This was a landmark temperature a couple of mornings ago....it spells Sheet Shock.l That's when we have not changed over from percale to flannel sheets and getting into bed when you keep the windows open for the cool air....results in YIKES!!!!!!!!! SHEET SHOCK!!
The lower temperatures also herald the arrival of some other harvesting delights.
I love digging potatoes...HELPING to dig potatoes. MM is the chief potato digger here JOTOLR. It's like a treasure hunt--maybe even digging for gold!
These are Red Pontiacs. We also grew Russet Nuggets and German Butterballs. All three are important components of our winter sustenance!
Football (almost our single nod to television) and POPCORN! Orville Reddenbacher's isn't as good. This particular variety needs no butter. It's called Dutch Butter-flavored...and by golly, it is! Yeah, I know....we have homemade butter and yet decline to add it to popcorn? We can, if we want...sometimes yes, sometimes no. Our butter is soooooo good, it's hard to resist! But, as I said, we can...just add a little salt and we're in heaven!
These are October beans. A little early, but they're finished and ready for the pot. We had some for dinner the other night. Have I mentioned that we dry all the remaining "green" beans for dried beans? We first pull the vines and put them on black plastic to dry sufficiently; pull the pods off the vines; stomp the pods to free the beans, wait for a windy day for winnowing, let the wind (or if one is impatient--a fan) blow off the chaff, and put them in a bucket for winter storage and eating. We probably have about 5 gallons of October beans this year. Plus some Providers (the variety of green bean we grew).
These are Hazel Nuts. They're about the size of a quarter and this year's harvest has been a bonanza. They're not quite ready to eat yet. First, they need to be shelled. Then, I bake them in a 350-degree oven for about 10-15 minutes whereupon the (very bitter) inner skin is rubbed off. After that, they are delicious! I make a topping for pumpkin pie that needs nuts. Same with Apple Crisp...and it's sometimes nice to sprinkle a few over baked squash....coming up!
So, we're into the last of the harvest. Still have new mustard greens, spinach, turnips, kale, multiplier onions, parsnips, beets, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and a few tomatoes still in the garden. The beat goes on!
Posts
OK Baked squash with hazelnuts? More ingredients please!!!
ReplyDeleteElora -- no wonder you are so healthy and able -- all that wonderful home grown food does it -- I am sure. Plus the great exercise you get from running a farm. Great post --barbara
ReplyDeleteJust had a laugh at your sheet shock at the start of the post. I spent last night sleepless and cursing the fact that I was so hot with flannel sheets on the bed - time to change!
ReplyDeleteIsn't potato digging one of the most fun things of the harvest? I loved it as a child and still can't wait to scrabble around to see what's underneath there - we even found new potatoes in the compost heap this winter as it was so warm in there!
Have been enjoying your posts on plastic too - it still concerns me though that I see a lot people switching to re-usable bags but they seem to be cheap ones of man made material which I suspect also takes a long time to break down and is less than ideal - you've prompted me to find out more about them. I make quick and easy cloth bags out of recycled fabrics - old sheets, curtains, denim etc and often get comments on them. I'm planing on making a few to sell through a friends shop she is opening in November.
Happy harvesting with love from the shaky isles :-)
Julia
Your harvest sounds great! We haven't dug our potatoes yet -- it's always such fun.
ReplyDelete