Just Prattle

The last three chicken carcasses from the butchering we did last October are in my big, ol' stewing pot on the stove.  This is not good.

Although I'll get a nice quantity of tasty, tender chicken meat from them, that's all we will have to last all winter.  (Which, of course, won't last all winter.)  We're down to eight layers in the hen house currently (and sometimes getting eight eggs a day) so it's not looking as if it would be wise to cull any of them (and put them in the freezer) this fall.  We have one rooster we could sacrifice, but that would leave us with no back-up should something happen to the other big guy.

Thinking of weather in your different necks o' the woods, I'm hoping you're all experiencing some lovely fall weather.  Here we've been in the midst of several days of drizzle alternating with heavy fog.  We chose yesterday to go to the Big City to do some heavy-duty restocking of miscellaneous essentials (we hadn't been since last April!), but had some not-so-comfortable driving through thick fog many times during the trip.  Not nice driving when you can't see where you're going.

I can't seem to convince myself to go out into the garden to do any more clean-up lately, because it's so blasted wet.  The moisture is good, but sunshine would be lovely for any of the outside chores still on our list.

Even though our weather might not be the (glorious) autumn weather we'd all like to have, it has put me into a mood for baking bread (which I have not done all summer long . . . shamey, shamey, shamey).

These are two loaves of Oatmeal Bread that turned out nicely.  I also baked some rye bread which I didn't put in loaf pans but rather shaped into one (huge) long loaf on a cookie sheet.  It rose beautifully (maybe too much?) and then fell down, down, down during baking.  The texture and taste, I'm glad to say, is still good but slices look more like a piece of zwieback toast.  It's hard to make a respectable looking sandwich with them.

Kinda pitiful, huh?

I planted a type of sunflower in the garden this year (Ring of Fire) that grows only 4-5' tall and was touted as being excellent for use as a cut flower.  And it is!  I've been bringing in bunches for a long while now.  They stay fresh in a vase for ever-so-long.  I'll be planting them in the garden every year now.

Apparently Papa Pea and I aren't the only ones a smidge bit on the frazzled and weary side at the end of this busy summer.  Others seem to be suffering periods of brain fade, too.

Case in point:  I came across a nifty little book entitled "Gentle Hikes of Minnesota" that listed and critiqued hiking trails (many in our area) under three miles in length.  We sent for a copy from Amazon to have in our library and received it today.

Well.  Not exactly.  Even though the paperwork tucked inside the book cover listed the book we ordered, the book enclosed was "Walking in Grandma's Garden."  Hey what?

Yep, seems as though many of us need some downtime . . . and are looking forward to a restful winter season.  How 'bout you"  Do you feel you have adequate time to "rest up" during the more inclement months?  Or do you have a To Do List half an acre long of inside chores to catch up on after being outside most of the summer?

Checking In, Chugging Along, Happy at Home

I feel as though I'm a bit of a sham showing the "new" blog header photo of our Virginia Creeper in full, fall color.

The picture was not taken this year as you can see by the current above photo I took this morning.  I think we've succeeded in throwing the natural cycle of the plant totally out of whack this growing season.

Because of our house painting this summer, we had to take it off the side of the house and lay it down on the ground where it sadly languished (I'm imagining) for more than a week.  When we removed it from the siding, it had already made great strides toward climging up the strings and traveling toward the windows on the right and left of it.

When the time came to put it back up, there was no way I could save all the lush growth so it got a rather severe haircut.  Now it looks to be a good couple of months behind where it should be this time of year.  I'm hoping after a winter's rest and recuperation period, it will be back to normal next spring. 

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We've been busy gathering the stored storm windows, cleaning them up, taking down the screens and installing the storms on the windows in preparation for the upcoming heating season.

Cooler fall weather can't arrive soon enough for me.  After a week or so ago of truly autumnal feeling weather, some of our heat (but not humidity, thank you very much) has returned and we've lost those low temps that make for good sleeping at night.  The two bedroom windows (no storms on them yet) are wide open again, but there's not much cool night air to come in.

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The garden looks different this year than it usually does at the middle of September.  My flowers are creating a riot of color just now because of the slow start they got this early (and very cool) spring and summer.  Looking out at the lushness of it all tricks me into thinking the calendar should be showing August 15th rather than September 15th.

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The windows in Papa Pea's office upstairs are identical to the ones below it in our living room, and we finally located the snap-in grids, still in their original packaging, that go up there so I'm putting the finish on them today.  And maybe finding time to work in the garden on more clean-up, too.  Or sit for a while out on our new deck on which we haven't even taken the time yet to place the outdoor furniture.  

It seems there's no trouble filling the days no matter what time of year it is.  Good thing we enjoy what we're doing and can see the progress at making our environment just the way we want it.

Can You Feel It?

Yep, fall weather is definitely creeping up on us.  At least up here not so far from the Canadian Border.

