Vacation over. For now.

The new Grape arbors are done!

After milling enough of the 2x4's for the tops I leveled the upright posts an installed the 2x4's on them.  I used some truss plates that were leftover from the previous owner.  I had to go to Home Depot to get another 20 to finished the last row.  I think they look super!

There are a few that are out of line, but for the most part they are fairly straight and square.  Good enough for grape vines anyway!

Note that they are not level but slope own a bit in addition they are stepped down the slope of the hill.

The new grape vines took a little damage from falling 2x4's - but for the most part they are ok!  With regard to the leaf rust issue, I think that either the sulfur dusting worked or simply the weather is not favorable for the fungus to grow.

The concord grapes look the best of all.  This is there 2nd year

These are the Marquis grapes - they re-sprouted from the ground, they were hit so bad with that damn leaf rust!  I hope they survive the winter.  I will have to use lots of mulch to help them stave of the cold.

High tensile wire

Once the 2x4 tops were placed and secured I was then able to install the high tensile wire for the grapes to grow onto.  I didn't want to install that wire without having the tops installed because then tensioning the wire would have severely displaced the posts!  I had to bug more high-tensile wire at TSC.  It ran about $100 for 4000ft.  This was ok, but I only needed a bit less than 500ft, so I have a bit left over!  I made a wooden enclosure for the high tensile wire as I was afraid that it would spring out of hand and get tangled after I removed the holding clips.  The whole roll of wire and the oak wood enclosure is freaking heavy!  I put the roll on the back of the UTV and unwound it in place. The wire behaved well when handled this way.

 

I tied on some surveyors tape to make the high-tensile wire a bit more visible.  This should help me when mowing and maybe even chase away some deer.

Sweet potatoes are blooming!

Even though its super dry, the sweet potatoes in the big garden are blooming.  I got some pictures of this one bloom before it finished.  There were more but they dropped off before I got around to photos.  The sweet potatoes in the paw-paw patch are looking very lack-luster.  They are not thriving and I doubt I will get much (if anything) off of them.  Its too bad since the paw-paw patch ones are the ones I bought and for which I know the pedigree!

Brussel Sprouts are looking good!

If the weather doesn't do anything too weird we should get a decent brussel crop harvest!

I have several nice brussel sprout plants!  There are some red ones at the far left that you can't really see - I don't know if they will produce many this year.  I just want to try them - never had a red sprout before!

They were this size in like November last year!  These should get to a good size way before that!

Tomatoes looking rough - but still producing

The plants aren't monsters but they still are getting some tomatoes on.  I have been getting enough for about 10 pints (5 quarts) for the past several weekends now.

Oh, just a side note, since you see the potato row there all dug up:  I got enough potatoes to cover the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket!  I think will need to use all of the saveable potatoes as seed potatoes for next year.

Kale and peppers

I have been harvesting the Kale pretty regular now for the past several weekends.  I got enough to make a big stir fry (although really a bit tough for that) and some braised kale (see below) and I also gave quite a bit to a friend at work.  Looks like it will be producing for quite a while yet.  I have so much lft over in the freezer from last year I haven't been freezing any (freezer is full of elderberries!).

The bell peppers at the farm.  They are actually doing ok!  Picked a couple this weekend.  One was even red!

Castor Beans

 Most have blossoms and seed pods on now!  They are so pretty.  I think I have 3 or 4 different varieties here!  I will have to save some seed.  No ead moles that I have found, but I did find a dead rat right next to a castor bean plant!  So who knows, the beans might be doing their job!

Red-stem variety

Silverish stem variety

Green stem variety

Some kind of fungus on one crab apple tree

This white fungus like stuff is on one of my crab-apples trees.  It doesn't look good.  I am going to o some investigation to see if I can get rid of this!  The dormant oil treatment early in the year didn't seem to knock this out.

