Scrumptious Saturday...what's not cooking

The bread is baked.

The tomatoes picked.

It's cooled off here, but still I try not to cook too much.

It's summertime; the time of fresh eating.

And, I try not to think about it, but time to start the first thoughts of next year's garden.

Seed saving is in full swing.

I let some of the first green beans go to seed so that I could get more seeds for next year.

My provider green beans have been going berserk...they produce so well and continuously.

So the first dry beans have been picked with hopes of seeds for next year.

I have also been going to the farmer's market to buy tomatoes.

Varieties that I didn't plant this year.

Why?

I save the seeds.

The seeds that will grow next year.

For example I bought "heirloom" tomatoes from a farmer who said they were the variety

"heirloom"

(Some of the family farms, the rest sell at the markets so the sellers don't know as much about the produce as the farmer part of the family sadly.)

I think it's a Cherokee Purple.

Let me know if you think otherwise.

To save the seeds, I scoop out the seedy goo from the tomatoes and place it in a cup.

Then I add a little water (enough to cover the seeds and then an extra inch or so.)
Then I give them a stir to loosen the seeds from the goo.

I put it on a window sill and let it build a moldy crust (about 3-7 days)

Then the goo is removed and the seeds are cleaned from their protective gel.

(This is why tomatoes are moist, but don't sprout inside a good tomato.)

Then the seeds are placed on a towel and dried for about a day.

Then the seeds are placed in labeled envelopes and put in the seed bin part of our fridge.

This process only works for open pollinated "heirloom" tomatoes.

Ones bought at the store unless they are labeled as an heirloom variety usually will not grow true to the parent (they won't look like the tomato you bought and/or may be sterile.)

That simple.

Lets talk cost.

Organic seeds cost about $2.50 for a packet of 20 seeds.

I get about 100 seeds from a tomato (depending on type and size.)

I only spend about $.50 for an organic heirloom tomato or $2.00 for a pint of cherry tomatoes.

See the savings?

Not to mention from those 50 cents I get tomatoes to feed a family for a year.

For many years to go.

For the cycle keeps on going.

For this I am thankful.

Frugal gardening at it's best, the way it was meant to be.

Scrumptious Saturday...Corn update and Glummer

Tonight is the annual Glummer party.

Picnic food

Bonfire

Family and friends

It's Glummer time.

(GLUM end of SummER party.)

That sack of corn held 77 ears.  My mom said that up her way corn is going for 75 cents an ear...here in the beginning of corn country the stores are selling conventional corn 5/$2 (40 cents an ear.)  The farmer's market was selling  13/$3.50  (fresher and more local...while they are not organic, they follow similar practices but can't afford to get certification...and cheaper at 26 cents an ear!)  or my 77 ears for 25 cents an ear...not much of a discount from the regular price, but I'm glad to pay it to a local rather than having a middleman such as a large grocery store chain (even if it is a locally owned chain)...

What I did get?

15 pints of cream style corn

(I think it's gross out of the can...it smells and looks like something in a diaper, but homemade it's not so bad.  Not to mention the brownie points I get since the husband would bathe in it if allowed he loves it so much.)

7 pints of whole kernel corn

16 ears frozen corn

8 ears eaten fresh.

So at grocery store prices it would have been about $1.50/can (organic on sale)

$4/4 pack for the frozen corn

$3.20 for the fresh

also known as $51.20 for the same corn processed.

Sure, canning companies must profit, employ, and keep the overhead...groceries must then have the same issues... but it is more than a 50% markup from the fresh from the farmer cost.  

(note: cost does not include the price of the jars...I have them...so all I had to buy was water, gas for the stove, and lids ($1.25/12 pack))

So here is what I did...decide if it's worth the time or not...

Creamed corn

(Followed Bell's recipe)

Wash corn and then cut corn off the cob then scrape the pulp and milk from the cob

For every pint of corn/milk/pulp mixture add 1 and 1/4 cup boiling water and 1/2 tsp salt.

Boil for 3 minutes.

Put mixture in pint jars with an inch of head space and then wipe rims and adjust the lids fingertip tight.

