Winding Down the Canning Season.....

I really never stop canning.  I make soups and stews and can dried beans all year round, but the busy canning season is in the summer and it is winding down.

I canned the last of the butternut squash two weekends ago and that rounded out a very bountiful harvest! 

 God has blessed us with such a wonderful garden this year and I have no words to express my thanks.  Pretty much every weekend for the last 6 weeks or so has been devoted to canning all of that largesse!

This is the breakdown of this years bounty.....

• 53 pints salsa  (Most of these tomatoes were bought from our Amish neighbors - 24 lbs for $8)
• 5 pints pizza sauce
• 31 pints sweet corn
• 19 quarts lime pickles
• 19 quarts dill spears
• 2 pints dill spears
• 29 quarts butternut squash
• 2 quarts mixed corn and squash
• 15 quarts tomatoes
• 7 pints sweet relish
• 7 pints bread and butter pickles
• 12 pints zesty bread and butter pickles
• 6 pints mulberry jam
• 9 pints summer squash
• 4 pints pickled beets
• 22 pints green beans
• 57 lbs of red potatoes

Next year we plan to plant a lot more summer squash and only one hill of cucumbers and one hill of butternut squash.  We should have plenty of pickles and butternut squash left over.  If not then we'll revise the plan.  

The garden has been tilled in preparation for the fall crops of kale, turnips, beets (for greens), green onions, and mustard greens.  I've found that beet greens are just about my favorite type of green, so I can't wait for those to come up!

These fellers were oh so happy to get the canning leavings and I'm oh so glad to share with them, as it makes for such delicious pork!  They are getting all the leftovers from canning as well as lots of surplus eggs and milk and as you can see it they are doing well!

In front here is the big gilt, or Peggy Sue as we call her.  She is a BEAUTIFUL hog and I would keep her for breeding, but she'll serve us much better in the freezer.

The little red spotted gilt is Rita Rose.  I actually bought her to use as a breeding sow, but she isn't maturing near as nice as I'd like to see her, so she will go into the freezer as well.  The barrow is in the middle.  He's not as nice as Peggy Sue either, but will make delicious meat nonetheless!

So that's whats going on around here.  Things are good, summer is quickly fading into fall and we are so happy and blessed!

Till next time,

God Bless,

Garden, Goat, and Rabbit Update.............and Maybe a Confession or Two.......

So I've been a bit MIA recently. My current favorite song is Biscuits by Kacey Musgraves.  My favorite line in the song is "Own your own crazy" which I totally try to do.  So in that spirit here is where I've been.....

Just taking a blog/internet break.  I can get a bit obsessive about reading and commenting, and checking to see if anybody has commented and when it starts to get a little out of hand for me, I have to make myself take a break!  

I'm a weirdo about certain things and I totally "own" my crazy on it.  I feel if I follow that I have to comment because I don't want people's feelings to get hurt, and I feel as if people are reading me and they don't comment that they don't like me, or don't like what I said, or think I'm a total idiot or whatever, and usually I can keep that all in perspective, but not always, so when it starts to spiral out of control, I have to take a break and get my crazy train back in the depot............SO...................that's what I've been doing.  I may be back, and I may not, but anywho, here's what's going on around this joint.....

The garden is growing like gangbusters!

Summer squash, corn, and cherry tomatoes...

We ate this summer squash last night, sauteed in butter with onions and mushrooms...

Sweet onions, green beans, and tomatoes...

Winter squash.....

This is Ollie's old pen, and it's patiently waiting on the piglets, that we should be picking up in a couple weeks.  In the meantime, the grass is growing and they will be lost in there for awhile...

The goats are growing and doing well.  Erika is so gorgeous and I couldn't be happier with her.  She's twice the goat that Merida is if I'm honest......and Fancy has gone to live at Jennifer's house.

Star continues to improve and hopefully I'll do a more detailed post about that journey soon.....

We've got two pens of grow outs, and they are doing quite well.

They are Eden's litter with Presley, and Elvie's litter with Spartan.  This is our first full Silver Fox litter and the growth rate of them is quite pleasing!  One of the does weighed 3.8# at 7 1/2 weeks!  They are a little over 8 weeks old now, and will be getting butchered soon.  We don't have any breedings planned for the next month or so, due to the heat.

The quail are doing well, the chickens are laying great, and all is well around here!  Staying busy, staying safe, and trying to stay sane!  

Until next time!

God Bless,

My Neck of the Woods is Wakin' Up!

Last Thursday I spent the afternoon doing some much needed clean up in the herb/flower beds in front of my house.  I was rewarded with so many beautiful sights such as.........

You may call these peonies, but where I'm from we call them piney bushes......

Our lilies are bursting from the ground.......

The chocolate mint smells like heaven and is so beautiful to boot.....

The Japanese Painted Fern is coming around.

Our little fairy watches over our garden.  I think she's as ready for spring as we are!

God Bless..................

