This morning, the sun finally came out full strength and boy, does it feel great! No rain yesterday, either. I canned up what was left of the Hopi Pale Grey that I’d baked for dinner. I ended up with eight pints of squash for future pies or side dishes at supper. Of course, there was also a pie. Will had a piece for breakfast, it’s that good.
Will’s been working on getting more firewood up. Now, the first pig house is stuffed full of firewood for my kitchen range and the second has one pile outside to stack, which will also bring it completely full. Likewise, our big woodshed has one more huge pile, yet to stack, to make that one, also, completely full. That feels so wonderful! We’ve also got a nice stack of kindling in the old goat stall and I’m going to work on getting that filled up more, to make starting fires quick and easy.
I’ve still been busy, cleaning out my cupboards. Ugh, what a job! But slowly, I’m making headway. There are more clean than nasty now. Whew! I’ve also been seeding out the very last of our beans and sweet corn. I’m already planning next year’s gardens. This afternoon, I want to get out and till the Sand, Central, and Main Gardens again before the ground freezes. I also have more squash to seed out before they spoil. They’re in the barn right now and it did get down to 17 degrees F. Without heat, I’m afraid they suffered damage. Because of that possibility, I want to get them seeded out as fast as I can. Today, it’ll be Gete Okosomin, Costata Romanesco, and another Hopi Pale Grey. I want to bake up the best parts of the Hopi so I can can it up tomorrow.
Are any of you starting to get seed catalogs? I was surprised to get a couple on Saturday. Just like the stores, it seems like some seed companies are promoting their wares extra early. Unfortunately, for me, those super early catalogs get piled up and kind of lost before I start thinking of seeds. Or maybe, with the world situation, folks are nervous about things and are very serious about gardening this year. You don’t have to be a “prepper” to want to grow food for your family. Just look at the prices in the grocery stores! Holy cow, I’m sure glad we don’t have to buy much there. Folks, think about it and do like our farm motto — “Plant more beans.” Translated, this just means we can’t do much to fix the economy, but we do what we can to help ourselves out. — Jackie