Process at 10 lbs of pressure in a steam pressure canner for 1 hour 25 min.

Whole Kernel corn

(Bell's again)

Wash corn and cut off the cob (not scraping this time.)

For every pint add one cup boiling water and 1/2 tsp salt.

Boil for 5 minutes.

Put mixture in pint jars with an inch of head space and then wipe rims and adjust the lids fingertip tight.

Process at 10 lbs of pressure in a steam pressure canner for 55 minutes.

Frozen corn

Put corn on the cob in boiling water for 6-8 minutes depending on size.

Place in freezer bag with as little air as possible (I have a little hand pump, like a mini bike pump, that sucks air out.)

Freeze immediately.

In the end I gave the chickens all the leftovers...they can try the bits left on the cobs...they will peck at the husks, but most likely are using them to provide fun scratching material.

As for the corn products, it really is that easy...and rather reassuring (disclaimer...follow safe canning advice from trained professionals, this is provided as just an idea of what is done... disclaimer over.) that you know exactly what is in the corn...no yellow dye to make it pretty or unnameable chemicals for texture...just corn, water and salt...and don't forget the love,

Yes...

Lots of it.

It's been a few eventful days around the city homestead...

A few of you have been asking about our Pumpkin.

While I am sure you are talking about the kitten my husband brought home, it reminded me that you haven't seen the garden recently.

Well, as you can see Pumpkin is a small snoozy cat who loves a little boy.

His heart belongs to that little boy and the little boy's heart belongs to his kitten who is now

Pumpkin Duncan Shumunkin.

The pumpkins in the garden are doing well too.  

I only planted the New England Pie and Long Pie seeds (one each but have many more), but also got about 2 other types of winter squash growing as well.

We didn't cage the tomatoes this year, and now I am wondering how I'm going to pick them.

The main problem is that I get too many volunteer tomatoes and then don't have the heart to pull them.

Lesson learned...next year I will be heartless.

The calendula is growing like wildfire and seeds are all over the ground for next year it seems too.

I have pulled tons of potatoes and am still waiting on the blues.  

They seem to be very slow.

In place of the potatoes pulled, I have planted fall spinach, lettuce, and carrots.

The peppers have also been taken over by the volunteer tomatoes.

Garlic has been pulled, cured, and is now in our refrigerator waiting for the biggest and best to be planted in a few months.

And the corn.

It is currently 15 pints of creamed corn.

In our full bellies as corn on the cob.

Waiting to be husked and frozen.

In the fridge for dinner tonight.

About to be put into corn bread.

Basically everywhere.

I'll have to update later on how much there really was.

So far the count is up to 48 ears.

Today is the last day to become a follower or be an old friend follower and comment in order to win a beautiful green glass chicken.

The gateway drug for any homestead.

Wouldn't she look lovely on your countertop?

All you have to do is comment

HERE

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Scrumptious Saturday...Pealing off the wallpaper

Sorry about the delay...yesterday got away from me.

Well, it's been a while since I've had any continuation of my maple sap story.  My house only has wallpaper in the dining room, so I wasn't so worried about what old timers would joke about...

pealing off the wallpaper with the moisture sap gives off.  

We only got about a quart of sap...

yes this will yield a few tablespoons, but it's the concept that I am looking for.  

The kiddos helped each step of the way.  

I want them to see from tree to pancakes.

So I heated up my cast iron skillet, and dumped in the frozen block of sugary water.

Then over medium heat I cooked off the sap slowly.  

During this time I went out to the coop and got half a dozen eggs.

I came back in and it was syrup...It only took about 30 minutes.

To catch up on the saga of our maple syrup...

