Butternut squash, anyone? That would be our cash crop this year. We were pretty happy with our 8-ball zucchini squash too, but the butternut squash definitely broke records in production. I will be cooking, cubing, and freezing it for weeks to come. Our onions were plentiful as well as our green peppers, jalapenos, and banana peppers but we struggled to keep-up with consuming (or processing) them fast enough before spoiling. We only froze two large freezer bags of green beans and the rest were left to dry on the vine. From the picture, you may also be able to see a couple heads of cabbage and a spaghetti squash. (Both did reasonably well but it was difficult and time-consuming to pluck those stupid little green cabbage worms every day, so we were only able to salvage fist-sized heads of cabbage after removing several of the outer layers.) Overall, our garden was kind of a flop...fairly disappointing. Multiple floodings and prolonged saturated soil really took it's toll on our growing season. Plus, limited by my broken ankle, I could only offer minimal assistance during harvest times. Jason ended-up doing all of the picking, chopping, pureeing, and canning all alone. Next year, we've decided that we will only start tomatoes indoors - everything else can tough-it-out. So much for our four-tiered, labor-intensive, hand-made shelf and florescent grow light. Our 2011 garden will celebrate and support local seedlings and seeds that we've saved. Other randomness: We have also toyed with the idea of winter rye. I might like to explore amaranth possibilities. Mid-summer, I planted a couple of raspberry bushes that we're hoping take off. We still need an apple source and free-range egg supplier.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Seasons they are a changin'
Butternut squash, anyone? That would be our cash crop this year. We were pretty happy with our 8-ball zucchini squash too, but the butternut squash definitely broke records in production. I will be cooking, cubing, and freezing it for weeks to come. Our onions were plentiful as well as our green peppers, jalapenos, and banana peppers but we struggled to keep-up with consuming (or processing) them fast enough before spoiling. We only froze two large freezer bags of green beans and the rest were left to dry on the vine. From the picture, you may also be able to see a couple heads of cabbage and a spaghetti squash. (Both did reasonably well but it was difficult and time-consuming to pluck those stupid little green cabbage worms every day, so we were only able to salvage fist-sized heads of cabbage after removing several of the outer layers.) Overall, our garden was kind of a flop...fairly disappointing. Multiple floodings and prolonged saturated soil really took it's toll on our growing season. Plus, limited by my broken ankle, I could only offer minimal assistance during harvest times. Jason ended-up doing all of the picking, chopping, pureeing, and canning all alone. Next year, we've decided that we will only start tomatoes indoors - everything else can tough-it-out. So much for our four-tiered, labor-intensive, hand-made shelf and florescent grow light. Our 2011 garden will celebrate and support local seedlings and seeds that we've saved. Other randomness: We have also toyed with the idea of winter rye. I might like to explore amaranth possibilities. Mid-summer, I planted a couple of raspberry bushes that we're hoping take off. We still need an apple source and free-range egg supplier.
Friday, September 10, 2010
No, I'm not crazy.
I want to move into our garage. Convincing Jason is another story. We'd need to fix it up or tear it down and build new, but size-wise it seems reasonable. I don't know how many times we've talked about building a one-room cabin with a half-loft (for storage or sleeping) and downsizing to just the essentials. We have stayed in a couple camping cabins in southern Iowa **see picture** and they couldn't be more perfect. Of course, it would only be temporary...a way to save money and 'practice' our sustainable, minimalistic habits. I can dream, right?
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Reflections
Ok, so I'm feeling like I never shared the two GOOD days that we had on our Missouri vacation (before it was cut short by my broken ankle). Well, to start off, we got an early start and made it to our first destination in just under 7 hours. We planned to stay two nights at Lake of the Ozarks State Park before driving two more hours south to Branson and Table Rock State Park. Note: Unfortunately, I have moved away from documenting every moment through photos. I say unfortunately but really it's probably for the best. I am much more able to enjoy 'the moment' and live it firsthand instead of reliving it through pictures (later). This also means that I'm often ill-prepared and don't have my camera when the moment comes that we'd like to have a quality photo of that magnificent landscape or unique perspective. We have joked about how some day we will be able to look back at pictures and recognize the increase in popularity and commonplace of camera phones by the abrupt decline in photo quality and low-resolution pictures. Of all the fish we caught, I don't think that we have a single picture of even one keeper. Needless to say, we DID catch a lot of fish...not the bass that the internet raved about, but still a good time. The area we stayed in was beautiful. Quiet and not over-crowded for the most part. My only complaint was the heat. Of course, the week we decide to go on vacation, it is 104 degrees with excruciating heat indexes. Ok, back to my story...So our first day was spent driving, setting-up camp, and fishing until dark. We were blessed with a gorgeous sunset, retired to our truck tent, and awoke at dawn to go fishing on a picturesque lake in a dreamworld fog.
