Monday, October 10, 2011

Funny carrots and precious sawdust


The weird shape of the carrot is no reflection of its taste.  The reason why they have more than one root is because there was too much nitrogen in the soil. Unlike last year, this year's crop of carrots was existent since I double dug the soil.  This tedious procedure allowed the roots to grow freely in every direction. Next year I just have to get the nitrogen right for the carrots.


The squash and pumpkins are so beautiful.  This year's crop was donated by The Mountain School. In the spring, I did not start any of these guys from scratch and I kept forgetting to get them from the farmers market.  Destiny united me and the plant bearers of these in a cow barn among manure.  I was very happy and curious about the type of squash and/or pumpkin that I was getting.  They are all very similar to the pure bred buttercup, acorn and spaghetti squash and pie pumpkins.  I brought these inside this week before a frost.


Definitely a hybrid


Potatoes are now in the root cellar among sawdust. I was keeping them in the basement, but we have started to heat the house with the wood stove. I felt them to make sure they were still hard and smooth.  If they were soft and wrinkled then they were already loosing water. Not good.  I organized them by size in different bags.  I happened to discovered old potatoes in the root cellar.  They were sprouting and some had new potatoes attached to them. I kept those and I baked them with dehydrated herbs from our garden and salt. 


Chioggia beets


We grew a 1 and 3/4 pound beet.  The were other big ones, but this one was the monster beet.  We roasted it with thyme, olive oil and sea salt.


Carrots and beets are now in the root cellar in bags with sawdust as well. It is wise to note that I did not wash any of the root crops before storing them.  If you wash them before you store them, the roots will start loosing water and not keep well.
I also dug up the Dahlia's bulbs.  Hopefully I can plant them next year as soon as the soil can be worked. 

Bee wax and nectar



If life gives you bees then collect the honey !

These is a darker comb with some capped honey and some nectar

We pressed the comb and collected nectar and honey 

Then the reminder of the comb was mixed with water and heated

Here you can see the wax floating on top of the mixture 

Here is the harden wax that was later melted and mixed with orange oil and olive oil to make a lip balm
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