End of Summer

Its truly gone.  Last night we had our first freeze.  I woke up to windows that needed scraping, the heater running, and purple lips on one little one.  Summer was here and gone so fast I barely remember it at all.  After co-op today, the kids and I did a big yard clean up.  We took down the bean trellises, tomato cages, and soak hoses.  We raked up fallen fruit and found all the socks left all over the yard.  We cleaned "the fort" area under our huge pine trees and picked up all of the wood from projects the kids worked on all summer.  I wore a jacket all day, even in the sun and not once did I think of getting sunburned.  Summer is gone and in it's place is Autumn.  My favorite season of all.  The long shadows, geese flying overhead, squirrels scampering, and the colors make this season one of quiet and peace for me. There is still fruit in the trees and work to be done (a barn in our case that still needs to be raised) but it doesn't seem to have the same frantic pace to it as summer.  I look forward to Autumn all year long know that by the time October hit the calendar, I will be needing a reason to hunker down and call it a book day.  I will want to cook soups and stews, breads and pies, read books from morning till night and take pictures of shadows, leaves and the sky.  Autumn is my season.

So farewell summer, until next year.





















 

Spring seeding

Seeds hold such lovely possibilities don't they?  I started a flat of tomatoes a few days ago when the weather tricked me into thinking I may get away with planting early this year.  As I had my hands in the dirt, the open window letting a breeze hit my face, I couldn't help but think we all start as simple as a seed.  We are filled with the same limitless possibility and yet sometimes we don't think we are worth much more than the dirt that coated my hands.  I often wonder about that, where along our life road we get these thoughts that we aren't good enough.  I know mine have come from many places over the years.  This year though I decided to toss all that crap out.  This year I have decided that I am a pretty rockin' kind of gal and I have a lot to offer, just like my tiny little tomato seeds.  Funny the things you find yourself pondering while sowing a flat of seeds.

PS- In case you are wondering my tomato line up this year is here you go:

Rutgers, Striped Roman, San Marzano, Gills All Purpose, Heinz, Black Prince, Great White, Striped German and Sweetie Cherry.

I've had mixed reults with all of the above.  Some years they all take and grow 6ft tall and other years everything dies as soon as I transplant.  We are in a new zone this year.  The garden plot is non existant right now.  I hope that these two factors don't lead to large losses.  I would love to get a decent crop from all.  I do have wall-o-waters this year, something I have shunned in previous years. :)  Here's hoping.

Onions: A garden story

January is always met with garden thoughts.  Maybe because the hype of the holiday season is gone, its beyond cold and the sun never seems to shine, but I always think about gardening and veggies in January.  I pick through all my catalogues, read blogs like Subsistence Pattern (my fave!) to get motivated (and just a little awed), and I begin the planning phases of my summer garden.  I pick and choose this variety over this one, buy doubles of that, and dream of the day when I can plant those.  January is a lovely month for the garden (because its perfect and in my head!).

February comes and with it seed starting.  Oh little seeds like broccoli and cabbage, onions and Brussel sprouts.  They need a little coaxing, at least they do in my house, but those first green shoots make my day.  They brighten February and March a lot.

Enter the protagonist.  The onion.  The fun and spicy onion.  The wonderful little bulb that really makes or breaks Mexican Food, Italian, and of course Salsa.  I love onions.  I store them fresh and dehydrate them for onion powder and minced.  They are great.

I plant a lot of onions.  This year we had purple, yellow and white.  I wanted to give them all a chance, see who really performed best.

 

Well to wrap this story up, no one stepped up and took first place.  Most of the onions seemed stunted at gold ball stage with a large majority barely past onion set size.  It was sad.  I didn't cry, but I wanted to.

Nothing is every dull in the garden.

Dinner from the Garden

Even though the season is just about finished and everything has slowed.way.down. in production, I was still able to harvest enough for a very tasty dinner last night.





I harvested green and yellow beans, celery, onions, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers and dried dill.  When I logged into Facebook yesterday I saw this recipe posted from GNOWFGLINS.  Since a BBQ was on our agenda I knew I had to make it.

I followed the recipe as follows but I used plain yogurt instead of kefir cheese.  I used the Herbal Salt recipe also posted at GNOWFGLINS and added shredded carrots, the garden broccoli, onions and celery.  It was fantastic!  You must try it.



We rounded out the meal with steamed beans and butter, deviled eggs, grilled hamburgers, corn on the cob, and tomato and cucumbers.  It was the perfect finale to our summer.

