Pumpkin Patch, October 2016

I wish I could report first hand on how the pumpkin patch trip went this year, but I didn't go .... I'm still not well enough to walk around that long, especially in the heat.  (You KNOW how bad I still feel if I would stay home from this event that I look forward to every year -- especially since it was Max's first time!!!!) But I know that I would have held every one up, and made myself just that much sicker.  So I stayed home and John took some pictures for me.

This was my favorite!! Max is really such a happy boy. He smiles all the time!

I love this one, too!  Ashley and her boy.

Taylor and KT, painting pumpkins.

Mighty Max!

Ashley and Max

Here's a few pictures that Colleen took today, too.  

Afterwards they came back home and we had a nice lunch, and the kids ran all over the place.  We had some tasty sliders, then an apple dip bar for dessert.  Delicious!
  

Turk and Gray

The turkeys are really enjoying these cool mornings, too.  They are ready and waiting for me to come out every morning, right at the gate of their pen, and they will beat me to the big gate so they can go out and run with the chickens during the day.  They flap their wings and run around in a circle for a few minutes -- its quite the sight!

 Gray has turned into quite a handsome guy! He's a show off, too!

Turk and Gray, waiting to be let in with the chickens.

Fall Garden Update - October 12, 2016

While we were gone on vacation, and since we've been back and I've been sick (pneumonia - I don't recommend it!), the garden continues to grow all by itself, along with many, many weeds.  I haven't had the energy to do much more then walk out there and stare at it.  Oh well, the strong will survive!

 The carrots are all growing well. 

 The Georgia Collards look good!

 Of course, the Choys are all looking good, but so many weeds! I may try to do something about these next week - surely I'll be able to do more then.

 I was surprised by the peas.  These are very short, only about a foot tall, but already covered with little pea pods.  I guess we put up a fence for no reason.

 I found a little volunteer tomato plant! Maybe I'll dig it up and put it in the greenhouse.

Yesterday I potted up a couple of tomato plants for the greenhouse. John picked me up a couple of tomato plants at the local hardware store the other day while I was sick.

I told him to get me a couple of full sized tomato plants (no cherry tomatoes) before they were all gone, and he came home with these two. Two of the same type, Surefire.  Can you believe that? I wasn't happy.  I mean, who goes to the store for two tomato plants and buys two of the same type. It's like he doesn't know me at all.  Surely he knows I like to try different types --- all I can say  is, MEN! Sigh...

 I'm trying a new skill this fall - propagation by stem cuttings.  The first one I'm trying is this Brown Turkey fig.  These will be in the greenhouse all winter, and we'll see if they root.  I dipped them in a root hormone first, so hopefully that will help them along.

Today I started these Chester blackberry canes - cut from our own bush.  These will go in the greenhouse, too.  I have some Aztec blackberry canes to start, and I ordered some black raspberry canes that should arrive in a few days.  I'm kind of excited to see if I can make these work!

Tomorrow I'm starting the potted greens for the winter.  It's so good to get my hands back in the dirt again!

The morning glory pole is loving these cool fall mornings!

Sydney examining something on our morning walk out to let the turkeys and chickens out.

Still bringing in lots of jalapenos.

The potted garden is still providing some chard, basil and kale.  Yum...salad makings!

Fall Garden Update - October 6, 2016

Just a note to blog about the totals for the Spring/Summer Garden 2016.  We had some stupendous successes, and some total failures, as usual, but the total of over 262 pounds of vegetables makes me smile! 

