Harvest Monday 9.30.13

It's still September, and no- I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth. It just seems like it. Linking into Daphne's Dandelions. (Sorry I missed y'all for so long!)

My harvest? Well they have been many but my brain refused to remind me to take many pictures. The last few weeks I've harvested green beans, (YIPPEE! They're back!) black eyed peas, lady peas (ha, that sounds dirty, doesn't it?) loads of sweet potatoes, a few leeks, some strawberries, (WAHOO!) lemons, limes and... I know there is something I'm forgetting here. Eggs. Yes, eggs. How could I ever forget them?

   The citrus is from the tree that I am treating for "greening disease" Following the protocol of antibiotics and an overabundance of fertilizer this tree did not produce edible fruit last year, but this years fruit is once again edible! I'm shocked but also aware that I am only prolonging the inevitable. I'll lose the tree eventually and if the replant any of the dead groves around me I'll take my tree out so as to not reinfect their new stock. Meanwhile though, I'm enjoying fruit again this year!





The leeks are a few representatives of what I pulled out of the garden over the last couple of weeks. These were destined for stir fry and some soup. I wasn't feeling well this past weekend and soup was just the thing for this Mamma.

Poor Dusty. I miss my little (OK, LARGE) girl. She had gotten down to a single tail feather and one side of her neck feathers were completely replaced already. She was looking rough, but really coming along nicely in her molting process. I think that within just another 10-15 days she would have been completely feathered in except the tail and ready to rejoin the flock again. It was nice to see her turning back to white. It was so strange that her down was grey. I don't know why I didn't think it would be. I have checked her thoroughly for mites time and again but never noticed that. Go figure. See that her feet had completely feathered back out again?

I now know why she passed away. She was murdered. It was an act of carelessness really. I did it, and I feel completely terrible. I didn't realize that her food dish in her isolation pen was holding water. It had rained every day that week, and her food had gotten moldy. I'm a bad chicken Mom. :-( Moldy food can kill a chicken quickly. She didn't act sickly at all. I spent a good hour outside with her as she preened and hunted up some grub the night before and she was acting completely normal so I know she went quickly and didn't suffer, but it still hurts to know I was responsible.




 Large eggs this week, and limes, too. The next round of seedlings are almost ready to go into the garden. If the rain will hold off for just a couple days it would be nice. The seedlings tend to do better with a watering rather than our crazy rains when they are first transplanted.

I pulled up a little more than half the sweet potato bed. Remember that this is the half I just harvested last month. I have continually harvested from this bed all year long as I needed them and yet I still had a decent yield. This bed is almost 4' square. After providing spuds all year long it gave me 4 taters that were unusable thanks to the rain (splitting) and 8 pounds of beautiful usable delectable sweet potatoes. These spuds are going to the crock pot to be used this weekend for my Father-In Laws Memorial. Well- for afterward when we all gather together.




Funny how funerals and food go together hand in hand. I guess that it's just a way to comfort ourselves.  We find comfort in each other and in food that we are familiar with. I'm going to put a crushed pecan and brown sugar crust on them. I'm hoping I'm not the only one that finds them soothing and comforting. TO me sweet potatoes always remind me of family coming together for the holidays and this is no exception. It may not be a holiday but we will all be coming together.

The other half of the sweet potato patch will be allowed to continue on until the first frost. The night before I'll go out and yank a few of the vines and keep them in a vase in the kitchen so I will have good starts for the next year. Sometimes I don't even need them!

Well- I think that's it. I'm busy with guests and arrangements and still trying to get the garden ready for those little seedlings. It's going to be a wild couple weeks. Hopefully things will settle down soon.

Be back soon!

Barbie~

It's been a while.

I've been ignoring you. But, It's been on purpose.

 

September 11th is always a very emotional day. I had plans to come here and post something poignant. Meaningful and heartfelt, but my plans were changed. September 11th now has a new memory for me.

