Fall on the Homestead...

continuation of our trials and pleasures!

I've been blanching a d freezing some skinny haricot beans (really skinny French green beans) in individual portions for winter, along with similar portions of corn cut off the cob.

Now I just need to grate the excess summer squash, most of which will go into faux crab cakes. I only made a few last year, as a trial, and frankly I LOVE them, almost taste like real crab cakes (with the help of Old Bay).

Those sound delish! Can you share the recipe?

I have been dicing my eggplant and freezing it in quart bags. I use it in jambalaya and a few other things. I like to fry it if it is fresh.

I am picking from my second planting of beans. Putting those in the freezer in quart bags with water. The shell beans are not ready yet. I am afraid the heat is going to kill them.

I sliced the last few yellow squash I had picked and coated it in fish fry and froze it for frying later. I have never tried it before so I am crossing my fingers it works. I have one more on the vine I am going to bring to my friend who gives me the apples.

A friend gave me a bunch of green peppers and I diced those and put them in the freezer. I just take out a handful when I need them. I have three quart bags now. Mine are still making but they are slow. They are in containers so I am hoping to keep them going in the greenhouse after the weather gets colder.

My eggplants are still going strong. I have a couple long purple and a white that need picking now and more coming on. I wish they were in containers too.

My volunteer tomatoes are doing well. I need to pick them today. They are really small but they taste great. Matt's Wild Cherry.

I have given away my last goat. I just need to deliver her to my friend. I can't crawl around on the hillside to keep the electric fence clean enough to stay charged. She does not go anywhere when she gets out but she gets in my garden. She ate my strawberry plants last time she got out so she has to go. We depend on the garden too much to have her destroy it.

I have 4 more roosters to kill. Should have done that today but I have not felt good.

Zucchini Faux-Crab Cakes
http://nancyvienneau.com/blog/recipes/those-curious-zucchini-faux-crab-cakes/

2 cups coarsely grated Zucchini
Salt
1 cup Bread Crumbs (I used a baguette)
1 Egg
2 Green Onions, thinly sliced–use entire scallion
¼ cup small diced Sweet Red Bell Pepper
1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise (or plain yogurt)
Juice of ½ Lemon
a pinch or 2 Red Pepper flakes

vegetable oil, for frying with a smidge of butter

Place grated zucchini in a colander; sprinkle lightly with salt, allow to stand for 30 minutes draining. Squeeze to remove additional liquid – zucchini should be fairly dry. Place zucchini, bread crumbs, with all the other ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Form into 8 patties the size of crab cakes.

Heat a small amount of oil and butter in a skillet, and cook patties on both sides, browning well. Drain on paper towel.

This looks good. I wonder if I could use eggplant in place of the zuke? I picked 3 today.

Dropped Remi off at the vet to be spayed. Have to pick her up tomorrow.

I have no clue as I don't like nor grow eggplant. Try it, what's to lose?

I love eggplant and it has done very well for me. I have 3 plants and while the heat is getting to everything else, the eggplant seems to thrive in it.

Life marches on here. The leaves are starting to turn and fall. Very suprising as we had a wet spring and summer so we should have had a late fall. I am afraid we are going to have a hard winter. The hornet nests are very high this year. I am trying to get things set up now that will make a hard winter just a bit easier but no amount of planning can calm it completely.

My eggplants are still thriving. Still bearing and blooming. I so wish they were in containers so I could bring them in for the winter. I would love to have seen how long they would have lasted.

It does not look as if my corn is going to fill out so I think Max will get it for fodder. It was a fun experiment and it looked good in the garden. I think it was planted too late ( three weeks) and it did not get quite enough sun. I am hoping to get enough seed for next yera and I will try it again. It is an heirloom shoepeg variety.

I have picked the last of the snap beans ans pulled the spent vines. Waiting for the last of the shell beans to mature and then I will pull those plants and that bed will be cleaned off. The short squash bed and the cuke box are both empty now. The garden is looking bare.

I have five pepper bushes in pots and I am planning to bring them into the greenhouse I have set up on the porch. I want to see how long I can keep them going. It will be a nice experiment to bring me some cheer in the cold winter.