Burrees, and Churrees.........

Ordered me up some goodies t'other day!    I ordered some Fragaria virginiana and two Prunus avium.   Hee hee, if you don't know what that means, then how bout if I say I ordered me some straw-burries, and two churree trees!  Still got nuttin?  I'll just show you then.......

I ordered 25 of these......

And two of these.........

They will be joining my little Peach trees......

In our little orchard! 

Last year was the first "real" year for my peach trees.  The second year after the planting year.  They were so loaded down with peaches that I thinned all of them off except for about a dozen.  Then either the squirrels stole them or they all fell off except for one on one tree.  That one lonely peach was so juicy and sweet!  I hope to get more this year, and next year to be harvesting cherries and strawberries as well!

God Bless...............

Horseradish.......How Do I Love Thee...........

Did somebody say Horse Radish?

I LOVE HORSERADISH!  I love the creamy texture, I love the pungent fumes, I love the way it wafts up the back of my nose and makes my eyes water. 

It's a mysterious sauce though, because it only wafts up the back of my nose once during my eating episode, and it never does it on the first bite.  It's usually about halfway through my s'mamich and I LOVE the eye watering burn as it travels up the back of my nose and throat to my eyes.  It hurts sooooo good! 

I've never eaten fresh horseradish and I've never grown it, but I plan to plant some next year.  I've heard it's really easy to grow and it's like rhubarb, once you plant it you've got it forever.  I've been reading up about how to make the roots really big and really hot, so I plan to experiment until I find the perfect temperature for my palate. 

Do you grow horseradish?  Do you like horseradish?  Do you think the Goodwife is crazier than you ever thought possible?  Did you enter my Christmas contest?  It ends at midnight tomorrow! 

God Bless............

The Cold Shoulder..........

Mother Nature has given us here in southern Illinois the cold shoulder............

These are our beautiful morning glories Thursday afternoon 10/28/2010

And this is what they looked like the next day............

Jack Frost gave them a big ole kiss them last night and took some of their beauty.

Winter is on the way!

Just Some Pics..........

This guy was waiting for me in the front yard this morning when I got home from my run.  See the holes in the leaves of my hosta from our hail storm of a few weeks ago?

I love, love, love this plant!  It's an ivy geranium and I hope I can find one again next year.

Lily....

This is another favorite of mine.  It's was labelled Jacob's Ladder when I bought it but after doing some online research I don't think that's what it is.  Whatever it is I adore it.

This is a close up of a flower cluster and an open bloom.  If you click on the pic to make it bigger you may see the tiny sweat bee that is sitting on it.  If you  know or have a guess as to what this is, please leave me a comment. 

Till next time..........God Bless!

Garden Update and Other Random Stuff....

Romaine, Black Seeded Simpson, Spinach, beets, carrots, green onions....

Left to right.......romaine, beets, carrots, green onions, carrots

Sweet corn, green beans, peppers, and 'maters....see my ole' boy Champ in the background? 

Itty bitty peach tree loaded!

The whole garden.........

Things are good here!  Garden is thriving, hawk is working to keep the pesky blackbirds out of it, weather is warm (ok, humid and HOT, but who's counting).

We had a good three day weekend.  I love spending time with The Man.  We did some wrenchin' on The Dodge, which I love to do.  The Man and I put the motor in on Friday night and then Saturday morning we went to the drag races, but it was just too hot so we came home. Sitting in the blazing sun on acres of ashpalt is a very hot way to spend a day, so we came home and I tilled the garden while The Man weed-whacked and The Youngun played in her pool.   Sunday we had to run to town to get some other parts for The Dodge and The Man bought me a creeper of my own!  I'm very excited about it!  This way when we are both under the car, one of us doesn't have to lay in the floor.  Only problem is I usually run over my pony tail with the creeper wheels!  Ouch!

We are glad that The Dodge is finally up and runnin' again and hopefully for good this time.  I won't go into the details of what was wrong with it, cause I know you all could care less, but hopefully it's all good to go now.  It's going to get dyno-ed this week and then we'll breathe easy about how it's going to do.  If they don't blow it up on the dyno, then we won't blow it up at home!  We did manage to get the cops called on us, we are such hardened criminals.  Darned busybody neighbors!  As Hank Jr says........if ya'd mind yer own bidness then ya won't be mindin' mine! 

Till next time............God Bless!

Garden Update.........

After being afraid I was gonna have to replant the whole shebang, the sun came out, the ground warmed up and stuff started poppin!

Notice our "watch hawk".  He keeps the pesky blackbirds from eatin' the tops offa my tomaotes and peppers!  Rhubarb over there to the left and some 'maters that you can't see yet.

Black Seeded Simpson, spinach, and romaine.  Also radishes, beets, carrots and some onions.

Potatoes, corn, green beans, peppers, and more tomatoes

Witty bitty peach! 

Lotsa witty bitty peaches!

Till next time...........God Bless!