Green beans, powdery mildew, ditch digging and a hawk!

Green Beans

I picked what I could of the green beans in my patch - only about 3 quarts.  Then I went to the patch I have over at mom's and picked a whole half bushel (well - a bus tray worth - its a lot).   I also picked some peaches while over at mom's.  She has several trees that came up from the pits they use to throw out!  Anyway, I took the green beans back to my farm house and started cleaning them and prepping for canning.  Long story short: I was up until 4:00 am canning 12 quarts of green beans!  I went back the next day and picked another bunch to take back to SS for processing.  The ones I took back I froze in quarts - 8 quarts!  All told I put-up 20 quarts of green beans this weekend!

Hawk

Well, I found out what was removing the bird protectors and breaking the persimmons tops out.  A Hawk!  I got a pic of him on the game camera.  I looked it up and found out he is a "red-shouldered" hawk.  A small hawk that eats small critters - voles for instance - which I think I saw him pick up!

Ditch Digging

I finally got around to working on the plow - man that was some work!  I removed one of the two plow blades.  I found that the plow framework is a bitch to work with due to its heavy nature and tendency to get out of alignment.  Anyway, I finally got the plow ready and started plowing the ditch along the driveway to the barn when the shear bolt broke!  I went back and installed 2 more before I gave up and replaced the bolt with a drill bit!  Here is what the ditch looks like after I used the frontloader to clean it up a bit:

Ready for some rain!  I am hopeful that this will keep some of the water out of my garden

Grape vine powdery mildew

I was trimming around the grapes vines and looking them over.  Most are growing nicely.

Almost to the top of the trellis!

But then I noticed that some of the vines where having some issues.  Powdery mildew!  I looked it up to be sure.  The articles that I read indicated that it can ruin fruit but that it is not fatal to otherwise healthy vines - unless they are young vines!  I looked up how to treat this problem - organic solutions exist: garden sulfur or potassium bicarbonate.   Fortunately I bought some potassium bicarb last year for treating squash leaf fungus (I never used it for the squash).  I mixed up a gallon an saturated the vines good.  It is supposed to be re-applied every week.  We will see if it works.

powdery mildew causes those brown spots on the leaves.

on the back of those leaves you can see the mildew itself - its quite thick on the leaves.

Elderberries

The elderberries are getting close to ripe enough to pick!  Unfortunately, I have noticed on the big bush that some have already ripened and been eaten off by birds!  Arggh!  I hope enough survive that I can make some jelly this year.

Sunflowers

Here are some pictures of the sunflowers!

More greenbeans, squash and cuc's. Canned pork

I picked some of the larger squash when I got to the farm as well as more cuc's.  

I brought some pork that I bought at Safeway for $2/lb.  I want to PC it - I have never done pork before.

I spent some time and set up the dehydrator (a Cabela's purchase earlier this year) then I used a mandolin to slice the squash thin (about 1/8th inch) and then placed the slices on the racks and put them in the dehydrator.  I set the dehydrator to 115F and set the time to 24 hr.  While those were dehydrating I set to work on the pork.  I cut it into 1 inch cubes (and cut some of the fat off while doing so) and raw-packed it into 5 pint jars (along with 1 tsp of salt per pint). I left about an inch space at the top - maybe a little more in some.  I was super concerned about the fat melting and screwing up the seal at the top.  I cleaned the tops of the jars very carefully before I put the lids on to make sure there was no grease between the lid an the jar.  I tightened the lids up and placed in them in the PC. Cooked them for 75 mins after pressure came up.

While the pork was canning I sliced a bunch of cuc's up readying them for bread and butter pickles (I found a Mrs Wages mix in the back room so I decided to use it).  I got a bit scared when I couldn't find enough jar and lids - but then I realized i actually had some brand new jars in a case from last year so I was ok.  I put the cucumber slices in the jars and then covered them with the hot mix.  cleaned the jar tops and put on the lids as usual an then loaded 7 quart jars into the water bath canner.  I was just putting the canner lid on to help the water come back up to boil when I heard a "crack".  Sigh.  I little investigation turned up that one of the older jars broke a bottom out.   I took the broken jar out an removed as much of the cuc's as I could grab safely.  I added some hot water (carefully, not wanting to do any more damage from thermal shock!) to bring the water level back up and brought the water to boil.  Processed the remaining quarts for 10 mins.

I still had to wait for the pork to finish canning after all of the pickle shenanigans - was up until almost 2 am!  Good news was that all of the jars sealed and look pretty good.  Of course, the pickle jars needed to be washed and I gave the pork jars a good washing too to make sure the grease was off as best I could.

