BOO !!!

A Halloween pepper from the garden!  Isn't he perfectly suited for this day!

A frost is supposed to happen tonight, so yesterday I gathered what I could from the garden: okra, green sweet peppers, peas and green tomatoes.  I'll pick the ripe tomatoes today.  The green tomatoes were wrapped in tissue paper and put in a cool place to ripen; hopefully they will be ready for Thanksgiving or maybe even Christmas.  The ripe tomatoes will be put in the crisper and some will be given away.  It was a wonderful year for our small garden and this momma squirrel put a lot of the crop into the freezer.

An update on the baby calf:  she died last night.  Her wounds were just too deep.  The Farmer has gone to bury her this morning.  I will miss her feeding times, and the nuzzling at my hands and shirt tail.  So, I did a final washing of the bottle and put it away and put the rest of her powdered milk replacement in the freezer, ready for the next little calf in need.

Of course that is the emotional side; there's also a financial side.  Cattle prices are at an all time high now; the Farmer estimates a calf her size would probably bring $500-$600 dollars at market.  Then there is the cost of $26.95 per ten pound bag of formula and I've lost count of the number of bags I've fed.  My time of feeding her three times a day at the beginning and then twice daily for two-three months was free.

The dogs are still free to roam.  The Farmer doesn't like to confront someone over such an issue; besides, as the old saying goes, "you can't get blood from a turnip".  I don't want to see it happen again!  Sometimes one just wants to use the words of the Lord: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay."  I don't think it's over yet...

Charlotte

Spring Berries

We are fortunate to live in an area where we have fresh produce, to either pick ourselves, or in this case, buy it already picked. In the spring there is a choice of several berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Early to mid summer brings the peaches and melons, and fall provides us with apples and pumpkins. Some "pick your own" farms also have tomatoes.

When I was a child, Daddy and Mama had a strawberry patch and sold the berries in town. We picked the berries ourselves. I can remember coming home from school and going to the berry patch where I could sit in the shade and eat that "fresh from the vine" goodness. Today berries have been bred for shipping; they keep longer than the berries we raised. But ~ their flavor isn't anything like those old berries; sometimes I can almost remember their taste.

Since we had no refrigeration, of course we didn't have ice cream to eat with the strawberries, so I grew up eating my berries with milk and sugar. I still like strawberries with milk and cereal.

I'd like to have a row of strawberries; but, oh my! It is a terrible job to hoe them! I remember that too! Do you grow your own strawberries, or do you have a farm where you can pick your own?

Charlotte

Prayers Were Answered

Our prayers were heard and answered, for we had a good rain today; almost 1 1/4", and the dry, parched earth soaked it up in relief. It came a little too late for a lot of the garden things; for instance, I pulled the corn up the other day because it was so shriveled up and short, and I harvested the potatoes, which were mostly small, as in egg size. This morning I pulled the beets which were also smaller than usual.

Now I don't care for beets unless they are pickled. To me, beets taste like what I think dirt would taste like, so when pickled with a brine of vinegar and sugar they lose that flavor. I cut their tops off and left them to compost in the garden, then washed them twice before I brought them to the house. Beets need to have their roots left intact while being cooked, otherwise they will "bleed" off a lot of their color. So I washed them again before cooking them. I don't think there's ever been a time when I cooked beets that they didn't boil over a little and make a mess on the stove top; but it doesn't stain.

After filling the jars I put them in a water bath just to be sure they sealed good. I've already heard the "POP" indicating they have sealed. So now I have seven pints; Brittney will get most of them because she loves beet pickles, and we don't need something that sweet.

Do you like beets? They are a good source of iron, ascorbic acid, fiber, and low in calories; that is until they're pickled with all that sugar!

Charlotte

From the Garden and A Gift Idea

Ah! There's finally something new from the garden! Whenever spring comes, I feel the way an old cow must feel; she sees the fresh, tender grass across the fence and yearns for it. So it is with me, I'm starved for fresh, tender, green vegetables from the garden. Even though we've had frozen greens during the winter, fresh is just better. Now in the south, old timers used to scour the hillsides for the first leaves of the poke berry bush, which they called "poke salet". We have plenty of that on our farm but I've never eaten it. I think it was boiled, the water poured off, and the procedure done a few more times before it was eaten. That always seemed ridiculous to me; wouldn't all the nutrients be thrown out and only fiber left? In the fall we plant turnip greens; mustard greens are the choice for spring planting. Cooked up tender and served with pinto beans and cornbread -- well, what could be better? and very low in calories and high in vitamins and fiber.

I know it's a little after the fact to be posting about a gift idea. This little thing is a battery powered can opener, 6 1/2" x 2 1/2", a godsend for us with arthritis in our hands. I prefer this to an electric can opener because it can be stored inside a drawer instead of taking up counter space. Trying to open a can with a regular can opener has become very painful and almost impossible for me, so with this I don't have to run to my husband to have him open a can for me. This one came from Wal Mart (doesn't everything?), and made in China (isn't everything?)

Charlotte