Yesterday's pickings
And big boy finally ripened. Weighed in at almost 1-1/2 pounds. Will take center stage at tomorrow night's dinner
A great day weather wise with temp of 77 degrees, and humidity of only 40%. Sorry to be late to getting the party going, but the Doctor's appointment was shifted from 1pm to 1:30pm, and even then didn't exactly start on time.
Well I have pretty much harvested everything-still have a few taters to dig. The weather is once again too dry, and the rainbarrels are empty. So IXnay on starting new plants outdoors. Just maybe plant a few for the indoor winter garden and a few for transplant if we get some fall rains.
Winter wheat and such won't be planted till Oct 15 or later, so we'll have to see whether the weather is favorable at that time or not.
Hope all is well with you. Have a great weekend, and God Bless.
Pinging the list.
Yesterday when I had to spend time in the garden, it was 91 degrees at 7 pm. Had to be close to, or was, 100 or more when I was out there.
A day like you had is a dream here.
Still in the high 90s or 100 here. And sweaty. There was rain all around this week but not a drop here. I wanted to get out to do something with some weekds but it was just too muggy this morning. Next week it’s supposed to drop 10 degrees so we’ll see.
The tomatoes by where the neighbor cut down his tree are still in shock from the hot sun so maybe the cooler temps will help.
Nothing new to report. Armadillos digging under the fence and tearing things up. Deer eating the tomatoes and corn. Same ol’ thing.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/12/cilantro-more-than-an-herb-it-can-purify-water-too/
Interesting article on how cilantro pulls heavy metals out of drinking water.
We are having some locals planting wheat now, they seriously need the winter grazing.
I have not sold any wheat seed yet, but we have cleaned about 1/2 of our crop in preparation. We are certified seed growers, only produce registered seed for our own use.
Does anyone have experience growing SainFoin (Esparsette)? I am about to order some seed and do not know what to expect from it. Have wanted to try it for 3 years, but the extreme drought kept me from trying. Things look better now and soon will.
I caught all of the jailbirds and clipped their wings a couple nights ago. If chickens had laser eyes like SuperMan I’d be a pile of ashes. They are not happy. LOL
Lake Travis dropped below 620’ MSL this week. Lowest mark in over 50 years. Spreadsheet at the link below with August levels being the latest posted.
We are already in stage two, which means we can water one day per week and our day is tomorrow. I’ll be outside from 7 - 11 AM tomorrow trying to water all areas of the yard.
Raining gently; just 1/3” so far, for the second time this past week.
Sent an infested sunflower with at least one beetle in it to County Weed & Pest Control; they in turn sent it to Rapid City, and I should hear back from the entomologist Monday or Tuesday. It looks like seed loss is secondary, rather than primary, as they burrow through the seeds into the heads, then proceed through the neck and into the upper stem. Not only are the seed where they directly burrow through lost, but the tunnels to get to the stem kills the seed bed, and those are lost as well.
We have canned more carrots, and right now there are 5 trays of diced carrots in the dryer. Have also canned more beans, and have another pickings worth to do something with. The bush speckled butterbeans need a couple more hot days, which NWS assures me will occur, starting Monday.
The dry beans are almost finished for the season. I picked some Wednesday, and didn’t have time to shell them until last night. They were in plastic bags, and some of the pods were not quite dry, though fully mature, and ‘sweated’ inside the bags. That was enough to let several actually pods full sprout! I have never shelled out bean sprouts from pods before; the sprouts were already up to an inch long, and trying to penetrate the pods. I put those into a sprouter to finish growing for the table.
We dropped off a load of pattypan, zucchini, and cukes at the local Ministerial Association food pantry yesterday while in town, but still have plenty for our own use.
A batch of pears got harvested, and are awaiting getting soft enough to process. Candied pears? Dried pears? Pear butter? Who knows at this point! And then there’s the apples. Oh, my, are there apples! Chickens and the wild turkeys have been getting the windfalls & damaged ones. We’ll be drying, freezing, saucing, and canning them, giving them away, and donating them and we’ll still not come close to using them all. Don’t suggest selling; that would be coals to Newcastle, assuming there were a market for small, often bug or bird damaged fruit.
Several of the Buttercup squash stems are becoming ‘corky’ as the fruit takes on color; should be ready sometime in the next week or so, along with their “squashkin” brethren that were born of seeds out of the same, single, Buttercup from last year’s garden. Not sure if they’ll be more squash-like, or pumpkiny; they are 12-16” in diameter, and ribbed; but the skin color is more like that of the Pink Banana squash the female parent was planted near, so suspect they will have a good flavor & texture.
The Jerusalem artichokes finally started forming flower buds beyond all reason; been busy pinching them off.
The Brussels sprouts are loaded, and the lower sprouts are finally starting to put on some size. Another month, and a couple for frosts should do wonders for them.
The volunteer grain milo may or may not mature before a killing frost, as there’s still some flowers open on it, while seed just forming on the rest. Also on the grains front, this coming week, as soon as it dries out enough, will see the wheat & rye planted.
Potatoes STILL are nowhere near ready to dig, though they are beginning to lay down, and lose some of their darker greens.
I’ll have a good crop of radish seed for next year, as the pods are turning color; also have some good candidates for pattypan seed.
Had baby Sylvia Monday evening so the gardening is going to have to wait. The hot peppers are growing like crazy too!
Yesterday's pickings
And big boy finally ripened. Weighed in at almost 1-1/2 pounds. Will take center stage at tomorrow night's dinner
Had a scare last night when the temp dropped to 34 degrees around 4 AM, but it bounced back before anything got hurt at sun up. Had no idea it would get that cold. No freeze/frost warnings from media or the govt weather station!
All the signs are pointing to a hard Winter up here in N. MN... Trees starting to turn, seeing V patterns of geese and ducks already! Guess Farmer's Almanac is saying the same thing...
Marcella, don't have anymore hints on your "killer" problem... Our cat keeps our redoubt killer/critter free! An option?
Does Jesus have a sense of humor? I ask because I've always loved lichens and mosses, but have never succeeded in "raising" either, however, I admit I didn't try super hard as it's been said, they grow where they want to grow... But lo and behold, when we moved to our new pad Sept. 1 (which also was our wedding anniversary!) of this year, look at this fence? Makes me smile (and smile).bfl