The next day I checked the squash in the dehydrator - they had turned into paper thin slices.  The weren't crisp though.  BTW, I did use some salt (salt flour from Zimmerman's) on the slices.  They really aren't that good to eat straight.  Maybe I will try toasting some to see if they crisp up...

Anyway,  before I left I picked (and continued to de-weed) the green beans in the big patch.  Maybe got 1 1/2 quarts.  I picked some more squash an cuc's as well.  Also picked a couple beets and 5 Kohlrabi.   Also stopped by mom's place (she needed gasoline for mower) and picked a couple of handful's of green beans there.  There are lots of beans there but they arent quite reay yet.  Next weekend I will have a good harvest there!

Here are some pics:

The 6 surviving quarts of bread and butter pickles

Canned pork!  5 pints. Cold/raw-packed works fine for pork.  Lean meats should be hot packed.

The squash in the dehydrator.

Processing some veggies ...

A bit overwhelmed due to miscellaneous issues. Rain and uncooperative weather/soil conditions is likely to ruin my crop this year.  I have been trying to amend soil an keep weeds at bay - but we shall see.   Been busy at work too, so I haven't been able to slow down much.

Katherine got Lyme from an attack of 4 ticks!  She's on antibiotics - got it very early so its likely to be a complete recovery.  She's wiped though.

I brought back some green beans I managed to salvage from the rainy patch.  There is still more in the patch but I was out of time.  Taking this Friday off to go up early and see if I can get that patch into shape.  Anyway, I processed them today.  Got 2 qt and 1 pint frozen!  Not bad for what I thought would be a total loss.  Probably more to come.

I made stuffed zucchini for dinner tonight - it was AWESOME!  I adapted of course.  Used fresh basil and not pasta sauce - just tomato sauce (a pint of our own home made) and basil (from our basil pot out back).  Also used some turkey sausage we got 50% off at safeway today.  Last night I fried a couple smaller squash.  Just sliced, breaded in corn meal and almond meal then fried in peanut oil.  I still have plenty of squash to process.  I want to try drying some in the new dehydrator this coming weekend.  I read that you can dry them as chips an then use salt/seasoning for a nice snack!

I cut and froze the Kale that was growing here in raised beds.  I estimate I got a whole gallon froze!  4 foodsaver bags which look like they got about a quart each (eyeballed - based on what a quart of greenbeans look like in the foodsaver bags.)

While at safeway we also picked up some pork loin (also 50% off!)  that I wanted to try and can today, but way too short on time.  I haven't even got to the cucumbers from last weekend!  Probably have 4-5 quarts of pickles worth of cucs to process!

Well, to tired - its a bit after 11pm.  night!

Family reunion, mowing, fertilizer, milky spore.

Cooked up my beets that I gathered last (week before?)  week while mulching the front patch.  I made Harvard beets.  I used the recipe that substitutes half of the vinegar with orange juice.    It was about a pound of beets.  I left out the sugar (I forgot) , but it was plenty sweet from the OJ and the white beets are sweeter they say.

Harvard beets

Katherine came along to the farm for the family reunion! Yay!  Since Katherine made it, I wanted to go to the bulk/Mennonite store - so we did - with Mom and Tom & Julie!  We got lots of baking needs, canning supplies (salt) and too much junk food - lol.

After returning home, I mowed the far field - mowers are in good shape now - except front right tire of Huskee is leaking now!

The reunion went well - we took pulled pork and rolls.   The event was bigger than it was last year - so maybe its on an upswing.  Joe B's entire family was there.  Even Connie went!  I think for first time in decades!

After the reunion I mowed some more - the "near" field needed mowing because it has been too wet for past couple of weekends.  It was still a bit wet - but I didn't want to let it go any longer!  Also mowed around the persimmon trees.  Eventually, I mowed around the orchard trees too.  The pumpkins are really making their way into the orchard grass!   After mowing orchard grass, I applied a bag of milky spore (the japanese beetles are really working over my trees this year!)  I really need to get a couple more bags of milky spore granules.  I got this last bag at Zimmermans in Everett.

I picked several good sized squash and a handful of cuc's.  The green beans need weeding.  Everything looks pretty rough.  I got some lawn high nitrogen fertilizer at Zimmermans last week - but wanted something "safer" - so we stopped at Southern States in Warfordsburg on the way up and I got some blood meal.

Corn is coming in tassel - still looks mighty rough though

That kohlrabi is ready to eat!

Dill is blooming nicely!

Onions look a bit battered.  Hope they are ok.

I got the flail mower attached to the big tractor and mowed the hill.  I need this for more mulch!

