Puttin' it Up

My boo had the day off from work. The plan was for him to go salmon fishing in the Sound, just down the road a piece. Well, some bozo's boat had come untethered in the night and blown ashore at the boat launch, preventing Bill from putting in until the tide came back in, allowing the bozo in question to move his errant boat back where it belonged. And so, the day meant to be spent slaying fish was out. Instead, he came home and helped me do some serious catching up and putting up re: our garden landslide.

Socked away/made today -

Chelle -

Processed (washed, cut and froze)
*5 gallon bags of carrots
*6 gallon bags of summer squash

Picked and thrown in the dehydrator
*1/4 cup +/- bread poppy seeds
*1 cup German chamomile
*1 cup calendula blossoms

Bill -

Made
*1 pound goats milk mozzarella
*1 pizza dough
*1 beautiful Apple Pie (with our apples, of course)
*1 gallon apple cider (fermenting now)
*1 loaf white sandwich bread

Bill's homemade apple pie, bread and pizza (with his mozzarella)

Tomorrow I need to make a decision about what I want to do with our 10(ish) pounds of rapidly-ripening pears. Maybe jam, cider, pear sauce or ???

The pumpkins and tomatillos cometh SOON so I need to get ready for a wallop.

Today's Take - 8/16/13

Pattypan squash - 1 pound, 2 ounces
Yellow squash - 4 pounds, 8 ounces
Zucchini - 10 pounds
German chamomile - 1 ounce
Tomatoes - 4 ounces
Peas - handful
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - I dunno :(

We had 2 1/2 days of rain this past week, which gave my sprinkler a much needed break. Now we just need a 2-day scorcher to get everything popped and ripe.

The corn is about ready to harvest, but I'd like to leave it on the stalk for another day or to, since the rain got everything good and wet. The cantaloupes are coming along, but unfortunately, they're not looking like they'll be ready in time for the market. The tomatoes.... it's anybody's guess, but a hot couple of days sure wouldn't hurt their chances any.

The first sunflower opened completely today - a Miriam Edible. It's one of the shorter ones, at about 7 feet tall. The tallest ones are probably around 10 feet high, but none of the big 'uns have popped yet.

We're down to 8 days to finish getting all of our stuff together and ready for the LoL Market, which means that besides those 6 hours (or less) per night that I slip into a coma-like sleep state, I'm constantly trying to do something productive with my time - knitting, cutting & wrapping soap, harvesting herbs and veggies, putting up said herbs and veggies, feeding the pigs non-stop, back to school shopping, trying to finish a few last minute upcycle projects to offer at the market, etc...

I'm exhausted and I still have 34 bars of soap waiting to be wrapped, another 3 dishcloths to knit to meet my minimum goal, apples to pick, salmon that need catching... you get the idea. ;)

A far more experienced farm chick than I said that Farmers spend all Winter planning for Summer, and all Summer scrambling to get ready for Winter. Yup.

Today's Take - 8/13/13

Zucchini - 18 pounds, 8 ounces! (Maybe I'd better switch to picking these guys every day instead of every other?)
Yellow squash - 7 pounds, 8 ounces
Pattypan squash - 7 ounces
Tomatoes - 8 ounces (YAAAAY!)
Blackberries - 2 pounds, 2 ounces
Eggs - 4
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon

I saw that one of my Miriam Edible sunflowers had just begun to open up today - finally. The cantaloupes have set a dozen, maybe a dozen and a half fruits that I can see. Anything smaller that golf ball sized probably won't ripen in time, so if I even end up with 10 or 12, I'll be thrilled.

The pumpkins are still setting fruit, and some of the bigger fruits are probably already in the 10 pound range, easily. I can't wait to see what our total numbers are at season's end. :)

Planning to put up this week/weekend -
Basil (freeze pesto, basil compound butter)
Zucchini (zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini muffins, freeze grated zucchini, freeze sliced zucchini for stir fry)
Blackberries (fruit leather, freeze whole)

Today's Take - 8/3/13

Zucchini - 3 pounds, 6 ounces
Yellow squash - 2 pounds, 8 ounces
Chamomile - handful
Peas - handful
Eggs - 8
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon

There are several cantaloupes that are now baseball sized, and quite a few more that are golf ball/kiwi sized. I can't wait to finally try one!

