Fall is Coming

Black Gold!  I live in a place where there is no dirt.  If you live in southern Minnesota or anywhere in Iowa you can't imagine a place where there is no dirt.  Well,  northeastern Minnesota is a place with no black dirt.  If we want dirt here we have to haul it in, pay dearly for someone else to haul it in, or make our own.  This is the manure from last winter plus water plus tilling and plus a little time to compost into fertile black earth.  With this we grow veggie, herb and flower gardens, apple trees and berries. 

 We are about to make salsa with our ripe cherry tomatoes.  This one is in a pot just outside the front door. Up here, seeing red, ripe tomatoes is like seeing stars!

In just a few years we'll be able to harvest a few more of our own apples.  This spring we put in a Haralred, a Honeycrisp and a Prairie Magic.  The Haralson we planted in 1991 needed some company.

This was the off year for the Haralson and total harvest won't be much more than these.

The pumpkin is orange!

Those meat birds are growing but their number has been reduced by one.  After a night of rain the "tractor" wood was heavy and the tarp roof had enough standing water to make lifting the thing a bit more than I could manage.  And yes I was in a bit of a hurry as I was on my way to work.  After setting, well, dropping the tractor down and pushing the water off, I saw the poor bird under the frame.  Her back was broken but she wasn't dead.  I can't really describe how distraught I felt.  These are chickens raised to be our winter food, but I weep at some point every time we butcher.  I called Dave in tears, I just couldn't figure out what to do.  Yes, the right thing to do was ring her neck and put her out of her misery.  Oh, aw, a tough way to begin the day.

 

The layer flock is getting to that teenage stage.  The roosters are crowing early in the morning and throughout the day.  The pecking order is interesting to observe but since they look so similar I can't really tell who's at the top or the bottom.  One hen has an odd comb and may have to be culled and I'm not sure I'll keep all three roosters. I have dreams of managing my own breeding flock and I have tried off and on for years with very little success, but maybe this time.

We did not waste the lovely chicken I killed that morning.  Dave made excellent stir fry and we saved the legs for winter soup

Grandkids for the Weekend

 Melanie and her family spent the last north shore summer weekend with us.  The dinner, roast chicken, green and wax beans and potato salad and beautiful birch and cherry table, the result of our hands. OK, so we didn't raise the olives for the olive oil and vinegar in the salad.   There's a little history on that beautiful table.  Dave and I started looking at dining room tables before we were married in 1990.  Well, one fabulous work shop, countless pressing projects and 20 years later Dave created  the table of our dreams that fills the room and seats 6 -14 as the occasion demands.  I hope the chairs don't take another 20 years!

 At Melanie's suggestion I harvested from the new rhubarb plants and we created a yummy Wild Bluebarb Crumble for dessert.  Oh my gosh it was good! 

 Of course we spent some time on the beach, throwing rocks, playing fetch with Selke and freezing our legs in the water retrieving things like:

 the banana rock! 

 Wally loved his yogurt and the feel of those smooth little pebbles beneath his feet and in his hands.

 Phantom caught, helmets on, get the brushes and saddle and away we go to the round pen. Wally wasn't too sure about this but he decided not to be left out and went for a ride.   Both Rowan and Oscar rode by themselves this time.  Won't be long and we'll be out on the trail!

 Dave makes the best pizza dough!  This batch was especially easy to work with.  This is when I make an exception with the gluten-free life and indulge.

A few years ago Dave surprised me with the coolest, or maybe hottest, birthday present.  A bread oven!  The plans for this oven are in the back of Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads from 1973 which Deb W. gave just after we moved here.  He wouldn't tell me what he was doing and when I saw the four posts sticking out of the ground I really thought it was for the outhouse we had been planning to build.  It seemed like an odd place for an outhouse and I couldn't figure out for the longest time what he was up to.  We all helped with the final construction and it does make THE BEST PIZZA'S. 
After dinner Melanie, Tim and the sleepy kids headed for home.  Hopefully they'll be back before we have a blanket of snow.

Pin Cherry Jelly

 Remember these?

 After harvesting from the nice big Pin Cherry tree just east as you head out of town, I had 24 cups. 

 With an old sheet and an old stool from somewhere out in the woods, it's jelly time.  Making jam had always seemed the sensible thing since you used all of the fruit.  After adding quite a lot of sugar the jelly turned out rather tasty and I may harvest again before they are gone.

 Everything ready to jar the jelly.

With such a poor raspberry year this doesn't look like quite enough sweet stuff for the entire year!

Dave has been working like crazy on a cider press and we're hunting for an apple source.  Maybe some apple butter would be a nice addition.

End of Summer

 The comfrey my friend Dominique gave me in the spring has grown from piece of root with a few leaves into this huge healthy plant with pretty purple flowers.  Notice the garlic just behind.  If you look closely you can see the very tips of the garlic is dry and brown which indicates it is ready to harvest which I did that afternoon. The sweet corn beyond will be ready to eat within the week.  Oh my gosh!  Sweet corn from our garden and probably enough to freeze some.  This has been a warm summer up north!

 The domestic raspberries in the yard are done for the year.  I found the last five extra ripe berries tonight when I went out to pull the last of the weeds in the potatoes. 

 Wood for the year is cut, split and stacked with a little extra this year.  We all pitched in, but by far, Dave does most of the work. Heating your house with wood warms you in the summer and the winter.
Thanks Honey!  (Selke and Lady are posing beautifully, don't you think?)