 

Now instead of thinking of it as the day that America lost the twin towers and we as a country mourned that loss that  changed the lives of so many - now instead it's the day I lost my Father-in Law. I could tell you about the events of that morning and how things went into a tailspin and what all transpired. But, the reality is ... no one wants to truly be faced with their own mortality. Bringing up all that would only make people feel sad.  Instead I'll tell you that he was an amazing man and I've been incredibly lucky to have had him as my Father-in-Law for the last 19 years.  He's always treated me with love and respect my children have had the best Poppi ever!

 

 It's taken me a few weeks to come back here to this space because I didn't want to bring the negativity back with me that I knew would be inevitable if I came back sooner. To make matters worse my backyard rainbow is now a little dimmer. My flock has been reduced by one. My favorite hen is now gone as well. She passed away this past week. My children have suffered greatly with these two deaths and they (of course) are taking this personally.

 

So I just wanted to stop in today to jot a note and let you all know I'm alive and well. I just needed to take a mental health break. I'll be back to share on Harvest Monday. My world is still turning, I just got a little turned around in it for a few days.

 

 

Be Back Soon

 

 

Barbie~

What remains...

What remains?

What remains of the bees? This remains of the bees.

Soon the Bee Keeper will be(Bee?) Back to vacuum the few stragglers away and take them to the rest of the hive. Speaking of... The hive was much, MUCH larger than anyone realized. Jeff was thrilled to have received such a gift. The hive is very healthy and must have simply been hidden by the vines longer than we realized. Thankfully the vines are easily trimmed and the hive removed. If it had been in the trellis instead... :-( it would not have been as easy and the bees would have been very agitated.

What remains of a molting chicken? Solitary confinement. Not only that, but I don't really have the resources for solitary - so we have improv! I took a beat up old playhouse and made it into something that would do. At least for short term...

 

Do you normally have to put your hens into solitary confinement? NO! But, see I have mean red that like to pick on her and I came home to a BLOODY hen instead of a bald one. Poor baby. So into the pen she went. Good news is she's so darn concerned about pruning she couldn't care less that she's all alone. It's only been a week and she's already got 4 of her flight feathers back! What a mess she is.

My normally pristine WHITE bird is GREY, and dappled and....balding and....embarrassed!

 (here she has spotted me with the camera)

(now she is running away from the camera)

 

Below is her normal behavior. Running TOWARD the camera. LOL. What a difference. Look at that sparkling WHITE bird!

 

 It's hard to believe she is actually grey under all that white and hides it that well! Her face looks gargantuan without any feathers on it, and that tail? Oh, My! She looks like someone has already pre-plucked her for the frying pan. It's a good thing we love her. I can't wait until RED molts. There will be no solitary confinement for her. If she gets picked on, oh well. She deserves it! Mean old biddy! She needs to just be soup, but I can't seem to find the time to do it when the kids aren't around. When the chicks are in the feed stores in spring may just be the time for her to disappear. Then two brand new chicks can take her place. That may just do. LOL.

OH, Did I mention that Dusty is like- Super molter? She's only one week in - half bald (or more) and she LAID AND EGG this week! Yes, only one - but still. Would you? I sure as heck wouldn't! I'd be putting my feet up and telling my people to go lay their own dang eggs!

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 9.9.13

Oh what a Monday it is!

 

This is definitely the top of my harvest weeks. What I am harvesting today is pure, sheer, genuineness. OK. Maybe not but I sure do wish I had a way to keep what I am harvesting today. BECAUSE today I am harvesting....

 

Look deep into my foliage....

 

BEES!!!!

 

That's right! Thursday evening or Friday morning a swarm of bees showed up. Today they are still here and they can't be left here. This is at my work and there are far too many people here. People who like bug spray. I'm currently waiting for the Beekeeper to show up. Like I said - I just wish I had a way to keep them for myself. It would be so nice to have these wonderful workers at my house!

