A Little Sewing & Another Garden Experiment

Hello, friends.  For the first time ever, we ran out of our drinking (rain)water.  With the skoolie project, a lot of maintenance-type things on the homestead have been neglected, including cleaning out the gutters to that tank.  I swept the shed roof while I was up there, and cleaned the muck off the gutter screens, which were covered with soil-like material.  It's no wonder there was no rain getting through, to fill our tank.  The forecast is showing little to no rain in the 15 day forecast, but in the meantime, we're able to use the main tanks to fill our Berkey.  As long as they last, that is.

One of our game roosters had a bad habit of flying out of the chicken yard, to explore other areas.  Last week, something killed him.  So, now our flock is down to 11, including three roosters, which truly is enough.  All but two of last year's sweet potatoes were used in a curry.  It's time to bring in this year's potatoes, as they should be done curing now.  All the houseplants were brought in.  Last year, we dug up one of the pomegranates, and brought it indoors in a pot, to see if if would bloom earlier once taken back outside, thinking it would have a head start..  It didn't.  In fact, this year it didn't bloom at all, so we're no closer to getting ripe fruit.  A few years ago, J placed a large rock in the backyard, to use as thermal mass, and planted one of our olives in front of it.  It didn't make it, so we're now trying the pomegranate in that spot, and hope it thrives.  Gardening is always an experiment.

Two of the roses started in the spring, from cuttings I'd pruned, were still looking happy, and were planted in the rose bed.  One even has a rosebud, which looks like it will soon open.  A volunteer borage was transplanted.  Three tomatoes were picked to use for the Amish tomato starting tip Stacy shares, and are ready to winter in the basement.  Last week's harvest included peas, lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, lemon verbena, green and noodle beans.  I gathered zinnia seeds for saving.  Making new covers for the decorative pillows on our bed has been on my to-do list for some time.  I finally got around to sewing them, using the remaining quilt square, which matches the bed quilt.  As there was only one, I cut it in half, and used thrifted linen fabric for the remainder.  I've gotten to attend a couple of performances with a neighbor recently.  The first was Sense & Sensibilities, and was a very humorous take on it.  This week's was Constellations, which was a somewhat dark, more serious play, but also good.  My niece and I are making plans to volunteer together in Western NC in a few weeks, which I'm looking forward to.  I hope you have a lovely week!

Work Continues & A New Mattress

Progress has been made on the skoolie, especially the past week.  Joseph has been running pipes for plumbing, and wiring the pumps.  He bought our mattress, crafted from organic wool and cotton.  I've been sleeping on clean mattresses since the 80's.  We spend so much of our lives with them, it makes sense not to expose ourselves to toxins, while we sleep.  PSA: if you're not aware, flame retardants and formaldehyde are common in conventional mattresses, which outgas toxins.  Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen.  The first mattress I bought, I had to provide a prescription saying I required a formaldehyde-free mattress for my health.  Thankfully, I was working in a Cardiology group, and one of the Dr's provided it.  It seems that's no longer a requirement.  Here's a link, if you'd like more info on the health risks of conventional mattresses.  

Joseph has begun working on the generator.  Once it's running and placed, he'll fabricate a door for that space.  We've been discussing how once we're up and running, we could be of assistance in natural disasters and such.  Being we can be self-sufficient for a time, we could just park and have what we need, to easily be of service.  Something to ponder.   Onward.

Resilience

Hello, friends.  I hope you are doing well.  J recently visited family members in Eastern NC.  His Mom sent him home with several things, including canning jars, which I was delighted to get.  I put some of them to use right away, in canning vegetable broth and eggplant.  Before canning, I set aside a little over a pound of eggplant to try a new recipe, and it's a keeper.  I harvested a large amount of basil, and made batches of pesto, then froze it.  This week's harvest included green peas, eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, and the last pawpaw, which was used in a fruit salad.  While canning tomatoes one day, I shelled peas while keeping an eye on the canner.