Maple Syrup part 1

Maple Syrup part 2

Scrumptious Saturday...eating from storage

It's the beginning of the time of year where we actually get to eat freshly grown food out of the backyard (right now just oregano, mint and chives...but more will come.)  It also is the time of year to start clearing out what we have so that we will have room for what is to come as the seasons progress as they tend to do.  Soon lettuce and spinach will grow and be replaced  by tomatoes and peppers, which will give way to broccoli and apples. Oh the wonderful cycle of a garden. My jar filled shelves are now quickly emptying and more empty jars are going into the canning cupboard.  Soaking beans and sourdough are out frequently, and store bought food is becoming more common.  Some previous posts will be shared in this recipe.  It is with fond memories that I share this recipe as many of the items in it are home grown, preserved, and loved.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

3 cups garbanzo beans (post soaking volume, about 2 cups before soaking)

1/2 cup roasted red peppers in olive oil

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup yogurt strained (makes about 1/4 cup Greek style yogurt and 1/4 cup whey-keep!)

Spices as you like (I used oregano and chive since I have them!)

Place everything except the oil in the food processor.  Give it a whiz around and then slowly stream in the olive oil.  Depending on your beans may need more or less oil.  

Enjoy.  

Recently the husband and I went to a restaurant and had some hummus made from black beans and it was really good too...we may have to make a batch of that some time.

As another note, when I strain my yogurt, I usually strain two cups at a time.  To do this you put a strainer over a  container and line the strainer with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Place it in the fridge for a few hours.  This yields 1 cup yogurt, and one cup whey.  I have been topping the strained yogurt with granola and honey and then using the whey in my pancakes.

Whey Cultured Pancakes
(as in sophisticated too...right?)

1c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs oil

1 egg

1 cup whey.

Mix the dry ingredients, add in the wet.  Pour out by the 1/4 cup full on a hot oiled griddle (I'm in love with cast iron.)  When they git bubbly on the top, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  The whey makes them extra fluffy and just a touch tangy.

So I just figured out how to do something.
Did you cook something SCRUMPTIOUS this week.
Share it here!
Just click on the below button.
Then enter your information.
Others will be able to go to your recipe that you made this week.
Let's see how it goes!
(Don't forget to leave a comment too, I love reading what you have to say.)

Any one up for sinzibukwud?

Sinzibukwud...the Algonquin word (and also Cree) for maple sugar.

Just in case you didn't know.

(I didn't until I read the handouts I got from our field trip.)

To tap a tree you don't need fancy equipment...

You don't have to spend money on buckets or spiles.  

Everything needed to tap a tree, I found in my house.

A drill fitted with a bit.

A gallon milk container.

A nail and hammer.

A drinking straw (about 1/3 per tree.)

(A big bucket may come in handy too.)

In order to keep the trees healthy, there are a few ground rules.

Only drill to 1 3/4 inches depth.

I put a rubber band on my bit in order to make sure.

Only tap trees that are over 36 inches around at 52 inches above ground level.

For every 15 or so inches further around, you can add a tap.

So then we went to our neighbor's yard (yes, we asked permission first.)

We drilled a hole in 3 trees.

It's amazing how hard maple wood is.

Smoke started coming from the bit and when the cold sap touched it, we heard sizzles.

After the holes were made, we put one of the plastic drinking straws into the hole.

As you can see from the picture, sap was already dripping down the bark.

Next, we put a nail in the tree about an inch above the "spile."

Then two holes were placed in the milk jug.

The top one holds the jug to the tree via the nail.

The second allows the spile to pour cold crisp sweet tree sap into the jug.

This morning I went to the tree to see how much sap we had collected over night.

About 1 cup.

Since sap only runs when the night is below freezing and the day is above freezing this was pretty good.

Last night wasn't even freezing.

This week, the days are supposed to be warm and the nights below freezing.

I can't wait until we get some more sap.

I also got a great tip from the field trip.

Place the sap in the freezer or outside on a freezing night.

In the morning you should have a layer of ice on top.

Throw it out.

It is just water ice, and it will save about an hour of boiling off time.

Maple Syrup...part one

Last fall, the brilliant leaves of my neighbor's sugar maples caught my eye.  They looked like they were on fire.  To tell you the truth, these three trees drive me nuts.  

They shade one side of our house making it impossible to grow anything shy of hostas on that side.  

So when life threw lemons at me, I chose to make lemonade...

I got  the courage one day (while handing off another dozen eggs free of charge) to ask my neighbor if we could tap her sugar maples. 

 "Those are sugar maples?  They don't look too sweet to me."  

