I am also making (and freezing) Lemony Kale Pesto and Bacon Tomato Jam and will also be 'canning' some salads that Beau can take with him back up to B'ar Camp. Season opens this upcoming Wednesday.
These salads really are terrific - used to pack them for lunch when I worked. They last a solid week in the fridge with no loss of flavor or crispness. The important thing to remember: Dressing and 'wet' ingredients go on the bottom, then your lettuce, then your shredded cheese or sunflower seeds, croutons, etc. These are terrific for using up all kinds of garden veggies, too. A wide-mouth jar works best. but any glass container with a tight lid (old mayo or pasta jar, etc.) will do. Below are wide mouth Quart sized jars.
Thursday/Friday I got the entire farm mowed (and it needed it!). I was on the mower Thursday from 1:30 until 7:30 with maybe a half hour break. After Ida cleared out Wednesday, it’s been almost fall weather - clear days, low humidity, highs around 80 with a decent breeze. The breeze dried the grass quite a bit so mowing was pleasant. Yesterday, I finished up some spots that I didn’t get to the day before - 3:30 - 6:00.
I have a list of “to do” items - trimming branches that I have to duck under when mowing, filling some holes that just about knock my kidneys loose if I forget & hit them ... a rotten step to fix & “someone” hit the shelf where all the tools are stored and knocked it off the cincerblock foundations. To fix it, I’ll have to take all the tools off, re-set the blocks, then put it all back. The garden has grown up a bit - I need to work on it for about half a day. It’s been so hot (heat index over 100 for a good week with 105-109 some days), with oppressive humidity - I did not do any garden work.
Today, we’re scrambling around cleaning up the porch & doing some other house cleaning chores. Company coming from 1-3 for some porch-sitting, conversation, & sweet tea. It’s my cousin & his wife. He survived open heart surgery in July - 35 days in the hospital due to some unforeseen issues that became apparent once the surgeon opened him up. Frankly, I did not think I’d ever see him alive again, so it will be a happy afternoon & I’m looking forward to it.
Thanks. Coffee ☕ is fabulous
Greetings from southern New Hampshire. I am home again!
Now working on the last raised beds before the hoop house construction begins. Well, construction began today. We have the heavy duty landscape fabric to lay down, and I have the 4 by 4 PT for the 4’ long corner and midsection posts. The design will initially have 2’ tall side walls, with 18’ cattle panels for the roof structure and greenhouse plastic.
I have two used storm doors, courtesy of my sister (I replaced them with new doors!), for the front and back ends.
Of course, the Man Upstairs had to provide me with an addition challenge in the form of a downed tree, laying across the boundary to the neighbor’s back yard. My project for today.
Household Six has declared war on squash bugs and aphids. It is getting ugly out there! Pumpkins are forming. Luffas are also maturing. Ground Cherries are dropping their little “lanterns” on the ground. I see a ground cherry pie in the future. Peppers are really looking good! Starting to harvest celery, and tomatoes…tomatoes…tomatoes. She has three trays dehydrating in the wall ovens!
We have learned a lot this year.
:)
Love the invite. Have a good day!
In other news my Tabasco plant is loaded with peppers. We are leaving for Belgium on Friday, 3 days in Bruges and 4 days in Brussels, and when we return I expect to see enough ripe peppers to start up a fresh batch of Tabasco sauce.
