Good Morning All - and wishing all of our wonderful fathers here a very Happy Father's Day!
It's misting just a bit of rain this morning - not even enough to get the rain gauge damp! - so I'm going to go out in a bit and try to get the last few things planted in the garden - second row of green/wax beans, beets for greens, cucumbers. I need to mix some of the composted manure from the sale barn with a bag of potting soil to finish filling out a raised bed so that I can get the watermelons planted. I may also till a strip out near the clothesline to plant sunflowers. I did get the main garden weeded yesterday and used the hoe to make furrows where I plan to plant, but got overheated hand weeding an herb bed later on and had to stop with that for the day.
I'm letting a couple of poke plants grow up in the flower bed by the side porch - I'll probably cut the seed heads off all but one; not that much of a fan of poke sallet since it's time intensive to get safe enough to eat, but can't argue that it would be good to have around if needs be. The lemon balm is in fine form so I need to cut some and hang it to dry - once it is dry outside again; got 4 days of rain in the forecast but I'm not complaining as the plants need it. I probably need to take the buggy and drive around to see if the blackberries are starting to ripen yet - my raspberries are still red and they come in near the same time. The elderberries are all blooming; looks like we'll have a decent crop of those this year - I need to make more juice to can. Gotta wonder if Great Grandpa's elderberry wine didn't help him during the flu epidemic... the cemeteries down home are full of headstones with from 1917-18, including Great Grandma's - she didn't drink alcohol. I've also got a fine patch of plantain out where the north garden was 2 years ago - both wide and narrow leaf that I probably ought to pick some of to dry just in case. I've also got some odd shaggy mushrooms coming up out in the pile of composted manure from the sale barn - I'll just be chopping those up with the hoe and mixing them back in.
I've got my name on the list at the nearby orchard for 2 bushels of peaches this year; I'm going to can them when Hubby isn't home so that he can't give me nonsense about canning them in heavy syrup. I've also got a couple of bags of black cherries in the fridge that I'm going to use to make black cherry jam on my next day off work. Haven't walked out to the orchard to see how the cherry trees did - all those trees need replaced next year; I will have to put it on my list. I'd like to dig the holes early and make compost in them to get them off to a good start.
A grocery store in a nearby town has their brand of ketchup on sale for a very good price - 77 cents/24 oz, so I will try to pick up a dozen bottles. I use it to make home canned pork 'n beans, and - per Hubby, we are just about out (and how that happened, I do not know!!) They are so easy to make - bring the beans up to a boil, boil ten minutes, slap the lid on the pot and let 'em set an hour or so. Strain the beans out into jars, mix 8-10 cups of bean broth with a 24 oz bottle of catsup and a heaping spoonful of seasoned salt. Put a piece of fat bacon on top of the beans, ladle over the seasoned broth, wipe rim, add lid and band, pressure can at 10# for 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts. Make sure you have plenty of liquid in the jars since the canning time is so long.
We've been having some problems with masked marauders on the porch; so far the score is 4/0 with us on the winning side. Could be worse, Hubby's Aunt sent a photo of a bear on her porch.... I'm usually live and let live, but dug up plants, broken pots, and torn down hummingbird feeders tend to bring out my less gentle side.
Well, I have to work tonight and that means taking a nap this afternoon, so I reckon I'd better get out and start getting things done. You folks all take care, stay safe out there!!
It's misting just a bit of rain this morning - not even enough to get the rain gauge damp! - so I'm going to go out in a bit and try to get the last few things planted in the garden - second row of green/wax beans, beets for greens, cucumbers. I need to mix some of the composted manure from the sale barn with a bag of potting soil to finish filling out a raised bed so that I can get the watermelons planted. I may also till a strip out near the clothesline to plant sunflowers. I did get the main garden weeded yesterday and used the hoe to make furrows where I plan to plant, but got overheated hand weeding an herb bed later on and had to stop with that for the day.
I'm letting a couple of poke plants grow up in the flower bed by the side porch - I'll probably cut the seed heads off all but one; not that much of a fan of poke sallet since it's time intensive to get safe enough to eat, but can't argue that it would be good to have around if needs be. The lemon balm is in fine form so I need to cut some and hang it to dry - once it is dry outside again; got 4 days of rain in the forecast but I'm not complaining as the plants need it. I probably need to take the buggy and drive around to see if the blackberries are starting to ripen yet - my raspberries are still red and they come in near the same time. The elderberries are all blooming; looks like we'll have a decent crop of those this year - I need to make more juice to can. Gotta wonder if Great Grandpa's elderberry wine didn't help him during the flu epidemic... the cemeteries down home are full of headstones with from 1917-18, including Great Grandma's - she didn't drink alcohol. I've also got a fine patch of plantain out where the north garden was 2 years ago - both wide and narrow leaf that I probably ought to pick some of to dry just in case. I've also got some odd shaggy mushrooms coming up out in the pile of composted manure from the sale barn - I'll just be chopping those up with the hoe and mixing them back in.
I've got my name on the list at the nearby orchard for 2 bushels of peaches this year; I'm going to can them when Hubby isn't home so that he can't give me nonsense about canning them in heavy syrup. I've also got a couple of bags of black cherries in the fridge that I'm going to use to make black cherry jam on my next day off work. Haven't walked out to the orchard to see how the cherry trees did - all those trees need replaced next year; I will have to put it on my list. I'd like to dig the holes early and make compost in them to get them off to a good start.
A grocery store in a nearby town has their brand of ketchup on sale for a very good price - 77 cents/24 oz, so I will try to pick up a dozen bottles. I use it to make home canned pork 'n beans, and - per Hubby, we are just about out (and how that happened, I do not know!!) They are so easy to make - bring the beans up to a boil, boil ten minutes, slap the lid on the pot and let 'em set an hour or so. Strain the beans out into jars, mix 8-10 cups of bean broth with a 24 oz bottle of catsup and a heaping spoonful of seasoned salt. Put a piece of fat bacon on top of the beans, ladle over the seasoned broth, wipe rim, add lid and band, pressure can at 10# for 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts. Make sure you have plenty of liquid in the jars since the canning time is so long.
We've been having some problems with masked marauders on the porch; so far the score is 4/0 with us on the winning side. Could be worse, Hubby's Aunt sent a photo of a bear on her porch.... I'm usually live and let live, but dug up plants, broken pots, and torn down hummingbird feeders tend to bring out my less gentle side.
Well, I have to work tonight and that means taking a nap this afternoon, so I reckon I'd better get out and start getting things done. You folks all take care, stay safe out there!!
