Fall is upon us, with a bang! About 2 minutes after my alarm went off, gunfire erupted down on the river .... resident goose season comes in Sept. 1-25. My window was open, so it sounded like the shooting was in my back yard - river is 1/2 mile away by road, probably closer as the crow flies and the river bends around the neighbor behind us.
It was 48° & foggy this morning & after the sun burns off the river fog, it should be another cool, breezy, wonderful day to work outside.
Thanks for the thread .... hope your back is better.
I moved 2-1/2 months ago. I now live on a postage stamp, albeit one with a great view.
I moved some nice large deck planters. Managed to kill off the mint in one. What I need to do is revive 3-4 large planters, put them all on my WSW facing front porch, and figure out how to get water for drip irrigation up there. Then figure out which culinary herbs I’m going to put in them.
New house projects, I have a billion of them.
What do I do in early fall to help/prepare the lawn for next Spring? Aerate, overseed and fertilize.
Any other suggestions for prepping the lawn in fall for Spring?
But, there are still some very hardy plants that will bloom under our high heat, searing sun and hot winds.
Spider Lilies (my neighbor was throwing these away!)
Plumerias - sorry don't know any of the names, they are very very old and were started from cuttings:
Bougainvillea "Sea Foam"
Happy Labor Day and Happy September, the gateway to Fall!
Finally!!!
No, I don’t mean September or cooler weather getting here. Late August’s weather turned out to be great, if a bit too dry...
No, my biggest Mortgage Lifter tomato plant has “finally” set 3 fruits, and judging by the prolific flowering, there will be more soon. I have rigged up some more support.
It appears the plant wanted both the Bloom Booster and Super Phosphate AND cooler weather. Curiously, the weaker Mortgage Lifter plants set a few fruits a few days sooner. Even the one the hornworms damaged has a couple small fruits started, but, IDK if the plant can generate big fruits when it is still recovering & half what it should be.
ALSO, the plants from seeds of what I’m pretty sure were Golden Jubilee tomatoes last year are now growing fruits, and these fruits are still very green and bigger than any mature fruits the “Golden Jubilee” plants I got in starter pots from Menards /Bonnies this spring. The latter plants are still producing fruits that look the same as my Cherry Falls tomato plants are producing.
(The “earliest” of the Bonnies Cherry Falls plants from 4” pots has gone into “stasis” it seems: It’s staying alive, but not growing or producing even with a couple feedings applied in the last 2 weeks. The others, though, are still flowering and fruiting.)
Golden Jubilee tomatoes are heirloom and open-pollinated, so I’d hoped for good results, and, apparently I may get them. :-)
CROCK POT CHOCOLATE CAKE / deliciously gooey
Mix box chocolate cake mix, 8 oz sour cream, pkg instant chocolate pudding, cup chocolate chips,
4 eggs, 3/4 cup oil, cup water. Pour into lightly greased 5qt crock pot, or Crock Pot Cake Bake pan. Cover. Cook 6-8 hours on low. Serve by scooping out of pot. Top w/ whipped cream or ice cream.
Rumor has it your neck of the woods is looking at possible frosts or freezes in some places in the next couple days.
You just might want to be aware because this is VERY early.
This past week wasn’t terribly hot in Central Missouri but it was another dry one. With an official total of .07” of rainfall, August wound up the 3rd driest here since modern record keeping began. We got a few sprinkles yesterday and another light shower this morning but not enough to curtail the irrigation of plants/trees that I care about.
Spring plantings in the kitchen garden are starting to wind down. I harvested the last four spaghetti squash yesterday and yanked the vines. Picked the last lonely jumbo zuke and pulled those vines. The vines are starting to look rough but the Summer Dance cukes never got bitter/tough and are still setting new blossoms and producing well. That variety is the new slicer cuke of choice in my garden. Straight 8s have been relegated to the dustbin of history. The National Picklers are just about finished. Mrs. Augie decided that 32 quarts of lacto-fermented dill pickles will be enough to hold us until next summer so I’ll pull those vines in the next couple or three days.
Peppers are still rocking. Tomato plants are a mixed bag but still producing like crazy. I gifted away ~35lbs last week and expect to have at least that many to share again this week. All of my Cherokee Purple plants had leaf curl this time. I pulled one plant yesterday. 2 of the 3 that remain are about done.
The Blue Lake pole beans that I planted in mid July finally got hold of the ground and took off. We ate the first picking of those for supper last night.
I finished juicing the apples I picked last week and bottled 12 quarts of cider. The bottom fell out of one jar when I put it into the water bath. Seems like that only happens with the newer (<15 years old-ish) jars. They just aren’t as durable as the old school jars. The cider turned out great. I think I’m going to make another batch before I put the canning equipment away.
Yesterday I cored another five gallon bucket full of apples and boiled those until they started to fall apart. After work today I’ll run that mixture through the food processer then season it up and transfer it to the slow roaster to cook down into apple butter.
Saturday I picked a bunch of red-ripe cayenne, jalapeno, and serrano peppers. Washed them, removed the stems, did a coarse chop, then put them into a saltwater brine to ferment. That filled a 2 gallon bucket about halfway up. I’m going to let that mixture ferment for a couple or three months then I’ll puree and bottle it. It should turn out to be a nice and spicy table sauce.
