mudpies's Blog

Canning pears
Sep 8, 2009 | 5:10 AM PST
Tags: apple , pears , holding bed , weeding , cucumbers

Well, folks, I didn't make all those horrible little apples into pies.  I did make one apple crisp and one apple pie for the couple who brought me the darned things.  The rest are feeding the deer at our farm.

On Saturday, I drove 60 miles to buy a bushel of cucumbers.  They're very scarce this year because of the wretched cucumber beetles spreading bacterial wilt.  I didn't call ahead because I know this farmer always has lots of cukes.  WRONG!!  He had lots, but sold every one at market.  He's promised me a bushel tomorrow, but I'll have to drive all that distance again.

On Sunday, I went to my favourite apple orchard which is, thankfully, only about 8 miles from here.  I wanted a half bushel of Courtlands, but they weren't ready yet, so I bought a six-quart basket of Lyman's Large Summer apples.  The owner of the orchard is a really nice gentleman, but he isn't a very good salesman.  He warned me I'd be disappointed in them.  I made up a pudding for last night's dinner and it was perfectly acceptable, but not as good as it would have been with Courtlands.  Ah well, I've plenty to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks till they are ready.

Yesterday I worked at cleaning up my holding bed.  It had gotten quite weedy.  I consider the first weeding in the spring and the last one in late summer / early autumn to be the most important of the year.  I try to get every last weed out then.  It makes life easier for the remainder of the year.  I didn't wear gloves so that I could pinch out tiny seedlings.  As a result, my hands and wrists are quite sore from exposure to stinging nettle.

After I left the farm, C discovered that the pears were ready to be picked.  He picked all he could reach from the ground - 2 five-gallon pails full.  So most of today will be devoted to canning pears.  It's a real pain now, but they'll be delicious come winter.

Pickerel for dinner
Jun 22, 2009 | 4:53 PM PST
Tags: pickerel , cucumbers , cucumber beetles , herbicide , pesticide , Strawberries , pears , potato , Colorado potato beetle , carrots

C came home with several nice pickerel (walleye) from his fishing trip.  What a treat!

It's very warm here today - upwards of 80 degrees.  I know that's relatively mild to some of you southerners, but the sudden change in the weather from cool and wet to very warm  makes it seem even warmer.  I don't think I had a single mosquito bite today, but the horseflies were out in droves.  I think the change in the weather made them less alert than usual, because I was able to smack three of them - after they bit me, of course.

We went to the farm and discovered that our cukes are up.  Now if I can only keep those darned beetles at bay.  Ontario has strict new laws about pesticides and herbicides, so I can no longer buy Sevin or malathion.  There are a couple of pumpkins up, and a few buttercup squash, but no sign of my gourds yet.  C ate the first strawberry from our newly planted patch.  We had to till up the old patch last fall.  The weeds had taken over.   I'll have to wait till next year to get any quantity.  We've always had more strawberries than we could eat ourselves, so I resent having to buy them, but C and a couple of my sons-in-law plus a lot of grandkids can't be deprived of home made strawberry jam.  Pears are beginning to form on one of our trees.  The other tree, which is a year older (12) has never borne fruit.  I'm guessing it's because it takes the brunt of the wind and the blossoms get blown off, but that's just my best guess.  Most of our spuds are up and so far we've only found three potato bugs.  They're sneaky little devils, though.  We have to watch carefully.  C squishes them, but I'm too squeamish unless I have gloves on.  I drown them in a bucket of water.  We're going to have to replant carrots.  For the first time in 12 years, the soil *sandy loam) was too wet for the initial planting.

I spent most of the afternoon tidying up my shade bed and another area adjacent to our shed.  I turned the soil in that area last year so C wouldn't have to go at it with the whipper snipper.  I put in a few perennials, but for the most part I intend to fill it with self-seeding plants:  hollyhocks (or outhouse plants, as my mom calls them), bachelor buttons, forget-me-nots, etc.  There's still a lot of weed seed in that bed, especially stinging nettle, so my hands are sore this evening.  I was too impatient to put gloves on.  DUH!!  I was happy to note that plantain leaves crushed and rubbed on the affected area provide relief from the stinging, thanks to LynnChristo's blog.

While I was working on my shade bed, I came across a large paw print - way too large to be that of most dogs, but not as large as a bear print.  Besides we don't have bears in this area, anyway.  I showed it to C who was as puzzled as I was.   We considered and rejected coyotes.  The print was too large.  As I worked my way along the bed, I came upon a second print - a little larger than the first and not as well defined.  After working away all afternoon and upon closer inspection, the answer finally dawned on me!  I'm pretty sure it's a grandchild print!  If you remember, I created that bed using the lasagna method.  The soil's still very light and spongy. so a child's foot  would sink down into it and expand in size.  I expect my step-son took his brood to the farm to let off some steam, and in their exuberance, one of them ran into my garden.  I also expect that the little rascal got yelled at - hence, only two footprints.

I'm so glad I found this site - great members and great solutions ! ! !  Take care, all.