Status Report: October 2024

Yep, it's already November 2nd.  All of this still applied in October though, and I'm really running behind lately 😄 so here's how things are going...

SITTING: Indoors, where it's warm. That will be the way it is for the next 6 months at least. I'll jazz it up a little with "sitting inside and the woodstove is going" over the winter but that's as about as adventuresome as we'll get until next spring.  To save on heating costs, I'll be using wood a lot more this year and I'm looking forward to that. Home just feels more homey, heated with wood. 💖

BEEN BUSY WITH: Lots and lots of mulching leaves & covering all my raised beds & pathways, finishing putting summer things away, planting garlic (62 cloves went in today - to be harvested first week of July), moving the hot tub into the "winter spa" (aka, the garage) and getting that set up for the winter, and making lots and lots (and lots) of soup.  The last week of October has sort of become known as Soup Week around here.  Soup for dinner, soup for leftovers, soup to freeze and soup to freeze dry. I don't use a pressure canner but you could easily prep it this way as well, to stock up for the winter months. It's a really great way to use up all those veggies you've harvested all summer that are taking up freezer space. It's also a really good way to meal prep for the next few weeks and months where a hearty bown of homemade soup is on the menu on those chilly fall and winter days.  The last couple of weeks I've tucked away Cheesy Ham Chowder, Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, Loaded Baked Potato Soup & Creamy Tomato Soup. I think the young folks might call this "soup maxxing". 😊

FEELING: US presidential election fatigue. Big time.  I suspect everyone is feeling it, at least in part. Hoping for the best, either way. But I have to say, I'm not feeling very optimistic.  Since I believe God both raises up leaders and takes them down for His purposes and for His glory, and also ordains each leader put into place... I'm going to just keep reminding myself to trust in Him.  He knows what He's doing, even when we have no idea.

THINKING: about my grandpa McKinsey.  Tomorrow 11.03 would have been his 115th birthday. Ironically, my very first blog post at this blog (now archived) 20+ years ago, was all about my grandpa's ICU salvation story as told by my brother, a year before he passed & met Jesus face to face. I last saw him 32 years ago, a week before he left this earth. We joked about things like we always did, my kids ran over to him in his lazyboy chair and hugged him while he patted their wee heads then gave them each a piece of saltwater taffy candy he always seemed to magically produce from some bowl near his chair, and then we smiled as we left after a pleasant visit. One of the last things he said to me as we were leaving that day was that he decided he'd stick around at least until his birthday. He honored that and passed 6 days later. I will be forever grateful I have that last precious memory of my grandpa. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO: planning out Christmas baskets. Lots of kids, grandkids, in-laws, outlaws & jars of garden freshness to get all sorted out. From sauces, salsas, jams, jellies, fruits, pickled veggies & soups, there's a lot of goodies to get all organized in each family's basket. It's a labor of love I look forward to every year.  

PLANNING: I've had this machine for a little while now and I've been planning to do a review of it once I found out how it held up to mulching 80 trillion fall leaves. 40 trillion (more or less) from my neighbor's Sugar Maple that fall into my yard, and 40 trillion (probably) from my King Crimson Maple. The Autumn leaf fall is about 80% over now, and I've used the machine several times to both mow and mulch, so I think I have a pretty good idea on how well this Ryobi 13" Push Lawn Mower works.  

The stand-alone review will be coming soon, with all the good stuff you need to know before you buy one of these battery operated gizmos from Ryobi. 

Well that wraps up this month's status report (which is really good since I'm technically 2 days behind).  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have an incredible, blessed and fantastic day. 😊

If you have any questions, please feel welcome to leave a comment. 

Garden 2024 Update #11

With the end of July this brings us into mid-season for my growing area here in 6a. All of August, September and roughly half of October are left until our last frost date. It almost seems hard to believe we're already at the mid-season point but so far the garden has been mostly successful.  

Here's how things are shaping mid-season:

A common sight first thing in the morning. 

As I always say, it was really nice of me to buy an inflatable hot tub for my cats. 😂

Some of this year's potato harvest went toward one of my favorite freeze dried items: instant potatoes. Such a great way to put up food for long term or even short term.  

I make my mashed potatoes (skins on) with just milk, then freeze dry.  

These three small trays were just over 6 pounds and it all fits into a quart jar. Wild, eh? 😄 

To make mashed potatoes, I add 1/2 cup boiling water to just 3 tablespoons of mashed potato powder, a little butter & salt and pepper.   Mix well and let sit for 2-3 minutes to fully redydrate.

Last week's Mutant Tomato (has been seriously upstaged)

My single surviving cucumber vine is still producing incredibly well.  

This is part 1 of a 2 part experiment.  The old wives tales tell us you cannot clip off strawberry runners and plant them, you have to leave them attached to the mother plant and allow them to root naturally where they are.  Well, that's part 2 down below.  I clipped all of these off about 2 weeks ago and they're doing just fine so far.

My landscaping staples were far too long for this, so I improvised and used the handle ends of clothes pins to pin the runners into place inside the little pots. 

My sweet potatoes had really been stuggling until about 2 weeks ago when they finally starting taking off. I can only guess that it has something to do with the heat & humidity, which we've had in abundance over the last few weeks.  So far they're doing better than sweet potatoes have ever done in my garden so I'm happy with these results so far. 

Last year this Honey Crisp had 2 apples.  This year it has 10! 

In this area of the garden there are elderberries, rhubarb, hazelnuts, blackberries, lilacs, dill, cilantro, basil, lemon balm, butternut squash, potatoes, carrots, raspberries and hibiscus.  My goal in turning my wee piece of property into a thriving Food Forest means using every available space for growing something edible, medicinal, herbal, or all of the above.  

This Musk Mallow grows wile alongside the garage in full shade all day. 

It's not only beautiful, it attracts loads of bees and it's beneficial for a variety of medicinal uses.  

My first ripe Pink Ponderosa tomato this year.  

I thought last week's Mutant Tomato was wild, but it's got nuthin' on this week's specimen.

My raised bed runneth over. With carrots that surround the peppers. 💖

Ed says, he approves.  😁

Thanks for stopping by and taking a stroll through the garden with me. I hope this encourages you to get out there and grow your own as well!