10 14 2012 - Fall Errands Galore

We had decided that Saturday the 13th was a day of errands.

We needed to go to the dump and drop off bags collected since June.

Then to Renew Salvage for some 2x6 and 2X4 lumber to build some raised beds for next year and a compost bin.  While at Renew we also found an old end table. We have an old enamelware table top we wanted to put on a table to use out on the deck.

http://renewsalvage.org

We had a neighbor build an overhang for the garage side door while we were on vacation last month, so we stopped at the Sherwin-Williams store to pick up some Pine Needle stain.  This is the same color we used in 1998 to stain the house, garage and woodshed as each was built over the years.

We then drove to the Taft cemetery in West Dummerston on Route 30 and took photos of 3 stones for Find A Grave requests.  I always enjoy taking photos of cemetery stones for folks who live far away and can’t get here to Vermont to see their grandparents, great grands or older memorial stones.  These requests had been made back in November and December of 2011.

After we had finished photographing stones we drove to Newfane to Duttons to pick up corn on the cob, butternut squash, acorn squash, tomatoes and lemons.  

We then drove to Dover to Brown’s Sugar Shak to pick up some maple syrup.  Picked up a couple quarts then came home.

After the truck was emptied and the garden cart filled with goodies to bring into the house, we took the spindled top shelf off of the table and the spindles were pulled out. Then Kirsten screwed the enamelware top on to the maple table.

New Table created by Kirsten

old table on the left and new table on right

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Sunday the 14th of October, 2012

Today we got up and I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast with a few blackberries tossed in for good measure. Just perfect with our new syrup we picked up yesterday.

After breakfast was over, I pulled out a cutting board, sharp knife and a big steel kettle.  I cut up the tomatoes I’d bought yesterday, added the CSA onions from a couple weeks ago and some of the garlic I had grown last year.

My garlic is pretty tiny, I think that is because there was a mix-up with the place I bought it from last year (they sent the first order to someone at my address but in Brattleboro) then took 3 weeks to get another order sent to me at my address.  So it was late November  before I got the garlic planted.

However, the garlic is pretty big on flavor, so I like to add it to stir fry or todays Tomato Sauce.

this year's garlic 

CSA onions

Tomatoes ready to stew

I made a light tomato sauce with tomatoes, garlic, onions, minced carrots, minced celery and olive oil, it actually boiled down into a lovely stew mixture.  Will split in half and freeze part of it and add some rice to the rest for tonight’s supper.

As things start to calm down for Fall chores, it will be time to get back into family history and some of my vacation homework from September as well as the earlier May vacation.  

10 7 2012 - Weekend Warriors

On Saturday the 6th, we decided we needed to dig the potatoes out of the containers, empty all gardens and plant the garlic.

First we started by getting the potatoes:

home grown potatoes

We strained the dirt through a rat wire strainer we’d made many years ago and collected all the potatoes.  I grew red, white and russet potatoes.  Some of the potatoes didn’t grow, but we got a 3rd of a pail full.

Radish Seeds

Next I noticed some odd pods.  Turns out a bunch of my radishes had gone to seed and I had radish seed pods.

I collected them and will dry them to either grow for next year or to try sprouting this winter.

Kind of spicy - but very tasty.

Finally, we pulled all the basil up and emptied out the containers it was growing in as well.

We made pesto with it, but it was kind of bitter.

However each time this summer we made pesto it was delicious and will grow more next year.

Next, we raked the raised beds and took the two kinds of garlic I had bought from Green Mountain Garlic.  Belarus which is a hard neck garlic and Silver white which is a softneck garlic.  Not sure of the difference, but we planted both in a raised bed and we’ll find out next spring/early summer.

bed on the left now has both kinds of garlic in it

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Then on Sunday we stacked a cord of wood.   This is the cord we needed to get stacked plus we had some we had pulled out of our electric cut from when the Electric Company sent some tree guys to come clean it out.

Kit and Tink

Tink Turner and Kit Dalrymple came over from Marlboro and Kitsie and Claire Maleney.  

Kit made a great supervisor at age 85 while the rest of us grabbed the two carts and pulled wood over to be stacked.

left is this years wood the right is building up next years

The entire cord was stacked and I made a veggie Chowder.

I put in onions, garlic in a pot with some coconut oil to cook.  Then I added some potatoes and water.  After the potatoes became soft, I added some Tuscan sunset seasoning (italian type) and some vegan chicken broth.

I cut up some baby spinach and added some corn.  We were all pretty hungry and ate the entire pot down before I remembered to take a pictures.   LOL!

When I woke up on Monday morning I found my legs were pretty tight and sore, but we got a good amount of our fall work done and that feels good.  It helps to have friends and family to help get a job done.