After our last-of-the-summer hot, humid weather, the changing of the seasons is much welcomed.  Night time temps have been falling down into the 50s with forecasts of down to the high 30s in the not too distant future.  Okay, so our summer weather is over along with limited time (before Jack Frost makes an appearance) for anything left in the garden, but oh my, sleeping at night is so much nicer!  Snuggling under that down comforter (we've yet to close the bedroom windows) each night is heavenly.  (Also, harder to make oneself get out of bed in the morning!)

I've noticed blog postings in general (not just mine :o]) seem to be on the more infrequent side lately.  Either we're all pooped at the end of a busy summer or feeling pressed for time knowing how much still needs to be done in order to be prepared for winter.  I wish I had my fall decorations up and around the house, but don't know when I'll find time for that any time soon.

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Our daughter stopped by for a visit yesterday with two of the three children she cares for during the day.  The twins' big sister started school on Tuesday (very exciting!) so the little ones got all our attention.

This is the little guy, G, helping Papa Pea bring "his" stool into the kitchen from the garage.  He walked backwards the whole way carrying his end.

I've titled this one, "N, what did you do to your brother?"

And then this one might be my daughter asking G what he did to his sister.  To which I imagine the reply being, "Retaliation."

The twins are such a joy to watch.  It's amazing what those little brains can assimilate and learn on a nearly day to day basis.

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Well, since this looks to be a beautiful day with sunshine and very little humidity, I'm off to do what needs to be done.  Toodles.

Hot. Humid. Blech.

You would think we'd be glad of any hot weather we could get this summer . . . and normally that would be the case, but along with plenty of warm weather recently we've had high, high humidity which takes the stuffings right out of both Papa Pea and me.

The grass stays wet nearly all day.  Every leaf and vegetable in the garden stays wet nearly all day.  Makes it hard to harvest (feels like you're sweating even harder when everything you touch is wet), hard to move and hard to feel much of any pep or energy.

We're fortunate that the inside our house stays on the cool side . . . even though all surfaces seem damp to the touch (yuck).  And truth to tell, we'd no doubt be happier campers if we both settled down in the living room with reading material and a cool beverage.  Unfortunately, we know good and well that our days for getting projects done outside are quickly dwindling down, so for better or worse (maybe smarter or dumber), we keep trying to make our sluggish, drippy bodies (what an attractive image) do what needs to be done.

Earlier this afternoon we went out with tape measure and stakes to try to figure out the best areas to map out for new berry-type plants and new dwarf fruit trees.  Just moving around in the blazing sun and high humidity, we both got so uncomfortable and cranky that we decided to try again after dinner tonight when it's (possibly) not so hot.

Yesterday hubby attempted (and succeeded) to mow our small hay field with the Gravely garden tractor.  But the grass was so thick and wet and heavy that he didn't have an easy time of it.  Trying to mow within a decent distance of the pond mired the wheels down in saturated gloppiness, and he strained more muscles than he knew he had wrestling with the heavy machine in an effort to keep it from becoming totally stuck.

This morning I backed into same Gravely garden tractor with the Suburban.  Bent one of the heavy bar handles of the tractor and put a medium-sized scratch/dent in the back of the vehicle and cracked a tail light.  Sigh.

See what this oppressive, humid weather does to a person?

But to end on the upside (and there truly are plenty of upsides), Papa Pea harvested enough pickling cukes for another batch of fermented pickles (which he's getting really good at producing), I got the final coat of paint on a tall chair (one that we've used constantly for forty-some years and was in baaad need of repainting) that was our daughter's when she graduated from a standard highchair, got the primer coat on both sides of a door and window that goes in the door, harvested ten beautiful slicing cucumbers from plants I thought were done producing, plus the usual multitudinous little tasks that are required on any given day.

I'll end this (mostly whiney) post with a bit of garden gratefulness . . . 

Our Swiss chard is as lush and beautiful as I've ever seen it.  This is after cutting and enjoying it for most of the summer.

I planted beets around the perimeter of this raised bed with California Poppies in the center.  It was quite the impressive display until the poppies gave up the ghost, got terribly scraggly looking, and I pulled them out.

The beets are as big as I think I've ever seen.  (I only plant the Forono variety anymore because they are so perfect for slicing and/or making into pickled beets.  Plus, I've never had them get woody.)

The asparagus ferns have formed a veritable jungle of ferny-ness which seems to get thicker every day.  So delicate and pretty and, we're hoping, indicative of great asparagus growth next year.

My bed of zinnias has finally come into its own.  I now (better late than never) have plenty to cut and bring inside.

Hope you're enjoying this holiday whether you're celebrating the end of summer or choosing to labor on the Labor Day Weekend. 

Garden Posts Neglected

At least my garden hasn't been neglected this season, but posts about it certainly have.

We've had so many big projects we're (still) trying to handle that I haven't posted much about the garden.

So, in an effort to catch up just a little bit, let's take a stroll and take a look at what's going on out there.

