What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

Canning or freezing the squash ? Cushaw makes a great pumpkin pie . I still have some canned .

I bake it, puree it and freeze it. It is not recommended to can it, even pressure can it. It makes an amazing pie.

 

[Compost King]

Greenhouse now fully enclosed. It jumped from 68 degrees to 80 with in a minute, it also started receiving direct sunlight at the very same point. I turned on the vent van and opened the vent as well as the door and it balanced out at 81 degrees. Then clouds rolled in and it dropped to 73 degrees. I am going to get a crash course on temperature maintenance this winter. Its my first greenhouse.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Great way made a nice greenhouse

 

[jerryse]

I bake it, puree it and freeze it. It is not recommended to can it, even pressure can it. It makes an amazing pie.

Yes I read that . However you can cube it and can . I read that . So I bake until done but kind of firm . Curt into 1 inch cubes and can . The problem is the mass of the puree . They do not trust home canners processing to heat through and kill bacteria .

 

[WthrLady]

Ya. I find it more space efficient for the pie filling just to bake the whole squash, scrape it out of the skin, and smash it and freeze it in double pie portions and be done with it.

 

[NightingaleJen]

@igorsMistress I'm sorry about your flock. Is there a vet that might be willing to do a necropsy?

@Acre4Me, those eggs look and sound delicious! I may have to try that. Do you think letting them sit in the mix would boost the flavour? I've never pickled eggs before...

Sad story about the neighbors' dog, @WthrLady. Poor kid.

It is very difficult to move away from a loved garden and orchard, @karenerwin. We have done that twice now, but your reasoning is sound here. And you so busy already! That has to be tough, going through your mom's things—but it probably feels very good to help others. Will have to look up Spirit Strides, that sounds like a fine organization!

Mint can also make a good sub for cilantro.

And yes—as a vintage aficionado, let me tell you that costume jewelry from the first half-ish of the twentieth century can be pretty valuable: paste jewelry, Miriam Haskell, Trifari, the jelly belly things, etc. That said, I'm also not sure how you can find out what's what! Maybe see both a jeweler and someone in the know at an antiques shop?

@NewBoots & @Acre4Me I love looking at all of the beautiful full canning jars too! Waste a fair bit of electricity doing so sometimes. So does that mean I'm not such a weirdo as I thought? Or is there a "Special Place" in our futures?

@Wee Farmer Sarah Our chipmunks and squirrels have been making more noise hunting & gathering than I believed possible. There is one squirrel that likes to visit the chickens in the morning (from the other side of the run fence, mind you). It's cute. He'll sit and look at them, big fluffy tail twitching, and a clump of the chickens will stand at full alert, watching him. Well...cute, or they're all plotting something.

Tonight we are expecting our first freeze—no frost yet. We'll see. I covered the plants I could and had Hubby help me bring the citrus trees in from the porch. They're nearly fifteen years old and unwieldy, to say nothing of heavy, now—we can't get them up the stairs any more into the living area of our carriage house. It sounds awful but I am tempted to give them away. If the big house were built moving them inside—from porch to a main floor room—wouldn't be such a big deal but...they're gigantic! And the key lime has 3/4" thorns. Not one to tangle with. Of course, both are (inexplicably, considering the time of year) laden with fruit. THAT stays with us regardless!

I also brought in a Tulsi basil—they smell so wonderful! We'll see if that survives our tortoiseshell Lucy. Of course, basil is probably good for cats, so she may not bother with it, considering her penchant for things hazardous to her health. Pulled many tomatoes and a few peppers and said goodbye to my garden, in case we do get a freeze. I also have three gallon bags stuffed full with nasturtium leaves in the freezer—they work really well from frozen in soups and things like eggs florentine. Definitely a flavor profile difference, but still good!

Also made sure the chicks are tucked in nicely—I'm a little concerned about them but they should snuggle up and be okay (12.5 weeks old, now!).

Oh, the Dominique I thought was a roo because of that wild, early single comb? Female! MUTANT! It's okay, we like her anyhow. Frankly, as an oddball she fits right in.

Have a good weekend all, hope those of you with rainy days got to enjoy them with some quiet time!

Little visitor. I nearly swept him away while sweeping the porch! Glad to have spotted him.

This beauty just bloomed! All alone but the more glorious for it, perhaps.

Miniature (mostly) green bowling balls. There are more rolling about the house tonight!

Behold...Dramatic Australorp.

Just (very lazily, clearly) snapped this earlier this week. Last look at the 2020 garden, maybe!

 

[oldhen2345]

I tilled a bit more today. I also checked on the compost piles. One pile was finished and I have used much of it over the season. The remainder of it is nicely finished of though. It's loose, crumbly black soil. It's a bit gray looking in this pic because it is rather dry at the moment. You can see where I dug in with my hand though and how nicely colored and texture it is.
View attachment 2373799

The larger pile that will feed the garden in the Spring is not nearly as finished. In fact, we have been feeding it regularly still. The pile is a good 3ft tall, 4ft wide and spilling out the front of the open bin.
View attachment 2373800

Wish I could have a compost heap. I tried with the tumbler, but... I live in town - the neighbor is within 50 feet of my coop and compost tumbler- you know, the kind you turn every few days and then in a few weeks, dump out rich black soil- well, I had it pretty full with leaves, grass clippings, veggie debris and chicken poop. I turned it like I was supposed to and one day, decided to dump the black dirt onto a tarp so I could shovel it up and move into the garden. I can not tell you how many -hundreds- of large water bugs- palmetto bugs- cockroaches( the name for those is regional) fell out of that thing and scattered. HOOOO!!! I was really horrified, the chickens were delighted. I got rid of the tumbler, called the orkin man (noticed the orkin man in the neighbors house behind mine about a week later). Now I just use a bucket with a lid and only use it to transport poop to the garden and I bury it immediately.

 

[oldhen2345]

Ok, I guess I'm going to BJs to buy a million lbs of pears.

Going to the farmers market Saturday- you people are making me work.

 

[oldhen2345]

Yes I read that . However you can cube it and can . I read that . So I bake until done but kind of firm . Curt into 1 inch cubes and can . The problem is the mass of the puree . They do not trust home canners processing to heat through and kill bacteria .

How funny- we used to have Cushaw Goulash when I was a kid. A friend of mine grew some last year and when I saw her pics, I had to have some seeds. Sooo, next year, look out- I will have a freezer full of Cushaw, cans of diced Cushaw, Fresh Cushaw...- have never made a pie with it, but will try that. We did make a sort of dessert though with brown sugar, vanilla and spices, so...

 

[oldhen2345]

Well, the babies are outside in the "baby barn." I was worried that the coop and roost were too high for the little things. they took to it like a duck to water. MY BCM hen Margaret has already been eyeing them.