End of Summer

 

I have been absent for far too long. . .  and here we are at the end of summer.  This summer was so unexpected for us.. . . we had many days upwards of 70 degrees with our top hottest days last week coming in at 84 degrees.   This weather turned our garden into a massive producing machine.  I've been harvesting and canning green beans since early August.  I must have put away 45 quarts of green beans and 15 quart size bags of shelled peas with an enormous bag of dried peas for next year's crop.  Every day there are carrots, onions, broccoli or cauliflower to harvest.    Our greenhouse even became too hot and the doors to it have been open for the last month.  Too much heat caused most of my tomato and pepper plants to die prematurely and not fully produce, couple that with root bound plants in pots makes for a poor tomato/pepper crop.  So, we rolled with the punches and got six 20 pound boxes of organic tomatoes from a local grower and spent several days canning them. 

 

Our Nubian goats are growing larger every day.  Right now, I am currently watching them closely to see when they begin their monthly cycles so that Anne and I can take them to the breeder.  The General Manager is definitely wanting some return on investment from them in the form of MILK!  

 

School has resumed for the kids as of last week.  The first week back to the books went rather smoothly here at One Blessed Acre.  My favorite subject this year has to be our herb study, The Herb Fairy Book Club from Herb Mentor.  Each month we receive a new book, plus activity guide for a particular herb.  This month we are studying violets, so while we can't enjoy any of the violet recipes right now, we are still learning a lot, information that we'll be able to use in the spring!

 

I also finished barn #10 in our Quilty Barn Along with Lori.  This block is called the "Summer Star."  I'm a little concerned that the red in the barn might be too overpowering compared to the rest of my barns, but at this point, I'm just really excited to finish up the blocks and get it off to the quilter.  Two more blocks to go!

 

Have a great week!