I have some more apples to process and some pawpaws I picked up yesterday. I will make cakes and breads from them this winter. Fried apples are nice on biscuits. I have never tried apple butter and I don't know how to can and don't have the equipment for it.

Still have four roos to kill. One is older so I will put him in the pressure pot. I need to get them taken care of but I won't get to it until next week at the earliest. We start revival at church tonight and go through Sunday. We will have dinner on the grounds after Sunday morning service and no service that night. Looking forward to it. I am going to be having some refreshments before church each night so we can have fellowship. I just love visiting with friends. I have to run to town this morning for a few groceries, some meds and some things for church. Then I have to feed a bit earlier than usual but they won't mind as long as they get fed.

Better get my hindend in gear. Lots to do today. I pray you all have a great day. In case I have not told you lately, I sure appreciate you guys.

Happy Birthday, Caj!

Where IS Dyson?

Thank you so much for thinking of me. It has been rainy and lazy. I cooked a pot of red beans and rice. Now I need to get my work done.

Lots of folks are MIA. Hope they are all well.

still kicking here in the Glorious Buckeye State. we're making applesauce pearsauce, and lactofermented kraut this week. keeping busier than a cows tail in july

When things slow down for you I look forward to reading all about it. So keep notes and take pics. LOL

Just popping in to ask if anyone has heard from Darius. She had some
health concerns and has been missing recently on some threads where she
posts. Her friends are concerned.

Not since my birthday 9/19. I just thought she was busy. I will keep her in my prayers.

I'm back now, June. Just spent a few days in ICU. Still feeling poorly but plan to improve.

I'm relieved to hear you're back and will hold positive thoughts for
quick improvement and restoration to full health. You are one popular lady
on DG! ;-)

So good to hear from you. Hate you have been under the weather. I will continue to pray for you.

Debbie and I (mostly Debbie) have been stocking the larder. we've put up about 100 qts of apple and pear sauce, a couple dozen of chopped apples for pies, and a case or so each of strawberry jam, blackberry jam, blackberry jelly, banana butter, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. We earlier did 60 qts of tomatoes, and I'm not sure how many greenbeans, and froze about 50 qt bags of sweet corn. This week we doing walnuts and hickory nuts, and starting on soup and stew. Something I have always done in the fall was to make a huge pot of soup, have it for dinner, then can the rest of it. Then start another pot the next day. until my pantry was filled. We are also canning some meat this year. chicken and beef and turkey. Just so we'll have more room in the freezer and it won't get freezer burnt.

I hurt my leg somehow. I think I may have severed the PCL. I hope not, but my leg will barely hold me up. I have been using a cane this past week just to be safe.

Darius, I'm glad you're out of the hospital; try not to scare us like that anymore, okay?

Nik, take it easy on that leg. Saying a prayer for you.

That sounds like bounty from Heaven. You are well set for winter. Every spring I think I will learn to can and fill all those jars with beautiful food but I never seem to accomplish it. Maybe next year.

I have put a few things in the freezer this year. I will enjoy them and be sad when they are gone. I need to get my onions and garlic planted. Likely won't happen today because it is raining. We need the rain so I won't complain.

We are going to pick up our new to us pony cart tomorrow!! So excited. It is more heavy duty than my old one and it has bolt on shafts so I can convert it to a two horse buggy. Now I have to find another pony. Praying I can find another one as good as Max but they are few and far between. He is such a sweet little guy. We didn't have to spend a penny for the cart. We traded a show saddle for it. We had three show saddles and we have not shown in years so they are more or less decorations now. We can really use the cart. DH is really looking forward to getting back out on the trails next spring. And I am looking forward to learning to drive a team.

Darius, how are you doing?

Canning is easy. Most fruits or jams/jellies you don't even need a canner. Just a big soup pot will work. Meat can be tricky if you've never done it, and you DO need a pressure canner for that. The main thing is cleanliness no matter what you are canning. You want operating room cleanliness. If you garden or have a produce auction nearby, you really need to learn to can.

My Momma was the best jelly maker in the world. We are about to finish the last of what she made for us. We will miss it. She always made sugar free for DH.