The sunflowers are all about 7 feet tall, and still forming their buds. When are these babies gonna bloom?

Bill said that one of the turkey gobbled at him today. Just when I was starting to suspect that we'd ended up with a pair of hens too. Well, at least one of them is a boy!

The LoL Market is creeping closer, and my perparedness-mania is just starting to kick in. Will the tomatoes be ready for market? Not at the rate their going now. Will the soap be cured in time? 99% yes - whew! Should I knit more? It can't hurt. Tomatoes, squash, beets, corn (maybe), cantaloupe, eggs, apples, soap and knits - will it be enough? Man, I hope so!

February/March Crafting Totals

Knits -

Fingerless Mitts - 2.5 pair ($18/ea)
Bike Helmet Earmuffs - 3 pair ($15/ea)
Dishcloths - 5 ($4/ea)
Small Baskets - 2 ($5/ea)

Total - $120

I missed my goal of $5 per day by kind of a lot, but considering that most of the last half of February I was zonked out from knee surgery, I suppose it's not really all that bad.

The Easter bunny brought me a few cute skeins of yarn, so we'll have to see what those end up telling me that they want to be. ;)

Today's Take - 9/2/12

Though I wouldn't necessarily consider it part of today's take, I think that it is definitely worth noting here that between my friend Jen & I, we put up 78 jars of jam today. Whew!

Our fruit of choice this year was a case of lovely "Mountain Jewel" peaches. We turned them in to Spiced Peach, Raspberry Peach and Earl Grey infused Peach jams. Not to toot my own horn here, but our jam came out amazing, especially the Earl Grey.

While I was busy jamming away with Jen, Bill was out at the river, landing two King salmon!

Not bad for a day's work! :)

*Eggs - 7

*Salmon - 21 pounds (9 & 12 pounds, respectively)

Projects...

I'm back to knitting fairly regularly again, finally. Since the accident, I didn't often have either the energy or the dexterity to work with my hands, so easing back in to knitting has been slow, but nice.

I'm hoping to do another bazaar or two again this Christmas, so I'm working on building up a good and diverse inventory. Right now, I'm focusing on washcloths, since those were my best seller last year, followed by my bike helmet earmuffs. I'll be making heaps of both this time, so as not to run out again.

About 3/4 of my project yarns were gifted to me, so they cost me nada out of pocket, which means that if/when I'm able to sell what I make from them, it'll be mostly straight profit. Yay!

I did need some more kitchen cotton though, so I spent $30 on quite a bit of yarn at Michaels, which I have (so far) turned into 3 3/4 dishcloths which will, in theory, sell for $5 each. Here's hoping that I make enough to cover my expenses at least!

I also recently picked up a few clearance herbs at Bark & Garden, several of which look like they are prime for dividing. I spent $33 there, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to make a good chunk of that back selling live plants (started from these) at our farm stand in the future. Even if I don't (but I hope I do), I will have spent $2 each on some really interesting herbs that would cost at least that much for a cut bunch in the produce section of the grocery store.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Today's Take - 8/17/12

Well, it seems like our extended, super wet Spring, followed by these past two weeks of miserable heat may have finally paid dividends in the form of a berry landslide.

Today the girls, some friends and I went back to the u-pick blueberry farm just up the street and managed to pick 2 pounds of berries from just 5 or 6 bushes. They were chock full! We'll try to get back and pick a few more once or twice at least before the season wraps up, because at $2.25 per pound for organic, I intend to fill up on berries for eating fresh, making jam and freezing for use in baked goods and breakfasts throughout the next year.

