Really!

Does anyone else hate the weather forecasters? I know I do. I had a ton of work to do yesterday, when I checked the weather. It said that Monday would be very nice but Tuesday (today) would be raining. So added to the list of things I absolutely had to get done, I added running out and getting laundry hung on the line outside as it looked to be one of the last nice days. And since I was doing laundry I got 2 loads hung in the basement as I didn't want to take the chance of them not drying before the rains came!

Its sunny and 59, right now!!!

I could have waited and got all the laundry done outside!

UGGGGG!

Anywho, I got 25 jars of tomatoes done yesterday. Only 24 made it though. I had the strangest thing happen. One of the lids and rings shot off the jar in the canner. I swear I thought it was a shot. Never had that happen before. I also got most of the peppers done. What is left will go into the dehydrator today!

Back to more tomatoes! 

Have a great day!

Yart

Back again

Well, we are back home again. We were gone for the past week, camping again. We went to the same area but saw lots of different things this time. The older monsters got their own tent for this trip and it worked out well. The littlest monster was in our tent with us. The weather was gorgeous. But unfortunately, the night before we left I ended up at urgent care. I have a sinus infection. The doc gave me a ton of antibiotics, claritin D, and flonase. It has been 5 days of meds and it still isn't gone. So I have been eating soft foods as it hurts to chew. It is doing wonders for my figure... LOL!

This week coming up I need to pull the potatoes and get them canned. Then I need to go to the old man with the farm and see if his roma's are ready to pick. If so I think I am going to get 2 bushels to start with. My tomatoes are producing but just not enough. I don't know what I am doing wrong with the garden. Or if it is just the weather that is causing chaos. Or it could be that I am jumping the gun, which might be the case. But I should be careful what I wish for. It is so hot here I really shouldn't be in the kitchen anyways.

My room is done we got that finished last weekend. I have to sew two buttons on the duvet cover. Once that is done I will take pictures. I still have some other things to do. Like paint the dresser and hang a few more shelves. But at least I have more space since I went through most of the clothes. We had gone to price a new bed frame. It would have cost us $89, but we went to Ikea and bought a new bed for $99. It sits of the floor way higher then our old bed. So now I have storage under the bed that I didn't have before.

It is steamy today, so I think that I will just be hanging out in the basement, not doing much of anything. But as usual the best laid plans of mice and men. I will probably end up doing something that will make for a sticky day.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Been awhile

I hope everyone's summer is progressing nicely. We just got back from another short trip. We went to an Amish community that hosts a flea market and auction. The flea market was huge! But even with all the booths I was able to find a couple of deals. I am now the proud new owner of a #3 and #4 crocks. WooHoo!!!! I can make more sauerkraut this year as I just used up my last jars a few weeks ago. I can't wait!! I also found a wringer but I decided that I could wait and it is a good thing that I did. Since I have been home, a friend has contacted me and offered me the entire washer from his basement. I told him that I just wanted the wringer and he said he would get it off for me!!! Oh, and I almost forgot I found a glass wash board! Now I have the mop bucket and the wash board and the wringer. We will have clean clothes no matter what the circumstance.

I also drug the family to the animal auction. Oh my God! The piglets were so cute! And the little bit bigger ones looked like they would make nice hams.... LOL! I know it was funny to me too. I don't know when livestock started looking like food and not pets?!? I guess it goes with the territory of wanting to be closer to my food. Anyways, the pigs went for a very good price. We didn't get to see the cattle, it wasn't until way later in the day.

It was very hot while we were gone. So upon our arrival I found the first of the red tomatoes. There was a handful of grape, 1 Roma & 3 purple Cherokee ready to be picked. The cucumbers have powdery mildew, all the lettuce has bolted and the potatoes look like they need to be dug up. But on the bright side, there are baby watermelons, peppers and a ton of Swiss Chard.

We are planning on taking another trip next week. I know we are a going concern this year. But Band stuff starts up again at the end of this month and if we don't do something now then I don't know when we will have the opportunity. Band goes until the beginning of November.

