Garden Harvest

We had some interesting lighting last evening just as Sam and the dogs and I came up out of the woods into the hayfield by the pond.  Be sure to click on this photo to enlarge it.  It's pretty neat.

 

I have been busy this week putting up the produce we have grown to save it to eat when the days are not so warm.  We do not plant a lot of corn, but it  has done very well this year and I picked 2 1/2 dozen ears and froze them in the right amount to use in chicken corn chowder this winter, a favorite of ours.  We have been eating lots of corn on the cob and still have quite a bit we need to eat.  We like to soak the corn in water in the husk and then put it on the gas grill for about 20 minutes.  It steams the corn in the husk and is wonderful!  

 Sam went to do an appraisal on a property close to us which is a second home for a family from northern Ohio.  There are 3 apple trees and a peach tree loaded with fruit and the owner told us to have at it and take whatever we want.  We picked a bucket of apples on Sunday and will go back and check on the peaches and get more apples once all are ripe.  I made and froze a gallon of applesauce on Monday.  And I made apple dumplings and home made vanilla ice cream on Sunday.  These apples were not quite sweet enough for that, but the applesauce is wonderful.

The tomatoes are not doing really well.  We had way too much rain in June and July, over 15",  and as they start to ripen, the tomatoes are getting rotten spots.  I have a pot of progressive sauce in the fridge, but I am not optimistic about having a lot to can.  We did have one of Sam's favorite meals last week, spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce.  I only fix it a couple times each fresh tomato season as it is labor intensive, but oh so good.  It has a lot of fresh basil in it and our basil did not seem to like the wet weather either.  *Sigh*

It is time to plant lettuce for fall and of course the winter squash and pumpkins seem to be thriving.  Can't wait to get into those!  

I have spent some time clearing the brush along the creek bank.  This time of year when the creek is dry, I can get down in it and clear both sides and the creek bed itself.  I wear muck boots just in case I disturb a snake, which is a real possibility.  It is a lot of work, about 4 tankfuls of gas in the brush trimmer (I only do one tankful a day which takes 45 minutes), but it sure looks nice once it is finished.

  


 2 nights ago we got a deluge of rain, over 3" after 3 weeks with no rain, and the creek ran again for about 18 hours and then was dry again.

Here's another photo from our walk last night.  I noticed this fungus a couple days ago and last night it had really opened up.  It is growing on a downed tree in the woods, so it was rather dark, but it is actually this color.  It is the same color as cheese popcorn or Cheetos.  I love seeing these vibrant colors in nature. Who ever thought fungi could be so colorful?

I have a kind of secret knitting project on my needles and a secret weaving project on my loom.  I don't like to post those because I never know which family members do or do not read this blog.  But I did knit a pair of little mitts from leftover yarn last week.  It is my own alpaca/wool hand-dyed yarn and these will be for sale at a festival.  They sell really well and I should make a dozen pairs, but I never seem to think of it in time.  Maybe I can make 4 more pairs by the Christmas Festival.  There, now that I have it in print, I may actually follow through.

Obviously the chickens were finding something tasty on the mower when Sam quit mowing last night.