I saw Doc about the leg. He has me going to an orthopedic surgeon next week, but says he doesn't believe the PCL is damaged. He DOES believe that it's arthritic as all hell, and that the cartilage has long flown the coop. Either way, I'm supposed to use a cane until I get to the OS. So, I reckon as how I'll make a fancy one this winter. I have a couple of ideas, a good lathe, and some really sharp whittling knives. If it turns out I don't need it yet, I'll have it for when age makes it mandatory.

We canned all of last year's chicken and turkey that was in the freezer, and I am grinding all the leftover pork for sausage making. We still have 7 turkeys to butcher, and 4 geese. Plus Debbie wants to buy a hog from some friends. The canned poultry is mostly going to my 2 sisters as they are casserole freaks in the winter. We put 75 chickens in the freezer this year, And we still had about 8-10 from last year. We also had 1 big turkey, and another 1/2 of a split bird. We didn't have a whole lot of pork, but what we had was the cuts we don't normally use like pork shoulder steaks, or pork roasts. we usually do the loin chops, bacon, a little ham and a few other small cuts for kraut. Everything else we like to grind. We have a little bit of beef to can, but not much. Spaghetti uses up most of the ground beef, or chili, or meatloaf. Steaks go on the Barbeque, and everything else is stew meat. But stew meat works just as well if you can it first.

Next year when we build the house, I'm getting a bigger freezer........

You must have a very big pantry for all that larder. I am sure it is a peaceful feeling to have so much food laid by. You are a good planner. One of the drawbacks of ministry is not having my own place where I know I will always be. I can't build much stuff like root cellars and such. Really curbs my dreaming. LOL

I think I won't be posting here much for the next several months. My diagnosis is not good, and my hospice doctor friend and I completed a Five Wishes form, which legally serves as medical proxy and DNR.

I'm planning to move back to Asheville once I get some things sold, others sorted and packed. I hope by early Spring as moving in winter would be the pits unless the weather cooperates. Asheville is a thriving town, excellent health care abounds, and the community is very alive. It will be good for me, and I'll have lots of support. Nothing in Asheville is more than 20 minutes from one side of town to the other... plus I won't have to make 2X monthly long drives to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem for medical appts.

Oh, noooooo! Best wishes to you. Please keep us informed. I am mostly a lurker here, but you are one of my favorite posters.

You'll be in my prayers, darius. Do you have a snail mail address you can share with us?

Nik, I'm in the Address Exchange, although I hope to move to Asheville (NC) by April where I can get good medical care without driving 2-1/2 hours... and they have a really good Hospice program too.

Darius I am so sorry to read this. I enjoy sharing a bit of your life with you through your posts. Could you post the link for your blog? I had it in my favorites before I had my computer reworked and lost it in the process. I enjoy your blog very much and I have learned so much from you. I just bought a book on cold smoking because your blog introduced me to the concept. Keep warm this winter and post when you can. You will be in my prayers.

Caj, I'm not allowed to post my blog address, but it's listed on my DG home page under favorite websites... It's pretty inactive right now but there are almost 1,000 good posts!

We butchered all of our turkeys this past weekend. They were all high 20s to mid 30s in weight, not like last years monsters. We started these a lot later. Last year's we started with the first May hatch, this year we waited until July to start them. I've already ordered next year's. I'm going to get 10 in May, and then 10 more in July. and 10 more in late August. I already have buyers for most of them. I want the smaller ones for us.

Yesterday I walked the pasture picking red clover flowers for tea. I had already cut mint stems on Sunday afternoon. So today I am laying everything except the cornsilk which I already did, into the dehydrator, for a couple days. Then I'll have the winter tonic done for this year.

Is anyone still there?

Yep, I'm still here... just busy but with nothing much to say!

Sounds like a good year for turkeys, Nik!

I am still here but moving slow. I have asthma and though it usually does not give me any trouble, the last month has been bad. Chest is tight and I have some congestion.

All my garden is finished. The only thing I have left is a small heatless jalapeno pepper plant in the greenhouse on the porch. It is a plant I got in early spring at the seed swap and it never grew much. I am hoping it makes the winter and bears in spring.

