Posted on 09/04/2015 12:31:29 PM PDT by greeneyes
“So as long as that’s available and affordable, we’ll do that and skip the early morning milking and feeding. LOL”
I agree. A cow is a HUGE responsibility, and we want to be able to do some traveling before we’re too worn out! I’m sure I can find a good dairy in my new locale to try my hand at cheese making, etc. before I FULLY commit to Bessie! :)
Thanks for the prayers. I just get nervous when everything is disorganized. As long as I can have a couple of rooms that are neat and clean to escape to I can muddle through.
That’s hard though, because as soon as there is a clean space and empty drawer, or even a drawer that is not chock full, Hubby will stick something there. Pretty soon everything is chock full, and he has no idea where he put anything since it was stuck in the first available spot. LOL
I sure don’t have any experience with that - no plums here in our garden. Hopefully someone else will have some info.
We didn’t get enough pickles or tomatoes to can this year.
We just have a few that are beginning to turn. Toward the end of the month, we should have a few ripe persimmons.
Envy those of you with property...our 6000 square foot city lot pales...but I’m finishing up dehydrating 16 lbs of grapes to raisins...tomatoes are starting to overwhelm us..even got round zucchini to grow this year...and a few cukes. But Fall is fast approaching here in western Oregon...it was an unusually long hit summer
Congratulations DIW...sounds exciting
Well, a year after we bought the land, the bank I worked for was purchased by Bank of America. That meant that I would have to be willing to relocate to keep my job or for any advancements/promotions.
So I told my boss, I didn’t want to work there anymore, and would rather take my severance and work elsewhere. Two weeks later she called me and said she had decided the same. I went to work for Axa Advisors, and she found a job as a controller for a school district which gave her more time with her kids.
So, it was better to just stay with the house we had. With 1700 sq ft upstairs, and 1500 downstairs and 1200 of the downstairs finished, I just figured that was plenty for 2 people.
Hubby keeps wanting to build a garage size storage shed - which would be nice, but I don’t want to spend the amount of money involved. We have a two car garage with a work shop extra space, and plenty of room for vertical storage - just need some shelves built and clean up and organization.
So any way, if we had the lots behind us, we could expand our gardens and orchard. The other land would be good for forage, firewood, and it has a creek - hence the desire to retain a portion.
Wow. That’s neat. I like those - planted them one year in a pot. Maybe I’ll try some in the garden and see if I can get some volunteers too.
Thanks for your best wishes.
They taste almost like candy don’t they?
You’ll never be able to get rid of them!
:)
When I was a youngster, I helped with the milking down on my grandparents farm. Poor ole Tippy - she was very patient. It took me a long time to milk her.
My grandparents did all the rest of the small herd while I did just that one. When finished we had our day’s milk, cream, and butter and the dairy had two big cans of milk. They were about 3 or 4 foot tall, and a little more than a foot in diameter, so I’m not sure how many gallons that was.
We drenched burlap in water from the pump and covered the cans with them, then rolled them up the driveway to the side of the road for the dairy to pick up. Probably couldn’t do that now - too much mischief and regulation.
For sure - sweetness and more sweetness.
Autumn is the only thing I miss about Boston.
Our unusually gorgeous weather continues to dazzle the natives of Benderville on the far north coast of California and the 6 cucumber plants (3 hills) have produced 110 Dive salad cukes in less then 7 days plus The greenhouse tomatoes put out about 20 or 30 fruit every 5 or 6 days. Lady Bender’s marigolds are done and she pulled and composed one bed while I did some favors for a friend who is out of town at a dog agility event. The local Farmers Markets are full of great produce and fruit we can’t grow this near the coast and I’ll post some photos a little later...
Have you ever raised San Marzano plum tomatoes? This is my first year. Mine are type 2. Very sweet, few seeds and good texture. They have been a hit with my wife and many of our friends.
Eaten fresh, in salsa, in Italian food.
Only issue is because of the low acidity they are prone to have Bacterial Spot and Blossom End Rot.
Have read that epsom salts sprinkled around the plants helps prevent that. Will try next year.
“then we’ll be farming full time”
Wow! after my first wee garden this year and canning apples in a frenzy - I can feel for the rough life pioneers had! Then there’s the weather, insects, critters, diseases...
But I am hooked anyway;)
where did you find the seeds?
I love the san marzano in the can (the formerly DOP variety). I probably can’t get the same flavor, not being in the san marzano region of Italy - but it would be interesting to try
Don’t know if this is the right thread, but I’ve been having canning failures.
I have had literally ONE failure using ball metal lids over the last 4 or 5 years.
then I bought tattler ez seal lids- presumably you are able to use the exact same technique as with traditional lids. the first batch I had 1 can not seal, the 2nd batch had 3!
after the first failure, I did tighten the rings on the tattler lids a but more-perhaps causing the 3 failures. I’m thinking I should’ve instead have loosened the rings a but, as was needed in the tattler lids before the ez seals were invented.
anyone know?
I’ve had a ton of computer issues myself and finally had to buy a new one. For some reason, decided to rearrange my planters. Making plans for a new arrangement in those planters. Hoping to grow more vegetables.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.