Boy are we in need of some sunshine about now. Yesterday it was cloudy, misty, and very windy so we didn’t venture out too much. I seeded out several squash and organized some of our messy seed bins. Meanwhile, Will took the tractor out to pick up a big load of wood from our friend Matt’s clearing. It’s a shame to have such great wood just lay around and rot. Or, worse yet, get shoved into a pile and burned up.
I got the last of the Cowboy Candy syrup canned up. Now I have lots of syrup so I can make a big bunch of Gaucho relish from the Sugar Rush Peach peppers. We sure eat a lot of that, in recipes from meatloaf to baked chicken. It’s not hot at all, as the seeds are taken out of the Sugar Rush Peach peppers, leaving just the fruity flavor and some spice from the jalapeños. Perfect!
I had four peony roots I’d ordered this spring plus several bags of fancy double daffodils and three bags of grape hyacinths and crocus I needed to get planted before the ground freezes. So, today, with the sun out and it being fairly warm, I tilled up a chunk along the driveway that’d never had a flower bed before, with the baby Kubota, and planted the peonies. Then I took some daffodils and small bulbs down to my late husband, Bob’s, garden in the woods. The digging was hard down there, with tree roots and hard soil. But I managed to get several handfuls planted. Yes, even after all these years, I still miss Bob, even though I’m now happily married to Will.
I have several daffodils and many smaller bulbs left to plant around the peonies in the new flower bed. After planting, I’ll mulch with wood chips to help them settle in over winter. Hopefully, come spring, we’ll see a new pop of color where there never before was any.
I was doing a little shopping yesterday to fill in a few “corners” of our long-term storage pantry. Spices, mayonnaise, and another big bag of rice. No, we won’t need it. But perhaps someone else may. It’ll stay good for years, just waiting to be a lifesaver. — Jackie
So enjoy reading your blog:) The readers comments, always followed by your responses. thank you for an enjoyable break in the day. I too canned up leftover sirups this year. simply to good to throwout! Peppers weren’t as prolific this year so limited on cowboy candy. Haven’t tried the relishes you make, next year. Lord willing, better growing season here. Been in the rainy system for a few days. The beautiful fall colors are a joy. Got our wood supply in. We always keep eyes out for more for next few years supply. Reading your reply of ‘wheelbarrowing to a fallen bard barn for wood”. Hard work! stay warm and dry there!
Our peppers weren’t as prolific as usual this year either, due to the crazy weather. Fortunately, I did get a lot of jalapenos though!! Every year is different, and we look to a more productive pepper patch next year.
Our wood shed it pretty full but Will’s out right now, getting another batch of wood from Matt’s clearcut. We’ve got about a year’s worth, already, of that semi-green wood already.
Love your newsletter and friends commenting.
I love reading everyone’s comments and finding out what’s going on all across the world.
We have a few days of warm weather here, spent the morning splitting some wood and fixing fence. The just starting to blush tomatoes I picked before the freeze a couple weeks ago are getting ripe, so good on salads made with the greens from the cold frame. How wonderful that you have a special garden in memory of Bob, and that your dear Will understands that you have love enough for them both! I’ve got some plants from my late Mom who got them from her Mom, and have passed starts on to our daughter. She enjoys gardening too.
Yes, Bob’s garden was on the path we walked down to the creek every day. There’s a big boulder that son, Bill, hauled down there with the crawler loader with a Budda statue he ordered online from India. (Yes, we’re Christian but as a Vietnam vet, Bob appreciated the peace Budda brought the world.)
Passing down special seeds and plants is so wonderful. I have a few of Mom’s favorite daylilies, and each time they bloom, I think of her.
I have resurrection lilies from my grandpa. Time to split them and pass onto my kiddos. But they also live on at a couple of other houses in my rural neighborhood.
I like your plantings for memories. I planted a Flame Maple in honor of my Dad. It turns a beautiful red in the fall. I planted a Rainbow Crab Apple in honor of my Mom. It blooms in the spring. Seeing these bloom make me smile and engage in fond memories. The only constant in life is change. I like these “plantings” over the granite markers. Here it’s much cooler and our wood stove is heating our abode. I hate seeing woods bull dozed and burned. We have a glut of crops now. I put our wood lot in the state program for 50 years. Winter is coming. Snow is predicted for us in a couple of weeks. I have to get the chicken water heaters going before freezing. All for3 flocks. Cold weather can sneak up on you.
Boy, the weather sure does sneak up on you sometimes. Like the Halloween blizzard in the 90s here. Luckily, this year was warm in comparison, giving us time to get more done before winter does hit.
Yep, we’re buried in harvest right now, and every day I’m trying to clear out a section to make more room. I tell folks we’re food embarrassed.
October is an odd month around here. The first half always feels like a little bit of late summer; a few chilly days, but lots of sun and warm afternoons. We work to get things buttoned up for the coming cold, but the pleasant weather doesn’t create a sense of urgency.
Then sometime after the 15th of October, we reach a tipping point when the weather lets us know that winter is surely on its way. There’s more rain, heavy winds, and cold temperatures at night that extend through the morning hours, ice on the geese’s pool. We’ll start seeing snow flurries soon, and by the end of the month, perhaps even a thin layer of snow on the ground. By then we’re running around trying to get everything finished, all the tools we’ve carelessly left out need to be collected and put away, final touches to the barn and beehives have to be complete, and garden mulched.
By mid-November projects that haven’t been finished will have to wait until spring, but we’re glad for the winter break when we can finally relax a little.
