Final tomato harvest

Well, I finished picking and pulling all of the tomatoes today.  Lots of green tomatoes saved.  Many more of them already rotting or infested too - a shame to loose all that produce!  I also harvested last of the sunflowers.  I left the green beans.  I need to get moving, I have lots of "work" work to do this week!

Oh, I got that picture of the eggplant this morning:

Now for the long trip home.  I need to call up the backhoe guy to arrange delivery for Thursday or Friday,if possible!  Would be cool to do some grounds work next weekend.

Underground Greenhouses

Info on underground greenhouses (Walipini's)

DIY underground greenhouse

PDF of Walipini plans and info

Farm maintenance & more harvest

Cleaned up more around the red barn.  Sawed some small stumps to make sure the lawn mower wouldn't hit them.  Removed the brambles (and a small tree) from inside the building too.  Did mowing all the way back to the woods in back and to the stream/drainage ditch on left and right sides.  Eventually, I want to clean up the entire right side (as you face the front of the building).

I mowed around the elderberries using the riding mower.  It has been dry enough that i didn't get stuck at all!  I spun a bit, but didn't get stuck.  I started cleaning up around the elderberries with the string trimmer (the riding mower doesn't get very close).  I stopped by the front patch and harvested the remaining cabbage.  Here is a pick of our last cabbage (in PA anyway):

I need to harvest the dill (and dry it) and the beets.  I grabbed a small head of cauliflower too.  Looks like there is one more that I will get later when I harvest the last of the beets.  I should start on harvesting tomatoes too.  Maybe I will get to plant cover crop (I think just the vetch on the front patch - no clay there and seems well drained).  Note that I can plant vetch in early spring, since fall planting doesn't do much - just sprouts, develops small plants and goes dormant until early spring when it does its real growth. 

OK, back outside.  Its about 4:15pm now - it gets dark so soon now! :(

Back in.  About 7:10 pm now.  I picked and pulled all of the tomatoes in the front patch.  Also did many of the tomatoes in the big patch - it got too dark to do them all.  I also harvested all of the beets from the front garden.  Front garden only has kale and some brussel sprouts now (and dill).  Here is the harvest tonight:

I also picked most of the eggplant from the big patch.  Too dark to take pics though.  I did get some pics of the work i did around the red barn though!

Did up the cabbage as sauerkraut.  Got about 19 lbs!  I am waiting for the water to render out a bit more.  Then I will put a plate on the top and weight it down with another croc full of water.  I will put the plastic wrap on top like last time since that seemed to work ok.

Farm status

Drove up to farm early(ish) this morning.  Got here around 10:15am.  Forgot to bring the pumpkin that I processed last night.  Mowed around the paw-paw patch (the paw-paws themselves didn't need it).  Also mowed around the persimmons - was able to mow a lot of the brush area because its been so dry.  I am tempted to run the tiller over some of that area to smooth it out and maybe add some dirt so it doesn't get so wet.

Anyway, I surveyed the place - the radishes are up!  Here are some pics:

I went to Kellers and got some fuel and a sandwich.  Also stopped at HT Market and got some candy and apples.  After we got home (Smokey is with me) I ate the sandwich and WAY too much candy.  Napped for a while then went out to work on clearing around the red-barn.  While over there I noticed that the rose hips are ripe:

Maybe I will pick some tomorrow.  I worked on clearing the trees i knocked down last week.  I got the chainsaw chain into the dirt a couple times so thats going to need sharpening.  I dragged off a bunch of the trees and brambles near the big field - maybe I will burn those some day.  Didn't finish.  Still pretty tired.  I want to pick the cabbage and start another run of sauerkraut before I leave this weekend.  I am thinking of sending Seth a text message asking when we can arrange shipping my backhoe.  I really have lots of ideas of using it!  Just tonight I was thinking that the grounds around the red barn need to be smoothed and re-graded. Also, the bridge i waned to cross the streams is possible now!  I think I have enough long logs for the spans and with a backhoe I can put in posts much more effectively. 

Roasted tomato sauce and pumpkin

I cleaned up the tomatoes a bit; lots of them on the verge (or just past) of going bad.  Did the roasted tray method with them.  I got 7 1.5 pint jars first batch and 6 1.5 pint jars second batch (total of 9 3/4 quarts).  Should really have done more, but its too late tonight and I need to go to farm tomorrow.

I also started processing the pumpkins.  I figured I would freeze most of them since its just easier and most pumpkin will be used for puree (pie, custard, etc).  I did 4 pints of puree.  I ran it through the squeeze-o and then pureed it in the vitamix.  Turned out very smooth.  The pumpkin is in wide mouth pints, ready to be frozen - I will take it up with me tomorrow and freeze it at the farm (more room in that freezer).