PS.  This post was supposed to have some yummy potato salad pics but Flickr hates me tonight so this is what you get.  Try it though, it's great!

Garden bounty trickles in

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.  Stanley Horowitz

Autumn is my favorite time of year hands down.  There is something wonderful about crisp (or downright cold) mornings, fallen leaves, browning flowers, fog and burning that brings me such joy.  I get all cozy and comfortable feeling.  I want to hunker down, read, cook, and be at home.  It makes me want to hug the kids a few extra times a day and dance silly with them.  Something about it makes Home feel that much better.

As fall peeks its head around here I cant help but want to get planning for winter.  I'm going through that pantry counting jars of home preserved goodies, stocking the freezer, and adding extra grass clippings to the garden in preparation for autumn tilling.

The garden knows the routine even better than I do.  The potatoes have started to die off, the onions are following close behind, cabbage is loving the cool nights, the tomatoes not so much.  Everything is finishing off.  Harvests are becoming smaller and fewer.  Ahh there is nothing like a fall(ish) garden to make me truly happy with what we did harvest.  I am always thankful for gardening this time of year.  Without it I don't think I would notice the change of seasons quiet so much.  And without it I wouldn't have the opportunity to marvel at the changes that can happen within on tiny seed.  So incredible.

Glimpse of Gratitude

{Each Monday I will post one simple picture of something I am grateful for, something that has blessed my life in the past week, with no words to describe it. I want the picture to speak for itself. Feel free to join in the Glimpse of Gratitude challenge and post one on your blog. Leave a comment here so we can see who you are and what you are grateful for.}

 

Great Scot! It's a cucumber!

Do your kids ever sit and giggle at the awesomeness that is Veggie Tales?  My kids do.  We pick them up at the library occasionally knowing it will be a giggle fest for the duration of the movie.  We have most of their sing along CD's and I will admit that I do know most of the lyrics.  I mean really how could you not sing at the top of your lungs about missing hair brushes, cheeseburgers and of course your lips.  Bob is entertaining to be sure but we all know that Larry steals the show.  I mean a walking, talking, singing cucumber?  Brilliant!

Now to my point.  I had a cucumber.  There I said it and it feels amazing to admit it!  I have been gardening for 6 years.  For 6 years I have battled late frosts, snow storms, and winds that are reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz.  Every single year for 6 years my carrots, potatoes, broccoli, and even tomatoes to a degree, have held their heads high, weathered the storms and come out stronger in the end.  All the veggies take the beating in stride, all except the cucumber.

Now I don't want to rag on the cuke too much here, but honestly up until this year I have really started to wonder why I bother with such a wimpy little plant!  I mean really, who can't handle a little snow in June or wind that bowls a person over instantly.  Really who can't buck up and take it?  I started cucumbers this year with the knowledge that they would die and shrivel and it would be a horrible waste of seed.  I knew that, I accepted that, and I planted them.  I planted them and it came!

I ate a cucumber from my garden!  One beautiful glorious Boothby Pickling Cucumber grew, flourished and provided me with an extra tasty treat!  Oh Glory be!  What an experience it was.  That one little cucumber has renewed my love of the plant and if it takes me another 6 years to grow one so be it.  I loved you little cucumber!

 

Experiment in Cabbage

I gave sauerkraut a try this last week. I harvested close to 20lbs of cabbage and needed something to do with it! I remember reading in Nourishing Traditions and again on GNOWFGLINS all about the wonders of Sauerkraut. I couldn't lactoferment it so I googled around. It turns out making sauerkraut is pretty easy, all you need is cabbage, salt and a masher. Simple enough for me.

Soaking the cabbage in salt water to get any bugs out. That would just be a nasty bite!

Caitlin shredding the cabbage. Isn't she awesome in her pioneer girl dress. She loves that thing and wears if often.

Salt layered on a section of cabbage. Salt removes the water from the cabbage in case you didn't know. :)

Mashing each layer of cabbage was the prized job in the kitchen that day. Everyone wanted that meat mallet!

I stuck a half pint jar filled with water inside the jar to keep the cabbage submerged in the water.

I have never eaten sauerkraut nor even smelled it for that matter. I have no idea what I am doing here but its all about learning new things right? I will let you know how it turns out as soon as its done!

Color in the garden

Every Sunday night we seem to find ourselves in the garden for a moment or to.  The kids check to see whats new, shouting and hooting at every little find.  Tonight we found ourselves out enjoying the moments before a storm.  The air was thick with the smell of rain and everything seemed to be a bit more vivid than usual.

