Kraut is finished!

 Literally down to our last 6 qt. jars!  I do have some old mayo jars in the garage, but really hesitate using them for canning, we typically use them for  storing dried foods and seeds.

 After removing the plate, this is what it looks like and I wish you could smell it, Ummmm, Ummmm! Now Mike and Cortney don't agree that it smells good, LOL!!!!   It's an acquired smell and taste I guess.

 Simmering on the wood stove to heat up for canning with jars sterilizing in the pan behind.

 Here are some of the jars of oven roasted tomatoes, milled and cooked down into a paste and 5 of the 6 qts. of kraut. One of the jars went right into the refrigerator for eating ASAP!

One more batch of tomatoes and we'll be all through canning, I just hope and pray we empty enough jars in time to can the last batch of sauce*wink*   Such a problem to have*wink*

It's still snowing here, we have approx. 12-14" of snow and it's due to get bitter cold tonight, -4F and will stick around for the next several days, clearing out by Thanksgiving. Day.

Whoot, Whoot! we just sold our last turkey, making 7 sold this year! We're hoping people will like them enough to want one ever year! If our hens don't have better success setting and hatching, we'll purchase poults and let them raise them( sneak them under them on the nests at night)

I think we'll concentrate on marketing our turkeys and garlic and the rest we'll just raise for our own uses. Both the turkeys and garlic seem to be a good selling products for us.  :o)

Well, it's time for evening chore, since the time change it's dark here by 4:30pm*sigh* 
Blessings for your Sunday

Real life moments,our dirty little secrets...

Yes, in REAL life the house gets left behind when we're busy harvesting, preserving and clean up the garden.

Okay in our defense,this is just after a week of no dusting( which BTW I hate doing) One of the downsides of country living, opening windows, having indoor pets, a wood stove and well... a 100yr old house*sigh*

 Okay this is the top of the wood cook stove and I just wiped it off yesterday, it drives me nuts some days.

 Evidence of indoor pets, now mind you we just swept and vacuumed 3 days ago! Yet just a day or so after we clean house we could literally assemble a whole new pet from the hair against the baseboards and in the corners.  We brush the dogs and miss kitty regularly but we still have hair, the sacrifice we make to have our beloved pets*wink*

 Okay now, this is Mike's Buffalo mount, we call her Bertha. Before moving here to our homestead, she hung in our bedroom, but here she fits well in the living room. She is a tell tale sign of when it's time to dust, again this is just after a week.*sigh*  Sooooo..... now you all know our dirty little secrets, our place is NOT always spic and span clean, although most days it is picked up and looks organized :o)

 Below are pictures from in and around our place this morning. Yesterday we collected our Kentucky Wonder bean pods that were well on their way to being dry. There are still far more on the vines still drying. We collect these for seed as well as......

 to use in soups and casseroles....... They are a dried bean after all *wink*

 Cortney had some odds and ends Painted Mountain corn to finish drying, so laid them on top our rain barrels( which are empty in prep. for winter)

 Another tell tale sign of a morning activity....

 Whole wheat bread making for the week.

 These are tomatoes harvested day before yesterday, washed and ready to be run through the Victorio Mill today. The tomato I'm holding is a Brandywine tomato and thanks to our hoop house they are all lovely this year and so large too!  The lighter tomatoes in the bowl are our White Tomesol and they aren't quite ripe yet, they are white and have a very low acid flavor. We just plant them for shock factor*wink*

 Here is today's harvest, not all are completely ripe, so.... will be washed dried and left out to finish ripening on the counter or in the windowsill.

 Here is a shot of the ones ripe enough to add with those harvested day before. All combined it should net us a nice stock pot full of sauce to be simmered down and canned. Of course we eat them fresh as well. :o)

 Our counter space is limited and during this time of year they become even more limited.  This is when our island table and wood cook stove top come in handy :o)

Okay now you know our dirty secrets, how about yours? *wink*

Blessings for your day :o)

This and that...