We discussed the leaf color and shape, at which point she said that it was fine by her.  

We got an email on Monday about a maple sugaring class being held at the local nature center for a local home school group.  Would we like to tag along?  But of course...

In my camera's infinite wisdom, it decided to malfunction yet again, so I only got one picture, and not of the process...

We learned all about trees, maples, and sap.

They even told a story about how the maple came to be tapped.

Tree selection (must be over 35 inches at 52 inches height and of the maple variety.)

Materials (drill, gallon milk container, nail, straw.)

When (freezing nights, warm days...before buds appear.)

So now that we have that info...just wait to see what we do.

That is, if the neighbors are still okay with it.

Scrumptious Saturday

My sister and I both adore bacon...

As you may have read last week in our bean-off it is true.  

My sister even raises beautiful pigs which produce a lovely bacon.

I was even lucky enough two Christmases ago to be gifted a whole pound of it.

So I promise, cross my heart and hope to die stick a needle in my eye, promise this is the last time I will write my Scruptious Saturday about a baconed item...who knows...maybe next week I will even go vegetarian for pennance of my bacon consumption.

Any one who knows my husband knows one thing.  

He does not like veggies.

When I first met him he claimed, and I quote, "It isn't a meal unless an animal and a tree died during the process of it's making and/or consumption."

Even his school's cafeteria worker was stunned when he actually took some salad one day.

I have a recipe that will entice even my non-veggie loving husband to eat spinach.

On the other hand, I was a vegetarian when I met him.
I only began eating meat right before I got pregnant with W.
I was dreaming of hamburgers every night.

I will admit, I have weird taste in food.

Once in college, a psychology professor asked each person to write what food item they were craving at that particular moment on a card.

It was to demonstrate how culture has influenced people's taste in food.

Most people wrote:

1) Chocolate

2) Coffee

3) Pancakes

(note 8:00 am class)

I wrote spinach and butternut squash.

Odd.

So here I will share one of my favorite spinach recipes.

One that will confirm my theory.

Everything is better with bacon.

Saute of Spinach

with bacon and garlic

4 thick slices of bacon

4 cloves of garlic

1 package frozen spinach (thawed and drained)

that's it!

Cut bacon into small pieces and place in a frying pan over medium heat.  Chop the garlic and add to the bacon once it starts releasing some fat.  Cook until the bacon is done and the garlic is golden brown.  Add the package of spinach and cook until the spinach is warmed through (and tastes like BACON and GARLIC.)

Even though I do firmly believe that everything is better with bacon, I will say that it is still good if you saute the garlic in olive oil and then add the spinach.  It can also be done with fresh spinach, it's just not in season right now...

And I love bacon!

(locally pasture raised and smoked...once you have it, you can't go back to the slimy grocery store stuff.)

I served it with chicken wings raised locally and some local potatoes.  Amazing what you can find in your own "backyard"

(If your backyard was 20 miles or so.)

So what's your favorite enticing scrumptious recipe?

Progress.

Its a deliberate choice we make to do things...the "hard" way.  Is the hard way better? 

There must be something better about it, because we keep doing it that way, in the face of an easier path.  We've reasoned that in some cases its better for us.  Eating whole foods that are more laborious to prepare rather than processed foods with their strange ingredient lists and excessive packaging.  In many cases it saves us dollars.  Processing firewood to heat our home and hot water rather than picking up the phone for an oil delivery.  And in some cases, it meets those criteria and...it just feels right.  Making our own cheese, or growing our own vegetables and meat.  All of these things seem pretty accessible and frankly, aren't that difficult.  Despite the extra effort that is involved, we continue to feel compelled.  We find enough value and satisfaction in it that we want to go out there and do it...and we're not alone.

You feel compelled to do it even when it is 95 degrees out, or the mosquitos have started a blood bank, or its sleeting and 20 degrees and the animals need water.  And those are the days that try your choice.  When half of the bucket spills down the back of your boot as you negotiate an icy patch.  When you're drenched in sweat and you still have hundreds of feet of picking left or when you get home from a long day at work and you realize that you didn't meal plan well and any well made dinner is at least an hour or more away and you decide to feed your family eggs with cheese and cut up carrots--again.  Is it still better?  Usually my answer is yes.  But I'm no homestead hero.  I fantasize about heated water buckets and, on a stagnant summer day, I love to sit in front of a big fan.

