Early September Garden

 I was not too excited for the Labor Day weekend.  First, we were invited to a cook out event (not my favorite, as there is very little healthy food), and two, my husband made several plans, where I was hoping for some finishing touches on projects and some good ol' R & R.

We decided to visit a produce stand to pick up zuchinni (ours produced very little with the drought), another dozen ears of sweet corn (frozen on the cob this time), some plums, cucumbers, and local honey.

First dig - about 5#.  I wasn't even going to plant the potatoes this year, but threw them in the ground willy-nilly.  We were both shocked, because I did not water them heavily during our drought.  

One haul of hot peppers, and the jalapenos are hot this time around.  Hot banana peppers had zero heat.  I bought the plants from a different place, and I really think they were not labeled correctly (sad for us).

We have enjoyed fresh salsa, as the tomatoes provided.  The serrano peppers have flavor, but were not "hot" so I used them in the salsa this year, along with the hot jalapenos.

Bell peppers are the star of the garden this year.  Second picking, as the red ones were just starting to turn red.  Third picking brought in 33 more bell peppers.  

It looks like a lot of bell peppers, but it's not even half of what we harvested last year.  I freeze them diced and use them in all of our meals over winter and the following spring.

We enjoyed some of those bell peppers for breakfast.  I first started making these last year, but this time I remembered that there is too much milk added with the recipe, so I have written down my notes for next year.  The recipe calls for ham, but I used bacon this time, and added green onions from the garden (also has spinach in them).  Very good too.

Other ideas for you are baked bell pepper rings.  They are like onion rings, but with bell pepper slices, and baked.  Recipe is online if you google for it.  You can also bake stuffed bell peppers, or freeze them stuffed for an easy dinner.

New  recipe tried.  It's from Slender Kitchen.com  online.  It is delicious mix of ground beef, thai basil, green onions (herbs I grow), asparagus and other ingredients, served over cauliflower rice.  I will add an egg, cooked over easy the next time I make it.

Green beans and yellow beans started to get rust on them at the first part of the month.  The August storm flattened the plants, and they never recovered.  Most remained laying on the ground.  Not a great year, but we got some of the beans.

I found one rotted spaghetti squash, and very few pumpkins in the squash this year.  The drought has really affected the growth of the garden (despite watering).

Deer have found the apple trees, and are seen often enjoying the ones on the ground.  However, when I went out to check on the trees, the raccoons and squirrels found a way to bypass our homemade tree baffles, and they ate every single apple on the tree (raccoons are notorious for this).  We were lucky last year.  We plan to work on a new baffle for next season.

I literally watched a raccoon try to get up the tree right after we installed the tree baffle, and could not, so after that I never really thought about it.  We have yet to check the pear trees.

As for the deer this year, I was preparing coffee one morning, and caught a young deer eating our hydrangeas.  I then went to the other side of the house, and found two more adult deer lingering (but not eating the garden).  They have been very active the last few weeks here.

The weather has been very cool for the past weekend (low of 44 degrees), but we are going back to the 80's, and thankful for the extended "summer" weather.

Speaking of trees, we planted a plum tree years ago when we first moved here, but it died.  I bought some plums from our local produce stand, and baked a plum crisp for the first time.  Delicous!

On a whim, I talked to my husband about planting two plum trees and a few quince trees.  We have not planted anything yet, but quince trees are difficult to find locally.

We hired a grand newphew to cut down brush around the barns, trim trees and other outdoor work, but that lasted for one day, and for about 1 hour.  He never returned.  Looks like I will have to try and find another person.  I honestly don't know how I canned all season last year, and got outdoor work done.  I haven't canned a thing this season, and I am still busy with freezing bell peppers, pickling banana peppers (fridge style), and freezing jalapenos.  I hate to even say it, but the older I get the less I enjoy doing all this garden work.   

I know it's important for us to have freshly grown goodies, and stock up for winter, but I lack the "motivation" this year.  Especially with the grocery store prices so high right now, it's hard not to stock up with what is growing in the gardens.

