"Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure."
- John McConnell, founder of International Earth Day

RIGHT NOW, and then again tomorrow and then again the next day and on it goes day after day,
1/2 OF THE WORLD lives on LESS THAN 2 DOLLARS each day.

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Do all you can and don't worry about the odds against you. Wield the miracle of life's energy, never worrying whether we fail, concerned only that whether we fail or succeed we do so with all our might. That's all we need to know to feel certain that all our force of diligent effort is worth our while on Earth.
Carl Safina, Voyage of the Turtle

Monday, September 3, 2012

Summer & Garden Stats

 This little guy, Puddin Tane, (from a Far Side comic) maybe 6" tall at 5 months is the smallest Serama I have ever seen, he is near an Easter Egger, Margo, (the type that lays blue and green eggs) and notice he is standing on a 1' ledge and still shorter than Margo.
 Matilda, our Muscovy. She was given to us because she had a broken leg and it is healing nicely. Fern, the Sicilian Buttercup (double combs) is standing behind her.
 Green pumpkins growing from our garden fence
 orange pumpkins hanging from the fence.
 Huge pumpkins on the ground. I don't think we will have a full understanding just how many pumpkins we have until pickin time...We planted jack-o-lantern pumpkins and pie pumpkins. Our extra jack o lanterns will be given to the poultry to eat on all winter...it is a natural dewormer...
 red cabbage just about ready to harvest
 Our Hot peppers have been VERY prolific
 We also are growing yellow and green peppers. The plants are loaded with various sizes right now so we will have many to freeze
 Lots and lots of Spaghetti sqaush.
Our first time growing Turks Turban, this one I picked today and there are two more on the vine in various stages of growth. Peppers from our garden.

I have a goal of becoming relatively self sufficient...food wise
So far this summer I have preserved either through hot bath or pressure cooker canning or freezing:
20+ quarts of Spaghetti Sauce
14 quarts of Salsa
11 Quarts of Pizza Sauce
32 quarts of Yellow and Green Beans (more to come plus I will can some Dilly Beans)
16 pints of pickled summer sqaush (we love these)
Two gallon bags of frozen Broccoli
40 loaves of fruit bread (more to come)
Started freezing tomatoes, I will continue this until our tomatoes are done, but they are starting to flower again and there is about six more weeks of growing season so who knows how many bags I will get
Started freezing and shredding the extra summer squash
Froze 3 gallon bags of swiss chard
Froze 48 cups of corn
Three gallon bags of hot peppers

and
I plan to freeze and keep fresh all the squash(spaghetti, turken, turban and butternut) and pie pumpkins. This will be our carbs. I plan to not buy anymore pasta or potatoes in the house. I am hoping to start to make our own bread, so the only food items I hope to need to purchase are dairy products and flour baking items) etc.,  For protein, milk, beef (from a local farmer), and of course eggs.

So we still have to harvest:
four types of squash
cabbage
tomatoes
peppers
lingering cucumbers
carrots    and
pumpkins

Mucho butternut squash...which we all fell in love with last year.

Once again I am happy for a quiet fall......


1 comment:

:) said...

I am in amazement of your garden and how much you have preserved. And raising three kids and all those animals, and working full time. How many hours per day of garden or preserving do you do?

steph

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