Yep, around here, we can expect snow by the end of October or beginning of November. And it doesn’t melt. What falls soon will be on the ground, come spring, burying anything we forgot or didn’t get around to picking up.
Always a pleasure to have you post! Such a relaxing read, though the knee surgery was anything other than Relaxing to read! Nor the machinery breaking down! But photos and Always helpful information and knowledge you share! Thank you Jackie! We’re in the foggy dampness time. Hoping for a bit of fall sunshine over the weekend! Canning leftover sirups, I did some myself this year! So handy to have on hand as you say! Enjoy your break in the weather!
It’s great when you heat with wood to get some from a friend! The County cleared a bunch of nice Poplar trees last year so hubby got enough to last two years! They cut them into manageable sizes too! You sure are busy! Love the pictures you always include. I’ve been fan of your articles in BHM since you lived in Montana and now you live around one hour north. You are a true modern pioneer!
I’m kind of a wood freak. Once I had three children home, no vehicle nor phone, in a blizzard, with no firewood. I took a wheelbarrow down to the fallen down barn, a quarter of a mile away and with an axe, I chopped boards and other lumber up to fit and brought it home. Today, we’re far from that but every time I see a dead tree or fallen tree while driving down the road, I think “FIREWOOD” and want to stop and cut it up. Ok, so I’m obsessed! But always warm.
You don’t know how much your posts mean to me. They’re like having a friend come to visit. Thank you for taking time to keep us all on the right track also.
So, you can any syrup that is left over from the cowboy or cowgirl candy or relish? Also, if you have a light/medium syrup left from canning fruit is it cannable too?
I’m so glad you enjoy my blog. I feel like all of you are my family and I enjoy visiting with you here.
I don’t usually have leftover syrup after canning Cowgirl relish or Gaucho or Vaquero relish. BUT I do have pints and pints of “extra” syrup I canned, just to use in a huge variety of recipes. I even drizzle it on top of pizzas!
Yes, if you should have leftover syrup from canning fruit, you can certainly can it up too. You can mix it with home canned fruit juice that you didn’t add sugar or sweetener to or use it when you make powdered beverages, etc. Waste not, want not!
Better half tilled some leaves into our annual garden but the ground is so hard from lack of rain. Forecast says good chance this weekend then “snowflake” for Monday. Will need to tomorrow or Wednesday to get the water heaters in place for the wildlife. I’ll start putting out corn here soon – corn is not a favorite when the daytime temps are in the 60s. But those temps will be gone if a few days.
The prairie restoration (not hard core mind you – my walnut trees are OFF limits as are cedar/pine/fir trees which benefit the wildlife) is looking so good. Push came to shove. there is space for vegetable growing but the soil would need amending – it was pasture at best 60+ years ago.
We’ve found as invasive plants are removed, natives as well as tulips/daffodils/crocus bless us with their presence. My later mother liked tulips and daffodils so I place some on her grave.
My ramp population rebounded quite nicely after we manually remove invasive plants. While not inexpensive, hiring a company to seek-and-destroy on our property proper should reap more ramps and other native plants.
The Miracle Grow aided paste tomatoes don’t taste bad. But it will not happen next year.
Cross your fingers a relative can socialize a feral kitten to be a buddy to our cat. I will test for FeLv like I do for all new indoor pets. Sad to have to euthanize but long term best for the newbie as well as FeLv negative cat.
Yes, we’re seeing the snowflake in the next week forecast. Ugh. Still a lot to do outside. We’ve been feeding corn and leftover squash/pumpkins to the deer and turkeys. Today, for the first time in days, I saw our wild turkey flock where I feed. I did the happy dance. We’ve been having deer come but the turkeys disappeared. (No, we don’t hunt, as we have plenty of beef and chicken.) Both of us have certainly hunted in the past but can’t see the point of being a meat hog when we have lots.
We don’t do wildland restoration, as such. On 200 acres and two full time jobs, plus homesteading, we don’t have the time. But, that said, we try to keep cleaning out the woods of dead and broken trees, improve the pasture and open meadows for both the cows and wildlife, get rid of invasive plants etc.
Right now, it’s firewood and seeding out squash and pumpkins so we can close up the greenhouse in a couple of weeks for the winter.
The deer aren’t too interested in pumpkins when the feeder box has sunflower/bird/safflower seeds. But since I am *not* out there at sun up, they’ll consume them.
We manually removed almost 1K of bush honeysuckle a decade ago. Which gave buckthorns an opportunity. They don’t pop out with the skid steer and chain like the honeysuckle did. Restoration company has the equipment to grind them down quickly – we’ll use herbicide to kill the next generation. We use herbicides sparingly but invasive plants are just that, invasive. Spotted Knapweed “outbreak” is expected in my area next year. Restoration company is getting a jump on it. And the more the areas south of you deal with it, the less you’ll get. We’re *finally* getting a handle on garlic mustard (had it almost eradicated at our prior home so this is the second “war” for me).
We don’t hunt either and both neighbors respect the no-hunting on our property. Since we purchased more land across the street from our homestead, the wildlife’s habitat acreage has doubled. And I hope our pollinators habitat too.
Forest management is important. Time for me to start filling feed bags with sticks that fall into our yard and close woods area – it makes great kindling. Hickory trees are an endless supply of sticks!
Typed as I enjoy the warmth of our wood stove. We too have the luxury of harvesting firewood from the property of others (better half leaves the smaller stuff for our elderly neighbors and we’ve also given them some split wood. They enjoy a fire but not to heat their house). There are some standing dead on our other acreage – trees aren’t that large but they’ll burn for heat.