Milestones

Yesterday, while eating dinner, Kaya asked me how the baby gets in the belly.  It struck me as such a big leap forward in her manner of thinking.  A pointed and thoughtful question.  An understanding that women have babies, that women carry babies, that babies come out of the mother.  An understanding of 75% of the process, with just the final piece of the puzzle missing.  How the hell did it get in there?

A few days ago, Kassie was helping me with the dishes, as she has been doing for a couple of years now.  She almost always asks to help.  When I say yes, she grabs her sponges and scrubbies from under the sink.  I pull up a chair for her to stand on.  As I wash, she claims the items she needs, that will remain in her sink - the rest I rinse and place in the wire drainer.  Then she plays.  Water and suds in the cups, pouring from one to another, utensils, making soup, stirring, splashing, singing.  Always lots of singing.  She had recently taken to some rinsing and placing in the rack as well.  I finish washing, drying, cleaning counter tops, the dinner table.  She plays on...maybe a quick potty break, but she remains.  I go take a shower and come back and most times, still there. So the other day when I came back down from my shower, she was no longer standing on her chair...the kitchen was empty.  As I looked around, I stopped dead in my tracks.  The sinks had been drained and wiped up.  I saw just a couple of the cups she had been using placed on the counter, in there respective places, underneath the cupboards that were out of her reach.  She had rinsed and dried all the dishes from her sink - and she had put them all away.

Little ones maybe.  But milestones nonetheless.

Root Harvest

A couple of days before the Arctic air mass that is currently parked over us moved in, I figured it was probably time for me to harvest the remaining  root veggies.  I thought about using the ground for long term storage, covering them sufficiently with mulch to withstand the freezing temps, but frankly the whole thing made me a bit nervous.  So I pulled 'em.

Nothing ridiculous, but not a bad haul given I'd been munching on all of these the entire summer.  Golden and purple top turnips, golden and purple beets and orange and purple carrots.  You'd think the girls had a hand in the variety selection with all that purple.

The purple harvest was followed up that evening with a pink sky. 

Followed the next day with our first flakes of the season...

And the next day with a couple inches of ground cover.  

We've had single digit highs for a few days now and I dare say that my lettuce, broccoli, kale, collards, cabbage, swiss chard, along with a few other things, are toast.  I didn't fully comprehend the depth and length of this cold snap and therefore took no measure to protect them.  I have to wonder if row covers would have even helped here?  An experiment for next year, I suppose.   

The Sure Sign

While the fall crops begin to produce in earnest, and the leaves rain down from the trees, we now have THE sure sign that summer has passed.  A freeze warning has gone into effect for tonight and so I was spurred into pulling all of the remaining tomatoes from the vine.  It's the last of the true summer crops for the year.  Being just 5 days from the cold winds of November, I think it's pretty amazing that I still had tomatoes on the vine.  The pale green and brown plants will be pulled and join the chopped cornstalks and mounting pile of leaves to begin a fresh compost heap.  With that start, a look ahead at the bounty the new year will bring.  What a great feeling to have a hand simultaneously in multiple seasons - past, present and future.

Saag Paneer with Swiss Chard

I still have a steady supply of Swiss Chard coming in and expect that to continue for at least another month, if not longer.  I had to start getting creative.  I thought this Indian favorite that is usually made with Spinach may lend just as well to Chard.  I perused several Saag recipes and came up with this, which worked quite well!

Ingredients:

• A large bunch of Swiss Chard (more than you think you'll probably need)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil (or whatever oil/butter you prefer)
• 1 Slab of Paneer (Indian cheese)
• 1 Small onion, chopped
• 1 Tomato, chopped
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 fresh green chili or chili pepper flakes (to taste, just enough for a little heat)
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp cumin (most Saag recipes call for cumin but I omitted it because we don't get along.  Turned out just as tasty, so consider this optional) 
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• Salt, to taste
• 1-3 Tbsp heavy cream (or yogurt)
• Fresh Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash swiss chard, discarding the lower stems to the compost.  Chop the rest.
2. Heat oil in saute pan.  Add the onions, ginger and garlic and saute until soft and golden.
3. Add the tomatoes, chili, coriander, garam masala, cumin (if using) and turmeric.  Cook until the tomatoes turn to mush, about 3 or 4 minutes
4. Add the chopped greens, in batches if necessary, and stir.  Sprinkle with salt and cook until the greens have wilted and are tender. 
5. Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a pan.  Cut the paneer slab in half so that you end up with two 1/2" thick slices.  Place in pan and fry until golden brown on both sides.  Remove and cut into 1/2" cubes.
6. Add about a 1/4 cup water or stock to the greens.  Using a hand blender or food processor, blend the greens and spices until the desired consistency.  Leaving it a little coarse is better than pureeing it into a swiss chard beverage.
7. Return the Saag to the pan and continue to cook on low heat.  Add heavy cream or yogurt and the paneer.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
8. Sprinkle with some fresh chopped cilantro if desired and serve with Basmati rice and Naan.