More roasted tomato sauce and Bus Trays

Canned 10 pints of roasted tomato sauce.  Many more tomatoes to go.

Bought bus trays from restaurant supply house.  5" pans are $6.95.  7" pans are $7.95.  Nice plastic trays to hold produce before processing.

Pumpkin Ideas

Pumpkin Flour

Take non-sugar pumpkins and dehydrate them.  Put in food processor and make flour.  Add up to 1/4 of regular flour.  eg.  1 cup regular flour = 1/4 cup pumpkin flour + 3/4 cup regular flour.  Pumpkin flour is more dense but lower in carbs.

Pumpkin Chili

There are several versions of this online.  They all involve pumpkin puree.  Good way to use it up.

Pumpkin Bread
Use 2 cups Splenda rather than 3 cups of sugar.  Substitute whole-wheat flour for AP flour.  If using homegrown pumpkin puree, add 1/3 cup water instead of 2/3 cup.  Bakes for about an hour rather then the 30 minutes specified in recipe.

Apple Sauce

I processed what was left of the bushel of apples that I got at Mile Level Market last weekend.  I had two different kinds of apples, unfortunately I don't recall the types!  One was yellow and one was red.  The red is a good eating apple, but they are going bad quickly.  The yellow had many bad apples and wouldn't last another day or two I think.

I simply boiled the cored and quartered apples in a big pot (put a little water in the bottom to help keep from burning the apples).  I wasn't watching close enough and did end up burning some of them.  KEEP THE HEAT SETTING LOW AND STIR OFTEN! Anyway, the burn wasn't too bad and I simply blended the burned with the good sauce and its hardly noticable.  Especially not a problem since I am the one who will be eating most of this!

I have 7 quarts in the hot water bath right now - they go for 20 mins.   I will probably get a few more quarts - I don't think I have enough quart jars though.  I may use pint and a half or just pints.

Oh, on a side note, Katherine mailed off the check (with a copy of the invoice) for the backhoe today!  It is going to take a while to get there and then it will take some time to clear.  It probably won't be delivered until next week - maybe even later.  I am anxious to get it though, I would really like to get those stumps out and grass seed down before the winter sets in.

Weekend recap

I went up to farm Friday morning, made it there around 9:30 I think.  I called seth fenby at que sales, inc to confirm that I was going to stop by to look at the equipment.  I tried to connect the trailer to the van, but without the tractor to move the trailer out of garage (no hydraulics hose meant I couldn't lift the FEL) I got the van and trailer stuck on the garage door!

So I left in the SUV, after locking up as best I could around the van, to go see the equipment.  I found the place, eventually, and met Seth.    He showed me the crawler-loader and proceeded to demo the unit by driving it.  However, while driving it he had some problems; it couldn't turn right!  I told him that I was more interested in the backhoe, so we moved on.  The backhoe started up and he drove it around a little and then let me drive it!  I drove it around - it hydro so I was already used to the control.  I then tried to use the backhoe portion of the machine.   It worked, but a bit jerky (which I learned later is normal for a backhoe).

I asked him for a better price and we eventually haggled to $6,700 cash and delivered.  I mentioned that I don't like carrying that much cash around.  He said it helps keep the tax off the books so he makes more money in the pocket.  I sympathized, but again, I wasn't sure I could even GET that kind of cash on a Friday afternoon, far away from my bank.  Anyway, I looked at the machine a bit closer and noticed some oil on the engine... I wondered if head gasket leaking.. although there was no unusual smoke.  I did take note that  while the pins are tight, they don't look like they have been lubed for a awhile.  I told him I would consult my wife to see what she said.  I think he thought I was passing on the deal (which I was STRONGLY considering).   As I was leaving he mentioned that he could do check if cash wasn't possible, but that it would just take longer.  I made a mental note, but had to keep moving...I left to rush back home to get septic tank pumped!

Before I got home though I stopped to get hydraulic hoses made at the Fulton Tractor Kubota dealer.  The service man couldn't make the house with 1/2 " hose but could with 3/8" hose. I couldn't see a reason why that wouldn't work so he went ahead and did it.  Only cost about $37and was done in less then 10 mins!!  LOL. So I wasted time and money going to TSC!  Oh well, live and learn!

At that point I was seriously running behind schedule! I rushed home to find that the County Septic truck was in my driveway up near the septic tank!  I drove up and met the guy - turns out that he was running late too and that he had only just got there 10 mins earlier!  Whew!

So we got the tank pumped out and then I went to install the new hoses on the tractor.  After installing the hoses I used the tractor to de-tangled the trailer and van.   Then I used the tractor to go over to the red-barn and knock down some of the trees and crap that grew up around there this year (well, last several years).  I just knocked the trees and fence down, I didn't pull the roots or saw off any trees or mow.  I wanted to keep moving before it got dark.   

