Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Pumpkins!

01:27, Monday, September 29, 2008 .. Posted in Homestead Happenings .. 1 comments .. Link

I am so thrilled! Our pumpkins are producing like crazy. This is the best harvest we will ever have of the pie pumpkins. Due to the weather being so wet in the spring, I didn't get the pumpkins planted until late July. Now, we are over run by them. I am so looking forward to cooking them and freezing the puree for my holiday baking and this winter. You can read my instructions for cooking and freezing fresh pumpkin in my article, Cooking Fresh Pumpkins.

Our Hampshire ram got into our garden and ate the tops off of my sweet potato plants. Unlike when he ate my wax bean plants, the naughty ram actually did me a favor this time. By eating off the tops of my sweet potato plants, he is helping to stimulate the growth to the potatoes! The plants were blooming, which is what drew his attention. That naughty ram has a keen eye for anything that has flowers! When growing potatoes or sweet potatoes you normally allow the plants to flower, then dry up. It is after the plants dry up that the growth goes to the potatoes and they become large. Up until that point, the potatoes are the smaller "new" potatoes. If the cold weather is approaching and the plants haven't dried out, you can sometimes speed up the process a bit by cutting back the plants and forcing the plant to put the growth energies into the potatoes. Since these were starting to flower, I should be able to get some nice sized sweet potatoes by Thanksgiving.

I have been working on my fabric supplies. Through Freecycle, I had received large bags of fabric scraps and such to use in quilting. Unfortunately, I don't like mixing fabrics so I had quite a lot of poly-blend fabrics that I was not going to be using. I found a neighbor who quilts and she was thrilled to receive the fabrics. It really has scaled back the fabric in my supply but I now am down to the 100% cotton fabric that I prefer using for my quilting and other sewing.

My next project is going through all of my sewing patterns. I have a rather large collection of them that I had bought over the years and many are in new condition, having never been used due to our daughter out growing the sizes before I had a chance to make the things. There are also ones for home decor and crafts. I will be selling those. I should have those sorted out by tomorrow. It feels so good to be getting down to the things that we actually use instead of holding on to things that we no longer need.

We have reached a turning point. Up until now, we would clean and sort, then sell or donate things and afterwards you really couldn't see the changes. This weekend, we reached the point where suddenly the changes are very visible. It is looking great! One small area looks like we are moving due to the boxes stacked there, but the boxes are containing our Ebay items and also things to be donated. It is a staging area of sorts for right now. Once they are dealt with, that area will be freed up. Slowly the simplifying is getting done and much progress is being made. We have our moments of frustration. I joked with a neighbor that sometimes I would love to just empty the house completely then put back only what we really need then set up a big sign for the rest saying "free -- you haul". Joe has had those moments also. We are both looking forward to the day when we can look around and see only the barest of essentials in the home.
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hello

10:12, Monday, September 29, 2008 .. Posted by Ahava Ginsberg
mmmmm, i like pumpkins. can't wait 4 thx giving. i saw your posts on jonesfamilyhomestead and was curious what your blogs were like. happy 2 see that the ram didn't destroy your garden.

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Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Pumpkins!

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