The marionberries and blackberries are also pretty epic this year. Just today I picked a pound of berries from a bush that grows in the chickens' yard. I also got a lot of unwanted attention from the cluckers while picking, and so shared a berry with them for every 4 or so that I picked for myself. They would scramble and race each other to every berry that dropped with the winner then high-tailing it away to a secluded place in which to snarf down their prize. They haven't been waiting on my kindness though - they've been helping themselves to all of the berries that they can reach. You can definitely tell how high they are able to jump, based upon the total absence of berries below about 18 inches off of the ground. ;)

As much as I whine and complain about this crazy weather, I sure am thankful that it has provided us with so much beautiful food.

P.S. - The apple trees and pear tree are loaded too! YAY!

*Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
*Eggs - 15!
*Marionberries/blackberries - 1 pound
*Blueberries (u-pick) - 2 pounds
*Garlic (from Lisa) - 28 heads!
*Potatoes, squash, basil & beans (also from Lisa) - Lots!

Today's Take - 8/12/12

If you count the blueberries from the organic u-pick berry farm down the road, today's take has berry buttermilk waffles written all over it. :)

*Goats milk - 1/2 gallon
*Eggs - 9
*Blueberries - 1 pound, 6 ounces
*Wild blackberries - 10 ounces

Today's Take 4/3/12

Scarlet and I did a little foraging in the yard today. Hooray for Spring!

I was actually a little disappointed with the number of dandelions that I was able to get. I was hoping for a lot more. I guess that this extended Winter has everything behind schedule, including the weeds.

We did, however, find a new patch of nettles growing on the south side of the property. I don't mind having to go and find my food in the woods, but there is definitely something to be said for being able to forage in your own yard!

As for what I'm going to do with these gathered greens, I'm going to use the dandy petals for wine, the greens for salad, and Bill will use the roots for home brewing. I'll also be splitting my nettle haul 50/50 with him, as dried nettles are apparently good for bittering a beer. Who'd have thought?

I had to cut my expedition to the back yard short today, but I plan to go grab up some more nettles tomorrow. You have to strike while the iron is hot! :)

*Dandelions (flowers, greens & roots) - 8 ounces
*Stinging Nettles - 8 ounces
*Eggs - 12

Today's Take 3/14/12

You know your life has become a little odd when you have the following exchange with an otherwise friendly barista-

Barista: So what are you up to today?
Me: I'm finally going to pick up my goat...
Barista: Awwww!
Me: ...from the butcher.
Barista: *stunned blank stare*

Yep, today was the day to pick up our goat meat from the butcher shop. For a 70 pound goat, our guy dressed out to a somewhat disappointing 37 pounds. We did not keep the entrails, hide or horns, just the meat and a few bones for bone broth and dog treats.

Here's how our 37 pounds broke down-

*3 pkgs Sirloin Steaks, 1 lb, 13 oz total weight
*7 pkgs Loin Chops, 3 lbs, 5 oz total weight
*2 Leg Roasts, 7 lbs ""
*2 pkgs Ribs, 2 lbs, 14 oz ""
*2 Shanks, 2 lbs ""
*5 pkgs Shoulder Steaks, 4 lbs, 12 oz ""
*6 pkgs Rib Chops - 3lbs, 3 oz ""
*10 pkgs Ground - 11 lbs ""

As I was putting the meat in our chest freezer, I also noticed the pheasant that my husband took last November/December(?) that were never weighed and logged. There was a total of 7 1/2 lbs of meat, which it takes God knows how many pheasants to make.

So our freezer is bulking up again, with some 45 pounds of goat & bird. I've never cooked either goat or pheasant, so dinners around here might be a little interesting during my learning curve. ;)

Today's Take-

*Goat meat, 37 pounds
*Pheasant, 7 1/2 lbs
*Eggs, not yet collected

Today's Take 9/5/11

Well, the whole separating the baby does from the Mama does thing has worked out well, as was expected. We set a new record for the most amount of milk in a day - 1/2 gallon! At this rate, we could be socking away a two-pound cheddar every four days. :)))

*Goats Milk, 64 ounces
*Eggs, 5
*Blueberries, (picked for jam from the farm down the way) 4lbs, 12 oz
*Windfall Apples, (for critter food) 2 wheelbarrows full