 

I harvested a handful of blackberries while I was working outside this weekend. The other thing I harvested this week was a rogue pomegranate. It was growing on the wrong side of the fence. I didn't even know it existed until I went out front to do some cleaning up in the hibiscus bushes. :-)

I <3 surprises!

 

 

I really do, and this weekend I got 2 great ones!

 

Now, if the corn I sowed would just show up.... WAHHHHH....

 

See you soon!

 

Barbie~

Tuesday Harvest? 9.3.13

You know when a Holiday falls on a Monday it throws me all kinds of out of whack!

 

It's like Monday just doesn't exist or something. Don't get me wrong. I'm OK with this fact. It means I've had one less day sitting behind my desk at work. ;-)

 

This past weeks harvest is kind of important though so I wanted to tell you about it. Not in so much as what I harvested but what I didn't harvest.

 

My blackberry bushes are forming berries again. The second crop is always much smaller than the first. I'm pretty good with this as it's usually sweeter as well. The larger berries are better for juice/jelly and such but these berries are better for fresh eating.

To wit - this is the only berry I managed to remember to take a picture of. This time of year the stalks are longer and weep closer or even all the way to the ground so it's a fight with the chickens over these if I forget to tie them up before I let the hens out for the afternoon over the weekends.

Not to mention I have to fight with the kids and myself over not just popping them in our mouths and eating them. Actually getting them inside for a picture is a feat in itself. This one got mangled on the way in. Then no one wanted to eat it because it wasn't as pretty. Well - boo hoo to them. It still tasted just as good!

 

 

 

It being September means the sweet potatoes have been in the ground for seven months now and I like to pull them up sometime between September and October. So I rooted around and found a few potatoes. What I found wasn't very encouraging. So I stripped the plants of any formed potatoes. My hope is that if I give the plants another 6 weeks I might have a last round of sweet potatoes to carry me through. What I got out form under the plants? 10 pounds of extremely split sweet potatoes and about 2 and a half pounds of usable ones. I also got a rogue carrot, and a snake skin. LOL. Never know what you'll find in such dense vegetation 'round here!

Split potato in front (vast majority were this way) only usuable ones in back. Snake skin and carrot on table, too. The kids thought it was funny that the little carrot formed. It wasn't bad considering it was a summer carrot. The shade from the heavy foliage must have helped the carrot but it was still rather bitter. Snake looks like a rat snake or garter. Both are very common here.

 

Last but certainly not least the eggs. This is what my eggs looked like this past week on Friday...

 

I had been getting 3 every day. Just like usual with a skip by the large bird about once a week, sometimes twice. She's not meant to lay 7 days a week so that's just not a shock there.

 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I got 2 eggs a day and this is what the nest looked like:

 

Oh, my. I guess we know what is going on here. It's just that time of year after all. Thankfully for my birds they are going to be getting naked while it's still quite warm out. I feel bad for the birds up north that get naked when it's so cool at night, and even in the SNOW! BRRRRr..... Yesterday, on Monday? Only one egg. So it looks like egg production is down, feather production is up and my birdies will be looking rather disheveled for a while. I'm hoping it won't take too long. I'm also hoping it will set little Miss red on her rear! She's been pecking on Dusty when she's in the nest box and has managed to pick all of her neck feathers out. It would be good if this helped to change her temperament a little bit. *crossing fingers* If not I'll be buying two chicks in the spring to replace her and while my soup pot will be fat the hen house will get skinny. LOL. Just don't tell the kids. I don't mind them knowing where our food comes from, but these hens are their pets. After all they watch us quarter the hogs and deer. Meat and butchering is not a surprise to them.

 

Ah, so that was my Labor Day weekend. We enjoyed ourselves, puttered around the garden. Replanted the corn that didn't come up...(Oh, yes that is another post)  This week I'll tear out the squash that just up and died on me. *pout* and the circle of garden life continues on.

 

See you soon!

 

Barbie~

 

 

Summer is winding down

And when summer winds down do you know what that means?

