Irene sweeps Ladeau away

The tropical storm brought a lot of rain in our neck of the woods.  It started raining last night around midnight and it is still raining with some wind right now.  We went for a walk to see how the neighborhood was doing and some parts of the road has been washed away and some are flooded.

Save the Elf! and sheep

Waterfall ripping !

Some of our blue potatoes that I picked this week.  We lost a lot of the Russet potatoes I planted since the mice got to them and ate them.  They ate them since the bed was a new bed made up of sticks and organic matter, in other words a perfect home for mice.  I won't be doing that next year.  On the other hand, the potatoes that did not get eaten were huge and delicious.

We have corn from Cedar Circle Farm.  We volunteer there when they have festivals and special events and in return we get free produce. 

I plan to blanch the ears of corn, then strip the kernels off and freeze them in bags. We also have 70+ pounds of tomatoes to make sauce and can.

Che Che and the chickens take refuge in the tool shed while the storm passes.

Asa looks out the window for us

Green Beans and Creams

With a busy bee hive comes great bee wax. 

I followed a recipe to make an ointment of dried Calendula flowers.  I like to grow Calendula plants since the flowers are gorgeous as well as useful to us. I have a book on herbs and Calendula quite an array of medicinal uses. Some of those are:

- A standard infusion of flowers can help the body sweat out toxins and help PMS and irregular menstruation  

- The ointment made of the flowers can be used for broken veins, varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Calendula flowers can be used to heal wounds, prevent infection and promote tissue repair.

- Calendula flowers can be added to rice, buns and cakes to make them look yellow.

 Calendula ointment 

First, I needed to make an infusion of camomile, comfrey or elderberry.  I decided to use the dried camomile flowers from last year's harvest.  I used 4 tsp of dried camomile flowers with 1 cup of hot water and I let it stand for 20-30 minutes. 

Second, I poured cold water on a pan (about 1-2 inches) and put a stainless steel bowl in it and a glass jar inside the bowl.  I put some bee wax from our bees (about 2 Tbsps) and 4 tbsp of the camomile infusion in the glass jar.  I stirred it while the pan was on the stove at medium high heat. 

Third, I added 4 Tbsps of sunflower seed oil and kept stirring until the mixture in the jar started to look creamy yellow. I took the jar off the heat and let it cool, but kept stirring until a uniform consistency. I added dried Calendula flowers and camomile. 

Fourth, I put it in a brown glass jar and will keep in the fridge for 4 weeks. 

3 lbs. of Green Beans !

I collected them and blanched them in hot water for two minutes and then dump them in cold water.  I sliced them and put them in quart size bags. They are going in the freezer for now. 

Mysterious Scat

Chicken of the Woods walk

Thank you fallen tree fellow

Going for a walk in the woods 

and of course, we brought the goats

from far I could see the burning yellow

by a fallen tree fellow 

It is the first time we have found

 such a mushroom on the ground

we wish to thank that fallen tree

for its life had provided us with a delicious treat

Feeling the storm coming 

I gather them swiftly and calmly

enjoying the sound of my feet 

as I walk back home from the forest

Pickling cucumbers

Quick Mustard Pickles

by Andrea Chesman

1 and 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 cup water

1 cup vinegar

1/2 cup prepared mustard

2 teaspoon pickling salt 

1 teaspoon horseradish 

8 cups cucumbers, sliced or cut into 1/2 inch chunks 

Directions

In large saucepan, combine all but cucumbers and bring to a boil. Pack cucumbers into hot, sterilized pint jars. Add boiling liquid, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal. Process in a boiling water bath or steam canner for 5 min.  Yield: 4 pints  

Recap of summer happenings at the garden

Frank the Toad is hanging out the strawberry plants around the stone wall in front of the cabin

Pansies from the garden ready to be placed in ice cubes for the party 

I also used borage flowers, chamomile flowers and mint leaves shaped as hearts 

Asa taking a nap in the middle of the morning 

This week I set out to move their fenced space to enclose a raspberry area near the garden

Asa and Che Che enjoy going on walks with us up the driveway 

and nibble on leaves that they find in their way 

Cauliflower that I forgot to cover up with leaves so that the head would be white 

It still tasted delicious and I blanched and froze two pounds of Broccoli and Cauliflower for the winter

Everything is doing well except for the onions that I tried to start from seed

Onions need a lot of compost, water and sunlight 

I will leave them in the ground in hopes that they will sprout next year 

Cabbage, small but pretty

Broccoli, Kale and Cauliflower do much better in our garden 

One of our lovely chickens cruising thru our garden 

Recently, they have discovered the tomatoes and they like them 

Which means that they are now hanging out with the goats in their pen 

All the them have names 

Blanquita, Negra, Dina and KG 

Our beets are doing great!

I don't think I can wrap one hand around them

I will leave them a little bit longer in the ground in hopes of keeping them in the root cellar 

One apple tree bear fruit this year 

They are getting big and getting some red on them 

I lost the tag of what the trees were, my guess is that they are eating apples 

Red Zebra or Green Zebra tomatoes on the vine 

This morning we had scrambled eggs from our neighbors, tomatoes and eggplant from the garden 

and onions from the farm I work at

Swiss Chard 

My favorite green to grow 

To tell the truth we haven't eaten any yet 

But we will plan to do that soon !

Broccoli, cut and blanched and ready to be bagged!

Time to harvest 

I have been weeding so much that I have forgotten the great feeling of harvesting 

Today I decided to pick, wash and dehydrate herbs from the garden 

Last year was a bad year for herbs, but not this year !!!

I am very excited to dehydrate: 

Rosemary !

Sage 

Thyme and others 

like lemon and Thai basil 

The coolest thing is that last fall I transplanted a thai basil plant to a pot and had it in my classroom

It was the saddest plant you have ever seen

But after being in the garden for a couple of months 

It came back to live

I think I will do that with most of the herbs from this year!