I planted both broccoli and cabbage from seed right in the garden for the first time.  (Rather than transplanting started plants from indoors.)  Their start was really, really slow, and I had to replant the cabbage twice in some cases.

The broccoli is just now forming heads big enough to harvest.  I grew a total of ten plants, a row of five on either side of a row of dill down the center of an 8' long raised bed.  Although the plants are big and healthy, the three plants from which I've harvested heads so far aren't putting out any side shoots.  What's with that?  Although not perfect (perfect would be a negative ten for me), I've found only three small worms in the three heads combined.

The cabbages are just now starting to head up.  That's fine because I didn't want to have to harvest them before the root cellar had a chance to cool down this fall.  Last year they kept fantastically there.

The twelve Brussels sprout plants look as though they will give us a heavy harvest this year.

I've already made two years worth of dill pickles and bread and butter pickles and given away as many pickling cucumbers as I can (!), but the vines are still blossoming like crazy and producing beautiful cukes.  Sad to say, I think I'll be pulling them out this week in the name of getting a jump start on garden clean-up.

I planted a row of dwarf sunflowers for cutting, and we've been enjoying bouquets of them in the house for a couple of weeks now.  What's more cheerful than a sunflower?  Our honey bees are working the center of them (with a vengeance) which is great.

Speaking of our bees, I planted this flower, Gilia, specifically because bees were supposed to like it.  The plants have grown to look more like a frilly ground cover with their very bushy, spreading greenery.  The delicate flowers (only about 1/2" across) are plentiful, and the bees do spend a lot of time working them.

Another flower I tried for the first time is this Blue Salvia.  Love it (and again, the bees do, too) and I'll plant it again.

I'm so pleased to report my third attempt at planting asparagus seems to be a success.  (So far, anyway.)  We saw a heavy sprouting of spears for this first year, and the display of ferns is lovely.  This part of the asparagus/strawberry bed shows everbearing strawberry plants at the foreground of the picture.  They are HUGE and are putting out a gazillion blossoms (which the everbearing should be doing this time of year), but (sob) I'm being a good gardener and popping all of the blossoms off (double sob) this first year.

Our main (new) planting of June bearing strawberries is also doing fantastically.  Strong, healthy, large plants in all three rows, all three varieties.  Next year we will be back in strawberries!

Our summer got off to such a slow, cold start that my two cherry tomato plants are just now starting to give us ripe tomatoes.  Both plants (upright in the two cages you see in this bed) have literally hundreds of green tomatoes on them.  Papa Pea suggested we experiment and cover one of the cages with clear plastic to see if the tomatoes ripen up faster than the uncovered plant standing out in the breeze and cool night air.

I prepped a bed in which to plant some fall salad greens . . . but have never gotten around to getting the seeds from packets to soil.  (Can't expect good results that way, can I?)  Just can't find enough time in the day to do everything.

Well, we didn't cover all that is growing in the garden today.  Maybe I'll manage to get in another garden tour installment soon.  Right now, my brute strength is needed to help move some file cabinets down into the basement.  Ugh.

Recipes, Recipes and More Recipes

Kristina over at Pioneer Woman at Heart and Susan at e-i-e-i-omg! have been talking recently about working their way through their stash of "to try someday" recipes they've accumulated.

Kristina has been pulling out a not-yet-tried recipe, taping it on her refrigerator and making an effort to use it before the week is out.  Susan commented that she has a stack of new recipes about two inches thick.

To Susan I say, "Piffle!  Move over, girl.  I've got you beat by a long shot."

Do you see that open box pictured above?  The dimensions of it are 12" x 16" x 11" high.  It sits in the bottom of my clothes closet.  It is nearly full to the brim with recipes and other food ideas I've clipped out of magazines or newspapers, found on the Internet or in other bloggers' posts.

Each fall I make a To Do List for the coming slower (ha!) winter months.  "Go through and try or toss all saved recipes" is always on the list.  For how many years I'd be embarrassed to say.  (I probably can't count that high.)

So, being sensible about this situation, should I make it a priority (and just how would I do this short of hiring an armed guard to stand over me?) to really, truly dig into this box or should I take it all to recycling and unceremoniously dump the whole content in the scrap paper bin?

Anymore, I actually feel a bit of guilt printing out a new recipe to try or clipping one from a magazine.  Why even bother adding more to my box in the closet when I know those at the bottom of the stack must be ten (or even twenty -- oh, my!) years old?

Do you save recipes to try?  Do you place them in your super-organized filing system?  Or do they get squirreled away helter-skelter in a cardboard box like mine?  When you come across something that sounds like it will be a new taste treat for your family, do you make it immediately?  Or are you like me and it takes you years to dig it out and actually try it?  Don't be afraid to confess.  After thinking about this, I'm hanging my head in shame and feel it is definitely time to do something with that box in my closet.  Goodness knows, I can use the space for my four new pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes.  Hahaheeheeheehohohoho!