 

It means impromptu calls to work that I"m playing hooky for the day. OK, maybe it was planned earlier in the week. But, I still played hooky the last day before school started back up for the kids. I couldn't help it. I wanted to make memories with them. I wanted to take them to a theme park or a water park. Our budget couldn't afford that so I did the next best thing.

We beached it. I took them to one of the best beaches around here. This beach has a little of everything. It's got hiking. It's got rocks, and shells, and sharks teeth. It's got a lagoon, tidal pools, waves and clean clear, cool(ish) water. I love this beach. Best thing? We don't do middle of the day beach. We do first thing in the morning beach. Like it's still kinda cool out and no one is around yet so we get the place to ourselves.

 

LOVE IT! We got out there around 8am and stayed until a little after lunch. That was the time when everyone started showing up, and that was our cue to leave. But we really had a good time.

 

Besides having the place to ourselves until the last hour, you wanna know the bestest thing about it?

 

Well, The really bestest thing was that the little kids were able to play in these deep tidal eddies while the big kids were able to play in those nice big waves behind them, and I could be in either place or relaxing on the sand and see it all.

 

*sigh*

 

I think I might have to call in sick tomorrow.

 

Shhh.. don't tell.

 

 

After we got home we found Mr. tortoise here - he's actually a she, but don't tell the girls. He's also a gopher turtle. Anyway he was walking along our sidewalk. He's usually across the street at the park, but this day he came over to the house. He's been hanging out by the blueberries, blackberries and persimmon tree. He tried to dig under the fence a few weeks ago. Luckily he didn't make it. I'm afraid if he had he would have made himself, er...herself right at home. While I really, really love gopher turtles there would be no way to keep this one from destroying my gardens so I'm happy to continue to watch it from across the street.





After the weekend the littles were off to school again. They were willing to let me take a back to school picture. Unlike their big brother.


They say big brothers are a big bother. Sometimes I have to agree with them. Only good news is that he's already had his school picture taken so I'll have that to share sooner or later. :-) hehehe.

Now, would you look at that height difference? It really caught me by surprise just how much they've changed this summer. I know we can't keep them little forever, but can't we just for a while longer?

These two never cease to amaze me, and now that they've been back to school for a week and one has already managed to bring home the first cold of the year (Oh, Joy!) it's just a reminder of how far they've come from the 3 pound infants I brought home almost 7 years ago. It's hard to believe that they lived as such fragile things in a bubble for the first year of their lives. Now look at them. They go out and play and run and make me all sappy just like every other kid in America does to their mother when school starts.

Only difference is this Mom knows it. I know just how amazing these kids are. Even when I want to jump up and down and be the child and throw a fit and turn in my Mom card. When they put me at my wits end just like any other mother of multiples.... I still love their little scrumptious hearts.

Did I mention my big kid is in Driver's Ed this year? ACK!  {8-O  I'm having a heart attack over that. Yes, I know I mentioned it. I will again a hundred times I assure you. I'm more than nervous. I'm an absolute wreck over it. I have just 3 months until I hand my keys over to him....

Having a heart attack....

See you soon!

Barbie~

I skipped it!

I skipped Harvest Monday this week.

You didn't notice, did you? Busy with your own life and all that jazz? I understand. No, really. I do. I've been super busy myself. So I don't blame you one bit. But one thing that hasn't kept me too busy is harvesting out of my garden. This summer has been a really harsh one for growing fruits and veggies. The normal summer rains have been way out of hand. Even my crops that are usually reliable for Florida summers are not producing well. Bummer.

But, I'm taking solice in the farmers market and making due with what I'm finding there. Besides, I'm still gathering a few goodies here and there from my garden. This week the influx of apples into the market was astonishing. There were new varieties. (Envy was my kids favorite) and with the sudden influx came... the BARGAIN BIN!!!!

So, I set to work on making some homemade applesauce. :-) This is my favorite time of year. I love the applesauce without sugar and my honey loves apple PIE. LOL. I promised a pie next week, but this week was my turn.