Vegetable	Name	Pounds	Ounces
Beans, Green	Pension	8	7
Beans, Green	Rockport	5	8
Beans, Green	Carson (yellow)	5	0
Beans, Green	Calima (2)	8	13
Beans, Green	Purple Pod	4	4
Beets	Golden (2)	1	11
Bok Choy	Bok Choy	1	6
Broccoli	Green Goliath	0	2
Cabbage	Early Golden Acres	6	0
Carrots	(Various)	3	13
Cucumber	Holland White	16	12
Cucumber	Dragon's Egg White	1	12
Cucumber	Holland White	14	12
Cucumber	Dragon's Egg White	9	12
Kale	Vates	0	0
Kale	Redbour	0	1
Lettuce	Buttercrunch	1	10
Lettuce	Jericho	0	6
Lettuce	Sierra	1	3
Lettuce	Parris Island Cos	0	8
Lettuce	Red Romaine	0	4
Melon	Golden Crispy	2	8
Onion	Red	0	4
Onion	White	0	3
Onion	Yellow	1	4
Okra	Silver Queen	4	8
Okra	Jing Orange	0	0
Okra	Gold Coast	3	8
Peas	Oregon Sugar Pod	1	7
Pepper	Gypsy Hybrid	3	4
Pepper	Gold	0	1
Pepper	Jalapeno	25	4
Pepper	Candy Apple Red	1	8
Pepper	Grocery Store Red	0	9
Potatoes	German Butterball	3	13
Potatoes	Blue	1	9
Radish	Easter Egg	0	0
Spinach	American	0	0
Spinach	New Zealand	0	7
Squash, Summer	Gentry (Yellow Crookneck)	1	11
Squash, Summer	Alexandria (Pale Zucchini)	16	11
Squash, Summer	Table Dainty	6	8
Squash, Summer	Fordhook Zucchini	3	8
Squash, Summer	Tomboncino	0	5
Squash, Winter	Japanese Pie	14	1
Swiss Chard	Fordhook	0	9
Swiss Chard	5 Color	0	0
Swiss Chard	Hot Pink	0	2
Tomatillo	Green Husk (Volunteers)	0	10
Tomato	Lemon Boy	1	5
Tomato	Marion	3	1
Tomato	Florida F1	4	15
Tomato	Ten Fingers of of Naples	11	11
Tomato	Rapunzel Hybrid	14	8
Tomato	Sleeping Lady	5	4
Tomato	Cherry Mix	1	4
	Total Spring/Summer 16	262	6

As far as the foods that were processed, the totals are:

Canned Food Tally
Dill Pickles	14	jars
Pickle Relish	13	jars
Dilly Beans	2	jars
Bread and butter pickles	8	jars
Pickled Beets	1	jar
Jalapeno Rings	23	jars
Jalapeno, Whole	4	jars
Elderberry Jelly	19	jars
Salsa	18	jars
Cowboy Candy	9	jars
Frozen Food Tally
Zucchini	11	pkg
Beans	39	pkg
Snow Peas	4	pkg
Cabbage	11	pkg
Carrots (mixed)	7	pkg
Fried Okra	9	pkg
Sweet Peppers	2	pkg

The fruit.  We had a very bad peach crop (I think because we had such a mild winter last year, the trees didn't get the number of cold hours that they need), and a very big elderberry crop. Some of the fruit never made it to the scale, especially the blackberries which were eaten right off the bush!  I'm looking forward to see how 2017 does since we've added a few more fruit trees this past year.

Fruit Tree Outcomes, Spring/Summer 2016
Name	Type	Pounds      #          Ounces
Rio Grande	Peach	0	4
Redskin	Peach	0	2
Sam Houston	Peach	0	0
Loring	Peach	0	0
Methany	Plum	0	0
Chester	Blackberry	0	9
Brazos	Blackberry	0	0
Pink Lady	Apple	0	0
Gala	Apple	0	0
Orient	Pear	0	0
Warren	Pear	0	0
Dwarf Everbearing (2)	Mulberry	0	0
Victoria (3)	Rhubarb	0	0
Everbearing Eversweet (6)	Strawberries	0	11
Yale (2) Adams (2)	Elderberries	16	0
Nanking (3)	Cherries
Huckleberry	Garden	5	9
Total Fruit		23	5