Harvesting Time

It is harvesting time and a few of my garden experiments actually worked out - sort of. As you already know I've perfected Marigolds. Tomatoes are a bit more challenging. Even with all the advice I've gotten from my step dad, Bob, I didn't do well with them. I felt a bit better about it when I heard a lot of the locals saying how some sort of blight has made it almost impossible to get good tomatoes. 

 I felt really blessed to harvest and enjoy these two beauties from one of my 6 tomato plants. 

Below them are butternut squash and one summer squash. 

The butternut squash are being roasted today and I'm going to be making soup out of them. It is starting to get a bit cool in the evenings so the soup will be nice to have.

 I've also pulled a few tasty carrots out of the garden. They are a called Cosmic Purple and I got the seeds from Sow True Seed. They are a deep, sort of red color on the outside and a bright orange on the inside. 

See what I mean! 

The carrots are still growing so I might get a few more before we get our first frost. It is pretty hard to tell when they are ready to be pulled up so it has been a guessing game.

 My green beans are starting to come in as well. The one on the left was a bit longer but I got a little excited and took a bite out of it after I washed them. I use to snap beans for my mom when I was little and she was canning. I'd snap a few, eat a few, snap a few. Snapping simply means I would "snap" off the end that was connected to the plant before they were picked and then "snap" them in half or into thirds (depending on how long they were) so that they were ready for my mom to can them.

 The green beans are from my second "harvest." The corn are the first ones I pulled from the stalk - also not knowing when it was time to pick them. I'm sure there are some guidelines somewhere. 

 I only get about a very small handful of green beans at a time because they are not growing that fast and my Three Sisters Garden didn't work out as perfectly as I thought it might. We were getting lots of rain early on and things were growing really well. Then the rain pretty much stopped. The corn stalks sort of stopped when the rain did but the beans vines kept going and have toppled two of my corn groups. 

The beans keep coming but the corn stalks are pretty much toast!

 My Summer Squash are doing pretty well, but the plants have developed a mold problem, maybe because of all the rain or maybe just because the nights are damp and the leaves don't get a chance to dry out during the day. I found a natural remedy on the internet (1 Tlbs of canola oil, one Tlbs of baking soda to 1 gallon of water) and I've been using it. The plants continue to grow but it doesn't seem to stop the mold on the leaves. It has impacted the Summer Squash and the Butternut.

One other small problem with the Summer Squash

Worms!

 I've been really fortunate that I've only found them in a few. I noticed a very tiny pin holes on the outside of the squash and after cutting into the squash found the worms having a feast. This one ended up in the compost pile.

Speaking of compost pile.

This mysterious thing is still growing and beginning to develop large, sort of oblong "fruit."

And we still have some tomato plants in the compost that are holding on and beginning to develop fruit. 

They all sprang up from seeds that were in the compost but didn't get "cooked" from the heat. I'm not sure how to prevent this in the future. Maybe next spring I'll just spread the compost across the back property and see what sprouts up! Another fun experiment.

Black berry season came and went again. Our wild berry canes are doing well but it is tough to pick them. Wild plants have prickers, unlike the plants you can purchase from garden shops - which also have a much bigger berry and you can also get tart or sweet. 

Ours are tiny and tart. 

I spent most of the morning picking a gallon of berries and canned 7 half pint jars of jam before the end of the day.

Yum! 

 I'm still waiting on the okra plants. The bugs have backed off a bit and I keep watering them in hopes that one day one of the little buds will turn into something we can eat.

And the pepper plants are taking their time as well. Maybe I just don't water them enough. Maybe I should have used "Miracle Grow"!

 Not my tomatoes but aren't they lovely!

I stopped by the local farmer's market and got some tomatoes that are good for canning because I found a recipe in my canning book I wanted to try. I brought home about 28 tomatoes and started the process.

Did you ever notice that tomato sauce doesn't have seeds in it? Well, typically it doesn't and I don't know why. Don't know if someone had something against seeds of they just wanted to make a lot of work for the rest of us. It isn't an easy task to de-seed a tomato. 

You blanch the tomato first in boiling water. 

Then you dunk it in cold water (the bowl to the right). After it comes out of the cold water the skin peals off really easily. (Oh, I forgot to mention that really nice tomato sauce doesn't have tomato skin in it either.)

Next you slice the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds. Eventually I figured out that it is much easier if you slice the tomato in quarters. Jim helped me out with this task and I was really grateful. It is very time consuming.

The tomatoes went into a pot with the other ingredients and simmered for a while. We ladled the hot mixture into 7 pint jars that were being kept hot so the sauce didn't crack the jars and added the lids that were also in hot water. When the lids were on the jars they went into my Presto Canner. It had to process for 25 minutes (cook in the sealed canner). Sorry I didn't get photos of all that. As you can imagine Jim and I were a bit busy.