This is one batch of each; of the Plum Butter(left) and Plum Jelly(right)

The recipe is shared on yesterday's post.

A mix and match of assorted, end of the garden veggies.

                                            Here is our plan; as to what we'll make with our mix and match veggies.

                                          I'm going to make a batch of each, with the sweet and sour sauce, as well as, the
                                           spicier sauce.

                                          Our next door neighbor blessed us with a couple of surprises yesterday, the
                                           6- half gallon canning jars below .......

                                          and an "All American" canner large enough to hold them. They had two of the
                                          All American canners and have decided they really only NEED one. Plus,
                                          if by chance they may need to borrow it back I assured them we'd loan it to       
                                          them. :o)
                                          I am going to take it to the Extension Office in the city and have the gauge tested,
                                          it's a free service. If it needs to be replace we'll replace it. :o)

Blessings for your weekend.

So... sick of GREY!

We're so sick of Grey skies and cool temps!  This whole, "summer without summer" we've had maybe a dozen days into the 90'sF and only one day that hit 100F. I love bright sunshine, the crystal blue Montana skies, and this summer we've had very little of either.*sigh* Today's high is forecasted to be 64F. When the above photo was taken this morning it was 48F<Brrrrrrr...> and it rained off and on all night, so it's a damp cold.

The animals are showing signs of getting in their winter coats and the chickens and turkeys( crazy birds) are molting. They do this ever year and I know it's linked to the decreasing daylight but it seems crazy to be walking around half naked when winter is just around the corner, LOL!

Thank the Lord we finally, got it together, to build our greenhouse, it's been such a blessing! The tomato plants are 7ft+ tall and LOADED with beautiful HUGE( green still, but they are ripening*wink*) tomatoes. Of course the peppers and eggplant are huge and producing beautifully too.  I did manage to plant some cantaloupe in the greenhouse but because the tomato plants grew so large, they are fighting for light and space, so not sure we'll get to harvest any this year. It's been a learning experience and I've taken good notes for future reference. We didn't have to use any fans to help ventilate the greenhouse this summer, using the roll up sides and windows worked well. Although if we do get a normal summer I'm sure we will have to use exhaust fans to regulate the inside temperature better.

Well, I'm off to  make and bake some bread and process a few more pints of Basil Dilly Beans. It's still not cool enough to warrant a fire in the wood cook stove, but I'm anxiously awaiting the day we can!  We even have our kindling bundles ready and small firewood handy*wink* For us it is a blessing to have the different seasons, each holding it's own activities and events, which we look forward to. I'm looking forward to winter, as this is my time to catch up on reading, working on crafts and I pray this winter a time to begin my adventure in Quilting! I've been collecting material and pattern books from garage sales and secondhand stores. I don't want to quilt like the new quilts are being made, but rather piece it using the treadle sewing machine and quilt it by hand, the way my Grandma  and so many Grandma's did it! I'm starting with a couple of small projects and then hope to finish my( U-hummm window quilts, started something like 4 yrs ago), then move on to maybe a small baby sized quilt before tackling any large projects.

Blessing for your day! :o)

BPA free, reusable canning lids These have been around since the early 70's but as usual I'm just finding out about them, via my Backwoods Home Magazine.  I read the testimonials and while they seem wonderful I'm going to order a 3 dozen box of each regular and widemouth and give them a try myself. If they prove good I'll look into ordering 500+( a mix of each reg. and widemouth) Just thought there may be others who haven't heard of Tattler reusable canning lids.

They're up!