I have been drying all of the mints. So far I have done chocolate, orange, pineapple & spearmint. I have lemon balm drying right now. The apple mint didn't do to well, so I didn't get any cuttings from it. I am hoping for a better year next year. I still need to dry out some oregano and horehound.

My room is almost ready to be painted. I just need to clean off the bookshelf and take the bed down. Then I can paint. I am going with a forest green for the walls and a cream for the trim. The bedding is a rust color. Hopefully, before the weekend is over the room will be done. Then next week Grim and I will be finishing up the DAMN kitchen.... The only thing we have to do is hang the doors and it will be complete.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Happy Solstice!

The last couple of weeks have been so busy! But that is the way things go when school is getting finished. Well, it is official the monsters are out of school and they all passed to the next grade! We went on a small vacation to the 3rd largest bridge in the world. Mackinac Bridge! We had a great time but since it has been forever since we went camping, it has been decided to look into getting a camper. Grim and I are just too old and broken to sleep on the air mattresses. LOL! We went to all the mainland sites. The island will have to wait for the next trip. There just wasn't enough time to go everywhere.

Just to show you that I did make it to see Mary Jane Butters. Here is a picture of her holding the Michigan apron! I had a wonderful time and met a great bunch of ladies! Thank you Dandelion Farm Girls for making me feel so welcome!!!And I couldn't post without showing off the garden! This is what it looked like last week before we left. It has grown by leaps and bounds but I didn't take new pictures yet! Look at all the flowers on the tomato plant! I think this year I will weigh the produce as it comes in the house. It should be interesting, to say the least. Gotta Run,
Yart

Weekend Recap

We went out to price the sod and blocks. And came to the conclusion that the amount of blocks we were going to use was going to cost way to much. So we opted to use more sod. Then I priced it.... Whoa! That is way more money then I remember it being. So we drove out to two different sod farms. The first one didn't have any and didn't know when they would be able to cut more, because of the rain. Off to the second one. They had the 35 rolls of sod we needed and local honey as well. The guy even tossed in two extra rolls for us. We used all but 5 rolls of it in the back yard. I have a bald space in the boulevard in front of the house that I can use the rest at.

This whole area use to be dirt with a few sprigs of grass. It looks so different now!


Then Saturday and Sunday we held a yard sale. We didn't do awful but we didn't do great either. Not complaining because I was able to take the money we did make and get a new umbrella for the patio table and a cushion for my wicker chair and also a new soaking hose. We are planning on getting more stuff out and having another one in a couple of weeks. I will be putting out video games, board games and video's. I'm fairly sure that it will be the right time for that as school will be getting out soon around here and the kids will be board. My kids have already played these games so much they don't even want to look at them anymore. I will be keeping monopoly and payday. We all love those!


I was out in the garden for a hot second on Sunday and guess what I found. One almost completely red stawberry! EEEEEE! I am so happy this will be the first out of our patch! I am so happy. I was telling Grim that if we didn't get anything this year I would pull all the plants and use the plot for something else. Now I don't have to. I think that I am just the most impatient gardener ever. We are suppose to get rain for the next three days. I really need to get out there and plant the tomato plants. Oh, just remembered I need to go and buy stakes for them. Shoot! The stakes can wait the tomatoes really need to get in the ground. Plus this week I need to go and buy the rest of my plants. None of the seedlings made it this year. I don't understand what I did wrong. But a grow light was purchased for next years seedlings. So I will worry about it then.
Not much more to report from the weekend!

Gotta Run,
Yart

1 of 3

I have been busy around the house the last couple of days. So I didn't get a chance to post anything. That's why I did a 3 part posting today. With doing that I am caught up... LOL! I did a ton of laundry. I hate getting sick, cause everything piles up. I was able to get 7 quarts of tomatoe puree canned up the other night. I still have all the apples to do. I think I will get the rest of the apple sauce done tonight though. Wishful thinking! I still haven't gotten the inside of the house decorated. I know, I know. But I did take a picture of the great work Grim (formally known as DH) and the little monsters did.



Crappy Camera Phone!!!!