Then I went to pick the tomatoes in the big patch.  There were many tomatoes that were goig bad and not many that were ripe.  I hope that we get at least another hundred pounds of ripe tomatoes from these gardens, but now I am not sure.  Anyway, by the time I got done picking the tomatoes, pumpkin, squash, melon, etc it was getting dark.  I put the produce on the porch and sorted the tomatoes out a bit according to ripeness.

Saturday, when I got up (I got up late!), I noticed the sky was cloudy.  I checked the weather and it predicted rain (90% chance) around noon!  I really wanted to get the cover crop in the big patch (the tillage radish is critical to break up the clay there!)  So I rushed out and began clearing the plastic ground cover from the patch.  3 HOURS later! ugh - that's a lot of work and messy!  The pumpkin and cucumber vines are like ROPES and really make life hard.  But I got the plastic up!  I took the electric fence down around the garden and then took the one end of the garden fence down so I could get the tractor and tiller in to prep for planting the radishes!  Here is what the patch looked like after the tilling:

It was starting to sprinkle around this time - about 1 PM!  I was literally RUNNING to get the seed!   Fortunately, I found that the radish could be planted with the manual seeder machine I got earlier this year (but was unable to use because of the amount of sod in the early season tilled gardens).  I used the "beet" plate and planted the whole space with radishes in about 10-15 mins!  Wonderful!  By then it was doing a consistent light rain and I was scrambling hard.  I got the hairy vetch seeds and found a broadcast seeder in the old garage and started seeding my butt off!  I finished before it started really coming down!  Here it is all seeded:

I saved the tomatoes and eggplant!  Everything else is gone from the big patch!  Well, there is a pumpkin vine or two that are trying to survive - but their roots are gone!

I rested a bit and did some more internet studies on the backhoe. 

I ate dinner then got to work canning the sauerkraut!   The kraut was fermented PERFECTLY!  It was sooo good and crisp - it was a perfect ferment!  I am so happy!  I think I will do the rest of the cabbage up there into sauerkraut.   One thing to note, however: canning sauerkraut is kind of a pain!  The "fibers" of cabbage stick to everything and don't want to go into the jars easily.  Eventually, I got it all in jars and canned - totaled about 10 quarts (counting about a pint of mostly juice in the last pint).  I gave mom and dad a pint and took a quart back to SS (along with the pint of juice).  Anyway, here is a pic of the kraut all canned:

Sunday morning, I got up late again!  I rushed out to re-install the fences on the patch and decided to mow the orchard while I was there!  Fences back up and electric fence on!

I picked the tomatoes out of the other two patches, as well as the green beans out of the paw-paw patch. Then cleaned dishes, packed and took off for mom and dad's.  I gave the green beans to them, as well as a pint of the sauerkraut I had made.   Then i took off for home.  

Katherine put up 7 pints of roasted tomato sauce Sunday night (lastnight).

Tomatoes canned, rutabagas, wine

Finished canning 14 quarts (actually did 14 pints sauce and 14 pints juice) of tomatoes.    Things went smoothly.  Used the double boiler juicer thing and the squeeze-o strainer.  Used the pressure canner - 10lbs 15 mins.  Got caught up on all the ripe tomatoes.  Only a small number left to can here.  Saving those for Katherine to do this weekend (not sure they will even be ready - I think they will be though).

I picked the rutabagas tonight.  I was getting tired of seeing them decay out there and the tops were crowding out many other plants.  The chard should do better now.  I took the good rutabagas and cleaned them, diced them and roasted them with some salt.  Katherine and I had them for dinner.   Was just about 2 cups once cleaned.  Not exactly thrilled with their productivity - but the soil here is a bit hard on most plants.

I finally got around to doing the next step in the winemaking on my zinfandel.  Did the de-gas and added the "F-pack" (flavor pack?) and isinglass for clarification.  Now wait 14 more days (Oct 3rd) and see if ready to bottle!  I need to check to see if I have enough bottles!

I got my draw-knives and my hydraulic line adapters today. I got 2 different sizes (3 of the smaller and 1 of the larger) of hose adapters - not sure which size is correct though - if either!  I am hopeful that at least one will fit the bill and then I can replace at least one of the lines and use the tractor for garden tilling and planting my cover crops this weekend!  NO DIGGING with the tractor anymore! [unless I don't get the backhoe or excavator!]

Hand pulled utility wagon - shopping - evaluation

Just saw a Woot that advertised a plastic wagon that could handle over 600lbs.  I am interested in such a wagon for hauling my anvil to the van to haul it up to PA, eventually.  I quickly looked at such a hand pulled wagon while at TSC last weekend and got interested in them as an option for moving that anvil.  They are not too expensive and I can foresee many alternate uses for them around the farm.