Well the watermelon, Okra, most of the tomatoes, Basil, Lemon Basil, Sage, Anise Hyssop, Fenugreek, Fennel, early and late cabbage and a few flowers are all up. I'm so pleased, because last year we had to replant twice, and still had poor germination. So far the Roma, Pink Egg, Watermelon Beefsteak and Brandywine have about a 95% germination, the Okra has 100% germination and the watermelon( Golden Midget and Sugar Baby) have a 98% germination. The herbs that are up have a 96%+ germination; YEAH!!!!! Now I'm crossing my fingers with the Rosemary and a few of the other new herbs we ordered this season, hoping by next week we see some progress. Our Red Rock Cabbage has not germinated at all, neither have the peppers( sweet or hot).
Early cabbage in the foreground, and Okra, then in background tomato.
Tomatoes, more popped through today!
Callie, snuck into the outside greenhouse and rested her weary bones in a
planter. Lucky for her nothing is planted out there yet! She's not dumb, the
greenhouse was 85F that day!

Casino posing for a not so candid shot, doesn't he look thrilled?
Tuffy posing on top of the oak rain barrels. He loves to jump up onto them.

We've been enjoying the warmer temps., today was 62F. What a blessed day to hang clothes on the line. We've BBQ 'ed twice in the last couple of weeks, taking advantage of the longer daylight and the mild evenings. Tonight we had BBQ 'ed, rib steak, baked potatoes( cooked on the grill), corn( from the freezer) and macaroni and cheese, leftover from lunch. For dessert we each had three scoops of vanilla ice cream( store bought, not homemade :o( ) with chocolate topping.

Not a lot new going on, just catching up on chores and cleaning the house. Yesterday we picked up our Azure Standard order and today I had to put it all away and reorganized the downstairs pantry. I'm still suffering from sticker shock, it's been over a year since our last Azure Standard order and let me tell you their price increased! Somethings not so much, but other things were ridiculous increases and I simply refused to purchase those items. Most of what we purchased was basic pantry items; honey, organic raw cane sugar, dried beans, liquid soap( castile), vanilla beans, sea salt, etc..... While I'm glad to be restocked I'm not looking forward to paying the bill. It could be worse, much worse if we eat a lot of prepared food items instead of cooking from scratch.

Potatoes are holding up well and we're eating them as often as I can include them in a meal. I am looking into canning the little potatoes and possibly dehydrating some sliced, but found out they turn a brownish grey. I'm going to try soaking them in lemon juice or cider vinegar water first before dehydrating. I'm still canning pickled carrots and am looking into a carrot relish, to make the best use of the remaining carrots in the cellar. There are still 3 heads of cabbage to be used up, as well as approx 20lbs of onions, maybe more. I'd like to dehydrate some of the onions, but need to do it outside. Then I'm going to try to powder them in the blender, for use in soups, casseroles and as seasoning in dips and dressings.

Some of the beans I ordered from Azure were organic pinto beans( 10lbs). Some I put in a container for storage and approx. 5lbs are soaking to be pressure canned tomorrow, this way they are so handy and can be made into refried bean dip, enchiladas, tacos,used in casseroles and soups.

We're expecting 25 White Plymouth Rock chicks on the 24-25 th, these are going to be raised for meat and as replacements for older hens we're going to cull for soup hens.

It's getting late and 5:30 seems to come quicker and quicker so will bid you all good evening. Blessings to each of you in this new week. :o)

The energizer bunny is in serious.....