Just look at it. The kids love a bunch of cinnamon added to theirs. I don't mind it but I like to add it later otherwise I don't get to have the choice. Weird as it sounds I really like having that choice. I'm thinking I might have control issues. *shrugs*

So needless to say we've been devouring fresh eating apples and applesauce at every meal. Morning noon and night. Good thing we all like apples. :-D

Too bad my apple trees don't give us apples yet. Every year I cross my fingers and so far the biggest apple I've gotten was the size of a silver dollar. *sigh*.  Well, that will change some day. This year I have a new tree, and it really took off. It's well over 8 foot now. This excites me to no end. It makes me wonder though if something is wrong with the other trees!? HA!  The tree that is doing so well is currently residing in a pot on my porch in Florida. It's supposed to be better suited for Alabama, and it was bought with the intention of moving it there this winter when it went dormant. But, now that it's doing so much better than the rest of the trees it's going to be SO hard to give it up! I want some of my own fresh apples - here! Decisions, decisions.

Well, I'll have to figure out the apple thing soon because it's nearly fall. But for now- I'm going to go grab a bowl of this lovely sauce.

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 8.19.13

It's Harvest time, again!

I only have one (not so) little thing to show for harvest Monday this week. One humongous Pomegranate. I still haven't figured out when the best time to harvest these is. The fruit was still good, but I'm quite sure I waited past it's prime. It was still delicious. I'd like to get another softer seeded variety as spitting the seeds gets a little annoying after awhile and I love eating them rather than just using them as juice.

It gave me an entire bowl full of arils. They are not dark red but clear and pink on one end. Quite beautiful in their own right, really. Tasty, too!

Not much else is developing right now. The heavy rains destroyed the first batch of tomatoes that I had chitted and potted up. I'm crossing my fingers this second batch holds on because time is running out for them. I won't be able to start another round by seed and I'll be stuck purchasing them if I want production while it's still hot out.

See you soon!

Barbie~

New insects in the garden.

I was out yesterday evening and I was visiting the mint patch to see what was buzzing about. This patch is driving me crazy and the only way I can keep myself from whacking the blooms off and mowing the whole thing down is by visiting it in the evenings when all the insects are visiting. It's gotten rather weedy but the flower heads are attracting flyers by the dozens. Well apparently it's attracting other things, too.

I found this little bugger in the patch last night. It dawned on me afterwards that I probably should have at least collected him if not squished first and asked later. I mean, it is the shape of a sub-adult stink bug and so very few of those are beneficial after all. But, this particular one? I've never seen anything like it before. Beautiful. It is what saved the thing.

UGH... I just know I'm going to wake up next week and find a million of the little nymphs on my plants. :-( I hope I didn't make a bad decision. The only good news is that it was attracted to the mint, and as such it was right on the edge of that patch. It's gotten all weedy so that means it won't be there for long. If it is sub-adult I may luck out at the timing and be mowing when it lays eggs.

This particular night it was time for the thread waisted wasps to visit. I'm going to have to get my good camera out this weekend and see what I can get some photos of. Because these things are fascinating. If you don't know what these wasps are they are a predatory wasp. (WAHOO!!!) I've only seen them once or twice in the 5 years I've been gardening here. But right now they are coming in droves. Why, Oh WHY do I not have tomatoes on my plants right now? I know they'd be safe from worms for a change! This wasp happens to prey on caterpillars in particular it likes great big juicy HORN WORMS and other large cats like army worms and things of that nature. Check it...

See those great big mandibles? Those jaws are meant for grabbing onto and snatching up the cat while she holds onto it with her legs. She actually carries it off to her den where she lays her egg(s) into the creature where it gestates for her. *shudder*

OK enough of the visuals on that part. It's enough to say that the worm that was eating in my garden gets what it deserves and the wasp population carries on.
:-)

They are pollen and nectar eaters and are attracted to flowers. Apparently mint is one that they love. *ahem* So while I really want to mow and let the mint regenerate I'll wait a while longer. Perhaps the weeds aren't too bad. Maybe I'll even fight the mosquitoes to go out at night and pull some of the weeds up by hand so I don't disturb the flyers.