After read reviews of the TSC wagons and the woot wagon, I think that the best option would be the $120 TSC wagon.  reviewers say that that wagon has wheel bearing issues, but it should suffice for moving the anvil ONCE, and the bearing can be replaced!

recent plumbing and More tomatoes!

Well, the sink issue in SS finally came to a head.  We tried using more draino on it Monday (and of course, the small snake) and it didn't improve.  in fact, it got worse!  I guess the draino adversely affected the plastic pipes?  Or maybe just the jostling of the plunging actions, but by Tuesday morning, it was leaking under the sink!

I took Tuesday off from work and proceeded to try to figure out a course of action.  I wanted to put in a heavier metal pipe based solution (I had a mix of light plastic and metal), but i couldn't find the parts I needed at Home Depot and time was running short to create a decent PVC solution.  The local Home Depot "experts" are useless, at least with respect to plumbing!

Anyway, long story short, I ended up going back and forth to HD only twice!  A miracle!  LOL  I did end up using the crappy light weight plastic pipe fitting that they offer.  Unlike last time i used those fitting though, I immediately bought pipe sealant!  I also got a 50 FOOT 1/2" pipe snake to clear that damn clog up once and for all!  It took a while to put the snake down and run it through, but I did it and cleared the clog (never did identify the clog though!)  I rebuilt the drain with all new plastic and sealed them good.  The build seemed solid.  Leak testing showed few leaks - mostly just needing to tight compression fitting around the garbage disposal connection.  Hopefully that will get snug and we will be OK soon.  Its good enough for use though, and saved me having a $300+ bill from James Wheat (and having to WAIT for Wheat!)

So that was my Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday night we got back to processing tomatoes (after Katherine spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning a BUNCH of dishes by hand!)  We got to use the squeeze-o style strainer (BTW, the mail order squeeze-o arrived Wednesday night - but we used the one I bought from Zimmermans because it was already clean).  We processed 5 pints of sauce and  7 pints of juice.

Also, I hung up the sunflower heads in the shop to dry so that the squirrels can't get to them!  Once the heads are dry enough I will remove the seeds and then soak the seeds in salt brine, then dry the seeds for eating.  I need to remember to save some of the seeds for planting!  Probably try to save those that are still on the sunflowers up at the farm.  I don't want to harvest them too early in case they aren't mature enough to make good planting seeds!

Today, I would like to process all of the remaining tomatoes that are ready.  I have a batch in the juicer right now.  Will update blog later.

Weekend update

Well, its been a frustrating weekend.

I went up to the farm Saturday morning, earlyish - got there around 11ish.  I immediately started to clean up the wood that I in the driveway last week.   But first, I had to sharpen the chainsaw chain.  After sharpening, the chainsaw was back to cutting through the wood easily!  I cut up the odds and ends that I left from last week near the old garage wood pile.  Last week I started making a round wood pile next to the garage. I stacked the wood that I sawed up.  I found a couple of pieces that I cut into chock-blocks for the trailer.   It occurs/occurred to me that I can't really use those blocks on the trailer while the trailer is in motion!  I had intended to use the blocks to help secure the tractor while transporting it, but I just don't see a safe way of doing it (the chock-blocks themselves would become dangerous if they fell off the trailer on the road!).  It would be safer to just trust the tractor brakes and the chains.  However, the chock-blocks are still useful for blocking the trailer while it is being connected/disconnected to a vehicle.

After finishing the driveway wood, I mowed around the paw-paw patch then went to check the tomatoes/garden situation.  I harvested a bunch of tomatoes and pumpkins (and some squash/cucumbers/cantaloupe etc) - most tomatoes came from the big patch.  After seeing that there were many tomatoes ready to process, I considered that I REALLY needed a squeezo/tomato strainer up there.   So I head off to tractor supply company/WalMart to see if they carried them.  I ended getting some canning jars at WalMart, and (too much candy!) some soda, but they didn't have strainer.  I went to TSC and still, no strainer, HOWEVER, TSC did have 3/8 inch hydraulic hose!  So I got 2 hoses that looked right and went back home to install them!  When I got home, it was getting too late to install the hoses so I went straight into working on the tomatoes.   I used the new strainer and it worked well!  I did scorch the tomatoes a little during the initial boiling (make sure you keep the temp REAL low and stir frequently - keep the setting under 4 on that stove!)  I got 7 quarts tomato juice canned with only about a cup of juice left over (which I drank).  It was past mid-night when I finished, so I went straight to bed afterwards.  I did take a shower while the tomatoes were in the canner (since it takes 40 mins in the hot water bath!).

