Late September

Amazing, but we have had no frost yet!  Patchy frost is in the forecast however, so I had better get the rest of the tomatoes and peppers picked.

So, no blog last week.  Sunday evening I thought about it, but didn't really have much to say... almost could repeat the previous week and didn't have any cute critter photos to share. 

I'm still doing much of the same things... making tomato sauce and cheese.  I have gotten the Jacob's Cattle Beans picked but not shelled and the onions pulled and in the garage.  This was Flowers Funny Farm weekend which is a Boy Scout event that takes place here every year.  The boys came up to the house from their campsite on the other side of the woods to the south and picked the pumpkins.  They sell the pumpkins to earn money for events like camp.  This was a good incentive for me to get out and pick my pumpkins and squash, since they are in the same patch.  Plenty of pumpkins for pie and muffins, but not as many squash as I would have liked.

Pumpkins for the Scout families to pick up

the overflow area

2 kinds of pie pumpkins and 3 kinds of squash

Something new for me was making Pepper Jelly.  Since discovering the delights of goat cheese with Pepper Jelly on wheat crackers, I have been buying the stuff at the farmer's market.  I do like to support the folks there too, but since I have a good supply of peppers this year, it seemed like a good idea. I used the Surejell recipe and it turned out well, at least the first batch did.  I now have two batches done and I'm not sure the batch I made today is setting up right.   As I type this my hands are still feeling the heat and it's been several hours.  I think washing the dishes has intensified the burn.  Yeah, I know, I should wear gloves... but I'm just not a glove wearing kind of gal.

Tasty and pretty too!

One more picture of the tomatoes in the greenhouse.  I pruned them some today, heaping vines in the wheelbarrow to overflowing.  I transplanted a few lettuce plants in there around the bottom of the plants.

up to the roof and then some!

Still to do... dig potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbages, and whatever else is out in the garden still, pick apples (and make applesauce), clean up the garden, harvest the cornmeal corn (not yet though), clean out the chicken coops... and that's just my list... you should see Kevin's!  He has the big jobs!

A quick animal update... pigs are happy, young roosters are about 3 weeks away from the freezer, hens still aren't' laying very well, the does are still milking, but a little less now, and Ranger is even stinkier!  Cats are good and there is a stray around from time to time. 

ForestRanger were very interested in what the Scouts were doing with the pumpkins, but the kids were more interested in visiting the less odorous animals... like the pigs!

Anyway, there you go.  I'll be back with a new blog next week, or maybe in two again.  Until then, be well friends!