The next day, I canned peas and recanned broth.  I've been having lots of seal failures the past couple of weeks.  When I've redone them with different jars and lids (but same brand), I get the same results, which makes me think it's the lids.  I had started using some no-name canning jar lids we got, and am not having a great success rate with them, so J placed an order for a brand with high ratings.  A pan of GF bread ends was turned into bread crumbs.  The chickens get the two banana peels from my breakfast smoothie in their mash, but if I also have a lunch smoothie or freeze bananas, and have additional peels, I've been putting them in a jar with water, to turn into fertilizer.  Every few days, I water different plants with the liquid, and usually put the peels around rose plants.  On Sunday, I got the windows washed, all but the one with diamond panes in the bathroom, which doesn't lend itself to using the squeegee.  I am still loving that system, which only requires a couple drops of soap and water.  No spray bottles or rolls of paper towels, and it's so much quicker.  It will soon be time to bring in all the house plants, with a forecast of temps in the 40's, so now the windows are ready for them.  

  

With this second round of green beans planted from our seed, we've gotten some noodle beans mixed in.  I've just been cooking them together in the wok, which I think makes a pretty dish.  I am so very proud of my niece.  She returned to her Asheville home this weekend, to begin helping hike food and water into inaccessible areas.  She's an avid hiker, used to carrying a pack, so this seems the perfect fit for her.  I've not mentioned this before, but a few years ago, she had signed up with the Peace Corps.  She was talked out of going, due to family dynamics I won't get into here, just hours before she was to board the flight taking her to her assignment in Africa.  It broke my heart for her, and hers too, but she's resilient.  I hope this is helping heal her heart, in her desire to be of service.

Forget-me-not

I'm not sure how much of the Helene aftermath is still in the news.  I've been keeping up with what's happening on Facebook and various Youtube channels.  It's hard to comprehend how bad things actually are.  Some of the more heartbreaking news I've seen is a family that hiked 22 miles... 11 miles out and 11 back, for supplies, as there is no access.  They were able to have a family member provide an ATV, so they will no longer have to hike that distance.  Another was of an elderly woman, crying as rescuers reached her home, having seen no one for eight days.  A story that had me bawling was about a church in Fairview, the little community we just returned from.  Two hundred people were found in the church, none of whom had had anything to eat for 6 days.  Can you imagine?  Update: it looks like the story about the church may be a story passed along that is not true, but you don't have to look far to find other stories of suffering.  Hold your loved ones close, and stay well, friends.  

A Little Getaway

Hello, friends.  I'm sorry for not putting a post up last week, but we were enjoying a little getaway.  My experience at the herbal conference two weeks ago exceeded my expectations.  The Square reader had some glitches, and with three of my sales, several minutes after the payment was approved, they canceled the payment due to a "problem they were having".  I did manage to run down one of the customers, and re-enter the payment.  After contacting Square about the other two, they did not make good on them, sad to say.  Other than that, it was a positive experience, and one I would do again.  I cut my toothpaste tube, to get the remainder, and got quite a few more brushings from it.  

The morning after the conference, we headed to the mountains.  We found a lovely log cabin rental, with a gurgling creek just beyond our porch, which soothed us while reading, and lulled us to sleep at night.  It was not a frugal choice, but it was the perfect peaceful, secluded place for us.  Before leaving town, I froze the tomatoes for future canning, gave pawpaws away to a couple of folks, froze shishito peppers we were gifted, and dehydrated eggplant.  Some of the eggplant was seasoned to make it into "eggplant bacon" in the dehydrator.  It turned out truly awful, and was used up in the chicken mash.  For the plain eggplant, there's a recipe I'm going to try for patties.   Chard was harvested, and brought with us, along with a jar of our lima beans, pesto and onions.  We ate all meals at our cabin, except for a dinner, when we met our niece.  