Sunday morning, I woke up late - almost 9am!  After breakfast, Jay Knepper rides up on his ATV and I go out to talk with him.  He wanted to know about the wood pile situation.  I showed him the wood in the basement and garage.  He mentioned that while he was bush-hogging my field (there were ornamental pear trees left over after he hay-bined it last week) he saw that there were several dead trees along the fence line - he asked if he could cut and drag them out - I told him it was fine.  He mentioned that his friend at work was interested in the wood and that he would mention the would in the garage was available for sale (which I agreed to - but only if they came to get it on the weekend while I was there).  I am not sure of what I should charge, since I do want to get the wood out of there so I can work on the garage/shop (I am still considering converting it to two floors next year - need to talk to FetterVille).  He said a pickup truck load usually goes for about $30-$60 (depending on local demand- if there is snow on the ground).  I am guessing about 3-4 truckloads there - at best maybe 4*30 = $120 for all that wood, does not seem like much money. HOWEVER, remember - it gets the wood out of there and they are moving it!  While we were talking, I spotted a fox running out of the thicket below the front garden.  The fox ran up to the paw-paw patch - i think maybe he was hunting a mouse/varmit.  He looked in good shape though - maybe a bit thin. Then I noticed him running up the hill - right along the road toward Keller's driveway.  I told Jay about my issues with the tractor hydraulics, he confirmed my guesses.  Just turn the tractor off and raise & lower the front and back attachments to make sure they are depressurized.

After Jay left, I went to try the new hose and found that while one end fit, the other end did not!  I thought that the issue was that the hose was marked 1/2 inch and I mistakenly got the wrong size ( I got the 3/8 hose).  So I went back to TSC and got the 1/2 hose (after I called to confirm that they had it) . I got back home to fine that 1/2 hose didn't fit on EITHER side!  Then I noticed that the original hose had a different connector on the one end!   Anyway, after this I was frustrated so I went to harvest tomatoes from paw-paw patch.

I harvested tomatoes, and sunflowers and green beans.  I also picked up many of the red "pins" - hold-downs.   I decided that that point to just pack it all in and head home - since there weren't that many tomatoes ready to can and I didn't feel  like heading back monday morning.

I went back to house and looked down to the paw-paw patch - just a minute away - and saw turkeys moving along the edges of the paw-paw patch!  I took some pictures of them as they moved up the hill.

I packed all the produce and headed back to SS.  Didn't even clean all the dishes because it was already 6:30pm and getting dark.  I took the scenic tour using the waze app - get back onto 70 just before Hagerstown.  Was kinda cool.  Might be nice trip coming up, as well - we would pass a number of grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants (at least 2 chinese restaurant that i saw). 

I got back around 8:45pm, not a bad time.  About 2 hours an 15 mins.  After we unpacked the car and settled down, we cooked the green beans with some meat and some of the leftover tomatoes that Katherine was working on.

Later on I looked up a possible solution to the hose situation.  I found a 3/8 inch NPT to 3/8 inch JIC connector that should do the job.  Note that a 3/8 JIC is actually 9/16, I think.  I ordered from a hydraulic connector site: hydraulic warehouse.  Expensive shipping!  Hopefully will arrive this week, but I doubt it - I paid only for standard UPS shipping. (was still about $16 shipping for tiny objects!).  I preferred the adapter solution since this allows me to replace the hoses with cheap TSC hoses instead of custom hoses from CASE!  I still will probably call CASE  (hines) and see if they can order me some new hoses for the loader hoses.

Katherine stayed in SS to process tomatoes and eggplant.

Unfortunately, while processing the carrots I managed to cause a clog in the sink which did not clear the whole weekend, so poor Katherine had to work around that WHILE CANNING!  Ugh.

None-the-less, Katherine managed to process all of the eggplant.  I think its about 2 quarts of eggplant, after processing.  Processed by breading, baking, then freezing.  She also did 12 pints of tomato sauce (not seasoned).  She roasted the tomatoes in the oven - cooked them AND removed quite a bit of the water!  Great idea! Also, it gives the tomatoes a bit of a roasted flavor.

Grocery Sale Cycles – When Do Things Go on Sale?

January

National Oatmeal Month: Quaker
Diet Foods: Healthy Choice, South Beach, Lean Cuisine, Special K, Kashi, Smart Start, 100 Calorie Packs, Yogurt
Super Bowl Sunday: Pepsi, Coke, Chips, Dips, Cheese, Sandwich Items, Crackers, Snacks, Wings
Seasonal Produce: Oranges, Pears, Grapefruit, Tangerines, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Cabbage, Spinach
Clearance: Christmas Decorations, Toys, Wrapping Papers,
Winter Health: Cold Medicines and Vitamins

February

National Canned Food Month: Canned Fruit, Pie Fillings, Vegetables, Meats: Tuna, Chicken, Salmon
National Hot Breakfast Month: Malt O Meal, Oatmeal, Eggo Waffles, Syrup
Valentines: Chocolate, Hershey’s, KY Lubricant, etc
Chinese New Year: Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Noodles, Canned Water Chestnuts
Seasonal Produce: Artichoke, Asparagus, Raspberries, Potatoes, Strawberries, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Spinach