need of a recharge! I told Mike a few days ago I feel as if I could sleep for a week, no lie! Okay we're still canning, PTL, and working on garden clean up. The tomatoes in the bushel basket are ripening quicker than I'd hoped, we're able to run a batch through the Victorio Mill every other day. Yesterday Cortney and I decided Tomato Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches sounded good for supper, so we milled the tomatoes that were ripe and cooked down, adding seasoning and spices to get that rich homemade tomato soup taste. Just before serving we add a touch of table cream or heavy whipping cream to each bowl and stir in well. YUM, YUM! It hit the spot and what was left over I canned in 4 pint jars yesterday. along with qt. jars of apple sauce. Tomato Soup 4c. chopped tomatoes 3-1/2 c. chopped onion 2-1/2 c. chopped celery( I substituted in 1Tbsp. celery seed) 2c, sweet pepper 1c. sliced carrot 5 bay leaves( I substituted in 1 Tbsp. sweet basil and only added 2 bay leaves) 1/2 tsp ground clove 2 cloves minced garlic 1/4 c. brown sugar( I reduced this as 98% of our tomatoes were Roma and quite sweet on there own, suit this to your taste) 2 tsp sea salt Combine tomatoes, onion, celery, peppers, carrots, and herbs and spices in large pot and simmer until veggies are tender. Puree' in blender and return to pot adding sugar and salt, simmer 15 min. and taste test. To can ladle into hot sterilized jars leaving 1" head space. Process 20 minutes for lints and 30 min. for quarts at the needed pounds needed for your altitude( ours is 12lbs) Enjoy :o) Today we have so much to do, because there is a storm front moving in tonight. Our daytime temps. today are to be in the mid 80's F and the remainder of the week into the low 50'sF. We have apples to pick up before mowing the orchard areas. Mike mowed the main yard on Sunday while Cortney and attended a candle party and a Pampered Chef party. We've run out of bushel basket and buckets, so have to dump a basket of apples in our kitchen sinks. Laundry is about half finished and I'd like to set a goal to get it completely finished today and hung on the lines to dry before bad weather hits, otherwise they will be on drying racks around the house. We need to dig spuds and carrots and collect the remaining onions left out to dry before adding them to the cellar. We have 15+ heads of cabbage to collect as well, but I think if we tarp them they'll fair well as they are a cold weather crop. It seems old man winter is getting a leg in the door, just as Fall has officially begun. It's fore casted later this week that we may get SNOW! Well, the washer is calling and we need to collect clothes from the lines before hanging the two loads we have waiting in the basket. The wind is blowing, so this is a blessing. Take care and praying your day is as productive as we pray ours is.*wink*

Still running, now I don't know if I'm coming or going, LOL!!!

Okay, I even forgot and did the pictures backward, go to the bottom
to see how it all began*sigh*
The stainless bowl has beans to large for canned green beans, but...
they work great for Dilly or Pickled Basil Beans. Here is the recipe;

Pickled Basil Beans

4lbs beans
1-3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
3-1/2 tsp. whole mustard seed
3-1/2 tsp dill seed
14 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of fresh Basil or 3-1/2 tsp dried Basil
5 c. apple cider vinegar
5 c. water
1/4 c. salt
Pack beans vertically in clean, sterile pint jars. To each jar
add 1/4 tsp red pepper,1/2 tsp. whole mustard seed, 1/2 tsp.
dill seed, 2 cloves garlic(crushed) and a sprig of fresh basil
or 1/2 tsp dried basil.
Combine water, vinegar and salt and bring to a full rolling
boil, add to jars filling to within 1/2 of rim. Seal and water
bath( on a full rolling boil) for 10 min.

Our first picking of sweetcorn. This is an OP, old fashioned variety

so not necessarily perfect and pretty, but ever so tasty! We have lots

coming and still have our late corn crop, tasseled and forming ears.

Our second batch of canned beans, our canner hold 7 qts. You can

see in the background, cukes green peppers and my two extra rubber

seals for the canner. BTW, we had this checked at the Extension

office and the gauge was right on, so we're good to go!

This is our third picking of the Kentucky Wonder pole beans. The bowl

in the background( plastic) is a Tupperware That's A Bowl and the

stainless steel bowl is quite large too. We netted 14 qts of beans

and the bowl of larger beans for pickling.

On today's agenda:

Wash clothes, about 7 loads because we bought some clothes at a

secondhand store yesterday.

Change sheets on beds

Morning chores

Make bread, an extra batch, to make hamburger buns

( to put in the freezer) for Cortney's Graduation BBQ on Sept. 5th

Mow the yard

Get water going in the yard and garden,Especially the cantaloupe,

corn, cukes and russet potatoes.

Mail Cortney's Graduation announcements

Get dinner going, so it's ready by 6:30 pm.

