A Taste of Fall

This morning was overcast and cool, not like the 95 and 100 degree weather we've been having the last couple weeks, and made me realize summer will be ending shortly. I look forward to the cool evenings and warm afternoons of fall, to tailgating and football games, to bright colored leaves and the smell of woodsmoke. It will be Miss M's first fall and I can't wait for Halloween and decorating the house. I know she won't remember any of it but the great thing I've found in having a baby is that it allows you to be a kid again. I can't wait to get out all my festival pretties, they haven't been used in years.

But, before fall gets here we still have at least two months of good, warm weather for the crops to grow. Grow babies grow!!!

With the cold season coming I am trying to decide how to over-winter the garden. My first option is to plant a cover crop which will keep weeds from gaining a foothold and hopefully keep the garden from becoming a mud hole in the winter rains. Winter rye seems to be the best bet but I'm not sure if the plants are tilled under before they are ripe or if they are harvested in the spring and then tilled under. I'm betting it's before they are ripe-though it would be nice to get a rye crop and then all the summer fruits and veggies.

My other option is to cover everything with a black tarp. Providing I do this while there is still some autumn warmth it could bake the ground, killing off any weeds and leftover seeds. I don't think this will keep the garden from becoming muddy though, and with Ko-dog's love of mud and the lack of a good fence I'm afraid most of the garden will end up in the house before spring returns.

Well, I still have a couple months to determine the best route. Any suggestions?

Slow growth

The late start to summer is showing in the garden. The corn should be producing silk but it's barely four feet tall and not a sign of an ear anywhere. The beans are very small but they are starting to produce tiny green pods and the zucchini has bright yellow flowers all over it. The tomatoes are the real winners, covered with flowers-if even half of the blooms become fruit we will have a bumper crop.

In other news, I have found a perfect french bread recipe that is better than store-bought, and simple to make to boot:

And...(drumroll)... I have also taken the big leap of quitting my job to stay home and be a full-time mom to Miss M. It's a little scary to not have the income coming in but with careful budgeting and some sacrifices everything is comfortable. I am one very happy and lucky girl.

Grow babies grow!

The garden is finished except for updating the fencing and putting in the decorative border. Yay! Transplanted all the seedlings to their new homes, hoping that it's not too late in the season for them to produce. The corn seems especially happy to be in the ground rather than in their small containers-they were getting rather root bound. Next year will be easier and hopefully the weather will be more cooperative. Today it's supposed to get to 95 degrees, finally it seems like summer is here to stay!

New career!

A couple days ago we finally took my parent's advice and went to Cash and Carry. For those who've never been it's a wholesale store where you can buy in bulk, kinda like Costco but fewer products, larger bulk sizes and no membership. We came out with a 10 pound case of chicken breasts, a 20 pound hunk of beef, and 11 pounds of pork loins. I easily could have come out with boxes of cookies, the prices were so low, but since we are trying to lose weight I didn't think having 400 Oreos around would be helpful.

Once home I scrubbed down the big freezer and then sharpened the awesome knives Dad and Mom got us when Miss M was born. After watching a couple YouTube videos on carving steaks (it's been 10+ years since I've done any butchering and I didn't want to ruin anything) I got to cutting. Made a bit of a mess of the kitchen since it's really not set up for cutting up huge slabs of beef but it was so much fun!! I want to be a butcher now, there is something wonderful about taking a huge leg of cow and with a few slashes of a knife turn it into thick, juicy, perfectly marbled steaks ready for the grill.

From that 20 pound hunk we got 2 pounds of stew meat and about 10 one-inch steaks, all for under $30. Hubby BBQ'd some last night on his brand new grill and while they were a little more done than we like (still getting used to the new grill) the meat was tender and delirious. I doubt we'll buy pre-cut steaks again, you just can't beat the savings. I can't wait till we have the ranch and raise our own beef.

I did the same to the hunks of pork loin to get thick, boneless pork chops that we are going to cook tonight. They look wonderful, better than what we've been getting pre-cut in the store. For $17 we got about 25 chops with about 2 pounds of bits and pieces to use in stews. I've never made stew using pork but I found an interesting recipe using pork and sweet potatoes with lots of spices and peppers that looks very tasty-will let you know how it works out. 

Disappointed...

This summer has started out very cold and it seems to have wrecked the peppers-only one has sprouted. Same with the pumpkins and the melons, and none of the crookneck or spaghetti squashes have germinated. I've decided to not try replanting and just go with what did come up-it's the first year so I wasn't expecting a huge crop anyway. Thankfully most of the corn and all the tomatoes have made an appearance, I can't wait for fresh corn on the cob!

Since we don't really have the space for berries we have decided not to put in any canes, we just don't think they will do well. Instead this week-end we will take Miss M and hit up one of the U-Pick farms and get our year's supply. Right now strawberries are ripe, I haven't made jam in years but I'm thinking of picking enough to put up a couple jars. Should be fun.

Finally, sunshine!!

The temp hit 85 degrees, yay!! All the seedlings are exploding out of the earth, it looks like nearly ever seed germinated. The transplanted strawberries have tiny berries forming and the rose bushes are covered with flowers. Summer may finally be here!

Classes have finished and now I can focus more on the farm and Miss M. The house needs a thorough scrubbing after being neglected because of finals and Kay, our horse, has not been worked in months. She is getting fat on the fresh green grass and I need to burn off the rest of the preggie weight.

I've been trying new cooking experiments. For example, my first from scratch apple pie:

 Tastes wonderful but doesn't help in losing weight. I'm looking for more healthy dishes what with all the veggies that will be coming ripe soon, any suggestions?

And the winner is...

Lettuce! The lettuce are sprouting and man have they gone nuts. The entire tray is a mini-sea of green. Nothing else seems to be up yet but the weather has been cool. The rest shouldn't be too far behind.

All day it has been drizzling, a soft cool summer rain that gets everything wet and makes me wish I was a kid again so I could go jump in the mud puddles. The air smells clean and refreshed, though the rain has played havoc with the remaining snowball blooms-they are beginning to melt and scatter their petals all over. As much as I am enjoying the rain I can't wait for the summer heat and the taste of sweet, fresh, just picked corn on the cob.