September 5, 2022

The gardening season is coming to a close. Beans are done, cucumbers are done, summer and winter squash are done, (having never gotten started because of bugs) and the tomatoes are finally getting red.  I've put up a a dozen jars of juice already and today 10 more quarts.  We bought one of those thingys that spit out juice and pulp one way and skins and seeds another.  It makes the whole process a whole lot faster. 

Part of today's.

These have been our best producers. No bugs or cracks.

Aaron and the boys (enthusiastic helpers) cut 6, SIX, mind you!! Walmart bags stuffed with elderberry heads  After reading that the stems are toxic, I painstakingly stripped the berries off to get 12 cups of the tiny berries to make jelly. I got syrup because the recipe called for sure-jell (powdered pectin) not Certo (liquid pectin) which Jim has been eating enthusiastically on toast. So I did it all again, 3 hours of picking over (no help from Jim this time) and using sure-jell, I have beautiful jelly.  I wish I could taste it. Mom has been unenthusiastic from the start, saying she had elderberry jelly when she was a girl and it was awful. I wonder if it was really elderberry, or less sugar was used, or as om said, she was a girl, not grown up.

This is how I froze most of my apples.

Jim has half the potatoes dug.  I like the Yukon Golds the best of any we've ever planted. They keep well, too, as well as you can expect any to keep in our less than ideal conditions.  We have no cellar and our basement being walkout and our storm cellar damp, we are lucky to keep any.

August is usually dry and it seems to be heading that way into September, at least for us.  Others around us have had some rain. 

 

August 9, 2022

Update on the harvest for the last couple of weeks:

I had a list of exact numbers and that was also the list of things I needed to do.  It's gone.

I made more bread and butter and dill pickles.

Our corn was done over three days and we got 87 three cup bags and two gallon ones.

Now we are doing apples which were damaged by hail earlier this summer. So far we have 8 ice cream buckets of sliced peeled apples in the freezer.  

Earlier we put three gallons of sliced and peeled apples from our yellow summer apple tree. Earlier this year in the first windstorm we had that tree fell over. Some of the roots were still connected enough to ripen the apples. 

The cows and chickens got the rest of the apples.

 

July 28, 2022

 Yesterday, corn day, pickle day, boys to camp and back again day.

We had rain on Monday and cool days since, so when I went out to pick the tiny cucumbers for dills, I got muddy, mostly from the knees down. I can still stick my foot into the sink and clean up. I could sit on the rim of the bathtub, but there is a door rail there.  When I can't get my feet up that high, I hope to be done with getting muddy. 

I got 5 jars of tiny dills, and one didn't seal. I gave some cukes to the neighbor, made cucumber salad for supper and still have plenty left.  I got 8 quarts of dill pickles and 4 of bread and butter earlier this week. I couldn't find any dill in the garden, so I bought dill weed from the store. In a spice bottle.  

Last night, Jim and Aaron shucked corn, had supper, and then cut and bagged while I cooked corn and cleaned up. Out of 13 dozen plus 5 ears, we got 37 3-cup bags to freeze. 

I was tired, my feet hurt, my back hurt, my head hurt and I was glad to shower and go to bed. 

July 25, 2022

99 This year is rolling right along with time rushing by.  The gardening bit really had a slow start with no rain, but we have had some good rains right along and the garden is doing well.  Our peas took forever to get going, but we had plenty to eat.  I don't like to freeze them; they just don't cook up very well. Our zucchini and yellow squash are dying and it looks like we aren't going to get any to do anything with.  We've had a few to eat and Jim planted some more.  The 1.05" of rain we had today will help that get started.  What chance we have to make a crop, I don't know.  We had a major infestation of bugs last fall and lost all our vine crops.  We have been using Sevin, and at the Farmer's Market last week, I got the advice to work in some insecticide in the fall, so I need to look up some options there. 

We got our first picking of beans this weekend.  We've been eating sweet corn for several days and Jim and I put up the first batch today.  It rained all morning to the point of no work getting done outside so Jim braved the wet and picked about 9 dozen and we got 18 - 3 cup bags with more to come. Jim saved the caterpillars in a separate bucket for the chickens and the cows (belong to a friend) got the cobs.  Jim had them trained and they come running when he goes down. We had a really hot spell the last couple of weeks and the cows and the pasture are suffering. This rain and extra corn leavings will be welcome. 

Peaches were at a couple year low, 99 cents a pound. I got four 25 pound boxes and froze some whole, some sliced for mom, saved a lot to eat, put a few away as smoothie fruit and canned the rest. I have written down 23 quarts and 5 pints (for mom). It seems like I made more than that. I also made three pies. One of my quarts of peaches broke just as the canner was getting up to steam.  I sure hate to waste the fruit, but that's the way it is.  As I was putting away the jars, I noticed a cracked one. I'm glad I found it early. 

Our cucumbers are going strong.  I don't really need anymore pickles. The last two years have produced an overabundance.  So far, I've made 7 quarts and 1 pint of dill pickles and 3 quarts and 1 pints of Bread and Butter pickles and we are eating as many as we can.  I like them best with a mayo, garlic, sugar sauce and save some from supper to have the next day in a sandwich for lunch.  

We are having cooler days this week and it is nice.  We opened the side vents of our French door and the new ones in our picture window and enjoyed the cool coming in from the rain as we did corn this morning. 

I enjoy the "putting up" of the produce once I get started. This has been a busy summer and the work isn't as appealing. 

May 10, 2022

Things are marching on in the garden department.  Saturday, we bought 12 tomato plants, Rutgers and Better Girl.  We also bought some yellow tomato plants, planted three and gave three away to friends. Jim got the hitch on the MT fixed so that he could use the planter to plant sweet corn.  It was still a bit wet, but he planted 4 short rows anyway. 

