I headed out on the bike yesterday evening at about 9PM (the temperature was still at about 90-plus). I met some neighbors walking down the road with all their kids and an extra. I ended up stopping by their place and looked over their garden and fruit patch with the dad. The daughter came running out with a small bag of fresh cookies for me to take with me! Not bad, go for a bike ride for some exercise and come home with a bag of fresh chocolate chip cookies! Life is good!
I picked a half-gallon of blackberries off the bushes this afternoon after work. I spread them on cookie sheets and put them in the freezer. After they are frozen, I'll bag them in cobbler-sized portions! Patti snipped the latest florets of broccoli and picked a couple of peppers....Hmmm, Pretty Patti picked a peck of peppers...never mind.
One of the neighbors has a field harvested that is stacked with shocks of spelt. I wasn't really familiar with that grain, so had to do a bit of research. It's kinda sorta like a coarse version of wheat. Anyway, I'm planning to help thresh it in a week or so. The threshing was going to be this coming Saturday, but another neighbor is going to have a big antique sale up at Dinky's on Saturday. I will be helping them to set up for that on Friday night, beginning at about midnight. At the sale, I hope to buy a butter churn for Patti. The auction is going to be a dandy...lots of cast iron (Griswold), crocks and jugs (Uhl), and too much stuff to mention. From toy tractors to a 350 lb. anvil, this will be a sale for homesteaders for sure.
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| Shocks of Spelt wait to be hauled in and threshed |
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| A closeup of the tight grain head of some Spelt |
In the last few days, I also processed the last of the sage that I dried last fall. I merely hang it from a string in the shop and allow it to air dry. I crumbled the leaves and stored them in a large seasoning jar. Fragrant and good for soups, meats, and other dishes! Sage is a good perennial herb to have growing in the garden. The dusky green foliage and spikes of blooms are attractive and fragrant.
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| Some dried sage, waiting to be crumbled and stored. |
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| A large jar of home-grown sage. |
northeast mississippi is getting hot and dry too..my three small gardens are having to be watered every other day and the hanging tomatoes every day..everything is beginning to produce and i just hope that i can keep up with it and get it in before it burns up. the weather this year has been just too weird but even with the problem weather has been the gardens are better than they have been in years. maybe because we are really tending to them more carefully because of the weather and the economy we are living with these days. i sure would like a few days of good soaking slow rain though-i need a break.
ReplyDeleteExactly...2 or 3...or 4 days of good, slow soaking is sorely needed here and in many parts of the country. Just spoke, though with a fellow in from Maine. They are very wet with some 6-9 in rains in places. As you say, weird weather.
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in.
It's been so dry around here T., that the fish have ticks on their back. Seriously, I like the blog, keep up the good work. maybe a breakfast meeting is in order soon? P.B.
ReplyDeleteHot and dry here in central Kentucky. We are going on 3 weeks without rain. Sure hope this isn't going to be how the rest of summer shakes out.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how to do this with a name other than anonymous.. But it is getting pretty dry here and of course hot.. Live between Austin and Houston Texas. As we speak 101 and 48% humidity.
ReplyDeleteReally like your blog, found it on BHM and will be back to visit.
Phyllis