I know for sure that my husband's farmer-grandparents thought ding dongs and spaghettios were two of life's great inventions.  After baking and cooking your whole life over a wood cookstove, all 4 seasons, for your family and a farm crew, a can of "lunch" on an electric stove and a pre-made cake looked pretty darn good.  Interesting, isn't it.  People that wouldn't consider putting pasturized milk past their lips, mowing down a ho-ho with their raw moo juice.  Ah, progress!

Somehow it seems, all of us that do this, this homesteading stuff, we all draw our own lines.  We're, for the most part, doing it by choice.  The ho-ho's and boyardee are all there for us to take advantage of.  But we find value and satisfaction in another turn.  Despite its challenges, we ultimately decide that the more difficult road gets us to a destination that we consider better, or at least, one that we prefer.  And in each little effort to make one or another part of our lives a little more simple, more basic, we notice that we truly appreciate and are grateful for the access to modern conveniences that we have.  And we use them, mindful of their usefulness.  We love chainsaws and toilet paper.  Stuff like that. 

Which brings me to the greatest recent homestead FREE acquistion that had us hopping with excitement.  With much of our small wheat crop still in shocks in the barn, we were tediously and slowly processing little bits indoors in the evening.  It was beyond ridiculous considering the amount remaining to be done.  ENTER our new-to-us thresher.  
We had seen this nifty little chipper-turned-thresher on the interwebs but never figured that we would acutally find one---and certainly not for a reasonable price, like free. 
The great news is that without any modifications, it works pretty good!  We are still in the initial stagesbut....having done this job "the hard way" , we are definitely appreciating a little help from mother necessity.  And so, feeling a little like my husband's grandparents, we indulge, and plug in the mechanical thresher.  Now let me say that threshing and winnowing wheat at dusk in 20 degree weather while kneeling on frozen ground is a far cry, with regard to ease, from grabbing a bag of flour from the shelf at the store (and I might have mentioned that once or twice as I lost all feeling in my fingers)...but the wheels of "progress" were a-churning.  Ah, progress!

Wheat Berries!!!(and a little chaff)

http://sustainableseedsystems.wsu.edu/nicheMarket/smallScaleThreshing.html

Warding off the vampires...

For Halloween, C. is going to be a spider and W. is going to be a vampire knight.  I thought how funny since he spent the afternoon planting garlic with me.  My garlic crop has been a work in progress for years now.  The plots have shifted, methods changed, and timing changed as well.  I love books and follow many of the book's recommendations once, and if the advice is good, a second time and beyond.  For our area, one book said to plant garlic in the spring...WRONG!!!!

I now follow the advice of more northern farmers, maybe it is the elevation of our home (at the bottom of our hill it will rain, while snow blankets us at the top) or maybe it is that we are at the edge of the zone, but I find methods recommended for are area are inaccurate for us.

So here is our afternoon of garlic

This is what remains of our first good harvest of garlic.  We love it so. It goes in most anything savory that I cook.

I have been saving the ones that have sprouted since they were harvested.  Everything has a purpose.

Then the kiddos and I put a little compost on the garden.  Garlic grows best when grown in slightly enriched poor soil.  Too much good soil makes the garlic have too much top and not much bulb.  We used our hoe to make trenches and then planted the cloves, sprout side up.

We then covered the little cloves and I covered the bed in lots of straw, when the leaves fall, I will put some of those on top as well.

Come June, we will have fresh garlic to cure and a nice place to plant the herbs that I bring in for the winter. 

The cost is negligible...3 yrs ago I bought a head of garlic at the farmer's market for 50 cents.  From that I planted my first garlic garden in the spring.  As unsuccessful as it was, it bore enough garlic to save and plant the next year.  That crop was successful and now I am planting more and more each year to supply us with garlic.  I have yet to get through a full year without using all but the seed garlic. 