I didn't' post anything about our new chickens.  These are the meat birds, we bought 25, 2 were killed and three turkey chicks.  Unfortunately, the turkeys were picking on the chickens, so they are separated. They turkeys did not kill the chickens, it was an unfortunate accident of a falling brooder house cover. We also have 6 new layer chicks.

I think Paislee has a turkey chick.

 

May 3, 2022

 
I've said this before, this has been a strange winter and spring weather-wise.  We didn't have any appreciable moisture in the snow variety or any other variety over the winter.  The temperatures have been volatile. On April 29th we got 2" much needed rain with mostly marble-sized hail, plus a few a little bigger in 45 minutes and then another .6" overnight. That hail propelled by a strong west wind banged on our brand-new living room picture window. I was a bit nervous, but it stood the onslaught. Usually, that isn't a worry with the long roof overhangs we have. The only real damage was some bruising on the onions and rather battered tulips.  

Then on May 2nd we got some more rain ultimately another 1.5" with snow.  And here is proof.  

It was cold this day.  I don't think Jim has ever mowed in coveralls. 

Weird weather.

April 21, 2022

It's windy out here, and dry.  This will be a common theme among residents of this area and this blog.  It's hard to get outside and remove garden trash in the high winds we are having.  Yesterday was a quiet day in the wind department so I cleaned out the second iris patch.  I was out earlier this morning and as it was nice I was determined to do another iris patch clean out.  That was a job!  When the wind was not gusty, I could put dry iris leaves in my garden cart, but when it was, I would watch my efforts blow across the lawn. Eventually, I put my jacket over the trash to keep the dry vegetation inside my cart, and then the jacket blew off.  Thankfully, not much blew out before I put the jacket back in place and moved the trash to the compost pile.  I'm hoping for the best that that loose pile of dry stuff won't blow from here to kingdom come after all. 

Here is further proof of our windy weather.  The wire holding this birdfeeder up has given out, or worked itself off.  Jim found it blown onto it's side, and it is now residing in the shop waiting for this windy season to be over.

Here's our first mess of asparagus. I had a little white chicken gravy we had on biscuits so I cooked this up, put it in the gravy and we had it for breakfast on toast.

Jim has planted more potatoes.  There are two full rows out there.  He also planted spinach, lettuce and swiss chard.  The soil is dry as a bone so we are letting them just hang out there until we have time to attend to constant watering. 

 

April 2, 2022

 Some days it acts like spring.  My scilla's are ready to bloom, the daffodils are starting to bloom and my white hyacinth next to the front stoop has three blooming stalks.  Today was a perfect day to work outside and I dumped two cartloads of garden trash.  Jim planted onions.  We are using only white onions this year.  We have onion fungus running rampant in our garden.  I looked up information, and it stays in the ground for years and the yellow onions are infected more so than the white ones.  He planted potatoes last Saturday.

We are in desperate for some moisture around here and many other places in the state as well. We had a little snow a few days ago.  Nothing much, again. It looked white out, but didn't cover all the grass.

Jim fixed the sprinkler system that broke because it didn't get drained and turned off in the fall  That caused a flood in the basement that included one bedroom, the laundry room, under the stairs and a little water leaked into the furnace room closet. We had been gone all day and Jim went out to hunt deer at the farm after we got home. Later, a neighbor told us water was shooting from the side of the house.  Thankfully, I know where the water shutoff is.  I didn't know what to do.  The big shop vac was at our business.  I couldn't get a hold of Jim, no cell service. Fortunately, we have good neighbors with a big shop vac. I called Jim several times so he would know there was a problem at home and our neighbors started slurping up the water with the vac and I started hauling things off the floor.  When Jim got home (without any deer) he took over.  After getting up all the standing water everywhere except the carpet, and some towel mopping, we dragged the carpet outside to get it dry.  That was quite the experience, since water soaked carpet is HEAVY.  Jim rolled it and then it was 1, 2, 3, HEAVE, stopping to breather, rest and regroup and heave again. Adding insult to injury, it rained so when I tripped over the carpet and fell into the rain wet grass, getting more of me wet than the bottom few inches. The next day, Jim hung it over the chicken fence, and after it dried, rented a carpet stretcher and reinstalled it. 

So, now it's all fixed and watering the lawn. Jim has to fix a few sprinkler heads every year. 

March 7, 2022

This has been a very strange winter.  In fact, it hardly seems like we've had any winter at all.  Before the new year most of the days had temperatures hovering in the 40s, with once a skift of snow. After the first of the year, the temps have been more volatile with swings from a few days of 50s and down to 30s, then single digits and a few nights below zero. As the days grew longer, it did not happen as the old wives tale "as the days begin to lengthen, then the cold begins to strengthen." Instead, the swings of temperature climbed into the 60s and 70s as the high for a few days before swinging back into below freezing again.  

This week was no different.  We had three lovely days of enjoying the outdoors weather, then wind and chill and today, our 4th "snow".  A little more than a skift this time, but not much with a 17 degree overnight temp. 

We are having to get used to empty places on shelves in our shopping excursions, due to the supply chain difficulties.  Last year, we bought our flats on line because they weren't to be had in the stores.  I've been keeping my eye out for this year's supply, even though I have quite a few left from last year. When I spotted some at Walmart, I bought them.  Ten of each size fit so nicely in this box, that I bought them all.  I probably have enough flats for two years.

I prefer to buy name brand flats.  I bought some really cheapo ones a few years ago, and half of them didn't seal.  I don't go to all the work of canning to have half of my jars not seal!!

Now that the days are getting longer, our chickens are producing an overabundance of eggs.  We are getting around 16 eggs a day.  We have eggs of all colors, some are spotted, and some are lumpy.  We've never had one that could be considered an art piece.  

This looks like a sitting-up cat to me.