The foggy morning turned into a sunny, calm, and lazy day filled with long periods of fishing, swimming, and swaying in the hammock. By the end of the day, we were already making plans to return next summer and seriously contemplating stopping back for a couple days at the tail-end of our trip. Little did we know that the very next morning we'd be speeding to the emergency room. Despite our trip to the ER, we packed-up and headed to Branson for part 2 of our vacation - two days in a hotel and a timeshare tour. Much needed rest, relaxation, and air-conditioning was appreciated (especially by me almost comatose on pain meds). We ordered-in and watched tv. Additionally, the hotel provided us with a wheelchair which was very useful for getting me around the timeshare tour, Bass Pro Shops (where we had to get the motor fixed...yeah, another downer and unexpected expense), and dinner out. You should have seen the hill that Jason pushed me up at the hotel! He had to take three breaks and I was so worried that I was going to roll/tip backwards because of the extremely steep incline. Poor guy. Our trip turned into such a work-out for him and he had to take-on all of the two-person tasks himself which resulted in re-injuring his lower back. After checking-out of the hotel, I decided that I really didn't want to be the one to say "let's go home early" so we headed on to part 3 of our vacation - Table Rock State Park. We carefully selected a flat campsite near the restrooms and overlooking the lake...not thinking that I'd be spending much time boating or fishing. Three hours later, we accepted that the trip needed to come to an (early) end. However, as we approached the exit for Lake of the Ozarks State Park, we impulsively decided to try another night of camping...but, after an all-night thunderstorm and downpour (that almost sunk the boat and restricted me from leaving the truck tent), we FINALLY said enough is enough.Friday, August 13, 2010
Rain, Rain Go Away
7 inches of rain fell here in a 24-hour period...killing our brussel sprout plants. Additionally, all this rain has helped us (re)realize how glad we are that we didn't buy that abandon farm property. Ever since the first time that we set foot on the property, the pond and a good portion of the land around the pond was flooded. Previously, we thought that it was super soggy because Iowa had gotten an unusual amount of rain this spring and summer. Maybe not especially accurate. Later, we were told that the field on the east side of the property line is slightly higher and may cause excess water (and probably agricultural chemical) run-off into the pond...therefore flooding the property. Hmmm - Yeah, we made the right decision.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
New Pal
Before vacation, Jason purchased a manual, hydraulic wood splitter. Our backyard wood splitting practices have evolved from using a steel splitting wedge and sledge hammer to a very large ax. But, both were very strenuous and time-consuming and sometimes impossible. We'd seen our neighbor using a hydraulic splitter with a foot pump pedal, so Jason starting researching but only found manual ones online (no where local). Genius me suggested calling Shoppers located a mere 12 minutes away. Long story short - this is our new, powerful pal. It works awesome and can split up to 18" pieces. Less than a month ago, we picked-up a truckload of oak and a truckload of maple. Good hardwoods for burning. The wood will need to 'season' for a year before we can use it. Now, we just need to find some softwoods to get our fires started. Being campers, we have been ripped-off far too many times on the cost of firewood, so this was definitely the route to go for us. People often post free firewood on Craigslist but it's never cut-up in manageable pieces. We estimate that he has split $250-$300 worth of firewood. Not too bad for only the cost of fuel to pick it up. One day, this will come-in especially useful when we have our wood-burning stove. He split all of this in two afternoons - about 4-5 hours total. I split a few, too. :o)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Slowin' things down...
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Growing Our Learning Library
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