This year I don't have enough seed or space to plant for the full year, but this is my hope for next fall. 

I'll let you see June, when I harvest my 36 bulbs of garlic!

Fall Cleaning...Step 1

Fall is here...I feel it in the crisp mornings, the tomatoes deciding to all turn red at the same time (all the better for me to can you my pretties), the desire to wear sweaters...and the desire to purge the house.  After several weeks of looking at the massive pile of "to iron" clothes, I broke down and spent the evening ironing while the hubby read books and told me interesting tidbits about them to make the dreaded task go quicker.  As I ironed, he also would look up and say, "That doesn't fit." or "Don't you see the stain on that one?" or the "Those cuffs are horrible!"  These I put aside for another purpose.  We then went through each of our clossets and drawers and purged further.  Then we made piles of all the clothes we had purged.  Two grocery bags went to St. Vincent DePaul's.  The ones that were too stained, ripped, or otherwise unable to be given away, went to the scrapyard.  I cut all the useable fabric out of the various shirts and pants to be used in later projects.  I also had a pillow that had bust it's seam.  This pillow got a bizarre makeover.



Before the project



First I took the shirt and cut off the arms.  I left on the seams for the arms thinking it would help keep the integrity of the fabric.  Then I turned the shirt wrong side out and sewed up the arm holes.



Arms sewn up



Then I used a different part of fabric (the sleve of hubby's shirt) and sewed it into the neck of the shirt since it was a v-neck and I couldn't just sew up the neck hole.

Cut to fit.

Then  I put the pillow in the new sack and sewed it up.  Others may have used buttons or a zipper to make it removable, I just wanted to get the job done.  It looks weird, but as W. said, "It's like mommy is on the couch snuggling me anytime I want."

The finished product

From the fabric I also have a few more projects in mind...I may just share with you.

A future...

Off the beaten trail

It was a dreary, rainy day.  The night before, we had called the place we had ordered a quarter of a cow for the freezer.  It was ready to be picked up, so off we went to get it.  On our way home we saw a sign for an organic fruit farm.  They also had a sign about apples, so we drove down the road rarely followed.  I was thinking that either we'd never return or something wonderful would be down this out of the way road.  Luckily, it was something wonderful. 

We found culled apples they were selling as "deer apples" for $4.00 per bushel.  I picked through 2 bushels and took the ones that were in usable condition (slightly bruised, too small for market, oddly shaped etc) and put them in bags.  I also took some pictures as it was such a lovely sight.  With the apples, I followed "Putting Food By" and made applesauce, no sugar, no juice, no water, just apples and heat.  I have only processed about 2/3 of the apples and already have 12 quarts, oats and apples bars, 2 pints put into the fridge for snacks, as well as all the apple slices and warm applesauce we can eat. 
(UPDATE: I have now made a total of 18 quarts of applesauce, 2 batches of oats and apple bars, 1 pint of apple butter...as well as all the eating slices and warm applesauce my family could eat.)

As you may know, I love cost analysis...so...

$8.00/2 bushels of apples

$12.00/new jars (did not take into account jars I'm reusing)

(Guesstimating how many this will make)

18 quarts of applesauce

Cost/quart is...$1.11/quart for organic applesauce (3.5 cents/ounce)

cost at co-op

$3.46/24 oz (14 cents/ounce) or $4.48 per quart

Savings of...$3.37 per quart!!!!! or for 18 quarts $60.66

Despite all that saving, what made it worth it was:

My kiddos "help" when I was cutting the apples (alright, so they were chowing down on apples.)

The wonderful comparisons of how each different type of apple tasted/looked/was colored inside and out.

The SMELL oh, that rich fall smell.

Spending time with the family in the kitchen.

and...

W. saying, "You made all the applesauce because you know I love it so...you're the best mommy ever!"

Sometimes it's the little things.

Last Weekend...Part 2...The Fair...

The reason we went camping was so we wouldn't have to drive as far to go to The Mother Earth News Fair the next morning.  We thought we'd wake early with the sun and after a quick breakfast, go to the fair.  Instead...we got up late due to the overcast leftovers from the night as well as the late bedtime the night before.  We had a slow breakfast due to the bees and the water taking forever to boil (and nothing gets done until coffee is ready.)  and a slow pack up due to the mud and water from the night before.