Gotta Run,
Yart

Feeling better

I still have a stuffy head but am finally feeling like my self once again. Got into the tomatoes.... ewwwww. I lost 1/2 the bushel. That's to be expected with being sick. I cooked down what I could save. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. I might just put it through the mill and freeze it.

I got a couple of items at a yard sale last week that needed some help. So I found some black paint from some time last year. I painted 2 big planters, 3 tower (bird cage) type candle holders, and a mirror. All of them turned out very nice. I also got a cheap silver tray. It was badly tarnished. Out came out the toothpaste and now it has a nice polish to it.

DH and the little monsters got the outside decorated. All of the boxes of decorations are sitting in my living room waiting for me to put out. That will have to wait till tomorrow.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Quick Update

I finally got the purple hardneck garlic in the ground. 33 cloves, I am hoping that they come up next year. So that is what I put into my fall garden, I also found a couple of onions that I missed. So in the garden they will stay until spring.

DH and I took a drive last night. First time we have gone out like that in awhile. I wanted to go out to this little run down place that sells onion sets in the spring. Well, low and behold they are now a U-Pick. We didn't have the time or the patience last night to pick but I will be going back before the season is over. We also found a house that was for sale. I called on it and it is way out of range but it has a 3 bedroom house with a natural fireplace, 3 car garage and a barn..... oh and 6 acres.... 6 acres can you imagine the farming dilemmas I could get myself into with that much land. So needless to say I went to bed last night praying to the credit fairy and the lotto gods.

My new mantra "Chickens & Goats & Bees, Oh my" I figure if I say it enough some will get tired of hearing it and grant me a farm... LOL! It doesn't hurt to try!

I have tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic cooking down on the stove right now. I finally found a food mill at the resale shop so I am going to puree it. Then put it in jars and can them. I will add salt and lemon juice to each jar to make sure there is enough acid, so I can water bath the jars.

Still have 2 jumbo zucchini to do some thing with. I think that I am just going to shred and freeze in recipe size bags. But that will have to wait till next week and so it might change. DH took me to one of the orchards around here. We got a bushel of McIntosh and a bushel of Wolf apples. This weekend I will be making apple sauce and apple pie filling. I get to use my clear jel! Yeah! I also have to can up the sauerkraut this weekend.

Well, now the tomato concoction is done and gone through the food mill. I am waiting for my canner to heat up.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Lazy, Crazy, Rainy Day

Teenage monster is home after being gone for the past week to band camp. Not only are we happy that she is home. She was very home sick. This was her first time being away from us without any other family around. So with her home I had a ton of laundry to do. LOL! I guess I this is what happens when they go away to college.

We pulled all of the onions out of the garden this week. Ended up with 4 pint bags full in the freezer. This was a smaller harvest then we had hoped for. But we got onions so no complaints. Brought in a ton more tomatoes. Cooked some down the other day for juice and I have a pot on the stove as I type doing the same. Having tomato juice on the shelf is one of my little indulgences.

Of course I am still harvesting eggplant with the weather being cool and wet the plants have set more flowers. So soon I will be giving away eggplant. I almost have more then we can use now. There is almost enough cayenne peppers to make a 3rd rista. If they keep producing then I will be giving rista's away for Christmas. Every day we add a couple more jalapeno's and yellow sweets to the freezer bags.

All of the potatoes were canned up and/or frozen. Next year hopefully, the blight won't affect them. But I will also be using several different varieties. Same with the onions. Several types should help if there is a problem. But isn't that the best fun with gardening.... Knowing that next year will be different. New plants, new problems and a whole new crop to preserve and eat fresh! Ahhhhhh! Next Year!

DH and I came to a decision. We are going to stay in town and try and purchase property out. That way we will have time to set the land up. Without having to survive off the land when we aren't ready. I got a catalog with trees in it. So we know that we want to get English Walnut trees, at least 4. Some for us and then some to sell. I know, fingers crossed! Then we want an orchard of dwarf trees. Apple, peach, pear and mulberry. Oh my!

