David, and Ashley’s dad set a SonaTube plumb, ready for concrete.

This was a very bad time to catch a cold. And darn it, I DID get a flu and pneumonia shot too! I didn’t get the flu or pneumonia, but was in bed two days with a nasty runny nose and a cough. Meanwhile, it rained and rained outside. Luckily, on Saturday, it was sunny and I wasn’t too sick. Ashley’s dad came to help and everyone pitched in and worked on the concrete piers for David and Ashley’s new cabin. Just as the last wheelbarrow was getting mixed, the cement mixer’s drive wheel flew off! But at least David only had to mix one wheelbarrow load by hand.

Will and David mixed cement while Ashley and her dad kept the water coming.
Many wheelbarrows of concrete were used to fill all the tubes.

Next they will start sawing support beams for the floor joists on our bandsaw mill. They purchased the brackets and are ready to attach them to the piers. They are just waiting for a decent day to get started.

Hondo kept watch while we worked. (Never know if a grizzly bear, wolf, or zombie may happen by!)

The garden continues to come in … very late. I’ve got tons of tomatoes to process and we’re waiting (again) for a sunny, dry day to harvest. We’ve found tomatoes harvested when wet rot quicker. We’ve extracted seed from 25 different varieties so far with another 25 ready to do. We planted lots of different tomatoes this year and most actually turned out wonderful. Even with a terrible growing year.

I canned up two big batches of spaghetti sauce with meat and will get to work on enchilada sauce next. I use that in a bunch of different recipes. Then it’s on to salsa. For the first time ever I’ve run out of salsa! That won’t happen again. Boy, store-bought salsa just doesn’t cut it with us.

David applied for a doe tag but didn’t get one. It’s a lottery and his name didn’t get drawn. Oh well, he’ll just have to get us a nice fork-horn buck. They’re my favorite to harvest — big and tender. Ashley put up a game camera in a clearing down from their cabin, and already got pictures of a doe and fawns plus a fork buck. It’s cool to see who’s been hanging around and when. One year, Bill’s friend got a picture of a wolf trotting by with a deer leg in its mouth. That was different! — Jackie

9 COMMENTS

  2. Wanda,

    Don’t give up on heirloom tomatoes! A whole lot of folks across the country said this was a horrible growing year. A lot of our tomatoes also had cracking and rot problems early in the year, which they never do. We did notice that when the later tomatoes started ripening, they were much smoother and rot-free. Hang in there with the heirlooms. After all, they wouldn’t have been around so long if they didn’t produce terrific crops.

  3. Glad you’re feeling better. I planted several heirloom tomatoes this yr but had a problem with them not keeping. Even picked turning they tended to sour and rot very quickly. Great flavor though. I guess we’ll go back to other kinds next year.

  5. Jackie, I just came back from Texas with a chainsaw team to help with Harvey cleanup. In Texas they will let you hunt wild hogs and take as meany as a person wants. They are a big nuisance there and are thankful for any one that will come and hunt them. I’ve been told that the young ones taste very good. I’ve always wanted to go hog hunting and they have guides that will take you out hunting them but just haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet.

    Have a great Fall day and I’m glad you have the Fall/Winter cold out of the way early in the season.

    Nebraska Dave

  6. Sometimes it seems we need to get one good cold in the fall and then we’re good for the rest of the winter. Hope that is the way it goes with you. Thank you so much for these very informative blogs. Makes it feel like we are one big family and—we learn so much from your expertise. Since I live in Alaska, it is wonderful to hear about the cool weather crops. And guess what!!! Here it is October 10 and we had our first frost yesterday but it got up to 51 degrees today. Only have my carrots to pull and then my garden will be clear. Again – thank you for all you do.

  7. Tell the hunters to come to TN. The limit is over 1000! Yes one thousand. Bow season started last month and gun season ends in Jan. Yeppers, we have a deer problem here.

  8. So sorry to hear about your cold and I had been wondering where you went. I figured you were in the kitchen processing food (most likely tomatoes).

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