Fall Farm Shenanigans

So many things to do in the fall, and some of them are just for fun.  Weather predicting with persimmons is one thing I have been introduced to recently by Patara with Appalachia's Homestead.  Apparently if there are spoons (or shovels), it means there will be a lot of snow.  So I cut open a persimmon, and surprisingly got two spoons.  When I asked what that meant, Carl Belcher (one of our friends) said we would be expecting aliens, lol. Pumpkins are such a big factor for fall.  The pumpkins we grow, Cucurbita Moschata, that are resistant to the squash vine borer, have a wonderful taste.  This year we have canned pumpkins, made pumpkin butter, made peanut butter and pumpkin dog treats, and made pumpkin pies for the freezer.  I discovered that if I just scoop out the seeds, cut it up, put it in a big pot, bring it to a boil and turn it off for about ten minutes, then the peelings slice off very easily and it is ready to be puree with help from the food processor.  So much easier to do that than to try to peel it uncooked. This year I was also inspired to make pumpkins out of some $1 thrift store sweaters for a table decoration.  I got the know-how from an email by Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer, Christy James.  Of course when I went to make them, I couldn't find our jute twine, but I did find some suede lacing, I didn't find a long needle, but a cross stitch needle worked (but not well, so instead of sewing all the ribs I wound the thread around the pumpkin), and I didn't have crochet twine, so I used some clear stretch cord from jewelry making.  I also added some leaves that I cut from some bling wrap, as I like a little bling.  Of course, my pumpkins are green and purple to match my decor, but the orange one in the middle is from the garden.

Garden fresh dinners are scrumptious. Fried okra, scalloped tomatoes and baked sweet potatoes.

I want to give a shout out for Wolf Moon Farm.  Sam and Zack are amazing with their animals.  They recently helped us with a cow of ours.  When we went to get her, they had her cut out from the herd and loaded in our trailer within 45 minutes.  That was phenomenal!  Between Sam's peaceful demeanor and Zack's know-how, it was quite obvious they are learning their trade well.  Their animals obviously trusted them and were used to their presence.  We were in a field with cows, and sheep.  Went through a field with their pigs and dog.  All of which they earned a quiet respect from.  If you want an animal that is well taken care of, loved and respected, and is used to people, this is the place.  They have for sale St. Croix sheep and Kunekune pigs if you are interested.

Preserving the Harvest, Misc.

 I am so glad that my husband takes the time to ask, "What are you going to do today?"  I really appreciate it when he seems interested in the time we spend apart.  He gets so busy sometimes and his head is so full of his agenda. . .Today when he asked, I started looking around at about 6:40 am.  I had already made his lunch and a breakfast to go:  Peanut butter and blackberry jelly sandwich with homemade jelly and bread, homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, homemade canteloupe muffins, water and coffee.  

I had been working on cleaning the shelves in the food dehydrator as they were sticky from the tomatoes we had just dried, finished that and prepared two trays of figs to go in that he had picked the night before.  I had been working on releasing the seeds from all of the fennel that I had harvested the day before.

I had gotten out my bread starter to make some bread, as when I made his lunch I noticed we were getting low on bread.  

Yep, a typical day so far. . .Many plans for the rest of my day include finishing what I started, cleaning (I like a clean slate on Mondays), getting some blackberries out of the freezer to make some more blackberry jelly since I opened the last jar, more harvesting (especially okra, basil, and peppers), probably a trip to the grocery store and to drop off a box, and who knows what else will come up.  Life is good.

In the meantime between last blog post and today we rented a small bobcat and cleaned out the barn which included leveling the floor, clearing out some things the cows tore up, and adding sand to help the floor stay drier.  

We have been harvesting and preserving like crazy.  We have been blessed with rain which has really made the crop this year.  

The pantry and the freezers are getting full and beautiful.  

I am trying to learn more about foraging, finding things like this wild ginger, and pokeberries (which I have read will treat arthritis).  

I have so enjoyed spending time with my daughter, her husband, and my adorable almost 11 month old grandson who recently came over and got a lesson in reading a seed catalog.  LOL

We have also had to get my husband ready to go back to work teaching science.  With the mask regulations, I have tried to prepare him with enough fun masks to entertain him and the kids.  His latest is an ECU mask, of course that I made out of an old ECU t-shirt that was ripping up and some leftover paints:

I've put up pumpkin butter (thanks for the idea Gwen and Gary!), froze eggs for molting season, and gathered seeds (seeds shown are Yellow Mountain Sweet watermelon seeds and pole lima beans):

God is Good!