Garden Update - Sept 29, 2014

Most of the summer vegetables have run their course and the fall/winter garden is now in full swing. 

The rutabagas have completely taken over the front of this bed.  There is a row of parsnip in front of them, but they may not amount to much in this jungle.

The back of the bed has cabbage that is beginning to take shape.  There were actually three rows, but again, the dang rutabagas!

Corn is drying nicely, getting ready for it's fall location on the front porch.  In front, the zucchini is barely hanging on, but does have at least one fruit on vine. 

Ended up with two butternut squash.

And one Buen Gusto de Horno.

The big daddy of the Long Pie Pumpkins.

Baby Long Pie

That's Kassidy's pumpkin and possibly the smallest Hubbard squash ever grown.

I left some beans on vine to dry out for seed, but I probably won't use them.  They are heirloom open-pollinated variety and I had two types growing side by side in the three sisters bed.  They have likely cross pollinated and won't be true. 

Kaya's Jack O' Lantern.

The rarely shown Chard, Turnip and Beet beds...still going strong!

The Kale and Collards that won't give up.  Still tastes great too, never turned bitter.  Carrots in back.  In front are some spinach, beets, carrot and parsnip that are trying to survive this shady bed.

Collards, looking the best they have all year!

Russian Red Kale...Kaya can't get enough of this.

I picked the last of the unblemished fruit from the apple tree yesterday.  Got another 20 lbs or so that are chillin' in the basement for now.  May turn them into Apple butter or Apple preserves if I get a chance.

 The tomatoes are still producing, thankfully, because I need more spaghetti sauce than the 9 quarts I've canned so far.  Here's the scraggly looking back rows that are nonetheless still bearing decent fruit.

Just before a healthy pickin'

Yep, loaded.

The Arugula, Bok Choy, Spinach and Mixed Salad greens that I planted 3 weeks ago.

Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts.  The bugs are loving this stuff, but should be far enough along to pull through the onslaught.  For some reason, I always weed just after taking all the pics.

The tomato harvest...The smaller variety are Romas and the bigger are the Amish Paste. 

And there were some monsters in there for sure!

There were 35 lbs in that haul which netted me 3 quarts of Spaghetti sauce and 10 pints of tasty, tasty ketchup.   

How tall are your sunflowers?

This is a sister post to my sister's post over on Sleepy Dog Farm.  They posted a picture of Lynn standing next to her ~10 foot tall sunflower and posed the question in the post Title.  So here's mine:

At first glance, one might conclude that Lynn and Nora's beast takes the prize, but there are a couple things to consider.  My sunflower is past it's prime and thus the head has started to droop.  That's taking away about a foot of height.  The other thing is that I'm about a foot taller than Lynn.

I'd say they are pretty darn close.

At any rate, I think we'll both have a sunflower seed stash large enough to get us through most of the winter.

Firsts...and lasts?

The first ripe tomatoes are starting to show up.  I had used a few almost ripe Romas in the Fruit Ketchup that I made last week, but this is the first gleaming red that I enjoyed in all its fresh naked glory.  I should have some ripe slicers by the middle/end of the week.  That's also my first ripe Tigger melon.  They fall right off the vine when they are ready, which is the perfect obvious alert to a clueless first time grower.  Lastly, that could be the last of the healthy cukes.  There are stilll a few coming in, but they all have serious complexion issues...  

The Roma and the cuke ended up here.  Well, I suppose they ended up in my belly.  Well, actually they.....nevermind.  I was aching for one of these salads and hoped the cukes would last til the first tomato came along.  Add some Italian dressing and blue cheese crumbles...perfect!

I'd also been craving a Caprese.  Such was the fate of the second ripe Roma.  Along with fresh mozzarella, garlic, basil, S & P and a drizzle of olive oil...I'll be eating a trunk load of these in the coming days.  Last year, two of the ingredients - the tomato and basil were our own.  This year, we've stepped up to three - adding in our own garlic.  Sounds like progress to me.  Maybe next year we'll shoot for our own fresh mozz.

This is the first time that the apple tree has been so full of apples.  I'll give them another couple weeks before I start on with the applesauce and such.  First time I've had that many sunflowers.   First time I've grown such an abundance of cukes (the dying vines are on the trellises in front of the sunflowers).  And first time I've grown melons - the fuzzy green patch in front of the cukes.

This was just moments after Takoda devoured his first cantaloupe.  Some were getting a bit over-ripe and the fragrance must have gotten to him.  He pulled it right off the vine and started munching.  

I'd be remiss if I didn't add the shot from Kaya's first day of the second grade!  Those smiles are worth more than all the ripe fruits and veggies a fella can grow.