Zucchini going crazy!  Took 4 big ones off this just 2 days after picking it clean!

Thee green bean issue ... see the first part that I have weeded..

And then the rest of the rows in back to go..
I still haven't picked any yet, but they have beans on!

Enough with this rain! July 4th weekend

Got up to the farm Thursday about 2:30pm.  Rain started about 3pm.  Lasted about an hour.  dropped about 2 in!  Enough!  My poor corn and cabbage patches are sooo wet and the plants are rotting and dieing.  Not to mention that the ones that are surviving need some TLC.  They desperately need nitrogen - but I can't get in there to amend their soil.

Anyway, after things drie out I was able to mow a bit.  But first I had to do some repairs... After last weeks mower breakdowns (stripped spindle on huskee, broken deck on husq, broken deck belt on husq, 2 (actually 3) broken blades and a flat tire on the Huskee... sheesh..  I was able to repair all and even patched the tire of the UTV thats been leaking for more than a year!  

Anyway, lots of trimming - despite the water I got into the elderberry patch and cleaned it up a bit.  Only one (good sized) copperhead - whew - he avoided me, although I noticed he slithered out from an area I was just done trimming in!  Unnerving.  

Here are some pics:

Water flowing over the base of a persimmon tree.

In the persimmon tree orchard - a river ran through it.

Water flowing through the Walipini site.

I trimmed around the blueberries too.  I got a handful of ripe blueberries! Not bad for the first year.

Blueberry looks a bit odd.  I am sure it needs some kind of nutrient.

The big patch.  The squash are doing well.  I did stake some of the tomatoes.  The corn is pathetic.

I will be getting plenty of squash I think!

I actually picked several of these round zuc's

The trimmed elderberry patch.  This took almost 2 whole days!  You can see that I wasn't able to get to part of it - there was just too much water standing there.

The harvest from both PA and MD gardens.  Squash from the PA, cucs from MD.

Rasided bed status and produce. Cabbage patch mulched. Mowers broken

This is a fast update - mostly captions on pics!

I thought I should do an update on the raised beds in MD since they are the main producers right now...

I harvested some collard greens and cooked them with homemade chicken stock.  I took some of the old chicken bones from the freezer and added a leg quarter and pressure cooked with some celery and onions (and a bay leaf and salt).  I canned 8 pints of the chicken stock in the PC!  First time that I have canned chicken stock!  Anyway, the good news is that I like collard greens!

Collard greens from the MD raised beds!  Cooked in homemade chicken stock.  

The cucs and the sunflowers looking good! Smokey approved!

Peppers (middle bed) are doing ok.  They need staking.

Another pic of the sunflowers and cuc's

It was a hard weekend on equipment.  Broke 2 mower blades on the husq and 1 on the Huskee.  When replacing the blade on the Huskee I stripped the spindle! ARGGG - NEVER use an impact wrench to tighten ANYTHING!!  I went to TSC and ordered spindle and picked up a spare deck belt for the husq. - the grinding up of the straw really burned out the old belt - which was already pretty old and worn.  Total list of problems is unavailable since I was overwhelmed!   husq deck weldment repair failed (fixed now), blades broken an replaced, spindle stripped, belt broken (good thing I picked up spare at TSC!), rear tire of Huskee leaked then flat and bead broken.

Finally got to mulch in the cabbages and Kale.  I was scrounging for mulch - even used some freshly gathered from mowing.  

MULCHED!  Weeds and grass subdued giving the cabbages a chance (I hope)  I also sprayed Sevin on the brassicas since many were almost completely stripped by cabbage worms!

Some cabbages are already dead I am afraid.  Even a couple of the big ones in the front of this picture are so water logged they are likely not to make it.

Kale

I got 3 solar powered lawn ornaments for kicks.  I like them!

Another weekend of mulching - 2nd garden patch done (mostly)

I went up to the farm Saturday morning - it was raining - again!

I spent some time putting the frozen greens away.  I used a couple old packs of beet greens and a pack of corn and a pound of sausage (italian sausage - purchased, I don't make that - yet!).  I fried it all up together and then added 2.5 cups cooked jasmine rice and some oregano.  Was edible - needed salt.  Beet greens are not my favorite!  I am tempted not to save of them this year...

I went to putting up the remaining high-tensile wire for the grape-vine trellis and trimming with the weed wacker.  That's about all that I got done Saturday!   Everything was so wet - this is getting serious!  I needed to get into the front garden patch to WEED and mulch.