March

Frozen Food Month: Ice Cream, Frozen Vegetables (Boxed, Bag, or Steam), Frozen Meals, Foster Farms Chicken, Waffles, Pizza
Seasonal Produce: Artichoke, Asparagus, Haas Avocado, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Fennel, Kale, Leek, Lemon, Lime, Mushrooms, Spring Onions, Orange, Peas, Radish, Rhubarb, Spinach, Strawberries, Tangerine

April

Easter: Ham, Eggs, Spices, Baking Supplies: Sugar, Spices, Baking Mixes, Chocolate Chips, Butter, Coconut, Marshmallows, Brownie Mix, Cake Mix
Earth Day: Organic Foods, Energy Saver, Reusable Totes
Seasonal Produce: Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbages, Carrots, Grapefruit, Haas Avocado, Mushrooms, Onions, Peas, Rhubarb
Clearance: After Easter sales

May

Memorial Day: BBQ Sauce, Condiments, Charcoal, Salad Dressing, Potato Chips, Dips, Grilling Meats, Hot Dogs, Hamburger Meat, Marinade, Salad Greens
Paper Products: Plates, Utensils, Insect Repellant, Sunscreen
Cinco De Mayo: Salsa, tortillas
Seasonal Produce: Artichokes, Asparagus, Avocado, Beans, Green, Beets, Blackberries, Carrots, Sweet Vidalia Onions, Peas, New Potatoes, Raspberries, Strawberries

June

National Dairy Month: Eggs, Milk, Ice Cream, Cheese, Cream Cheese, Butter, Yogurt, Whipping Cream, Whipped Cream, Cool Whip
End of June is Fourth or July Sales: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, Condiments, Charcoal, Salad Dressing, Potato Chips, Dips
Seasonal Produce: Apricots, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cherries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Grapes, Honeydew, Nectarines, Peaches, Potatoes, Raspberries, Red Onions, Squash, Summer, Strawberries, Sweet Vidalia Onions, Tomatoes, Watermelon

July

National Ice Cream Month
More 4th of July BBQ Sales: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, BBQ Sauce, Ketchup, Condiments, Charcoal, Salad Dressing, Potato Chips, Dips
End of July: Back to School Sales Begin: Crayons, Pencils, Folders, Binders
Seasonal Produce: Asian Pears, Bartlett Pears, Beans, Green, Blueberries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Figs, Garlic, Grapes, Nectarines, Onions, Red, Valencia Oranges, Peaches, Sweet/Bell Peppers, Plums, Potatoes, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Watermelon

August

Back to School: Pudding cups, Lunch meat, Lunchables, Bread, Cold Cereal, Waffles, Lunchboxes
Disinfectant: Clorox, Purell
Clearance: Insect Repellant, Sunscreen, charcoal
Seasonal Produce: Gravenstein Apple, Haas Avocado, Green Beans, Beans, Berries, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Figs, Grapes, Melons, Onion, Peaches, Bartlett Pears, Bell Pepper, Plums, Raspberries, Squash, Summer, Tomatillo, Tomato

September

Back to School Sales through Labor Day: Crayons, Pencils, Folders, Binders
Diabetes: Bayer Glucose Meters, Glucerna Cereal
Seasonal Produce: Apples, Artichokes, Beans, Bell Peppers, Chili Peppers, Cucumber, Eggplant, Grapes, Onion, Valencia Orange, Asian Pears, Bartlett Pears, Pomegranate, Squash, Tomatillo, Tomatoes, Winter Squash
Baby Items: Major Baby Equipment, Baby Safety

October

Halloween: Candy, Fresh Pumpkin
Beginning of the Baking Sales: Canned pumpkin, Evaporated Milk, Baking Chips
Daylight Savings Time Ends Promotions: Alarm Clocks, Batteries, Safety Equipment, Smoke Detectors
National Seafood Month
Adopt a Shelter-Dog Month: Pedigree, Purina
Seasonal Produce: Almonds, Apples, Artichokes, Arugula, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Chard, Chestnuts, Cranberries, Lemons, Parsnip, Pears, Pomegranate, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin, Spinach, Squash, Winter, Turnips, Yams

November

Hot Cocoa, Coffee, Tea
Baking Sales in Full Swing: Nuts, Chocolate Chips, Evaporated Milk, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Coconut, Cake Mixes
Canned foods: Soup, Broth, Vegetables, Fruits, Spaghetti Sauce
Thanksgiving Items: Turkey, Canned Pumpkin, Stovetop Stuffing, Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes, Gravy Mixes, Frozen Pies, Cranberry Sauce, Jello, Marshmallows
Seasonal Produce: Anjou Pears, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Carrots, Celery, Comice Pears, Cranberries, Kiwi, Lemons, Orange, Potato, Squash, Yams
Clearance: After Halloween Sales