 

They bumped me a few times when I was taking pictures, but at no time were they being aggressive. The kids play out here all the time and unless a ball were to land in the patch I wouldn't worry about them getting stung. In all the time I've had the garden and wasps nests nearby, I've always encouraged the bees and wasps around and the kids have known about them. Only one sting in 5 years to me when I actually grabbed the poor bug and one to Kate when she put her shoe on and there was one inside her shoe. That said I'm in no hurry to mow while they are there both because I love that they are around and I am providing them a place to be and because I have no intention on making them mad and being a target. When I do finally mow it (after I provide them with another source of pollen) I will do so after dusk so that to them it simply disappears.

Oh, the smell. I can't wait to smell it! I think I'll go make some mint tea now. I can't get the thought of the mint out of my head. Maybe I'm part Thread waisted wasp myself. Although the thought of biting a hornworm makes me gag....nope definitely not related.

See you soon!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 8.12.13

It's Harvest Monday again.

I've decided to take the tally down. I don't keep track of how much I'm bringing in currently so it's pointless really. Maybe I'll put it back up. But, I realized that I never accounted for any of the blueberries, or the potatoes I harvested... much less the sweet potatoes I've harvested. I'm just not good at it. I know I've gathered over a hundred pounds this year. And the most productive time is yet to come. Heck, I had my garden completely out of order for a few months while I created the new beds. (I seriously love my new beds BTW)

SO, news for this week? I had a harvest to show you. I had a lovely bunch of green beans... well I should clarify. Green yard long beans in a bowl waiting to go inside. In the bottom of this bowl I had my cow peas. Pink Eye Purple Hulled and a couple holstein beans. I set the bowl down to go out and trim up the orchid tree where it was rubbing the fence... guess what I had when I came back?

Only the dried or drying cowpeas. All the green type beans for fresh eating were gone! THIEVES! DAB BLASTED... FREAKING FRACKING.... bushy tailed RATS!!!! Now, granted that I went from just trimming that single branch back to all out cutting a third of the tree down as it was encumbering my guava bush and it ended up taking me an hour - but sheesh! I'm guessing this may be part of the reason my harvests have gone down so drastically this summer. Not that I have a lot to harvest, but this was the frist time ever that I've actually been out working and had the critters steal stuff from under my nose. >:-( Grrr...

OK- Onto another interesting development. One of my little lovely fluffy butts has given me a little gift of wonderment. She normally lays eggs that are a plain pale pink but yesterday she gave me one that apparently went in for a second coat in the paint department. What a beautiful egg! I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to eat it.... wait a minute. I'm sure I'll get hungry enough at some point, but it will be hard to crack that pretty thing.

Normal above - Yesterdays speckaled job below

 Pretty eggs. Make for a yummy breakfast. Thanks Dusty! She's a great bird. Now that it's getting so close to Fall I'll have to start thinking about ways to preserve some of their eggs. They are all over a year old and likely to stop laying over the winter. (BOOO, HISS!)
 What would I do if I had to pay for eggs?


The main garden was turned under as promised and I sowed out this weekend: corn, roma bush beans, Kentucky wonder beans, pole Violetta, popcorn (different silking by 30 days) and watermelon. Also in the main garden is: Tomatoes - Betterboy, big huskey cherry, bog boy and solstice.
I also have a good 30 tomatoes chitting currently that are mostly determinate type for the high raised bed. These are due to be planted into the first cups today if it doesn't rain and I can get the mix on the way home. I should have a good 10 extra tomatillos if anyone needs some. LOL.

That's all the big news at the moment form this end. Things have been quite in blog land because summer is coming to a close and we have been busy making preparations and finding courses to enroll in. I'll delve more into that in another post since we have a complicated mix here. I hope the Back-to-school preparations are going well in your land, too!

See you soon!

Barbie~