What My Gas Tank's Tell'n Me

My world is small...very small.  I just filled my little pick-up with gas so I could go up to my cabin...20 gallon tank.  I log my fill-ups.  This is my second tank of gasoline since the 6th of June.  I go to the Farmers Market every Monday: that's an 18 mile round trip...the cabin is 101 miles one way....I have been to the cabin twice since June.  *Town* is 4 miles away...maybe I go into town every other week...usually less.  Gosh...I gotta' get a life! Notice how I said the little pick-up? I'm not driving the new truck...too BIG...too much gas. FYI: Sunday drives with the Husband are in his truck on his dime!



This Little Guy Gets The Job Done!



Had To Share: Driveway Down To The Cabin...Love It!

I'm The New Subsititute Lunch Lady!!!

I thought I'd better explain my last post.  I'm not teaching (that's what my sister does)...I'll be the on-call subsititute assistant cook for the School District.  I'm pretty stoked. The USDA is revamping their Food Service guidelines again and is really pushing locally sourced foods and less pre-packaged meals...right up my alley.  I'm going to enjoy being back in a commercial kitchen.  Hope the county and state have the money to pay me...momma wants to put solar on the farm! 

My New Gig!

I was recently contacted by the School District and aked if I would like to be the new SUBSTITUTE:

I said YES!  Should prove interesting!

Harvest Monday

All of my harvests look the same these days!  Lots of cucumbers, peppers, basil, sage and tomatoes.  The hens are laying daily and friends are bringing me peaches by the bucket. The weather has been very pleasant.  Life is good. 

Bell Pepper, Lemon Cucumber, Pickling Cukes

Tomatoes...and Water Spots!

White Peaches

Peaches From My Insurance Agent/Pig Seller/Friend...Best Peaches in the State!

Morning Eggs: Gifts From The Girls'

Please join me and other happy harvesters over at Daphne's Dandelions.

Surprise Food!

I decided to not use garden space this year to plant melons, winter squash, summer squash, cucumbers or water melon (the family grows them commercially)...I did break down and plant zucchini and crooknecks in the holes of some cinder blocks and I did let anything that volunteered to go ahead and grow if they weren't interfering...so, this is what I got:

I Don't Think We'll Get to Eat This One!



 

Volunteer Cukes in the Compost I Used To Fill The Tomato Buckets...Lots Of Cukes!



I Think This Is A Pumpkin...But I have Never Grown Pumpkins...My Son Grows Them A Mile Or Two From Me!

The First Zuke

Canning Potatoes

I harvested one of the 1/2 barrels of potatoes and decided to can about 5 pounds of them.  Last year I canned potatoes in quart jars and that was just too much for Bill and I.  This year I'll have more pints and just a few quarts.  I left the peels on, cut in half length wise, steamed for about 5 minutes, stuck in pint jars with a bit of salt, added boiling water, wiped jar rims, placed lids, put in the pressure canner, vented 10 minutes, put on weight, brought pressure up to 10 pounds and processed for 35 minutes.

Gett'n Ready to Get Out of Dodge!

I'm planning on spending the next three weekends up at the cabin.  I have to do lots of work down here to do lots of work up there!  Sometimes my life only makes sense to me!  So yesterday I watered the beejeezus out of the berries and today I'm *flooding* the raised beds and the new fruit orchard.  I'll do a light (soaker hose) watering on Thursday then head up the hill on Friday a.m. and back home Monday after the Farmers Market (then repeat for the next 3 weeks).  Tomorrow I spend the day hooking up an automatic watering system for the chickens.  I can feed them 50 pounds of feed at a time...but I have to fill their three 5 gallon waterers every day.  So, the plan will be to bring the hose over from the pump house to a float system waterer...gosh I hope it works...the girls have a huge yard to run/scratch/hide in but I worry about the heat and them not having enough cool clean water.

Worm Casting Compost Tea!!!

The garden took a tiny break and just now is producing a bit again.  Cucumbers (volunteers..I don't plant cukes, I have no idea where these came from), chard, rhubarb, tomatoes, onion, lots of herbs: oregano, basil, sage, thyme, chives, rosemary, lavender, borage.  The volunteer squash had dozens of male flowers...no females...I almost pulled it out: but today when I was watering I found 3 tiny little squashes (Australian Butter).  The volunteer melon has a dozen little melons...I'm going thin them when I get back next week.  I thinned peaches and crab apples last Sunday...that's a first for me, but I'm hoping to get some nice big peaches and some good looking crab apples.  My Granny Smith needs thinned, too...in fact it should have been sprayed...but I don't do that and now every apple in this 30 year old tree has a worm.  I'm use them for apple cider this year...I'll cut the worms out and crush with my daughter-in-law's crusher and then press them with her press...can't wait.