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cabingal3
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# Posted: 29 Jul 2015 07:02am
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thanks AK Seabee.
we have lots of squash right now...but i dont know if the cold has made the plants worthless at this point.
the mister seems to think they will be ok.
i sure hope so.thank u.
hope u get a garden next year.sure is nice to have so much fresh produce with no poisons on them.and cheap eats.good luck.
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hattie
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2015 04:12pm
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We just harvested our potatoes for this year. They turned out pretty good.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2015 10:35pm
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The garden and new high tunnel have been doing well this year. Tuesday I made the run down to the distribution center that takes produce from area farms down to cities further south, it was a good haul. Several stops on the way picking up from farms and then a rapid unload to make room for the next folks at the dock. The next morning it all comes out of the walk ins into a reefer and then heads down. They did reject 5 bushels of shelly beans from one of our growers, makes for a less than fun return trip but I agreed with their call and as it turned out so did the grower when I met him later that evening. Peak quality is what makes it work, we're all in it together. I took one box home and shelled that night, his family had a longer nite I'm sure. I made the run using my truck and a trailer with generator and ac unit, we'll hook a coolbot to the ac soon to get lower temps but I'm sort of looking for a small truck reefer unit... I tried to teach a 15 year old to drive a few weeks ago and, well, the passenger door of my Ranger survived. Felt good about my welding, the ladder racks are a wrecktangle but the welds held and it kept us from going all the way over. Thinking of rebuilding it as the produce wagon.
It was our tomato festival at the farmers market Friday and by all reports was a success. My clients took the largest tomato prize 2.98 lbs, my wife won people's choice for her salsa. Many varieties were represented. We put 19 chickens in the freezer a couple of weeks ago split between ourselves and another couple, many hands make lighter work. We'll trade some of them for variety later. In a side by side tasting no one was fooled by the best store bought bird. Eggs from the free range layers are similar. A friend has filled our freezer with half of a nice grass fed irish dexter. I've run heavier power down to the barn and installed another fridge down there. It's nice to have cold drinks close and on harvest days it takes the pulse of produce that moves through. It's the best year we've ever had for peppers, both inside the high tunnel and out in the garden with black plastic and drip irrigation. Finally warmed them, or rather the average soil temp up enough to to make really nice ones. There's a heady aroma in the house now of drying peppers and roasting tomatos. Leeks are coming on, onions didn't fare too well for anyone that I've talked to this year. Blueberries did good, the wild ones as well, not so much on the other wild berries but time was short.
Some friends decided to move back to the city this year, sad to see them go. Several of us picked up a walk in cooler from them today that'll be for the farmers market at some point. I also bought his bush hog, mine hasn't been the same after finding an old intake manifold with it. If anyone near the SWVA Blue Ridge wants a high tunnel, theirs has a good price on it.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2015 11:30pm
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Don-P! oh a high tunnel sounds so wonderful...wow.
sorry your friends are moving back to the city.
hattie.those potatoes are very wonderful.
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AK Seabee
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2015 12:50am
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The potatoes look awesome Hattie. I have to admit, the small gumball size potatoes are my favorites when they are fresh.
Don P, WOW, very impressive!
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2015 05:49am
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well gardens still hanging on.lots of food value there.greens of all sorts.ripe tomatoes.green onions.herbs doing ok.
squash seems to be hanging on.
been drying rhubarb.sort of interesting to see how this dried rhubarb does in a pie...
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Don_P
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2015 06:57am
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Hmm, dried apples and rhubarb in a fried pie? Sorry, I'm from the south, things you never hear "You can't fry that" and if it doesn't work out, another thing you never hear "You can't feed that to a dog"
The organic marketer ordered 30 lbs of leeks last night, woohoo
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2015 06:40pm
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sounds dog gone good Don_P! thanks for the good idea!
yum.
thats alot of leeks!
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 29 Sep 2015 12:20pm
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Finally all our preserving is done for the year!! YIPPEE!!! Now on to getting ready for winter...
Here's a pic. of this year's harvest all canned and ready to eat in our cold cellar. Bob is still working on his wines. He's made red grape wine, grape dessert wine, raspberry dessert wine, raspberry liqueur, apple cider, apple wine, and a ;plum dessert wine.
Cold Cellar
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Our grapes harvested and ready to juice for wine.
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Our bottled raspberry dessert wine.
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:35pm
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hattie.this is all so wonderful.wow.inspiring for me to see.
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2015 12:57pm
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Thanks cabingal3. Bob always rolls his eyes when I take a photo of my cold cellar every year. *LOL* I tried a couple of new things this year: tomato juice (YUM - will definitely do again), grape jelly (YUM), plum jelly (YUM), and plum preserves (Never again - they look really gross *LOL*). It's all a learning experience.
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creeky
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2015 01:19pm
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how do you make tomato juice? i have lots of tomatoes this year. and don't know what to do with them. do you just puree the tomatoes?
but. i just started cleaning up the melon patch. look what I tripped over.
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AK Seabee
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# Posted: 4 Oct 2015 04:50pm
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Thanks for posting the photos Hattie. I am definately interested in learning the lost art of canning and preserving and the photos are great motivation. We have always canned raspberry jelly because it was so simple and no pressure canner was required.
Now I have a canner and am interested in canning anything and everything. Today if all works out well I will can a couple cases of smoked salmon.
Making wine; now that sounds like fun.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 6 Oct 2015 09:07pm - Edited by: Don_P
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Today's big haul;
Mexican Sour Gherkins
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AK Seabee
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2015 01:11am
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I spent the weekend brining, smoking and canning left over 2014 salmon.
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hattie
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2015 02:09pm
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AK Seabee - that salmon looks amazing!!!
Don_P - what are Mexican sour gherkins? Do you eat them like that, or do you turn them into pickles after you pick them?
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Don_P
Member
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2015 04:48pm
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Hi Hattie,
They are a little mini cuke, and they are sour. I'm not a fan but they have moved pretty well to chefs, as has anything small or baby this year. Those were actually over in the pic, the chickens seem to like them.
The leeks are about done, we sent another 20 lbs last week. We pulled the 'maters about day 8 of that 10 day run of daily rain last week, late blight had taken hold before those conditions and then just ran. I think it let enough clean air flow that the peppers and cukes in the house are looking better. We were bordering on a fungal jungle for awhile. I'll need to get some fans set up in there for next season.
Wish I could figure out how to make a swap with AK, that looks pretty edible. Some friends are en route, hopefully with some fresh Bahama lobsters.
Oh joy, it just started raining again 
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AK Seabee
Member
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# Posted: 11 Oct 2015 10:13pm
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Thank you Hattie & Don P. The salmon turned out pretyy well. This spring I am planting some vegetables.
Both of your posts have motivated me to try something new.
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