Apple orchard status:

Sunday morning I removed more black plastic from around the trees - didn't get all of them up, but most I think.  Found 3 good sized garter snakes under the plastic of the trees in the far right highest portion of the orchard.  I was careful not to hurt them.  Fortunately, I didn't find any other kind of snake!  I weed whacked around the trees that I removed the plastic from.  I definitely think the black plastic was a mistake.  I want to advise anyone looking into putting in trees - use the tubes, but not the weed protectors!  Do not use the plastic weed protection if you are able to mow around the trees!  The plastic gives varmints and bees a place to live and if you are able to mow, then the plastic gets caught in the mower!  BTW:  the fruit looks good on most of the trees.  I did see some insect damage.  I applied Sevin before I left this weekend.

Cherry orchard:

I observed some damage from deer - I think.  I noticed that the cherries were gone last weekend.  This weekend I looked closer and noticed some of the limbs broken down....  I figure the deer were able to reach up and snatch the cherries and broke the limbs off in the process.  I don't think that varmints can climb the tree protectors.  I also  noticed that the Japanese beetles were starting to really eat - so I sprayed them with sevin.  Some of these trees have significant growth of foliage inside the tubes - tempted to break the tubes and trim that off to keep disease under control.  Not sure - will do some reasearch.

Mom's patch status:

I may have a crop failure on the corn there. I checked mom's patch - only about 6 plants survived the onslaught of the crows.  Mom over-planted with a small pack of short season corn, hopefully the crows will leave that alone!  If that comes in then maybe there will be enough to eat fresh corn, although not likely enough to put any up.

Big patch status:

The corn in my big patch is growing - poorly.  I think I still need more nitrogen (and way less water).  The mulch has helped, I think.  General improvement in all plants.  The eggplant survived the flea beetles.  I applied Sevin to the eggplant and some tomato plants.  I hate to apply sevin when plants are blooming, so I left most of the tomatoes alone.  No sign of pests there yet anyway. We will see.  Squash, cukes, and pumpkins look OK.  Looks like I may have inadvertently got a couple pumpkins planted inside the garden fence - I am trying to train them to run to the garden fence and away from the squash and tomatoes. The pumpkins and sunflowers on the outside of the fence are coming along.  I need to put supports up for the sunflowers and tomato trellis up - SOON!

Paw-paw patch status:

The paw-paw patch is looking really bad.  I think tilling in the straw and wood chips was a bad idea - they weren't mulched enough and I have read that is they mulch in-place in the soil that they steal nitrogen from the soil.  Along with the water issue hasn't been a good year so far.  Even weeds aren't growing in most of the paw-paw patch!  However, the transplanted plants still seem to be holding on.  I see some beets and carrots up - but not many.

Front patch status:

The weeds were so prodigious that I really couldn't see most of the plants.  I had to wait until midday to get in just because of water on the plants.  The ground really was too wet to be walking on it - but I had to!  I had to use the weed wacker to get the bulk of the weeds under control.  I did find about 6-8 parsnip plants that had survived!  Long story short - I busted my ass and got it mulched!  I didn't get the potatoes mulched.  I think I will use wood chips to mulch around potatoes.  I hope its no too late to put mulch down - at least I hope to keep weeds at bay later in the season.  Right now the potatoes are pretty much blocking all the light from the bulk of the weeds.  Some of the potato plants are 4 ft or more!  I did find some potato bugs eating them up - so I treated the potatoes with sevin as well as many other plants in the main garden (carrots and kohlrabi).  Here are some pics:

Front patch - as I was leaving - taken from my car, because thats how busy I was!

potatoes!  They still need mulch - but at least bulk of weeds are gone.

onions and kohlrabi (garlic on far right - just a few - up front) .  The beets and carrots are behind the kohlrabi

Dehydrator Arrived!

I finally bought the dehydrator from cabelas!   Katherine had brought it to my attention again about 2 weeks ago when she found that it was on sale.  I had stumbled onto another dehydrator ad - I forget where - maybe a google suggestion? and after some reading I went and looked at the commercial dehydrator in the Cabelas sale page.  It was actually a good deal and got great reviews.  So I pulled the trigger and ordered it along with some special trays for fruit leather and fruit slices.  Here are some pictures:

I haven't assembled it all - I just took it up and unpacked it.  Seems very well built and solid.  It must be run indoors - I was hoping to run it in the shop - but maybe that wouldn't be great idea anyway.. I will have to think about where to run it.  Maybe, during the day - on the porch?  Maybe I could make a special structure for it?  I am thinking about moving the canned storage downstairs (need to either beef up the shelves down there - or build new ones) and then use the upstairs storage room for running the dehydrator (I would leave the windows open to help keep moisture levels down).