Seven Springs in the Fall

By 10:00 we were all ready to go to the fair.  The advertisements made it look like it was going to be like the Commonground Fair Country Sister and I had grown up going to.  Let me tell you, it was not.  It was at a ski resort's conference center.  Inside there was a book fair as well as some lectures and different products being sold (composting toilets, goat milk soap, composting bags...that type of stuff.)  We could have spent some time looking at the different items, but with a stroller, a toddler without a nap, and  a bored 5 year old, we got to pick up brochures on things we found interesting.  We bought some insect repellent bags to ward off the stink bugs (for those living in the Pittsburgh area...they work!!!)  as well as some seeds for the fall planting (forgot to think ahead and buy them before the feed store put them away for the winter.)

In order to cheer the kiddos, we took them outside to see the animals.  W.  saw turkeys and started talking about the turkey we used to have (aptly named "Thanksgiving Dinner.")  He also saw some horses (sloppy eaters we noted)  and some Alpacas.  W. and the hubby looked at the chicken tractors to get some ideas as well as some rabbit hutches. 



We knew that bees would be there as there were several apiary companies represented.  Before going, we told W. that only well trained bees were allowed to go.  Also, all bees were going to be in glass cages so they could not sting.   This seemed to suit him for he spend about 20 minutes looking at them walking around in their combs.   He pointed out the honey and other parts that we'd talked about before.

I got to look at some more seeds, Jane Goodall's roots and shoots programs, and the Eat Fresh, Eat Local PA booth.  We saw the wood boilers and the chairlift rides (the kiddos were too little to go on.)  and then turned around to go back in.  We saw the book fair and the hubby bought a book about compact cabins. 

Someday, we will have a place to build one of our own. 



Just Peachy

To borrow W.'s new favorite phrase (he starts all conversations with it.)
"Can I tell you one thing about (peaches.)"
It is not a question, for he will automatically go into a long story.
Here is mine.
One thing about living in Pennsylvania...we have peaches. Yes, everyone talks about Georgia Peaches, but you haven't lived until you have had a peach that was just picked. Mind you, I have always hated peaches; the fuzz and dripping juices are too much for me. The ones I grew up with were hard and mushy (somehow at the same time) and mealy, or came from a can. When I moved here, I slowly warmed up to peaches, especially ones that were tree ripened and warmed up by the sun. When I went to the farmer's market this week, I picked some up since the farmer said that it was the last of the season.

And I turned it into...

Meanwhile back at the homestead, we have been learning about numbers.  What is each one?  What is their meaning?  What are the practical applications of knowing your numbers (W. could care less about numbers until we started talking about money.)  When we were making the jam, he started in on peach pit math...it goes something like this:

W: If you have 8 peach pits, how many peaches did you make into jam?

Me: How many do you think?

W: 8 am I right or what...How many peaches go into each jar (we made 4 jars)

Me: Lets find out...

W: Lets pretend the peach pits want their peaches back...I'm putting the peach pits with their mommy jars.

He placed one pit in front of each jar, noticed there were still left over, and then began passing pits out again to the "mommy" peaches. 

W: The jars ate 2 peaches and then said "we don't want any hard rocks" then they spit the pits out.

I didn't think we'd be doing division already.

The Princess and the Grease Gun

This moment I stumbled upon this past weekend sums up a whole bunch.  Why I love our place here, our home and our community.  Why I love how we spend our time and the way it is shaping our kid's view of the world.

A short list of things I am grateful for:

Fall

His grandfather's harrow

The third generation of greasing the same wooden bushings the same way

Her desire to help all day long

In a pink velvet and tulle princess dress

His gentle willingness to teach a 4 year old to use a grease gun

Friends who let us use their tractor whenever we need it

Neighbors who hand down pink princess dresses

A cool sunny day spent outside

New England Pie Pumpkins harvested for winter eating

A field turned under, a blank slate, anxious to be fed and get back to work

Starting the week knowing we have done good work

Together