 

 

 

Veggies are grand!

You knew it was coming.  It's that time of year where I go on and on about vegetables.  Well it has finally arrived (a month later than normal!) and I have to say it is just grand.  The garden space is doing well and with the warm temps we've had is quickly being over run my weeds.  if only I believed in spraying poison all over our food, it sure would make weeding easier. This weekend will be spent weeding and getting a killer sun burn (not on purpose of course, it just happens that way.)

{Spinach of some variety.  I picked it a little late but the flavor is still yummy.}

{Rainbow chard.  These took a while to get going but now they are beautiful! I cant wait to harvest and enjoy!}

{Purple cabbage}

{TONS of cilantro.  It has just grown where ever it wants.  I didn't plant it, neither did the last two renters here.  Its a mystery that I am very thankful for.  I see a lot of cilantro pear smoothies in my future.  Don't knock it until you try it!}

And since this is a veggie post I will share with you our first basket from a local (sort of) CSA.  We joined Cosmic Apple Gardens last month.  We received our first share today.  It was a little sparse because of the crazy cool spring we have had, but sun is in the forecast so things will be looking up next week and the coming weeks.  I am so excited to be part of a CSA this year.  I think the concept is awesome!  I love knowing where my food comes from, knowing the farmers and actually getting the profits to the farmers.  How awesome is that!  Now you may be wondering why we have signed up since I do garden and quiet a bit.  This year my goal is to use the CSA as our daily fresh vegetables and use the gardens bounty to put up for the winter.  This will be our first year self employed and well I think its going to be a little rough.  Preparedness is my motto this summer.  I have already sourced all the fresh fruits we can eat and now the veggies are taken care of.  Meat is just waiting for us to pick it up and we will be set! Woot.

Anyway here is a pic of a few things we got in our share tonight: radishes, basil and chives. 

Here is to a yummy veggie filled weekend!

Veggie Green is Beautiful

Before we get to the main course of veggies lets take a moment to stop and smell the flowers.  LOL lame I know.  Anyway.....one of the benefits to moving in early spring is you are just in time to see all the surprises that have been hiding under ground all winter.  My front flower  bed is filled with tulips and lillies.  Tulips of all varieties and is so many wonderful colors.

Along the fence there are Johnny Jump Ups.  They are everywhere and next to the cedar fence, they look just little more refreshing and happy.

Ahh now my favorite thing in the world, vegetables (and a few strawberry plants).  The kids and I stopped at a local nursery to check out the goodies.  Oh the smells in that greenhouse made me feel wonderful.  We picked up an entire wagon full of veggies plus onion sets and wall 'o waters.

{Cilantro, cabbage, brussel sprouts, peppers, and strawberries}

{Sweet Pea starts in the kitchen window.  These make me think of my grandma and every time I see them I can smell her fresh laundry. It was a great smell!}

 

{Cucumber, pumpkins and cabbage.  These sad little things are the reason I was at the nursery today. Next year I must have a green house!}

 

{Purple cabbage leaves are some of my favorites.  Such a pretty color and texture.}

 

{Rainbow chard is a new one for me.  We have never grown it but a goal for us this season is to increase the amount of greens we grow and eat.  So we begin with chard.}

 

{Red onions.  I plan to dehydrate a lot of onions this year for later use in cooking.  I really like how last years onions turned out and am excited to try them again.}

 

The table is covered in little plants and the room smells like burned broccoli (oops!) and dirt.  Minus the broccoli it smells heavenly. 

Planting begins tomorrow.

The garden has begun

With temperatures reaching the near 70's (Gasp!) and the glorious absence of rain and/or snow  we were finally able to get outside and dig in the dirt a bit.  We managed to plant greens, lettuces, peas, potatoes, broccoli raab (a new one for us!), carrots, and parsnips.  18 varities of veggies in the ground.  I feel so productive and hopeful. 

The girls made a few quick homemade signs to mark our rows.  These lasted only until we turned the water on. At least we know where everything is. :)

On a side not a year or so ago my sister let me know about a gardening community online.  I joined but haven't used the services yet.  Yesterday after the big plant I decided to log in and actually use it.  If you are interested in meeting up with other gardeners in your zone from around the world check it out.  Folia

They have a lot of great things like seeds swaps, journals, planting tracker, etc.  Its pretty cool.

I hope your weekend finds you enjoying the sun, family, friends, and if you are lucky a tasty BBQ to boot!