We took Krystal to the airport yesterday morning as her apprenticeship had ended. She continues on with college in a couple of weeks and needs to get her ducks in a row before then. Her cheerful presence will be sorely missed by Will and me, and also by Hondo, who loved to sit on her lap.
Yesterday, Will round-baled a dozen bales of hay then he brought our little Ford 660 home to till the weeds on our pumpkin/corn patch. As it was SO wet this spring, large spots never got planted so he tilled it and when we get a chance, he’ll haul loads of manure out to spread and till under on those fallow areas. The patch is kind of spotty and late but it is coming so we’ll see how things end up. But now it’s fenced and more fertile than last year and next year it will be even more fertile with the addition of Mo Poo Poo.
Today Will went out to till the ditch bank between our little clover field and the new oat field. Went fine, too, until he got down to toss some pieces of wood off the path. It seems like there was a yellowjacket nest under the wood! He got stung about five times before he could get away. And he is extremely sensitive to bee stings! He quickly came back to the house and located his EpiPen.
So far, frozen peas on the stings, antihistamine, and some aloe on the stings has prevented any extreme complications…like not being able to breathe. It seems like each year he is getting less sensitive to the stings. Before, any bee or hornet sting would end up with an injection and trip to the emergency room. We’re very thankful things are seeming much better now.
The garden is doing terrific. I’ve got another batch of Provider bush beans to can up and a bushel (well, probably not that many!) of jalapeños to make into Cowboy Candy, a candied jalapeño that we both totally love.
Onward! Life is good. — Jackie
Sorry to hear about Will, even w/o allergies, those stings hurt like the dickens.
My dad used tobacco to pull out the poison of wasp stings. I found an old remedy, take a square of chew and shred it, or a pack of cigarettes – tobacco only, and a medium size to large size of petroleum jelly; put the jelly in a clean vegie can, sit in a small saucepan of hot, not boiling, water until it melts. Add the tobacco to the jelly, remove from pan, and let it solidify again. Leave it for at least a week, and re-melt it and strain out the tobacco, or leave it in, the medicinal property will just keep getting stronger. When/if stung again, glop some of that petroleum jelly on the sting site, and somehow, the tobacco essence will help draw the poison out. I would put the melted jelly back in it’s original container to store. Just an idea for a little something to keep in your medicine cabinet. It won’t keep him from needing an epi-pen, but it might help either of you reduce the amount of pain those stings cause. It’s an old Ozark remedy.
Using a cotton ball, apply vinegar- white or ACV immediately to the bee sting. Hold it on there for 15 minutes or so until the pain goes away. It won’t swell, hurt or itch! Works every time.
JC, as always, it’s a pure pleasure to read your blog after trying to digest the usually serious stuff from Ayoob and Ms. Wolfe.
Your post on Krystal had me wondering…you should team up with a local college to offer an internship on homesteading. That’s, of course, if there’s a college nearby that offers ag courses and degrees. It’s a win-win: you’d get the help and the student would get the credit. You’d have to fill out some paperwork and reports each semester and turn ’em in, but it’d be worth it for the help you’d get in return. The student would get some serious experience on real livin’ that no ivory tower professor could ever teach!
Keep up the good work!
TXCOMT
Could you share the candied jalapeno recipe? It sounds like something I occasionally buy at the local meat market, which is just like the old time ones. They also carry special honey, pickles and so on. They are fabulous on a sandwich. Yummy!!! But very expensive.
ah Mother Nature, what a kind sweet goddess….NOT! Sometimes all she wants to do is bite, sting and itch. Arrrrrrgh! It’s times like that when all I want to do is sit in front of the air conditioner, stay out of trouble and do my 12 ounce curls. Sympathies to Will.
I know you will miss Krystal’s extra hands and hard work. What is she studying in school? She will go back to her old life and bring you and Will with her plus all the great learning experiences. Makes me wish I was 20 or so again and could make better choices about what I did with my life. What great memories she must have made. Glad Will did not have anaphylactic shock after the stings.
I am finally getting tomatoes as many had rotted with all the rain. What is your favorite way of serving garden fresh tomatoes? I am going to be cooking mine down overnight in the oven as you do before canning them up. That is, once they start really producing. Seems like everything in the garden is late this year. Love the photos.
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