The black eyed susan vine has started blooming

We visited one thrift store, and the only thing purchased was a bag of cotton quilt batting, for $6.  It looks to be around $50 online.  We tried some discount grocery stores, and got a few things, including quarts of raw honey @ $10.99 & $11.99, a 10# bag of pasta for $4, and Pepperidge Farm bread BOGO.  On our way out of town, we dropped pawpaws off at a neighbor's, as he made it known they'd like more, and picked up library books.  When we returned Tuesday, we harvested eggplant, tomatoes, pawpaws and green beans.  Wanting something simple for dinner that night, J boiled eggs for egg salad, and I sauteed some cherry tomatoes, onions and garlic to have over pasta.  The early bands from Helene reached us Tuesday evening, and we lost power during a thunderstorm, for most of the night.  J started up the generator long enough for us to get our showers.  We've got one or two solar batteries that seem to be having problems, so it didn't kick in.  Two free Kindle books were read, over the next few days.

The day after we returned, I went to the DMV to renew my license, and spent most of the day waiting.  Happily, I passed my eye exam without problem.  The week earlier, I had an eye exam at an office, and passed at 20/20 there, but I do have some cataracts, and he suggested glasses.  I purchased an inexpensive pair on Zenni Optical.  I don't know how much I'll actually wear them, but I wanted to have them, in case I didn't pass at the DMV.  You may have read about the devastation the storm did to Western NC, as well as in other states.  My niece managed to find a route through SC, to get back to her parents home here.  The college she works at will be closed a minimum of two weeks.  I keep thinking how we just missed it.  We got our second Azure Standard order, which I picked up this time.  We got everything we asked for, except for rice.  I was able to can tomatoes again.  This time, I dehydrated the skins for us, and pulsed it in the Bullet, to make tomato powder.  Well, that's been some of the goings on the past two weeks.  I hope you've been faring well.  Stay safe, friends.  

Update- If you're looking for a way to help, here are two resources:

https://www.nctripping.com/help-western-nc/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/154hYrmMKWNKWIwcTkUP8GhcAn4z4LXnFr2AKMgv3Qik/edit?fbclid=IwY2xjawFoMBBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWLgEUVeqKcD37uR2Np0qN5nBGXZFkUU7fmUd8X29dbquBTlZMCV348z3w_aem_VXRIRFirSfDqRT4nKkcaSw&pli=1#heading=h.6uj98onhfl96

Biodiversity On The Homestead

Hello, friends.  While I was working my last Saturday at the pottery last week, J harvested the sweet potatoes.  As in previous years, some have been munched on, but we're happy with what we've got.  I never got around to braiding the garlic, so he cut off the stems and put them in storage, as he needed that shelf for the sweet potatoes to cure.  I was hoping he'd find more butternut squash or melons in the nearby patch, but not so far, as all we got was the one immature squash and one misshapen watermelon.  Hopefully, we'll have better luck with both next year.

I learned beauty berries were edible a couple of years ago, and have been munching a few during walks ever since.  To me, they have a slightly sweet, floral flavor.  I'd read about making jelly from them, and did that this week, which turned out a pretty color.  I wanted to do something with our ripe pears, and decided to make a pear pie.  Golden paste was made for the pups.  Laundry was dried on the line.  Thanks to reseeding, we've got some nice kale patches.  Two more people in the neighborhood wanted pawpaws, and I froze some more.  I saw a new method of prepping them, which I tried.  Though it's still time-consuming, I believe it did save a little time, and it's not quite as messy.  You freeze the pawpaws, let them thaw 20 minutes, peel them, then cut the seed and pulp apart.  

While heading to the chickens one day, I noticed a Pandora Sphinx caterpillar on a grape leaf, which was kind of wild looking.  I'm happy to see plenty of biodiversity here.  I have to renew my license this month, and am dreading going this week, as I expect they'll tell me I need glasses.  Since the last renewal, I began using readers, which are pretty much a necessity for me now.  Ah well, it's small stuff, and I'm so thankful to be as healthy as I am.  Speaking of which, the last cleanse moved me forward in getting eczema-free, so I'm in the midst of another.  I follow folks online who are doing this cleanse back to back for months, to fully heal other issues.  I'd miss cooked potatoes too much, and once it gets cooler, it's hard for me to do all raw foods.  Though I'm sure that could change, with more serious health issues.

