Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Tomatoes and more

Well Jess and I have been harvesting alot of tomatoes lately. They seem to have colonized every horizontal surface in our kitchen like fleshy red tribbles. So tonight we made a double batch of tomato soup and froze it. I think it will make for a mighty fine lunch some time this winter. A winter that feels closer all the time. It is getting down into the fifties in the evenings again and the nights seem to come sooner every day. I feel like I have so much to get done yet this season. Ah well fall is always nice.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Updates.

Wow, almost a week since my last post. Things have been kinda quiet here as of late. We had a week of dreary wet weather with high temps in the upper 70's. The rhubarb and peas seem to be loving it. The lettuces are not too upset about it but the tomatoes are almost dead. They got a bad case of wilt and the cool wet weather didn't help. the grass really popped back though. I had to mow yesterday for the first time in at least a month. I gotta admit I wasn't really missing it. I harvested hops yesterday. I hadn't wanted to harvest them wet and I think they are a bit past prime. Oh well live and learn.
On another front I heard a talk on the radio yesterday by Michale Pollan. He is the author of a book called the Omnivores Dilemma. I was really impressed by his ability to articulate some of the things I had been feeling about why I am doing this farmy self sufficiency thing. It is a realization that our current relationship with our world simply won't persist in it's current form. I look forward to reading his book this winter. I will have to make a list of books to read this off season.

Rick

PS started using Remember The Milk to organize farm chores and life tasks. Will let you know how it goes. So far I like it.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Becarful what you wish for.

Well Jess and I had a nice weekend in Milwaukee. We ate and tasted a number of wines beers and foods. We both agreed that we need to be eating more goat cheese. There is something about the tang and creaminess of goat cheese that is hard to beat. We particularly enjoyed the Milwaukee Ale house.
We got call on Sunday morning while we were on the way home wondering if we were doing OK. We then found out that southeastern Minnesota had been having a flood of biblical proportions. we got home and checked on the chickens and the dog. All was well. The garden was doing OK as well. The peas seem to be enjoying the cool wet weather. The tomatoes on the other hand look to have a bit of quite a bit of wilt. Nothing is perfect for everyone.

Well gotta go check the dehumidifier in the basement.

Rick

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Fire and lavender

Well today I spent some time smoking up the forge. I figured it was time to chase the spiders out. I started fires in the stove and the forge itself. I didn't work any iron but with the cooler fall air I figure it wont be long before I am back in the forge. It also gave me a chance to burn some sticks.
I also picked some Lavender while in the garden today. I guess I had smelled lavender soaps and such before but this was the first time I smelled the plant itself. I can really see how it would taste good with roast pork or lamb.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Of Plums and Progress


I have a number of things to mention today. First off we got a load of gravel delivered for the drive. I had hoped to be able to move alot of it with the plow and small tractor but the wheels just dig in so I have been finishing it off with a rake and a shovel. We also bought a new wheel barrow to help with the job. Last Tuesday we also had someone out to remove the branch that fell on the chicken yard. They did a great job. I have also got some more of the garage scraped. It is slow work but shoveling gravel has helped to put it into perspective.
On the harvest front I just picked the first tomato and a bunch of plums. I also picked a quart or two of green beans.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Close call

Well I was working in the garage because it was raining. Not a hard rain and not even windy by the standards of this place when I heard a crack. I thought it was odd that lightning would have such a series of pops. I noticed that less light was coming in the window so I stepped out to look at the chicken coop and found this. We were very lucky today. The dog and I and the chickens were all within the radius of this branch and none of us is scratched. I think. There still may be a chicken under there but I doubt it. We will have to call someone out to drag the wood away and probably replace some or all of the fence but otherwise we got of cheap!
In other news Jess and I went to the St. Paul farmers market this morning and bought some herbs and veggies. I am going to try a variety of eggplants to see if we like them. We are also so glad to have gotten rain at last. I filled up both rain barrels and all the buckets I had available. You know you can never have too many 5 Gal. buckets.

Well gotta go sharpen my ax.
Rick