December

Holiday Dinner: Egg Nog, Deli Platters, Instant Potatoes, Gravy Mixes, Frozen Pies, Cranberry Sauce, Jello, Marshmallows. Sour Cream Dips, Crackers, Chips, Soda, Ham
Baking: Flour, Sugar, Butter, Cream, Cake Mix, Brownie Mix, Muffin Mix, Breads, Pie Crust, Marshmallow, Whipped cream
Canned Foods: Soup, Broth, Condensed Milk, Vegetables, Fruits, Spaghetti Sauce
Seasonal Produce: Anjou Pears, Bok Choy, Bosc Pears, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Dates, Grapefruit, Haas Avocados, Kale, Kiwi, Kumquat, Lemon, Napa Cabbage, Oranges, Sweet Potatoes, Red Cabbage, Rutabaga, Savoy Cabbage, Spinach, Winter Squash, Yams, Turnips, White Potato
Clearance: After Thanksgiving and After Christmas Sales

Pickled Carrots

Did up most of the carrots (8 lb 10 oz) we harvested from our front patch in PA and all of the carrots from the raised bed down here in SS.  Got a total of 12 pints pickled carrots (with about 1 C over) .  I used some jalapenos from the raised beds in the last 5 pints for a change.  Shouldn't be too hot since I made pickled jalapenos earlier this year and these peppers aren't very hot.

Here is the recipe I followed:

Pickled Carrots
2¾ pounds peeled carrots (about 3½ pounds as purchased)
5½ cups white distilled vinegar (5%)
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons canning salt
8 teaspoons mustard seed
4 teaspoons celery seed
Yield: About 4 pint jars

Procedure:

1. Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids and bands according to manufacturer's directions.
2. Wash and peel carrots well. Wash again after peeling and cut into rounds (we cut into spears) that are approximately ½-inch thick.
3. Combine vinegar, water, sugar and canning salt in an 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot. Bring to a boil and boil gently 3 minutes. Add carrots and bring back to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer and heat until the carrots are half-cooked (about 10 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, place 2 teaspoons mustard seed and 1 teaspoon celery seed in the bottom of each clean, hot pint jar.
5. Fill hot jars with the hot carrots, leaving 1-inch headspace. Cover with hot pickling liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids.
6. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals.

Add jalapenos or chilis for a spicy version. Add peppercorns for some flavor and great contrast for color.


Actually, I used a modified recipe.  For 5 lbs of CLEANED carrots:

10	vinegar	C
1 7/8	water	C
3 5/8	sugar	C
3 5/8	salt	teaspoons
14 4/8	mustard	teaspoons
7 1/4	celery	teaspoons

Called "County Septic" - arranging to pump septic tank

Did a map search near waterfall for septic pump services and found County Septic was close [well first I tried to contact Chestnuts's out of Hustontown - but got wrong number 3 times, so I gave up and did  a map search]!

County Septic
29169 Great Cove Rd 
Fort Littleton, PA 17223
(717) 987-4340

I talked to wife of the owner and she took my info and said he will call back to arrange time.

Clyde (? Claude? ) called [ph #: 717-860-3254] around 12:30pm and we arranged time for next Friday, Sept 20 at 12-5pm

Cover crops - update

I called:

FREDERICK GRAIN LLC

DAN & KEITH GEISINGER

3810 BALLENGER CREEK PIKE

FREDERICK, MD 21703

PH1: 301 418 8758

But there was no answer and no ability to leave message.  I will call again after lunch I guess!

Otherwise, I will order tillage radish and CCS Hairy Vetch online - if i can find out how!

TA Seeds

Garden.planning. cucumber/ large PA patch 2013

Here is early diagram of cucumber hill layout:

I will have to consider this when planning patches next year. Note that one thing is for sure, PUMPKINS GO INTO THEIR OWN PATCH!

More tomatoes

Did more tomatoes like last night. It worked so well!  We got 7 pints juice and 7 pints pulp tonight.  14 pints in pressure canner right now.

Took this picture just now (next morning):

What to plant in September

Here is a list of  veggies you can plant this month:

• Beet
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrot
• Cauliflower
• Cilantro
• Collard
• Dill
• Endive
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Radish
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard
• Turnip

Spinach is one variety that can be planted all over the country … so channel that inner-Popeye of yours, get over your excuses for not starting, and get that spinach planted!

Bean Loaf -- no bread

6 oz canned kidney beans
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked chopped veggies (carrots, celery. onion)
garlic
3 Tbs country-style Dijon mustard
2 Tbs molasses

Drain and mash beans.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

New approach to tomatoes!