We do have beautiful pictures to share from Cortney's trip to,

Yellowstone National Park but need to downsize them before

putting on here. Some are, action packed white water rafting

and zip line riding!

See you soon!

Never Done Kelle *wink*

This is the telephone pole flowerbed. I posted pictures awhile back
and just look at it now. The flowers on the right side of the pole(tall
ones), they are Maximilian sunflowers and won't bloom until mid to late
Sept.

This is one of my favorite canning books, it has recipes with all natural

ingredients, such as making jam and jelly with honey instead of sugar.

There is also a Stocking Up II and a volume III as well. If you might find

a volume 1 they are a great homestead tool!

Some more pints of pickled beets, a few fresh green peppers, banana

peppers, cucumbers and a small tomato( this mornings picks) The

1/2 bushel basket has new potatoes, dug last Friday.

A large enough harvest of beans( 1/2 bushel) to mess with canning.

They're coming on like gang busters, and soon enough I'll be sick of

dealing with them.

I just have to remind myself of all the lovely homegrown, home

preserved foods for a long winter and well into Spring 2010.

Cortney's cat, Callie taking a moment to pose for a quick picture, then

right back to mousing

I can't seem to get both these boys to look at the camera at the same

time, so this is the best of three I took. Casino(left) and Tuffy are not

loyal companions, they are our guard dogs( Casino is the mouth piece,

Tuffy the muscle*wink*) Tuffy is the working dog and he is fairly good

at herding the cows when we need him to, especially for no formal

training.

Mike's latest, "Honey Do!" He; with a bit of help now and again from

me, built this lean-to for storage of our firewood. YEAH! no more frozen

tarps for Cortney and I to fight all winter.

Okay, yes that is Kosha weed and yes it is tall, but it's left on purpose

for the Fall feeder pigs. Mike has to move one side of the pig pen in a

about a foot. To the left is their hut and when it's cold, it's stuffed full of

straw and you can't see a pig one, until they hear the slop bucket, LOL!

Click to enlarge. You'll be able to see all the beautiful colors in the front

wildflower bed and in the beds along the sidewalk. I think in the 6-1/2

yrs. we've lived here this is the best our yard and gardens have looked.

:o)

Those Zinnias were a gift from a friend in NE, Hi Dawn! Aren't they

lovely?

A close up of some of the front wildflowers. I think next year it will be

better, as they reseed themselves for next Spring.

Here's what it looks like and let me tell you it's better than mowing in the

slant. This used to be a irrigation ditch and it is dangerous to ride on

a mower along it, so we always ended up mowing it with the push

mower.

Concord grapes, although not as plentiful this year. This is why you

should take advantage of bumper crops when you have them. We have

plenty of canned juice in the pantry.

The garden looks good, don't look at the weeds please*wink*. I think

we'll put our mini hoophouse over the tomatoes again this year.

It just hasn't been hot enough and on Sat. our fore casted high is

supposed to be 65F. I have a weird feeling Autumn is here. This has

been the summer with no summer*sigh*

I can't believe how tall some of the hollyhocks have gotten, I guess the

rain has helped them.

Still working in the greenhouse, these are new starts of some of our

favorite herbs. These will hopefull sustain us through the winter.

pictured is Sweet Basil.

Majoram and lettuce leaf basil
Our greenhouse salad planters, going to seed. Speaking of seeds, I

you are remembering to collect seed.

The tomatoes are doing well, giving us a few ripe fruit every day or so.

It is my plan to see if we can overwinter these in the house.

Sorry for the absence, but as I always say,"Life happened" and it will

happen again*wink, especially with harvest and canning in full swing.

I've been trying to keep up on all your blogs, but those with lots of

picture on each page,I'm having trouble getting them to

load quick enough, so will catch up with you at a later point when

things slow a bit. I am reading as fast as I can, but don't always have

the time to comment.

Take care and I will be back in touch, I promise.

Blessings to each of you.