ourselves and not in a way that will leave residue in our systems. (I was also glad they were pretty, unlike black aphids which aren't as interesting to squish.)

After all, I need to keep these cucumber plants alive and thriving.

Because cucumbers are wonderful. I can't wait to share them, and to make Greek food, and Refrigerator Pickles. This one will be ready before long...if the beetles can be fended off. Luckily once the morning had fully broken, the beetles started flying and the dragonflies came swooping in to devour them. Yes! I knew I liked dragonflies.

In other garden news, the basil thinks it is at home in Italy.

And this awesome beetle is sitting around looking like a space warrior.

I think this is the most amazing looking creature! (Nathanael told me what it was, but I don't recall...I may update with that info later.)

This caterpillar we found in the citrus trees (a pest to them), the orange dog swallowtail (Papilionidae Papilio), is disguised as a bird dropping and has retractable angry eyebrows, which pop out when you touch it and release a musky scent. Its scent apparently repels ants and flies which may want to bother it...but I just wanted to see its flashy accesories.

Amazing, no?

I have never been afraid of insects, but I am really coming to appreciate just how amazing and majestically they are crafted.

  How many are your works, LORD!
   In wisdom you made them all;
   the earth is full of your creatures.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
   teeming with creatures beyond number—
   living things both large and small. 

 There the ships go to and fro,
   and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

  All creatures look to you
   to give them their food at the proper time.
 When you give it to them,
   they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
   they are satisfied with good things. 

 When you hide your face,
   they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
   they die and return to the dust.
 When you send your Spirit,
   they are created,
   and you renew the face of the ground. 

Psalm 104: 24-30

Lately.

 So on Wednesday, I had planned to download my camera and make a post to share with all of you like normal, but when I began the download my computer told me it was full. No longer hungry for my photos. Alas. Over the last two days I have been doing my best to work its appetite back up by deleating about 800 MB worth of Java updates, compressing files, and moving old photos off of my hard drive...and I figured while I was at it I might as well install virus software and do all those kinds of scans too, right? It was a good plan, and still is...still is being worked on that is. I will outsmart it yet. My good old desktop computer may be 8 years old, and I know computer years are even longer than dog years, but I have no plans to be utilizing Dell's new mushroom packing material any time soon.

What else have I been up to lately?

Gardening...of course. Nathanel and are still having our ordinary Saturday garden days, but we are still not getting much rain, so a friend and her daughter (the most adorable little girl, the one who made the orange snake) took a trip to the garden mid week to water and plant a few things.

The seeds for the winged beans were so smooth and even. I could envision making a necklace out of these.

The New Zealand Spinach on the other hand had rough and angular seeds which look more like things that would inspire Japanese cartoon characters.

The dill is smelling wonderful and the plants are super healthy. Do you have any great dill recipes to share? I am mostly wishing the cucumbers were ready, though I do have a dill potato soup recipe.

 The beets are a little on the small side still, but many of them will be ready soon...and then I will turning everything I cook pink just for the fun of it! (You know that's why I like beets, right?)

The snow peas surprised us by pulling through and producing wild amounts this week, despite the low rain and temperatures very far from snow.

The mystery plant continues to grow and look more like itself. Come on, take a guess. What do you think it could be?

And I continue to become more allergic to fire ants. Despite wearing shoes and high socks with shorts (you only wish you could be so fashionable) they manage to reach me. This was just one bite/sting on my right ankle, a day after the ant got me. The red itchy patch continued to spread and swell...two weeks ago I got four bites on each ankle and that was really a sight, they looked like they belonged to the Michelin  Man. I think my reactions are getting slightly worse...what do you think I should to to build up immunity? Ant smoothies perhaps? Sneak ants into my baked goods?

I am also a guest blogger on After Nine To Five with a recipe for Blonde Brownies  (no ants included)! They're golden, but will not be appearing here, so catch 'em while you can! (Really. They are so delicious.)