It's kind of feathery and dusty/  

Tomatoes processed

I didn't get a picture of the harvest but here are some pictures after processing this weekends harvest into more pasta sauce.  This is pure tomato this time, no apples or pears! LOL

Farm cooking- potatoes and braised kale for dinner

I sorted the potatoes that I dug at the farm and took the ones that weren't going to keep.  I boiled them for dinner.  The kale I brought back got braised with sweet italian sausage, our own onions and our own garlic (I also added about a cup of broccoli that I had harvested as well)!  I used purchased chicken stock for the braising liquid.  Was very good and was dinner for 2 nights.

Pears

I harvested all the pears I could find this weekend.  I had to, the birds had all but 2 of the remaining pears pecked to pieces!  I peeled some of the damaged ones that were salvageable and Katherine and I ate a bunch - they were so good!  I also made an asian pear slaw using some asian sesame bottled dressing.  The slaw wasn't so great.  It ha nice texture but the pear taste was overwhelmed by the dressing.

Pumpkins and spaghetti squash

I harvested some more pumpkins and spaghetti squash this weekend.   I really don't need either, but there it is.  I may try to make some pies or custard with some.  I certainly will take some to work to give away!  Maybe try a squash casserole like recipe?   

A few more Eggplants 

I picked 3 eggplant this weekend.  I picked them a bit small, since Katherine mentioned that the one variety needs to be picked small to keep from developing hard seeds.  There are more to come!

Oh, and Turkeys!

I almost forgot, I was doing my final property survey before packing to come home, an while driving around the big field, in the woods, I saw two turkeys - both female, hens, (I think), running quietly along trying not to be seen.  Its the first time I have seen turkeys here since the spring (I think).

Family Birthday Party

We had our annual get together for our birthdays on August 29th.  Mom hosted and Tom & Julie, Connie & Lucy (Ben didn't make it), and Katherine and I attended.  We did pot luck type deal.  We brought pulled pork (using our one and only onion as seasoning!), cole-slaw (using a young head of cabbage that had split - very nice - very crunchy!), sandwich rolls, and some seltzer for the drinks.  Tom and Julie brought fruit salad, baked beans and some peanuts.  Connie brought black eyed pea salad (very good), an some homemade sweet pickles.  Mom had some chicken and some grape juice for drinks,  I am sure there were other things I forgot about - there's always too much food!

Here are some random pictures:

My sister-in-law, Julie

My brother, Tom

Looking down Lodge Rd.  This looks like its over the hill far hill heading down to Kaler's old place.

Woods across the road from mom's driveway (I think)

One of Mom's many flowers

Lucy, Connie's dog

Getting the feast ready.  We all focused on cooler "picnic" type of foods - it was in the high 80's that day.

left to right: Connie, Mom (in front), Tom, and yours truley!

Julie on the left, Katherine on the right.  Amazing that we got Katherine at all - she is so camera shy!

Tomato Sauce, green beans and Eggplant

Tomato processing

Decided to try the Mrs Wages "Pasta Sauce" mix since we are so happy with the chili base mix.  I couldn't find any reference in the blog about trying the pasta mix before.

The tomatoes from last weekend harvest

Pasta Sauce

I had about 23 lbs of tomatoes from the harvest and a number of expired canned tomatoes (store bought from before when we had the garden) to use.  I decided to make the pasta sauce out of our own tomatoes.   I used the vitamix, as per-usual process, and while doing that I had an idea.  

I have been collecting the apples and pears that have been taken off my trees (pears taken early because I was afraid the weight of the fruit would break the tree down, and the apples because the freaking birds would peck them to pieces before I could get any!).  The I have been leaving the fruit out to ripen, but the damage from the various factors is not being good to them and they are spoiling faster than ripening.    I figured, since the vitamix pulverizes things so completely, why not just add those fruits to the tomato sauce for sweetness?  I mean, the recipe calls for adding sugar anyway, why not fruit?  So I tried it.  Unfortunately, the fruit wasn't too sweet so I ended up adding sugar anyway, but the fruit did extend the sauce!  You cant taste the fruit in the sauce at all.  Katherine even tried it (I didn't tell her I had added the fruit).  She commented that the sauce was a bit off; I agreed, but I think that the flavors are off simply because its a different mix than we would normally use.  It would have tasted "off" even if using only tomatoes.  Anyway, the taste is not bad, and since I am the one to use most of the pasta sauce I seasoned it to my tastes.  By using the fruit, I 1) saved the fruit from spoilage waste, and 2) extended my tomatoes - maybe important depending on the weather for the next couple of weeks (tomatoes may not be getting any more on if it stays this dry!).  

I got 10 pints of pasta  sauce canned.

The pasta sauce with apples.  Tastes fine!

Chili Sauce

I found a bunch of commercially canned tomatoes downstairs.  The cans had expired but still looked good.  So I used these cans to make my chili base sauce!  Like before, I added some fruit!  You can't tell the difference in flavor at all!    

I got 11 pints of chili base canned plus a half pint in the fridge.

Plain tomato sauce

With the remaining harvested tomatoes I just whirled the tomatoes up in the vitamix good, boiled them for 10-25 mins and then canned them in quart jars with a half-teaspoon of citric acid for safety.  One of the jars didn't seal because of a flaw in the jar lip, so I had to re-can later using 2 pint jars.

I got a total of 6 quarts of tomato sauce canned this way and a half pint that I mixed with the left-over chili base in the fridge.

Green Beans

After I canned the tomatoes I snapped the green beans I had picked last weekend.  I did the usual pressure canning process and got 4 quarts and 1 pint of green beans canned.

Hot packed, as usual.  I think I may have rushed them a bit though.  The liquid level in the jars is a bit low.  They will be fine though.

Eggplant

Katherine sliced, breaded, and baked the eggplant from last weekend.  I don't know yet if she is planning on freezing it or making another eggplant-parmesan.  Sorry, no pictures of the eggplant after processing.

Broccoli frozen

I blanched and bagged the brocoli from last weekend.  It was between 1-2 Cups.  I usd the new seal-a-meal gadget with one of the reusable bags.  It took me a while to figure out how to use it correctly, bug I finally got it bagged, vacuumed and frozen.  Slow going on the broccoli preservation, but it is adding up!

Harvest time

Tomatoes are finally coming in

I think this is the first weekend that we got more from the planted tomatoes than the volunteers!  Still not going to be a record breaking year - but at least we are getting something.

Pumpkins

Some of these may be mixed with spaghetti squash

Pumpkins - they were supposed to be buttercup...  oh well.

Potatoes

I used the front-loader to dig the remaining potatoes.  Looks like about 2 lbs?  Maybe 3.  Oh well.  Seed potatoes for next year!

Total potato take the PA patch.  I have some more from the city house.  About half this many.

Miscellaneous harvests

Green beans and eggplants

Broccoli is hanging in there!

This is just a neat butterfly - I didn't harvest him!

Oh - and the last elderberries!

Grape arbor work

First off. milling some more 2x4's for the top pieces.

I finally got some time to work on the new grape arbors.  I milled a couple more of the old logs that I thought were crap; I hoped that I could get some 2x4's for the grape arbor tops from them.  I figured if worst came to worst that I could just chip the strips of wood I cut.  Well, I got some nice 2x4's   - surprised me!  However, while milling one of the logs I accidently ran the blade into a back log support.  The blade dulled, of course, and the next cut caused a severe "drift" and when using this blade for edging it bound and kinked.  I will take that blade in for sharpening, but I think kinked blades are just trashed.   I can plane down the drifted 2x4's, so no big loss on wood.  Especially considering that these 2x4s came from what aI thought would just end up as firewood!

Topping off the arbor posts and placing the 2x4's

It's a bit subjective as to how I wanted to place the tops and how high I wanted the tops to be from the ground.  I kind of winged it.  I put a level up on the 2x4's and just eye-balled the position.  I didn't make them level, but gave them a slight angle so that water wouldn't stand on them.  I used 1.75x5 inch truss plates the the previous owner had left in the shop.  I got 8 2x4s up before I ran out of trusses.  I will need to buy some more.  Also, I have been making the cuts with the chainsaw and am now out of pre-mixed fuel.  I will stop by Home Depot in Silver Spring to pick up these items.

Freezer Scare

After I turned the power off to the well and the outdoor circuits when I was getting ready to leave the farm I went to check the deep freeze, just to be sure it was on and ok.  Well, good thing I did!  It was off!  I thought it had died, but in-fact I checked the panel and found that the breaker had popped!  It was the same breaker that had one of the sump-pumps on it.  It's scary because obviously the sump shouldn't have been on lately so WHY did the circuit pop?   All I can think of is that water from the dehumidifier built up in the sump and te pump and the freezer came on at the same time.  Initial compressor and pump startup would possibly cause the breaker to pop.  I reset the breaker just before we left.  The food inside the freezer was still frozen - but beginning to show signs of thawing out.  I hope that its still running!  I don't want to loose all of our frozen food - especially the elderberry crop!!

Harvest continues. Fixing some soil issues.

Grape and blueberry soil treatment

We stopped at Southern States in Warfordsburg on the way up this time.  I got some blood meal, some iron sulfate, and some fine sulfur for dusting.

When I got to the farm I immediately placed the iron sulfate around the blueberry plants.  Then i went out to dig in the sulfur and blood meal around the grape vines.  I didn't want to do too much work in the daytime because of the heat - it was a very hot weekend!

Elderberry picking

The elderberries are almost done now.  Only got one flat full - well not even full.  Picked down to about 1 gallon.  This brings total for the year up to about 13 gallons I think.  We get about 4 lbs per gallon bag so thats 52 lbs of berries!  

Digging potatoes

Well it is my birthday weekend so why not dig taters?!   Wow, that ground out in the front patch is HARD!  Very few potatoes turned up.  I only did about half of the row because it was too hot and I was tired.   I will get the rest later.  Didn't even get enough tater to cover the bottom of a 5 gal bucket!  I guess they are all seed potatoes for next year.  I wonder how many I will get from the potatoes down at the city house!

Tomatoes

A few more tomatoes came in but still half of the production is coming from the "volunteers"!  I had enough to make another 11 pints of chili base.  A total of 10.5 quarts of tomatoes preserved this year.

Corn is DONE

No pics of it, but I cut the remaining corn stalks down.  I found a few ears that were worth eating so we had them for dinner.  Considering the small patch I think the corn did quite well this year.

Cooked up some Kale in stir fry.  was good - but still a bit tough

Made a couple blackberry pies with frozen blackberries.  

These all came off of the new elderberries!  I didn't get a pic of the total elderberry haul this weekend, but we got about a gallon more.  I think the total is now 13 gallons!

Didn't take a picture of the tomatoes I picked either, but here is apicture of the chili base I made from them.  11 pints shown with some left over.  total harvest canned now is up to 10.5 quarts of tomatoes (all as chili base).

Soil testing

I used the rapid-test soil testing kit to test the soil in the grape, peach and cherry orchards.

The grape soil

The grape soil was the only soil that didn't have too much clay in it so I could test the pH right away. The soil pH was 6 to 6.5. I went ahead and tested the same soil for nitrogen potassium and phosphorus. The phosphorus and potassium components were very high however the nitrogen didn't even show up on the test scale!  

I suspect that I need to lower the pH and increase the nitrogen levels in the grape soil.

pH color test.  The Grape soil sample was the only solution that wasn't too cloudy with clay to use this test!  The reading looks between 6 ans 6.5 pH to me.

The soil sample in water for testing the N-P-K content.

pH testing grape soil using digital meter.  Digital meter may need calibrating! 

I tested pH again using the digital meter an got a different result.  However, results are consistent with the color test, so who knows - maybe it it slightly acidic.

I re-tested the soil after calibration of the digital pH meter and the reading was about pH 6.4.

The peach soil

 

The peach soil tested with freshly calibrated digital meter gave a reading of about pH 6.0.  No NPK tests were done because the soil has so much clay it wouldn't de-cloud even after sitting a week!  I assume that the peach soil is very close to the grape soil for NPK since they are so close physically.

 

 The cherry soil

  

The cherry soil tested with a freshly calibrated digital meter yielded a measurement around pH 5.8.  The NPK testes were similar to the grapes and showed good values for P & K but no N at all.