 So here is the place where the chef brings out the finished product and you think, wow, that is simple I can make that.

 Did you notice that there were only 6 jars? One ended up in the frig because it didn't seal. This can happen if the rim of the jar or the lid isn't wiped completely clean. 

Unfortunately, I had a lot of tomatoes left over. 

I searched the Ball jar recipes for something else to make and decided on a meat sauce.

A few days later I went to a local farm and purchased the most expensive beef I've ever run across. The beef is from Hickory Nut Gap Farm, here in Fairview. It is grass fed and free of hormones and antibiotics (and all those things that people who want really good beef don't want in their beef). 

I browned 5 pounds of beef, added the tomatoes and extra spices. OMG! I wish I had smell-o-vision so you can experience what I was smelling. I wanted to eat it right then and there, but resisted. 

Of course, most of you who know us also know that we rarely eat meat - especially beef. It is usually reserved for special occasions or sometimes when we go out to eat. 

I put the meat sauce into jars but ended up with a lot more than expected. 

I couldn't process it all in my canner because it wouldn't fit so I put some in the freezer and set some aside to have with the tomato sauce that didn't seal. I mixed them together and they made an amazing tomato/meat sauce for spaghetti. OMG good! 

 Here is my peach butter (left) black berry jam and Italian Tomato Sauce. 

I didn't get a shot of the meat sauce.

 My Kombucha experiment worked out!
It tastes pretty good. But aside from all the positive things Kombucha has to offer, I found out that it is rather acidic. It is important to not drink too much of it each day because like other highly acidic drinks - it isn't good for you.
Everything has to be balanced. 

Who likes PIE!

My grandfather Updyke used to say, "Make all my cakes, pies." 

I love pies too. These were peach pies. One is gluten free and the other has a regular crust. I made them for a local picnic. My sister-in-law, Cindy, made us this pie basket a few years ago and it is fun to get a chance to use it.

 I threw these gals in just because they are so cute.

This was the first time we had ever seen two humming birds at the feeder at one time. Typically they are chasing each other away and they never share. As you can tell the gal on the lift has a bit of a "ruffled feathers" look. 

We are enjoying them while they are here. Pretty soon it will be too cold and they will disappear for winter. 

Our latest encounter with a neighbor. This bear is much bigger than the little one we have photographed in the past. Or maybe he/she is just growing. There is no way to tell without tagging and that isn't going to happen. 

Here's our public service announcement....

DON'T MESS WITH FIRE!!!

Or as the doctor in the emergency room put it, "Fire always gets you." 

Jim had a really good learning experience recently. He tried to burn up some old lumber that wasn't used on the house with some old gas that had been sitting around.

The fumes ignited and flashed back on him. He burned off some of the skin on his hand and caused some really bad blistering on his hand, fingers and arm. He also singed the side of his leg and some of his hair. 

He is really embarrassed about it but decided to share what happened in hopes that his experience will serve as a warning for others and possibly prevent them from doing the same thing. 

 

Jim in the ER and a few minutes after they gave him pain killers. 



 WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

WE HAVE BEEN TAKING PHOTOS OF THE BURNS TO SEE HOW THE HEALING PROGRESSES.

THE NEXT PHOTO IS VERY GRAPHIC AND IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH DON'T LOOK.

I'M SERIOUS - IT IS PRETTY GROSS.

Actually, it doesn't look that bad, now - but a few days ago - YUCK!

The bright red color is where the first layer of skin burned off. The dark patches are burns that are healing. We are using a cream called Silver Sulfadiazine and it seems to be doing the trick. We change the dressing twice a day which means washing it, reapplying the cream and then wrapping it up again. 

If you have ever used gas to start a fire - reconsider ever doing that again. 

Just when you think you are being safe - OUCH!

Summer is flying by

Summer is flying by and it feels like it never actually arrived. Last year we had only two really hot days in the house - where the temperature reached about 82 during the day and 78 at night. Living at 3500 feet, that is pretty warm. But this summer I find myself reaching for my sweater and slippers. We've had a few months of clouds and lots of rain - as most of the east coast has experienced. It is in the mid 70's if it isn't raining. We've given up on any really hot temps and I think the trees have as well.

I took this photo this morning (August 19, 2013). The leaves are already starting to change. 

Good cow - what's going on? 

Is it Climate Change? Is it Chem Trails? Is it HAARP? 

Jim has his theories and I'm sure he would be willing to share them with you if you are interested.

What the rain has done....

Blueberries!

 The "you pick" businesses are still producing banner crops; maybe because all the buds froze last year. We picked another gallon from Cloud 9 Farms after the Fairview Business Association annual picnic this past Thursday. We froze most of them and we are working on the rest: blueberry smoothies, blueberries on granola, blueberry pancakes, blueberries in salad, etc.