The horses are doing well. I am looking for a second pony to train this winter so I can have a double hitch for my new cart. I am doing some work on the roof of my pony barn. I have half the roof off right now and have to get it back on in the next couple days. I am not looking forward to the cold front coming in next week. Have I mentioned I hate cold weather?

Darius, I have your blog in my faves again. Pray you are doing well and getting lots done toward your goals for Spring. Will your sister be staying on there?

Caj, my sis will be staying here rather than moving with me. Eventually she'll sell and move closer to her daughter in Elmira, NY (assuming The Kid and her amour du jour stay there).

Good luck on the pony barn roof.

Optimistically, I'm planting garlic and shallots for next year. If I actually DO get to move by April, I will still have stuff stored here in the barn and sheds, and will make occasional trips back up here including one for a shallot/garlic harvest in June or maybe July. Growth and harvest of course depend on the weather. Asheville is about a 2-1/2 hour drive across the mountains.

Best wishes and my prayers are with you Darius ... an i hope your garlic an shallot harvest is a good one ....

I thought the kid had gone back to Florida.

I hope your garlic and shallots do well. I am eating onions from my spring harvest. I neglected to get my onions and garlic planted yet. If we have another warm spell I need to take care of that.

I got the roof back on the pony barn and it was a good job considering I had no help and I am as weak as dish water most days. Only the grace of the good Lord keeps me going. But Max has a good roof over his head and no wind in the barn so he is happy. Still no luck finding another pony. I am still looking.

We got our first snow today but I am thankful none of it stuck. It rained during the night so the ground was wet. It has been cold all day and they are calling for 21 in the morning. Have I mentioned I hate cold weather?

I got my garlic planted the day before the big freeze. It was dry enough, finally. I was afraid it was never going to dry out enough to get it into the ground before it froze up. Got it mulched in yesterday morning with about 12 inches of dry leaves. so it should be a pretty good crop this year.
I also did a spot of tilling in a new bed, and mixed a bunch of ground up leaves into it. I have a chipper shredder and it has a leaf grinding function. I want to plant a few perennial herbs there in the spring. I'm going to put painted stones around it and make it all pretty. Except for grinding more leaves to go on the garden (which is an all winter long project) I am pretty much done outside until spring. Except for finishing the greenhouse. I am shifting my energies into the shop. Or, as we call it, Nik's Rumpus Room. Before spring I want to build 2 compost tumblers, One for me, and one for my FIL. And I want to play with my lathe a bit. Make some bowls and lamps, etc. I also am cutting all the parts for the greenhouse in the shop, then my pal Joe is coming over to help me assemble everything. Assembly should only take a day for all the frame and to move in the stove. Another day for the polycarbonate panels then I'm indoors again. I can build a fire in the stove and work on the benches, lights, etc. My biggest issue is getting carried away and trying to make it into a big elaborate thing when it's just a little garden greenhouse; a glorified coldframe.
I plan to start seeds in it, of course, but I want to start tree and shrub cuttings for sale in It, also. Just another small money-making sideline. My wife thinks I get too carried away sometime. My mum used to say the same thing.

Nik, sounds like a good winter plan!

I have several ball-bearing rollers about 18" long I saved for a compost tumbler I'll never get around to making. I'd be glad to give them to you but they'd be a bear and costly to ship, which I cannot afford. They came off a cast iron roller rack for unloading truck goods.

I wish you were closer. I could use the rollers as part of my outflow table for the planer in the Rumpus Room.

The design for my compost tumbler uses a pipe-in-a-pipe type of journal bearing. It's only going turn at about 5-10 rpms for 1 or 2 minutes a day when I (or my FIL) handcrank it. So, it's not as though I need to worry about heat build up, eh?

Darius im so sorry to hear ur health concerns. will pray for you. in the year i have been without internet i have missed you all so much. when i accomplished anything i wanted to share here. when i was unsure of something i missed the wisdom u all possess. i have learned things i never dreamed and failed at things that i thought would be simple.

Sounds like Life, Angie! Glad to see you back with us. :)