What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

Last thought. If the wood is still good for firewood. You may be able to get a firewood dealer to come out & get it.

That's a good idea. I'll have to ask around if anyone will take down that tree in exchange for keeping the firewood. Might be worth their time if they sell the wood or heat their house with wood. I don't burn wood to heat the house, otherwise it would have more value to me.

 

[WthrLady]

OH my. I'm up to my eyeballs.
All this plus another 24ish pounds of orange ones in a bushel basket in the garage. (I leave them there for a day, to let any crawlies, crawl out.)

I made 5 quarts of meatless spaghetti sauce, and that's still simmering on the stove, which I'll do up as pints for quick dinners.
And another 3 quarts of puree for the shelves.
The tomato plants are very, very tired. When the temps drop this weekend, I'll feed them and probably take down the sun shades.
The heat and humidity right now is un-believable!!! 104'F not including what it feels like with the humidity.

 

[gtaus]

Keep thinking on it, and hope it doesn't come down on it's own and hurt someone,

That dead tree is not around any people or structures. I'm the only one who goes near it, and that's only when mowing.

or bite the bullet and pay a tree service to just drop it, and you take care of the rest.

I'll consider that as a last resort. I have been felling trees for almost 50 years and generally have no inhibitions. I just really don't like the bent tree trunk and the evidence of rotted wood going into the base of the tree. That makes it unpredictable as to how and where it will fall.

But thanks for the suggestions.

 

[gtaus]

A few weeks ago I made some Spicy Pickled Beans with fresh beans I picked out of my deck planter. I made two jars of beans. Tonight, we had some pizza and I finished off one jar of the Spicy Pickled Beans. So, now that I have an empty jar full of pickle juice, I'm going to try pickling some hard-boiled eggs in that leftover spicy pickle juice later tonight.

Don't know if it will taste good or not, but I'm going to try it.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Last thought. If the wood is still good for firewood. You may be able to get a firewood dealer to come out & get it.

I had a big ( around 9 metric tons) oak fall on my roof a few years ago, all I had left of the tree was an even heavier tall trunk…I did try to get a firewood dealer to cut it down, but they said it was too heavy, and the wood so hard, and transportation so expensive, they would not come, now that we have the Ukraine crisis and energy costs are going through the roof, maybe I would’ve found someone on the other hand, I have been heating the house in winter with that excellent oak wood, so kind of ok with me too.
The person I hired at the end had a 40 inch long chainsaw, and smoked a „fear cigarette“ before cutting it down he did a great job, but he was also very experienced, cos he worked for a road construction company which always cuts the alley trees down, he did say they are much smaller …. My oak tree was over 100 years

 

[chickengr]

I finally picked up 2 melons, about 2 lb of a bit overgrown cucumbers (didn't see them before), about 4 lb tomatoes and a few peppers, eggplants and zucchini. there are a few mung and azuki beans ready to pick as well. we'll have another week of heat unless we get some rain due to fires (fires sometimes provoke rain and drop of temperature).

 

[Acre4Me]

Picking winter squash. I’ve picked more since this pic. Two butternut types. The round/bell type is Mrs. Amerson’s cheese type. The plants look like they would produce more, so I’ve watered them, cleaned up dead leaves, and see some young squash among the leaves.

Heat wave…and we are getting chicks shipped. There was a delay on the order due to hatch rates, so they were shipped yesterday. not sure what we will see when they arrive.

 

[Sueby]

Jealous of all the harvests! Thanks for sharing pics.

@Acre4Me are you going to just store all the squash or are you going to can or freeze any?

It's 54 degrees at 7am. In August.

 

[Acre4Me]

Jealous of all the harvests! Thanks for sharing pics.

@Acre4Me are you going to just store all the squash or are you going to can or freeze any?

It's 54 degrees at 7am. In August.

I’ve baked, then drained a bit, the pie pumpkin, freeze in 2 C quantities for pie etc. as far as butternut…not sure. I have a wonderful butternut squash soup recipe. Seriously no other flavor but squash, with a touch of cream. It is the best, and I usually make this and freeze it in smaller quantities. My fam isn’t as big on the smooth creamy soups -they like it but only about half as much as I do. I may try to slice and freeze some -for roasting, or cube it for freezing. Not sure what is the best thing here.

That carrot cake recipe did say they tried it with sweet potatoes …and it was good. Maybe I’ll try butternut squash in a batch. That will be 7C shredded squash for one recipe.

Then I have that huge pumpkin to deal with… that plant has produced 5 already (only 2 are huge), and looks like 3 more are developing. Apparently that is sold by the slice in France bc they are so big!

 

[Sally PB]

I have been felling trees for almost 50 years and generally have no inhibitions.

Can you post a picture of this demon?

So, now that I have an empty jar full of pickle juice, I'm going to try pickling some hard-boiled eggs in that leftover spicy pickle juice later tonight.

I know if I mentioned pickled eggs to DH, I'd get this reaction: I'd like to try them, anyway. Let us know what you think. I've seen recipes for different flavors of brine, from sweet and sour to dill.

Picking winter squash. I’ve picked more since this pic. Two butternut types. The round/bell type is Mrs. Amerson’s cheese type. The plants look like they would produce more, so I’ve watered them, cleaned up dead leaves, and see some young squash among the leaves.

I used to get 70-90 (!) bnut squash... Dang, you got a good haul.

I may try to slice and freeze some -for roasting, or cube it for freezing. Not sure what is the best thing her

I cooked mine, mashed it, and froze it in pint jars. It is NOT safe to can squash, even under pressure, according to what I read.

Maybe I’ll try butternut squash in a batch. That will be 7C shredded squash for one recipe.

Bnut squash makes an EXCELLENT pie, like pumpkin pie.