 I picked the first yellow squash from our 3 sisters garden the day I returned home from Hero's Journey (HJ is a whole different story I'll share at the end).

 The butternut squash looks promising. I'm not sure when to pick it!

Our 3 sisters garden is full of these little guys. I wonder if you can overdose on yellow squash?

 the bean vines are climbing the corn stalks, just as predicted.

 But the corn looks pretty tiny and the silks have already changed color. Another mystery as to when it should be picked. I'll have to Google that! The Japanese Beetles have found my corn but don't seem to be doing much damage - yet!

 I think all the rain is impacting my tomato plants. They are starting to split and rot before they are ripe.

These are Cherokee Purple Heirloom tomatoes and "indeterminate" (continue to yield), that is the reason for the deep color. But some are starting to change and then rotting soon after. 

 The rain has also been great for my Marigolds - my answer to keeping the bugs away from my plants, but it didn't work - yet.

 My Marigolds have been a great lesson in paying attention to what you purchase. I got them as seeds and was expecting tiny plants with flowers like this one that would outline the garden, and as I read, keep pests out. Well....

I got these monsters.

They are called Crackerjack. The plants grow to 3 feet tall (not 6 inches like I anticipated) and the flowers are 4 inches in diameter. 

 I pulled these out of my garden and re-potted them - in big containers.

I still need to pull out a few more but I'm running out of large containers. I could line the outside of the raised bed with them but I wouldn't be able to reach over them to get to my garden. The Marigold in the front is blocking out the sun for my carrots and the plants in the very center are okra and sweet pepper plants behind. You can't really see the kale or arugula because bugs are devouring them before they have a chance to grow. I've tried a soft soap spray as a natural pest deterrent but it has rained so much it keeps washing it off. I'm not sure if the Marigolds needed to be in full bloom to do any good but it has taken me all summer to get the blooms. Maybe next year I'll start them inside in January, but of course I'll need a much bigger space for planting or I just need to switch to a different type of plant.

Note to self...Always read the seed package!

The small plants in the center are Mother Wort. It is a medicinal herb that I wanted to add to my rock garden near the entrance of our home. This area was covered with grass that I pulled out by hand. Last year I planted seeds from my Echinacea after the flowers began to die and dry out. I thought they would grow but all that sprouted was grass - which is really odd because the only grass that is close by is down by our neighbor's cow pasture. I grew the Mother Wort from seed and they seem to be doing pretty well. I hope they survive winter. 

The rain has also encouraged the seeds in our compost bin to sprout and grow. The sun would have normally cooked the seeds and prevented them from growing. I think we have a few tomato plants and a few watermelon vines growing. I don't have the heart to turn the compost and destroy the plants, and I want to see what they turn into. We unfortunately will have to find another place to dump the next load out of compost bin when it gets full - which will be soon. 

 I've been really curious about all the plants we have that have sprouted up and if they are edible and or medicinal. This one is common Plantain (Plantago major) and the leaves are edible. Recognize it? You see it growing everywhere! There are plenty of herbicides that will take it out but why do that when you can eat it! 

 This prickly plant is another story. I noticed it growing last year and described it to a friend. His answer was; "That's night shade. Don't eat that sh*t."

It is popping up again all over our property (in areas where the earth has been disturbed by bull dozing for the house and driveway). I looked it up online. It is called Horsenettle. The entire plant is poisonous to livestock except the ripe fruit which looks like a small tomato. It is sort of hard to tell when it is ripe so it isn't worth taking a chance. Of course I'm not a "livestock" but if it isn't good for them then I don't think it is good for me either. I've been on a mission to pull the out and add them to our fire pit; especially when they are in walkway areas. I did mention they are prickly. 

 

 

I mentioned Hero's Journey earlier. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it last year in a blog post because it is a huge part of my life. 

On Sunday August 11 I returned home after a week in the mountains of WV at a place called The Mountain Institute. It is the darkest (in terms of light pollution) place on the east coast and on a clear night you can easily see the milky way and much more. I was attending the women's Hero's Journey. You can find out more by visiting www.herosjourneyfoundation.org

It is worth a visit.

If you are interested in improving your life, delving more deeply into who you truly are, exploring your untapped gifts, or unleashing the hidden you that has been pounding on your inner door for your entire life - you need this journey.

 It will challenge you - and open up strengths that you didn't realize you possess.

 You will meet lots of interesting characters! 

 You will participate in lots of ceremonies and develop a more sacred way of looking at and experiencing life.

 Your eyes will open to things you've never seen before.

You will potentially develop friendships that will last a lifetime and be exposed to a type of sisterhood that you have longed for but never experienced.

The Hero's Journey will be a gift you give yourself that will continue to give, not only to yourself but to others as well - because you will be changed forever.