 Yes, I've been picking beans every day but they are very nearly done.  One of the many nice things about potatoes is that you can let them sit in the ground and dig them when you need them.  Karl requested Morrocan Lamb Brats and herb sauteed baby potatoes so I dug them up for his birthday dinner last night.

 The onions are still growing, it looks like we'll have a nice harvest this year.  The real trick is drying and storing so they'll be good all winter.  Last year we didn't get them dry enough and this year it looks like we'd better rake down the green tops, hope it isn't too late!

 We built a root cellar a few years ago so we'd have a place to store the veggies all winter.  Dave added another outer door this spring to help with the insulation.  The bushel baskets and boxes are airing out to be ready for this years harvest.  I'll never forget the summer Dave, Karl, Rose and I built this underground block box.  Hauling the blocks and cement every trip home from Duluth.  Mixing and hauling the cement by the wheelbarrow.  Placing the blocks and slathering the wet cement.  I can't remember how many days it took, but it seemed like too many!

Karl turned 19!  Yes he is growing a beard and will be off to the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota on the 31st.  He is rather excited about going as you might imagine. I think I am in for a bit of a shock as it will be the first time in 33 and a 1/2 years with no kids at home.  Yikes!  Good thing I started this blog!
ps  i thought i lost this blog post, in fact i was sure that i lost it while trying to use the spell check. i did not freak out, i took a nice hot bath instead, alright, i groaned and sighed a little when it first disappeared.  thanks Rose for helping me find it!

August 19, 2011 Brother John is Waking Up

 The bon voyage party for our friend Stephen was great fun!  He's the guy in the yellow shirt who is off to teach physics in Kazakstan. His wife, Dominique (black jacket), will join him in January.  I can hardly wait to hear what it's like living in Kazakstan.  It was a calm and rather warm night on the shores of Lake Superior.

 Dog training 101.  Selke, the 1 year old golden retriever, is finally retrieving the big dummies.  For a long time she wanted to bring them in by the string.  Now she will even switch directions, while swimming after a dummy,  and retrieve the other dummy, with just a whistle and a point. She will really get to prove herself this duck hunting season.

Can you see it?  A pumpkin!  Rose can you believe it!  And it's really big!  Just wait till it turns orange!

 While Dave was cutting down another section of the invasive caragana he also cut a pin cherry tree.  I harvested the fruit and will make jelly from the juice.  The caragana tends to spread everywhere so every year we fight the spread by taking back the land a little at a time.  OK, so I need 12 cups of pin cherries and I only have 6.  I went searching for more pin cherry tress and couldn't find a one.  Maybe I'll combine them with...

 Blueberries!  My friend Dominique, whose husband is going to Kazakstan, and I went blueberry picking up the Trail yesterday.  "Up the Trail" meaning an hour up the Gunflint Trail, the longest bus ride in the state, to the primo local blueberry picking site.  A result of the 2007 Ham Lake Fire which burned a total of 75,000 acres and left conditions welcome by berries enjoyed by bears and people alike.

 I pick berries quickly which means they need picking over before they are washed and eaten or frozen.

 Our pretty kitty who adopted us.  Rose really, really wanted a kitty!  We were determined not to have a cat until this one moved in to the unfinished barn.  I'll tell you the story later.

My brother John is finally waking up!  His recovery from the July 31st motorcycle accident has been complicated and of course there is lots of recovery ahead. My brother Terry knows all about this as he is three years out from his equally serious motorcycle encounter with a guard rail accident.  Thanks to doctors and nurses everywhere who make the difference between life and death for so many, but especially my brothers.

Harvest Has Begun

 I have never harvested the gooseberries growing out back until this year.

 The raspberry/gooseberry jam, I guess that would make it "rooseberry jam" is way better than plain old raspberry.  John, I will bring some out when I come to keep you company once you are home from the hospital.

 Fresh parsley has taken the place of oregano drying for winter use.

 Beans, beans, beans! Every day I'll be picking beans, blanching and freezing.  Of course you miss some every day.  Those get cut up, blanched, frozen and finally used in soup.  I steamed some tonight to use in a cucumber, onion, tomato and bean salad to take to Stephen's going away party at the beach.  We're skipping the kayaks and taking chairs!

I'm not sure you can see the "harvest" of dog hair!  Thanks to Karl, Lady will be just a little bit cooler in the days to come.  Lady is a mix of Australian Shepard and Golden Retriever.  She is my pay and does all the chores with me as well as being my companion of every neighborgood horsey ride. 

Off to the party!

Home Again

Awaiting my return, my husband, the garden and the critters.  After picking produce, primarily green beans but also a beautiful cabbage, a few carrots and cherry tomatoes and funny looking cauliflower, I spent the night freezing the beans and watching, sort of anyway, a netflix movie.

 My young layers, normally quite shy, approached with quite a bit of interest as I sat in the grass to get a photo of them.  They are one of my favorite breeds, Silver Laced Wyandottes, the original Wyandotte.  It's an American breed with a close-fitting rose comb which doesn't seem to mind the cold winters.

 Phantom, the gray Welsh Pony, and Zan, the bay Quarter Horse, always greet me with expectations of food and, or, bug dope.

The four and a half week old "meat birds" are happily settled in their chicken tractor.  Having only a dozen this year will make butchering day a bit easier.

Dave thinks we have many years worth of beans frozen already.  I'm just thrilled to be caught up!