Today Tuki at Cheer Camp

While the rest of us stayed home and pulled everything ripe (again) except the peppers and beans (they are still going strong despite the cold weather) from the garden. Even though we are over the brim with food, which makes us all very happy, I will be even more excited once the garden harvest is done for a while (until next spring and then I will be rearing to go again)...

 Tuki and the College Cheer Facilitators and the other participants. Of my 3 girls she is the only one who desire to be a cheerleader....

 All the girls who wanted to be tossed over backwards were allowed to, and of course Tuki went for it

 Held up on the shoulders of 2 college kids (sorry for the bad picture)

 total so far: 39 butternut squash

We ended up picking 52 pumpkins from the garden (both kinds) unfortunately not all of them turned orange, but that is ok, all of the jack-o-lanterns will eventually be fed to the chickens and the pie pumpkins we will eat, and we picked over 20 orange pie pumpkins...

Jack-o-Lanterns and Anticipation for Fall

 8 jacks so far, about 5 -6 more need to turn orange...fall picture in front of the cornstalks

 Puddin Tane, the world's smallest Serama Rooster on our biggest jack we grew this year

 Close up of the smallest and biggest :)

wide view

we checked out 4 different farms/homes with acres this weekend......someday soon!!!

More Harvest

Last night we had a freeze with frost on the ground in the am, so we harvested what is currently ripe, and I am hoping that the plants will survive tonight since it is to be even colder.

 We picked 14 pie pumpkins (at least 4 or 5 more in the garden), 6 spaghetti squash (at least 20 more in the garden) and 18 butternut squash (at least that many more in the garden).

 we picked all the green tomotoes to ripen indoors

and the last of the cabbage and now have 10 bags of freezer slaw ready for the winter

we also picked 4 quarts worth of green beans and canned some dilly beans (first time trying them) and we filled a Tupperware bowl of  green and yellow peppers and froze 7 cups of them. I am cooking 4 pumpkins so I can make pumpkin bread tomorrow. Plus we are roasting pumpkin seeds tonight.

We still need to harvest the rest that I mentioned above, plus the jack-o-lantern pumpkins, carrots and continue with the beans and peppers.

There was a question posed on my comment section as to how long does it take us to harvest and process the garden produce. The longest is maybe a six hour day but rarely that long. Today, it took us 5 hours, harvest to preserve what I mentioned above. It takes a little longer when I am using new recipes, but I have my bean canning down to less than hour from nipping, cutting, washing and canning. It gets easier the more I do it and the girls are a HUGE help and I like the chore aspect of the garden. All four of use work together and we get it done fast.

School has started

 Morning of the first day for my 9th grader, 1st grader and 3rd grader.....

Closer picture...boy the girls have grown a lot in this past year!!!!

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......

School Stats

 Tuki and her 1st grade teacher, exactly the one she wanted

Ve and her 3rd grade teacher, she didn't care who the teacher was, just as long as she had friends in her class and she did

so all is well in Elementaryville.

As for their doctor visits;
Mim is 5' 3 1/4" tall
Ve is 4' 6" tall
Tuki is 4' 1/4' tall

Summer is over, Fall is around the corner

@ I start back to 8 hour days on Monday...I have been going to school almost every week this summer in getting my room ready and shadowing my Assist. Principal during summer school to gain admin experience...but I have been able to go home as soon as I became tired, that will end starting tomorrow.

@ the school supplies had been purchased

@ the garden is maybe half done for processing

@ I am feeling much stronger, yet get tired quicker than I'd like

@ and hopefully Mim and I have a better understanding of each other


this Fall season will be quiet in comparison to other Fall seasons.

Mim is not participating in cross country running or basketball (as of now anyway) to take a break and to see if the past sports is what she really wants to do, so she will be more involved with our church's youth group in hopes she will find a better friendship circle than she had last year and maybe a non-sporting extracurricular or two at school.

Ve and Tuki will be skating again starting in September as well, so besides work everyday (of which I will be exhausted for a while due to healing from the surgeries), taking one administration class and continue preserving the produce from our garden, I think we will have a relatively quiet fall....I hope!!!!!!