Friday, October 10, 2014

This Post Is Brought To You By Procrastination

I'll readily admit it.  I'm here at my computer writing this blog post in an effort to put off cleaning the bathroom.  However, I have just finished vacuuming and dusting so I deserve a short break, right?

We had our first touch of frost a couple of nights ago.  'Twasn't a true, hard, killing frost to put a stop to all green and growing things out there, but it did do a number on the pumpkin vines.


Sadness and woe, it looks as though I'll have two-tone pumpkins this year.  The south-facing sides of the big, ol' gourds have turned a bright orange, but the north and/or undersides are still very green.


I have been so craving some good apples this fall to make into applesauce, apple pie, apple cake, apple slices, caramel apples . . . well you get the idea.  I think I've been especially eager to obtain a supply of apples because we aren't going to get any from our trees this year.  I know apples must be plentiful somewhere, but I haven't heard of trees being bountiful anywhere in our huge county.

We've even been trying to line up some from an apple growing area in the next state over but nothing has been firmed up yet.  So imagine my delight when I found a friend had left half a box of lovely apples on our back porch a couple of afternoons ago.  Her sister had come for a visit from "down south" in our state and brought apples which she so kindly shared with us.

I made an apple pie as soon as I could and knew it was going to fulfill my immediate apple yearnings because I sampled a slice when preparing the pie and found the apples were firm and crisp, but juicy with a really, really good flavor.  I told hubby I am going to keep using them every day until the box is empty.  I shan't waste a one of them!


Our experiment drying/curing our onion crop in the cold frames over raised beds in the garden was a bust.  We left them there for a couple/few days but found they weren't drying one bit.  Of course, those days were overcast and cool . . . which didn't help matters.

So we trucked them into the garage where we set up the ping pong table, covered it with a couple layers of newspapers and laid the onions out there.  We've left the door open from the heated workshop to the main part of the garage where the onions are so there is some heat to help the curing process.  Also, we've put a rotating fan blowing over the onions to help with good air circulation.  It looks as though they are going to cure just fine.  (Makes for real challenges when playing ping pong right now though.)

Okay, now I'm feeling a tad bit guilty about fluffing off and not getting the bathroom spiffed up.  I need to get up and do what needs to be done.

Procrastination, get thee behind me . . . and push.

 

14 comments:

Susan said...

(Strike two) Where there's a will, there's a way, eh? I used to love playing ping pong - we had some hot and heavy games when we were growing up. My dad could put a spin on a ping pong ball like nobody's business. Looks like those a good sized pumpkins, dual tone or not...

Tombstone Livestock said...

That's a lot of onions, hopefully that will work to bad your aren't neighbor's to a shepherd ..... wool drying rack with wire so onion would be exposed top and bottom .... or build one .... it could be put on sawhorses and store out of the way rest of the year.

Mama Pea said...

Susan - You're right, the pumpkins are gigantic in size this year . . . at least the jack o' lantern ones are. The small ones (pie pumpkins) never did size up more than about softball size. And they have very little orange on them. Sigh.

Mama Pea said...

Tombstone Livestock - A wire rack (I think we'd need two) is a really, really good idea! I'm gonna put it on the To Do List and see if it can be done before next harvest season!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I should have been cleaning my bathroom yesterday too, ha ha! Those apples look good. I just picked up 9 more pounds for us too.

Leah said...

Oh no! I hate the frost! We got ours last night :( Thankfully we had everything we needed covered but now that it's supposed to get warmer we didn't have the heart to rip out the last few stragglers in the garden. That sad day is coming soon though.

1st Man said...

I just found your blog, via October Farm. Love your garden. I'm jealous. We just did our first this year and while they were raised beds, it was only a minor success. But we all learn from our missteps, right? Ha. Anyway, looking forward to catching up on your past posts.

Mollie said...

For all you do in the yard and in the house I think procrastination is really a well-deserved rest for you. Housework is always there--what's the rush? :-) Enjoy your fall splendor and harvest! Put your feet up. (I'm a bad influence!)

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - I really did get up from writing this post and clean the bathroom! (I was such a good girl.)

To me, apples are like treasure this time of year . . . especially when our own trees didn't produce!

Mama Pea said...

Leah Ahrenholz - Hi! Thanks for commenting. It's weird this year that you folks farther south (much farther south!) have been getting frosts when we haven't. I guess we can never figure it out! My husband, who watches the weather forecast much more closely than I, says we have about a week of colder weather coming. Maybe it will bring us our first killing frost. I'm not sure I'm hoping for that . . . or not!

Mama Pea said...

1st Man - Welcome! Congratulations on your first garden. I don't know of anyone who has a smashing success their first year 'round. It simply takes time to get the soil built up . . . unless you're lucky enough to start yours on a patch where cows were pastured for 50 years! ;o}

Mama Pea said...

Mollie - Yes, you ARE a bad influence! Believe me, I'm not a fanatic housekeeper. Most of the time I do it when 1) I know company is coming or 2) I can't stand the mess anymore!

Today we're tackling the cleaning, sorting and reorganization of our big storage shed. Pray for us. ;o}

Anonymous said...

Can you tell me when to harvest my radish seed? This is my first time harvesting radish seeds, the pods are good size but it's rained here for the passed 5 days and the weather report shows atleast 5 more days of rain. Can they be pulled and hung to dry in the barn?
Thank you
Rue

Mama Pea said...

Rue - I'm certainly no expert at harvesting and saving seed but I would sure pull your radish plants now and hang them in the barn. (I've gotten bean seeds before by hanging them in our garage.) I don't think there's much of a chance they'll make it in your wet, wet weather. :o(