July Harvest Totals

 The garden really got going at the end of July.  

Beans, dragon - 6.6 Oz

Beans, green - 3.7oz

Cabbages - 2

Carrots - 20

Corn - 6

Cucumbers - 26

Eggs - 356

Peppers, ancho - 1

Peppers, pepperoncinis - 7

Potatoes, fingerling - 1.6 lbs

Potatoes, Kenebec- 7.3 lbs

Potatoes, red - 5.4 lbs

Rutabagas - 1

Tomatoes, Eva Purple Ball - 7

Tomatoes, reds - 41

Tomatoes, San Marzano - 83

Zucchini - 6

Plus cherry tomatoes and herbs - basil, dill, oregano, mint, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme

I made and canned a batch of salsa for the first time in 2 years.  It's so nice to have ripe tomatoes!

And hopefully,  August should bring cantaloupe!!!

NY Niagara

We rode the trolley in Niagara Falls State Park.

Naturally,  we saw the Falls again.

As you can see, it was quite windy.  We had to cut off the visit, as a thunderstorm was rolling in.  I was glad we got to walk around as much as we did, since it was supposed to storm there all day.

 

Garden Explosion and a Surprise

Time to step away from travel posts for a minute and talk about how my garden took off while we were gone.

I am now getting plenty of tomatoes for fresh eating, and I am close to having enough paste tomatoes for a huge batch of salsa.

On the way to let the dogs out, I noticed something new.  Actually,  I heard it before I saw it.

Yes, while I was gone, my friend came over and installed a fountain for us!  It was a surprise,  and I burst out laughing,  because I knew exactly what had happened.   My dear friend Jennifer had offered me the fountain a few weeks ago, but I didn't think I would get around to painting it and installing it, so I turned her down. So she did it all for me!

The sunflowers started blooming!  And my beloved Mexican sunflowers, too!  Some can be seen behind the yellow sunflowers, and there are some at the end of the picture below:

The sweet potatoes have gone crazy.  They are spilling out everywhere,  including onto the deck:

They are quite pretty.  I hope they are developing underground as well as they are above ground. 

 

Niagara Falls Aquarium

 

On Tuesday, we left Canada and headed to the New York side.  We went to the Niagara Aquarium.

They had lots of interesting jellyfish.

Lydia was so happy to pet the sting rays. We also petted bamboo sharks.

The aquarium was two buildings.   The first was the usual ocean life, but the second was a Great Lakes aquarium. 

The kids enjoyed petting the sturgeon.

Niagara Falls!

 

We just got home from our 8 days away.  First, Nathaniel,  all 6 kids, and I went to Canada.

We had a blast!  We rode on the Hornblower, which is a boat that sails very close to the Falls 

After the boat ride, we ditched the ponchos and had fun in Clifton Falls.  First, we went through the wax museum, which was a lot bigger than I expected. 

I think you can tell that we had fun with it!

Fermentation

I've been fermenting a lot lately.  I made this fermented salsa, which I puree when it's done.  It's a big hit with Emry and Lydia. I started making it last year, and it's fast, easy, and tasty.

This next one is a mixture of turnips, beets, and dill.  It's from a fermentation book by Shannon Stonger, and I decided to try it since I had a lot of beets and turnips, and my dill is ready but my cucumbers are not. It's good, but I will probably be the only one eating it.

This last one was a bit of a whim.  I planted a pepperoncini plant for the first time, and several were ready at once. I decided to ferment them to use on salads and pizza. They turned out well. I will also be the only one eating them, but that's ok.

And Gyunay got new glasses:

He had to pick from the adult-sized ones this time. He was not as happy with the color choices, as the kids' sizes had more and brighter blue options, but he ended up happy with these glasses.  They are blue, of course.