So once we get the finances in order we will be able to get some of these dreams going. I know we are like a ton of people out there. Lots of dreams and no money to pay for them. One day! Sorry melancholy hit for a sec there.

I spent the last week doing the before school cleaning. Not done yet but now I feel the fall in the air. And I don't think that its imagined. The weather has been cool and rainy. The trees seem to be ready for the change. The squirrels' tails are starting to bush up. I think that we are going to have a winter for the record books this year. I hope that I'm wrong but I don't think so. Just helps me to rationalize all the hard work that I put into preserving the harvest.

Apples won't be ready for another month or so. But I have my clear jel and just waiting patiently. This year apple pie filling will be on my shelves. I might even break down and make some peach pie filling. You never know. If I get a good price on some peaches.

Still a couple more weeks for the sauerkraut. It is fermenting very well. I think I will end up with about 7 quart jars. That will last me the whole year. As I still have a couple jars from last year. Yummmmm!

See what happens when I don't post for awhile... LOL!

Gotta Run,
Yart

Challenge #10

This week I found an long lost friend, with the help of the computer. Well, I went to get her on Sunday. She came here for a couple hours. I wish the visit would have been longer but she forgot her meds. In the time that we have been apart she has been diagnosed with Rapid Progressing MS. This actually explains a lot of issues she was having the last time that I was in touch with her. She is no longer the self assured person she once was, she now is quite and reserved. The medication she is on has affected her memory and her reasoning. Even with all that I am so happy that I found her. And that she is once again part of my life.

1. Garden work: Watering & I pulled the last of the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Planted carrots, lettuce and radishes on Saturday.

1A. Harvest something: Tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peppers.

2. Preserve something. 8 quarts of tomatoes, dehydrated tomato skins ( for later grinding), made sauerkraut (fermenting as I type) That will go into jars in 6 weeks.

3. Food storage. Nothing this week

4. Other preparedness tasks: Canning and cleaning. Plus getting the stuff for back to school. ( I put some of the stuff away so that if need be we have it for a boredom buster).

5. Try a new recipe: No its been to hot to cook. So we are just eating salads and quick fix foods like tacos and hot dogs. But not at the same meal. LOL!

6. Financial preparedness: Now we are snowballing that money on to the next bill. Still waiting to see if I get a call from either of the places I applied at.

7. Work on local food systems. Not this week.

8: Learn something. I learned how difficult it is to get around with 2 broken toes.

9: Serve someone. Sent some of the garden products to my MIL. She froze the cauliflower so now she has it for the whole winter.

Gotta Run
Yart

Sunday Mutterings

Well, I didn't get be in the yard for long today. DH got home from work and out the door we went. We headed to eat, then to target. At Target we got a couple of movies that were on sale for $5 (Twister & Dodge Ball), also got the monsters a couple of yard games. Then we went to Walmart. Here I picked up some food stuffs and looked at the yarn. I am looking forward to the new afghans that I will be making the winter. Beautiful colors. One is pinks and the other is blues and greens. But that will wait till the snow flies. Still have a few more things to pick up but the eggs and the freezer bags can wait.

You might have noticed that I put an ad up in the sidebar. By having this ad when someone makes a purchase of Heirloom Seeds from the Heirloom Organics Seed Company, I receive 10%. And if anyone signs up using the link here, I get 2% of any sales made through there link. I figure it is worth a shot to try them out. As this urbanstead is still trying to be more self sustaining ( no outside job for me at least ).

One last week of school for the monsters. I am so looking forward to them being done. There are a few things that we will be doing. The summer reading program is at the top of the list every year. The older kids get to do an activity and then a lock in. That is the best for the kids. The little ones get a chance to win prizes. All thanks to the local library. Then also from the library are passes to go to different museums. Lots of fun. We also have a vacation / getaway that I need to start planning. We will be gone for 2 - 3 days near the end of the month.

My one heirloom tomato has some type of bug living on it. They are pink and look like a blob with legs and antenna's. Also there are little white fly looking things, tiny. I don't think my camera will get that nice of a close up. So hopefully, they don't do to much damage.

Gotta Run,
Yart