Katherine found a reference to a technique to process tomatoes that is such a neat idea!  The technique first processes the tomatoes with the hot water bath juicer to separate the water juice from the tomato solids, then the solids can be run through the Foley mill and used for a thicker tomato sauce!  Brilliant!

Pressure canning tomatoes on hotplate

Katherine is doing crushed tomatoes up here on the farm using the new hotplate that we got a month ago.  The hotplate was a bit disappointing for hot-water bath because it takes so long to heat a full canner load of loaded jars!  We are proceeding with the general recipe found at NCHFP, but it agrees with the ball blue book recipe as well.  We did not add any acid to this first batch because we had mostly heirloom tomatoes which are known to be high acid.  If we do Roma tomatoes, perhaps we should add some citric acid.

However, for pressure canning, it is perfect!  We are at an altitude of 1150 ft here and the books say we should be doing quarts of tomatoes about 15 mins at 15 lbs pressure.  With the 15lb weight on, the hotplate heats up the canner to pressure in about 15-20 mins (of course, the time will depend on how hot the jars were when you put them in as well as how hot the water in the canner was before you put the jars in).  Then we vented for 7 mins, placed the weight on and started the 15 min countdown.  We adjusted the heat control from 12 (max) to 8 to maintain the 15 psi.  The hotplate had no trouble maintaining the pressure.

Katherine prepared and canned 7 quart jars and 6 1.5 pint jars of tomatoes today!  They all sealed with no mishaps or problems.

A total of 11.5 quarts today!

Beets

Canned 7 quarts of beets up on the farm.

Most of the beets came from mom, but some - maybe 1/4 (at most)  came from our gardens here and the raised beds in SS.   Some were turning woody, so I think its time to harvest all of the beets (I assume that the woodiness comes from cold weather - although some of the woody ones were white beets which only come from the SS beds...).

I drove up to farm; arrived around 2:30-3ish

First thing I did was tighten up the hydraulic lines on the tractor.  We will see if that works tomorrow.

Then I picked and sorted tomatoes from all three patches - amounted to about 10 gallons - most have to ripen before they can be processed though.

Pressure Canned green beans!

Kath and I pressure canned 12 quarts (yes, quarts!) Of green beans! Was up until past 2 am !

This was the first use of our pressure canner!  Very simple.to.use.  I was impressed over how little water it needs and how much less burner power is needed!

We are planning to can some tomatoes with it this weekend!

Ketchup!

Katherine and I are making ketchup with the Mrs Wages mix tonight.  Judging by the looks of the tomatoes we will be caught up maybe until the weekend - that is to say, the tomatoes that are left are still pretty green.  Canned about 7 pints of ketchup (actually 8 - but didn't can one pint).  NOTE: Mrs Wages ketchup is not very good!

Couldn't find the squeeze-o tomato juicer gadget.  We suspect it may be in the old chest in the living room, but I will order one anyway so that we have one for the PA house too.

I ordered the Victorio strainer instead - $55 versus almost $200 for the squeezo!  Also, I ordered extra set of strainers to handle berries and pumpkins!  I also ordered a glass turkey baster to use as a wine thief and a agitator for carboys for my next step in wine making!

cover crop research

I was reading about taproot radishes (or sodbuster radishes, etc) and Nitrogen fixing crops like rye of alfalfa.  Some companies sell seed mixes so you only have to sow once.  Here are some inks:

Hancock Seed Company

Not very informative, but I think they sell seed! : Seed Ranch

Urban farmer

Sustain Seeds (specifically check out their Hardpan drill mix!

and Cover Crop Solutions (I think they are related to Sustain somehow)

Here is a link to a blog of a guy with similar notions on self-sufficiency and farming

Double Homestead Blog

Racked wine

Finally hit back from Pennsylvania and was able to rack the wine. 

Now another 10 days !

Smells good enough to drink now!

Vegetarian Chili

28 oz diced tomatoes (undrained)
30 oz beans (drained)
1/2 cup tomato juice
1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
1 cup frozen corn
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 bell peppers

FDA guide to pH of produce and pH of heirloom tomato varieties

FDA guide to pH levels in produce

This is a big pic from an Excel file but there's a lot of popular heirloom varieties on the chart, as well as some lesser knowns & OP's, see the last column showing pH.

9/1/2013 update

Harvested the 3 gardens.  Got some tomatoes. 

Jay (Harold) Knepper stopped by and asked if it was ok if he could mow my old pasture field! Since I was planning on doing that myself, but running short on time, I said sure! He just plans on using the hay-bine and not collecting the hay. I warned him about swamp and tree debris. He said if he had to he would get his Bush-hog after it.  He said he wanted to do it because the deer weeded posing a hazard by hiding in those high weeds near the road.

Attached quick spade to forks on tractor and began digging out old tree stumps.  Lots of work! Stumps are in there good and tight!  It's hard on hydraulics too.