This morning we are 'testing' the furnace.....it is working. The living room was 68° so we decided to turn off the AC on the system.
I do love this time of year. The only thing that would make it perfect is for it to rain! Still nothing predicted. I may have to till the garden in a cloud of dust.
Speaking of the garden, I keep finding snacked on and rotting pumpkins so a few days ago I decided to harvest a few. I found some that looked the perfect color and some that should have been left on the vine. At least, I got all I could possibly need for the winter.
I let them ripen for a few days and then decided to process one, not the best colored one:
I scrubbed it good and diced it into chunks; tossed into my turkey roaster with some water and cooked until tender. I ran it through the Victorio strainer using the pumpkin cone. Bits of softened skin came through so I decided to scoop the flesh off before straining. I used to just process in the Cuisinart. From this medium sized one, I got slightly over 4 lbs. of pumpkin. I thought it was a little coarse. Maybe because of the early harvesting ? Anyway, I made a pie and it was very tasty, not as fine textures as 'store bought' but certainly very good.
I stored the others in the milk parlor and they will last all winter into spring.
The vine is still growing with no let up in sight. I have no idea what will ripen if anything by frost which is just around the corner (l0/20).
The same is true of the sweet potatoes....tremendous vines....sometimes not a good sign; all vines and no potatoes.
I am happy to report that DH finally got around to hauling off all my chain saw piles....now we need to rake the dead leaves left behind. I ventured up the side of the cellar once again and chopping down an elm sapling. I will treat the stump with diesel this morning.
There is nothing left in the garden but drying bean pods for seeds; still producing peppers and the aforementioned sweet potatoes and the odd clump of garlic seedling here and there.
DH saw this in the road when he went to get the mail,
I am thinking juvenile rat snake?
I did not dispatch it.
We are seeing lots of garden spiders in webs. I don't mind them unless I drive into one when mowing which I did.
Got company coming Monday. Sis and BIL who haven't been down in two years. They will just stay a couple of days....got to get back to the mini horses.
I do love this time of year. The only thing that would make it perfect is for it to rain! Still nothing predicted. I may have to till the garden in a cloud of dust.
Speaking of the garden, I keep finding snacked on and rotting pumpkins so a few days ago I decided to harvest a few. I found some that looked the perfect color and some that should have been left on the vine. At least, I got all I could possibly need for the winter.
I let them ripen for a few days and then decided to process one, not the best colored one:
I scrubbed it good and diced it into chunks; tossed into my turkey roaster with some water and cooked until tender. I ran it through the Victorio strainer using the pumpkin cone. Bits of softened skin came through so I decided to scoop the flesh off before straining. I used to just process in the Cuisinart. From this medium sized one, I got slightly over 4 lbs. of pumpkin. I thought it was a little coarse. Maybe because of the early harvesting ? Anyway, I made a pie and it was very tasty, not as fine textures as 'store bought' but certainly very good.
I stored the others in the milk parlor and they will last all winter into spring.
The vine is still growing with no let up in sight. I have no idea what will ripen if anything by frost which is just around the corner (l0/20).
The same is true of the sweet potatoes....tremendous vines....sometimes not a good sign; all vines and no potatoes.
I am happy to report that DH finally got around to hauling off all my chain saw piles....now we need to rake the dead leaves left behind. I ventured up the side of the cellar once again and chopping down an elm sapling. I will treat the stump with diesel this morning.
There is nothing left in the garden but drying bean pods for seeds; still producing peppers and the aforementioned sweet potatoes and the odd clump of garlic seedling here and there.
DH saw this in the road when he went to get the mail,
I am thinking juvenile rat snake?
I did not dispatch it.
We are seeing lots of garden spiders in webs. I don't mind them unless I drive into one when mowing which I did.
Got company coming Monday. Sis and BIL who haven't been down in two years. They will just stay a couple of days....got to get back to the mini horses.
Sounds like things are winding down for the season by you. Same here, but probably at a faster pace! They say our colors will be at their peak this weekend but, if so, they're not very colorful this year. I guess that just happens sometimes. Still a lovely time of year weather-wise, so I'll not complain.
ReplyDeleteI love making my pies with Butternut Squash which I freeze and us to make a pie in the Winter months too! Just the fact that you made one makes me crave PUMPKIN PIE...YUM!!!...:)JP
ReplyDeleteJP, I think I prefer Butternut to pumpkin because of the gorgeous orange color. I didn't raise any this year. They keep on the shelf almost as good as the Long Island Cheeses.
ReplyDeleteI have 2 monster butternuts and thought I'd try to make 'pumpkin custard' this winter. Can't have good pie crust, but thought a baked custard for Thanksgiving would be a treat. 1/2" cold rain yesterday. That 2" this week. Too late in the season to be of much use water-barrel-wise now that the veg are pulled etc. Only 38F yesterday a.m. Furnace has been going since Oct 1. Wow, October sure is different than September.
ReplyDeleteI like butternuts, too but I can't seem to keep the squash bugs off them, they kill the vine before I even know they're there. I've heard the LI Cheese is not favored by squash bugs and I look forward to trying them, and am interested in a seed swap if / whenever you are, just let me know. Hugs xoxoxo.
ReplyDeleteI see where there is yet another stink/squash bug invading our midst. It is found is some places in Missouri and has white markings on the side and antennae. Just what we need!
DeleteI see bugs on these vines but they came too late to do much damage. I will be saving seeds for you.