Priority tasks for this week include picking more apples to slice/freeze for pie filling over the winter, turning/adding/amending the soil in the raised bed where I grew Mrs. Augie’s spring kale and sowing more for a fall/winter crop, and catching 50 or so smallish bluegills out of the pond to use for catfish bait on Sunday.
Ing 1-2 lge garden zucchini 3 eggs beaten with tbl milk 1 c Progresso Italian style
bread crumbs 3/4 c olive oil 1/2 c grated Parm 1 c Mozzarella 2 c fave tomato sauce
Method: Make 1/4 inch thick slices of zucchini. Dip each slice first in eggs, then into crumbs. Saute in oil until golden brown on both sides. Place layer of zucchini in 2 quart casserole; sprinkle with Parm and Mozzarella then cover with tomato sauce. Repeat until zucchini is used, topping last layer with Mozzarella. Bake uncovered 350 deg 1/2 hour; sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.
Just wondering if anyone around here has ever heard of it or tried it.
P.S. I think I've settled on all-american-parsnip
ORANGE COFFEE CAKE
Ing 2 1/4 c flour 3 1/2 tsp b/powder 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 c sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1/3 c butter, melted 1 cup fresh oj. Topping: 1 tbl orange zest, 1/2 c raw quick-cook oats, 1/2 c sugar, 1 tbl cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 2 tbl softened butter.
Method Sift flour, b/powder, salt, sugar. Add combined eggs, melted butter, oj, beat smooth. Pour into well greased pan. Combine topping ing, spices; sprinkle over softened butter; work together then top batter. Can also be baked in cast iron skillet 350 deg 50-60 min. Garnish w/ orange slices, serve.
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Rich coffee, creamy milk, a perfect blend of pumpkin puree and spices, on the cheap.
Ing 1 c milk 2 tbl ea pumpkin puree, condensed milk 1 tbl vanilla ½ tsp spice aisle "pumpkin pie spice" or to taste 2 shots strong coffee whipped cream/cinnamon garnish cinnamon stick stirrer
Method Heat on med, milk, pumpkin puree, condensed milk, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice, whisking constantly, do not boil. Remove from heat. Whisk frothy using electric whisk or frother. Pour into large mug. Garnish w/ whipped cream, sprinkle of cinnamon, cinnamon stick stirrer.
Buttery Almond Pistachio Thins /
Save this for your holiday cookie file. Makes a lot.
Ing: 3/4 c butter, softened 1/2 c conf 1 egg 1 tsp almond extract 1 1/2 c flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 c sugar 1/2 c white baking chips or vanilla almond bark 1/4 c roasted/salted pistachio nuts, coarse-chp
How To: Combine butter and conf, elec/mixer/beat on med til creamy. Add egg and almond extract beating well. Reduce speed to low, add flour/salt. Beat well. Saran bowl, fridge firm (1 hour). Shape into 1" balls, roll in sugar. Place 2" apart on (ungreased) cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/4" thickness. Bake 350 deg 8 to 10 min; lightly brown bottom. Cool completely. Drizzle cooled cookies. Immediately sprinkle w/ chopped pistachios. Let stand til drizzle is set.
Drizzle: Place white chips in resealable baggie. Micro on med kneading
every 15 sec til melted. Snip one corner, then drizzle cookies.
French Toast Sticks / your breakfast awaits
Ing 1/2 c milk 2 eggs 2-4 slices white bread each cut into 4 strips
1 tsp br/sugar 2-3 drops vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon granulated sugar
Dip bread strips in egg batter; saute each side golden brown.
Roll strips in sugar. Drizzle w/ maple syrup. Add fresh berries.
Egg Batter Beat two eggs well. Stir in milk, br/sugar, cinnamon, vanilla.
Salmon Patties / Cheap, easy, delicious.
Ing 14 3/4 oz can salmon 1/2 med chp onion, 2 eggs 1 tsp ea pepper, l/juice 1 pkg saltines, crumbed
METHOD Empty canned salmon/juice into bowl (remove bones). Add 2 eggs, then lemon juice. Stir well. Add onion, pepper, crackers. Stir. Form 5-6 patties 3/4-1" thick. Let set 5 min. Add to 1/2" cooking oil heated at med-high temp. Do not skimp on oil; cook 4-5 min per side; heat thru. Center should not be cold. Patties will be beautifully brown, crunchy, and very delicious.
SERVE Squeeze on some fresh lemon. Can top w/ heated mayo and mustard sauce.
Howdy folks! I just came up for air for a minute and thought I’d drop by. It was a busy summer. Now we are in the throes of madly harvesting the garden. The domestic goddess has been canning up pickles. We got a lot of cucumbers. If you get in the way in the kitchen you will wind up in a jar! We got a lot of tomatoes also and they are ripening on shelves under lights. We had a number of BLT’s. Yum. I got the potatoes Sunday. About 200 pounds. We are lifting carrots today. So far ten gallons from about 4 feet of bed. Have also spent a certain amount of time picking up after all the arboreal litterbugs in the yard. We had 32 and a light snow this morning. Powerful encouragement! Take care, be safe and be happy!