I have yanked the cantaloupe plants.  They are done for the season.  I am currently pulling all of the green/wax bean plants as well.  

There you have it.  The lastest garden news.  Drought weather, lack of rain, lack of produce, and strange temperatures.  I will try to get another post up as the month ends.

Early September Garden © September 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

This and That

I decided to stop in for a chat, but my post ended up sort of long.  I apologize in advance, ha ha!

Hard to believe that we are nearing the very end of August.

The garden(s). . .

What happens when your barn cats have expired, and either field mice or chipmunks find your beans.  Good reason to have a solar electric fence if you don't have a good rodent control.  

First good haul, but not even close to last year's harvest.  I'm thrilled to get what we do get.  I brought in another 3# the other day too.

Bell peppers are rolling in, and they are about 1/4 inch thick.  I don't feel this particular pepper smells as good as the type we grew last year, so I will looking that up in my garden journal for reference.  Taste is important too.

Meals have been based on what I brought in from the garden.  It has been nice to have fresh canteloupe for breakfast.  We haven't grown fruit in the garden for several years (due to space).

We literally sliced our very first tomato August 27th.  The harvest has been that bad for the tomatoes, but only because the rabbits ate down the first planting (that garden is fenced now).

Canning?  Zero canned this year.  So far, anyway.

The chickens . . .

Due to my husband's other obligations, we have made zero progress on the new chicken coop. 

Handiwork . . .

Thanks to the free evenings by myself (due to my husband's obligations), and with little from the garden to can/freeze or dehydrate (combined with awfully hot weather), I have gotten my crochet hook out.  I just have not been in the "mood" to even crochet at all lately.

I crocheted us a new kitchen dish scrubbie, as my current one was wearing thin.  When I purchased the yellow netting, the clerk shorted me on yards, so thankfully I had netting scraps to stuff it with.

I have also finished another crocheted lap afghan, using a mix yarn in my yarn stash.

Home Repairs/Cleaning and Organizing . . .

-Master bathroom was completely finished.  Other than a few small things like replacing the broken toilet paper holder.  I do plan to install new "under the sink" mats and cabinet shelf liner.

-I have been purging the "office" room (slowly), so we can eventually rip out the old carpet.  It is a small room, but we have a lot of books and writing materials to purge.

-a little at a time, I am going thru stuff in my utility room.  I've purged this room and prepared it for new paint so many times, and it became the dump station for everything while working on other rooms.  I may be pushing this room to next year, or moving it on the to-do list for winter.

-garage clean up is still in limbo due to hot weather.

-purchased clothesline to install a new one,  as my old one is wearing down.

Herbs/Winter Prep . . . 

-dehydrated thyme for cooking, but it also comes in handy for a medicinal tea if anyone gets a bad cough or whatnot.

-started oregano oil for medicinal reasons, and for cooking.

-dehydrated sage for meals and for sage tea, and we have plenty of sage tincture for treating sore throats if needed.

-froze a batch of Thai basil pesto.  I have started a propagation of Thai basil to grow indoors.  Here's hoping I am successful.

....if you are still reading

Self-care. . .

We finally got back to hiking, and got two in the books.  There is still intentional exercise going on here as well, and of course healthy meals/snacks.

I'm looking into making a new homemade skincare (lotion) product.  I continue to make homemade hair detangler (with marshmallow root), homemade toner (with butterfly pea flower, and homemade face serum (using homemade rosehip seed oil).

The weather . . .

We recently had a heat wave come our way, and with no rain.  the temperatures soared up to 100°F.  There are reports of drought all over the area.  I've only been watering what I feel will produce more harvest.

The same evening of the hottest day, we had a severe, and unannounced storm roll in.  The wind was no joke!  Power outages, trees down, and debris everywhere.  Luckily, our power stayed on.  Many towns had destruction, and many people lost their gardens.  Oddly, what's left in our garden was not harmed.

This and That © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart