Homestead Happenings

Harvest ups and downs

The past few weeks have had some ups and downs in regard to our harvest.  First we were blessed to be invited to go gleaning with my IRL freind MommaOfMany in a plum orchard.  Being pregnant it initially did not sound fun to go walking around for a few hours hearding children through an orchard but I was glad that we went when all was said and done.  So I took my buckets of plums home and had them put in the kitchen intending to can them the next day.  But the next day was co-op day so I spent all day cleaning, prepping, and teaching.  Then in the days after that a friend had surgery and I watched her children and schooled them with my own since letting them all have the day off would not have been best for them.  Then after they left my Miniman got sick, sick, sick.  Then Hubby got sick.  On and on it went.  I only got 1 pan of plums (about 2 buckets) cooked down.  So... a week and a half later.....when I opened the rest they were ...too far gone.  What a waste!    I felt terrible to waste such a blessing.  So that was my big down.

Then 2 days ago I went out to my garden.  First off I must say I did not do very well this summer.  So I planted a bunch of seeds in late August then carefully transplanted over 50 seedlings to my garden and set up drip irrigation to be sure they would be taken care of over our week long camping trip.  I was looking forward to a larger fall garden.  Then I came home to 45 dead seedlings!  Only a few survived.  Once again a big downer.

Back to 2 days ago.  I discovered the lone squash plant had taken over the barrel it was in. I peeked under the leaves to find a huge yellow suash and another small one.  Then I looked at the herb barrel to see that my basil has done very well.  So had my parsley.  So when I brought in the days harvest it looked like this...

What a haul!  Well I was not about to repeat the plum-trastrophy so I got right to work.  Rinsing sorting and bunching.  I ended up with 6 bunches or basil and one of parsely.  The loose leaves were dried in the oven and placed in jars.  The bunches were hung in my pantry shed.

Notice I did NOT hang up my little blessing that snuck into the first picture. .  I am so thankful for my pantry shed.  It was the first thing that Handsome Hubby built when we moved out here.  It houses the extra fridge and freezer and a 6 foot rack that holds extra kitchen supplies and food.

I am a cake decorator so all my cake dec stuff is out here too.  Below the herbs you see all of my 5 gallon buckets with gamma seals (horray for gamma seals!) they hold grains and beans that I buy in bulk from Azure Standard.  Someday I will get another 6 foot rack in there but it has to wait for now.

Here is what our chickens have contributed to our food supply

The brown eggs are from our Buffingtons and they are big even though they are the same age as the Aracanas that liad the blue & green eggs.  We only have 2 Buffington hens and 1 Roo.  They are supposed to lay thorugh the winter and be good Mommas.  So if that is true we plan to let them raise chicks and will get even more in the spring.

Daisy is still milking and still holding some back.. I am told she will do this until I get rid for her kid.  So I will be calling the auction house today.  I will use the miney made from selling extra goats (that do nothing but eat) on some new milk does.  A friend (Hi Tammy!) has offered me first pick of the kids expected from her Nubian does that has been bred to a very impressive Boer buck.  I am looking forward to seeing what she births!

So the waste of plums is a hard lesson learned.  Next time all will stop until the food is put up properly.  But the harvest from the garden is encouraging.  I will not give up.  I will keep trying and planting and learning.  The blessing of living on a whole acre is so great I can do nothing else. 

Tomorrow I plan to go to the Farmers Market to see if there are any deals to be had since the season is winding down.  The growers there are wiling to share their growing tips with me so that can be worth the trip alone.

Have a blessed day!

Mother of 6 blessings (and #7 due in Jan. 09!) from the Lord & Helpmeet to my Handsome Hubby who is my best blessing of all

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{ 02:48, Friday, October 24, 2008 } { Posted by plantainpatch }

What a lovely blog you have. That was a great basil harvest! Our blue eggs were always so popular. Our Americana was our best layer. Is your Buffington a Buff Orpington? They are my absolute favorite breed. So sweet and docile. Great layers also! I look forward to looking around you blog more.

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{ 01:43, Monday, October 27, 2008 } { Posted by mommaofmany }

"plum-trastrophy"- Now that's a funny word! I had about a bucket's worth from that trip end up too squished and gross to use. It's ok...it takes time to learn it all....not like you were sitting around on the couch, eating bon bons all day. :)

I have been invited to harvest some walnuts. Want some? I'll get extra for you if you do.

That's a lot of basil! My little clay strawberry pot herb garden is still growing bit by bit. I need to harvest them more often. i think they'd grow more.

I hope to plant some romaine lettuce this week. That's the extent of my fall garden, I'm afraid.