Cukes, Peaches, and a Tooth

I do believe I've seen the last of this for the summer:

The cuke vines are dying back and while I'll still be able to harvest a few more before all is said and done, the huge harvests are over for the year.  It was a great cuke year!  It allowed me to finely hone my pickle recipes. I started out with refrigerator pickles, then some bread and butters, then canned some vinegar dill pickles and more bread and butters, then fermented a whole lot of deli dills.  I'm now in love with the fermented deli dills.  Real nice combo of salty and sour and full of probiotic greatness.  It also just happens to be the easiest of the preservation techniques.  

Totals for the year:

6 quarts refrigerator Dills

2 quarts refrigerator Bread and Butter

7 quarts canned Dills

5 pints canned Bread and Butter

11 quarts of fermented Deli Dills

In addition to the cukes, I've also pickled (so far):

2 quarts fermented Dilly beans

2 quarts fermented pepperoncini

3 pints canned pepperoncini

Peaches are in!  We've been crazy busy processing (and eating) them.  Kaya is a fanatic and I watched her eat no less than 4 peaches back to back, and then ask for another.  For some reason I felt the need to cut her off! 

I could have swore that I bought two 18 lb cases last year, which didn't quite get us through the winter.  So this year I bought three 18 lb cases.  Once I made the first batch of jam and barely put a dent in the top layer of the first case, I realized that I was quite mistaken and had only purchased 1 box last year.  I was a bit worried about getting through them all before they started to turn, but we're down to only half a case left.  

They had a great time helping me peel.  In fact, they did all the peeling, while I halved and pitted.  Then they helped me measure out the water and sugar for the syrup.  They wanted to keep helping with the rest of the process, but there was just too much boiling water and boiling syrup and simmering lids and hot jars involved to let them partake in that just yet.  This day, we canned 14 quarts of peaches in syrup.  

Even Kassie couldn't resist and tried a bite of peach!  She said she liked it and acted like she liked it, but only had the one bite.  It's a start!

Peach totals for the year:

14 quarts peaches in syrup

9 half pints Summer Fruit jam (a combo of peaches and apples...with apples from our very own apple tree!)

10 half pints peach jam

4 pints Fruit Ketchup (made with peaches, apples, some leftover Romas I had frozen from last years harvest and a few fresh Romas that are just starting to come in)

20-30 fresh peaches, eaten in 3 days by Kaya

The other big happening this week...Kaya finally lost her first tooth!  Only took me 3 or 4 good yanks to get it out.  She was so excited!  The tooth fairy came as expected and didn't wake her up, so all were happy.

Random, parting sunflower shot.

Garden Update - August 7, 2014

3 Sisters bed - it's full.

Ears of corn are filling out nicely

This use to be a 5 foot wide row of empty space

We have at least 2 Jack O' Lanterns on vine

Butternut squash just getting going

Buen Gusto de Horno squash.  I wanted at least one of the really ugly, bumpy looking ones.

Long pie pumpkin living up to it's name....this thing is about 20" long already.

It's a madhouse in there!  Been harvesting Pole beans as well.

Filius Blue peppers - disregarding their name.

The 'ol rubber snake in the apple tree trick seems to be working well so far to keep the squirrels at bay.  Some of them are plumping right up and are even edible now - the apples, not the squirrels.  Well, for me at least....still a bit tart for Kaya's taste.

Thought the Kale and Collards had just about run their course, I had harvested most of the leaves.  But just a few weeks later, we're ready for another round of harvest.  Been snacking on the carrots in the back, they are slowly coming along.  I just replanted the front of this bed with beets, parsnip, spinach and more carrots for a late fall harvest.

Nothing like last year, but I should get a decent tomato haul.  Some of them are getting pretty loaded.  No red yet, but still another 2 months of growing season around these parts.

Sunflowers in the back are pushing above 8' but have yet to flower.  Trellised cukes are still producing in mass quantities.  Melons in the front are taking over this part of the yard.

Girls helped me pick cukes last weekend in the blazing sun.  I have already put up 15 quarts of dill and bread n' butter's.  This batch filled the 2 gallon crock and will be fermented into deli dills. 

One of the Texas Golden watermelon.

Ali Baba Watermelon - just a tad bigger than a football right now.

Remainder of the onions.  Most had fallen over and then I knocked down the rest to finish their in-ground cure.  Pulled them a couple weeks after that.  They are currently laying in the sun to finish their outdoor cure.  I'm going to use this space for the broccoli and brussels sprouts seedlings that I've been hardening off.

Couple of Minnesota Midget melons.  I pulled one the other day to see if it was ready.  Nice orange flesh on the inside, but it was still lacking the sweetness.  I'll try again in a week or so.  There must be 30+ of them in the patch!

The "other" melon patch.

Tigger melon

Takoda can't get enough of the apples.  If there are none on the ground he'll even steal one right off a low hanging branch.  There is however an unwelcome side effect - they give him stinky toots.  Oh well, blaming it on the dog is nothing new around here...