Impatience

I knew better, of course, but I had to go check to see if the onions were peeking up through the mulch today. It will be at least two weeks before they get big enough to cut; and we may get a frost by then. But that's OK, they'll be back in the spring. They're not up yet. A watched onion never sprouts, I guess!

Almost time to cut the sunflower heads for the seeds. Once dried, I'll save the largest head for seeds for next year, and shell and use the rest for bread additions, even nuts in cookies and on top of casseroles. It's the simple things we like. Like the bookcase Mike built this week, of old discarded boards that were on a shelf in the barn, the boards that perfectly match the rustic and rough grey wood of the walls of the family room; it looks like it has always been there.

I can't dig the horseradish until the first killing frost. That great big patch out there is calling me like a siren, though. There are so many things I want to try with it; not just making my own sauce (I do love the extra bite of horseradish on my rare meat), but seeing if I can make the sinus cures and muscle rub with it as well. Fascinating stuff, horseradish. Who knew? I've never grown it before; the clay soil in SC just wasn't conducive to it. But here in the sand it grows wildly, even almost joyfully, springing up thickly, its wide leaves waving and rustling in the wind.

But something I've never read about and am thinking about - you know, you can make capascin oil, from ground dried hot peppers mixed with vegie oil and water, to keep animals and bugs off of plants; it is a natural insecticide and deer don't like it either. But I'm wondering if the flavenoids in the horseradish root will do the same? I've made up my mind to experiment with it. The gophers don't seem to like the roots much, they avoid the patch; and although the grasshoppers and cabbage moths seem to like the leaves, they don't seem to handicap the plants any. Still, it is worth a shot - use what you have.

Working on cutting up old clothes for a quilt pattern right now. So many of this size, so many of that size. I made quilts when I was a young mother the first time, so long ago that it has taken a while to come back to me - but it has. Why cut up perfectly good material into tiny squares or strips and resew it? Because, out of something old and faded or outgrown, or otherwise useless, I can make something warm and pretty and uniquely - me.

For some reason Lake has been spending a lot of time in the corral; she seems to like our company more and more. When I took a break, I went out and brushed her again today. When I am old and decrepit, and can't do anything but wander around and eat, I hope someone feeds me Oreos and brushes my knots out too. Her constant presence of course has increased my supply of readily-available horse poop; it's time to rake out the barns and corral again, add it to the compost pile. I dug into it yesterday to dump in some potato peels and egg shells, and the still-green-but-dying petunias from the pots; everything was turning black and really working. No poop smell, just dirt and rot. Can't wait until the leaves start falling - more mulch for the pile! Scraping it off, digging more in, digging it down deep then repiling it, is keeping it warm and active. Temps are in the 80's all this week, with 50's at night; good for rot.

I just love how things can be recycled over and over; green to poop to green again, seeds to flowers to more seeds and more food, maybe even horseradish to help things grow. Old clothes instead of being sold for a quarter or thrown away, turned into something useful again. Watching and waiting for the natural cycle of growth and death and rebirth is so like the advancing season of fall, when things start to slow a little and one can think about the changes, plan for them.

I am learning patience again.

Rain and Cold, Oatmeal and FIRE!

Yesterday wasn't really COLD, but it was wet. Wet all day, a slow and drizzly rain without wind.

Oatmeal was on sale a few days ago, 10 lbs for $10. I snatched it up, right next to the 25 lbs of sugar for $12 ($5 off), more honey and raisins. So yesterday morning I made a huge batch of oatmeal/raisin/pecan cookies while I was puttering about the kitchen. I will buy things on sale - IF I normally use them. And in the fall and winter, I use a lot of oats; must be the Irish in me, but I LOVE oats. I made a huge casserole of garlic pasta, Italian sausage, and limas in my Alfredo sauce, and that went well with the tomato/basil bread and cookies.

While I was preparing lunch, the bus went by from the school, loaded with football players. Oh, crap, I had forgotten about the game! So I went out to Mike's shop, told him lunch was ready, and reminded him of the football game. We ate lunch and went. It is only five blocks to the football field. It was great fun; everyone was there, and the bank put on their annual brat grill (free to all) but we had already eaten. The Color Guard from the American Legion presented the colors, and even in the rain all cowboy hats, baseball caps, and even helmets were off the heads and over the hearts of everyone there. We sat in the drizzling rain and cheered the team. I had gotten a heads-up from my friend that THIS was probably not the game to watch, as this visiting team always beats our Cowboys. They are some very big boys, and Mike and I discussed the need for our local fellas to maybe switch to pork chops, collards, and cornbread for a dietary supplement. In the programs we were handed at the gate, there were the names of every single player - and his parents.

Oh, yeah, they don't play the games at night, but at one o'clock in the afternoon. I like this better - no sitting in stands as the sunset blinds the players, and no slowly freezing to one's seat as the sun goes down and the nighttime kicks in. We don't have a large set of bleachers here - but it's ok, everyone brings chairs or sits in their cars facing the field, and blowing their car horns on good plays. We don't have built-in bathrooms, but semi-permanent portapotties, and no one complains. We are a small town and no one demands anything, because they know who pays for it and who has to take care of it.

So anyway, we went home after the game. The house was very chilly, damp from all the rain in the air. So I fired up the cast iron stove. Now, this stove is small, the firebox can only take wood that is 22 inches long or less, and it sits in a corner of the family room on a brick pedestal. But with a pile of twigs to start, and three small logs, and some careful adjusting of the flue and intakes, I had a rich red glow from it in half an hour, that lasted until we went to bed at 11. With the placement of an oscillating fan in the doorway, the whole house was at 70 degrees all night, and even this morning.

Today I'll put my onions in, and tonight there is a 'smoker' at the fire station. This is a big barbeque they have every year, $10 a head, all you can eat, that lasts from 5 PM until 1 AM, beer extra. BEER? Yes, BEER - you see, the folks here are grownups and don't need a nanny government telling them that they are not mature enough to drink. The fire department has to pay $40 to renew their liqour license annually. LIQUOR LICENSE? