August Harvest Totals

 Arugula - more than we need!

Beans, Dragon Tongue - 2.3 lbs

Beans, Golden Crescent - 2.6 lbs

Beans, Kentucky Blue - 14.4 oz

Beans, Provider - 6 lbs

Cantaloupes - 4

Chijimsai - 4 bunches

Cucumbers, green - 10

Cucumbers, white - 26

Eggs- 231

Jalapenos - 3

Peppers, orange - 1

Peppers, red Gypsy Rose - 3

Potatoes, red - 1.8 lbs

Tomatoes

    Better Boy - 30; 12 lbs

    Black Krim - 44; 19.1 lbs

    German Pink - 23; 9.6 lbs

    Orange - 8; 2 lbs

    St. Pierre - 39; 12.3lbs

    San Marzano - 4; 6.5 oz

            Total tomatoes - 55 lbs, 6 oz

Also, thyme, sage, rosemary, mint, dill, and cherry tomatoes

There would have been a bigger potato and cucumber crop, but the tree falling on them was not exactly good for the plants!

            So, basically, we have eaten a lot of green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers this month.  I've also made some salsa (both canned and fermented pico), and dill pickles, although most of the pickles I canned were using cucumbers from my friend.  I did ferment some dill pickles from mine, though.

Preserving

Sorry I've been AWOL for a while.  I was having trouble getting the blog to upload pictures.  Hopefully, this time it will work.  

I've been doing a lot of preserving.  Nathaniel and I bought several pounds of banana peppers at the farmer's market last weekend, so I canned some pepper rings:

I also went back to the orchard and bought another 2 bushels of peaches, so I've been making jams and canning honey peaches.  Today I hope to work with tomatoes and make some of the mint jelly that Malachi has been requesting.  I rolled my ankle playing volleyball Monday night, so I've been staying off my feet for the most part, but I'm going to recruit Lydia to help me today.

In chicken news, we are back up to 12 hens, 1 rooster.  I had given 2 pullets to a friend a while back, but she has had severe predator problems, so the last chicken standing, who happened to be one of the ones I gave her, has returned to our coop.  The chickens didn't even really seem to notice when she was re-introduced to them.  They all appear to be getting along just fine, and they have been laying really well.

Lastly, Gyunay wanted me to take a picture of him and his "guys":

 

Yay!

 I harvested these delicious beauties from the garden before the raccoons or the deer helped themselves!

And we promptly devoured them.  So good!

Snake Gourd

I promised pictures of the snake gourd, so here is that plant, taken from the front porch:

It is filling in that space nicely, and you can see a few marigolds peeking out among the leaves.

The flowers are unlike pumpkin or squash flowers. They are smaller, and all white, and the edges are lightly frayed.  They look really pretty.

 

Timber!

We had a dead oak tree that was in danger of falling on the house or taking out the front porch, so we actually hired a company to take it down.  It made me sad to not be able to make boards from that beautiful wood.

Panther has been really enjoying coming inside for cuddles lately.

And other than the corner the tree fell on, my front cottage garden area is looking really nice.  Lots of flowers have filled it in, and I have some tomatoes, cabbages, potatoes, beans, watermelon, herbs, and pea pods mixed in.  

There's also a huge snake gourd plant in the front.  I'll have to take a picture of it soon.  Lydia wanted to grow some snake gourds, and my dad actually got several packs of free seeds to me.  Included was the snake gourd, so obviously, we were meant to grow them!

 

Fun at the Lake

 We made it to Lake Barkley last weekend, for a great time at my parents' cabin.  The kids enjoyed it very much.  

Obviously, the two tiny fish Emry caught made an impression, as you can see by his hobbies and things he likes to do:

July Harvest

 We finally started getting some produce this month, although many crops were late.  I am actually, as of this morning, getting tomatoes finally.  There were only 6 before today (and today, I picked 9, so those will go on August's totals).  Here are the stats, including the excess cockerels we culled this month:

Beans, Dragon - 10.5 ounces

Beans, Kentucky Blue Lake - 1.4 lbs

Beans, Provider - 5.4 lbs

Blackberries - 2cups

Bok Choy - 3 

Cabbage, Napa - 2

Carrots - 8

Chickens - 4 harvested, total 11.9 pounds

Chijimsai - 6  (This is an Asian green, kind of like spinach.)

Cucumbers, Chicago - 2

Cucumbers, Double Yield - 5

Cucumbers, Edmondson - 6

Eggs - 223

Garlic - 58

Jalapenos -2

Potatoes - 12.8 oz

Pumpkins, mini Jack-Be-Little - 13  (These are mostly just for fun, for the kids to play with.)

Radishes -8

Swiss Chard -1

Tomatoes -6, total 2.3 lbs

Turnips -3

Plus cherry tomatoes, dill, mint, oregano, sage, and thyme

Obviously, green beans were my main vegetable harvest this month.  Some of the kids eat them, but not all.  I did pressure can some for the first time last week.  We did have one meal that was all from our yard: roasted chicken, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and roasted potatoes.  I did add a few potatoes from the farmer's market to make enough for the eight of us.