This is the bouquet sent by my daughter in spirit.  Isn't it lovely?  I've been wrapping soap, and putting together Garden sets, getting ready for Friday's show.  J bought seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, collards and lettuce at the feed and seed store.  He tilled up a spot, and planted them all, plus seeds of winter greens mix.  Our green peas are doing well, and have lots of blooms on them.  While cleaning up the garden for the seedlings, he found another butternut squash, which made me happy.  When I went to gather eggs yesterday, I found a rat snake in the nest box, which required alerting my personal snake wrangler.  He's been doing it for years, so it doesn't phase him.  We then rehomed it.  Our little bit of excitement for the day.  Wishing you only good surprises this week.  

Skoolie Tank Progress

As in the last post, there's not a lot of photogenic things happening on the skoolie at the moment.  Joseph has been working lots of days on an away job.  Between being gone 9-10 hours a day, and doing hard labor all day, he doesn't have a lot left when he gets in.  However, he has continued to work on the tanks, as he can.  He's added the tank sensors.  Today, he finished the permanent install of the utility water and drinking water tanks.  Both are attached, but are bolted in place, in case he ever has the need to remove them.  The fill and vent piping is also connected between the drinking water tank and RV connection, on the side of the bus.  Next, he needs to finish water lines and install the two pumps, and propane piping.

I asked for a silverware holder for my birthday, which my sister gifted me.  It's the little things.

Garden Ups and Downs & Another Year Around The Sun

Hello, friends.  I hope you've had a good week.  For Labor Day, J cooked our dinner on the grill.  I prepped eggplant, potatoes, and mushrooms, and he added corn and pork.  We ate on our porch for the first time this summer, which was lovely.  I recently had my first shower of the year in our outdoor shower.  I forget how absolutely wonderful that is, and really should use it more often.  It's one of life's simple pleasures.  I blanched and froze lambs quarters.  J has had to fix more things on the homestead.  First, the pressure switch for our well went bad, which he got a part for, and replaced.  My steam mop had stopped steaming. He soaked parts in vinegar, and thinks he's got it working again.  Even though I only use rainwater in the steam mop, he thinks the tannins, which get through the initial three house filters, may have clogged it up. 

I was able to can a small amount of tomatoes, which was good.  After a lull, I've been working on soap, gearing up for the holiday season and upcoming show.  Daisy had asked for information on where I'll be vending, and I'll be at this herbal symposium in Pittsboro.  We're still awash in pawpaws, and shared them with several people throughout the week.  We received a bag of cucumbers from a neighbor, which was much appreciated.  All laundry was dried on the line.  I made golden paste for the pups.  This continues to be a most interesting year in the garden.  Now that the tomatoes have quit rotting, there's a new problem of many worms/caterpillars on them.  On Saturday, I picked off 42, of at least four types!  At least the chickens have been getting extra protein.

It's been a good eggplant year, however.  I made a pasta dish with caramelized onions and eggplant on my birthday, Wednesday.  Though it was a lowkey day, with J working, I gathered a bouquet, took a longer than usual walk, and made cookies.  Giving myself a little more than the usual down time was nice.  It was also nice the celebration continued, with flowers arriving from my daughter in spirit Thursday, time spent with my sister Friday, and time with friends at a winery on Sunday, so all the best things were enjoyed.  I've recently noticed what seems to be a decrease in pollinators in the garden.  I'm seeing some around it, mostly bumblebees on the morning glory and garlic chive blooms, but very little in the garden, and no honeybees, though we have two neighbors with hives about 1/2 mile away.  The tomatoes and eggplant are obviously getting pollinated, so hopefully it's nothing to worry about.  I'll keep my eye on it.  We were able to have the windows open a lot this week.  I hope the weather is lovely in your little spot in the world.