It's going to be a 'low fruit' year, but that's okay.
Between the weather, the deer and a bit of fire blight on our biggest Royal Gala apple tree, we are not getting a ton of fruit this year. Happily, I made enough applesauce and dried apples last year to see us through for a long, long time. We have a few fresh peaches coming in soon, but we may eat all of them fresh - no extra for freezing or drying. I do still have some dried ones in a jar and a good amount of those in the freezer as well. It's that way with most of our fruits...we won't be getting a lot, but that's just how it is.
The broiler chickens are in the freezer as well. OK, most of them are. The last 4 are in the extra fridge. I put them in there for 2-3 days, then freeze them. It's supposed to make them more tender and tasty. We had some chicken at lunch yesterday and it was really, really good! I should be done with the chicken harvest for the year, except that just as I was cleaning up, I heard one of the white rocks give a tentative first crow. So....at least one of my laying hens is a rooster. If it's just one, I may keep him, so I can breed my own white rocks. If there are several, I may be putting more birds in the freezer. We'll just have to wait and see.
I put up 8 more pints of green beans last night, and made some wheat bread (pictured to the right) yesterday. Both turned out well. One head of cabbage was starting to split (from growing so fast) so I picked the 4 that were ready. We had steamed cabbage at lunch yesterday, and it was delish! I can't wait to make some slaw, too. We continue to get a little rain each evening. The garden is really taking off!
We are spending our spare time de-cluttering and preparing for the yard sale I've been talking about for a long, long time. The decluttering is going better than I could have hoped. In the past, it's always been difficult for me to let go of things - 'I might need that some day!' Lately, though, I've been much more willing to part with the excess, and I hope it will bless someone else who can put it to good use. I'm really looking forward to having less stuff to maintain, too!
What are you up to these days?
The broiler chickens are in the freezer as well. OK, most of them are. The last 4 are in the extra fridge. I put them in there for 2-3 days, then freeze them. It's supposed to make them more tender and tasty. We had some chicken at lunch yesterday and it was really, really good! I should be done with the chicken harvest for the year, except that just as I was cleaning up, I heard one of the white rocks give a tentative first crow. So....at least one of my laying hens is a rooster. If it's just one, I may keep him, so I can breed my own white rocks. If there are several, I may be putting more birds in the freezer. We'll just have to wait and see.
I put up 8 more pints of green beans last night, and made some wheat bread (pictured to the right) yesterday. Both turned out well. One head of cabbage was starting to split (from growing so fast) so I picked the 4 that were ready. We had steamed cabbage at lunch yesterday, and it was delish! I can't wait to make some slaw, too. We continue to get a little rain each evening. The garden is really taking off!
We are spending our spare time de-cluttering and preparing for the yard sale I've been talking about for a long, long time. The decluttering is going better than I could have hoped. In the past, it's always been difficult for me to let go of things - 'I might need that some day!' Lately, though, I've been much more willing to part with the excess, and I hope it will bless someone else who can put it to good use. I'm really looking forward to having less stuff to maintain, too!
What are you up to these days?
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Gill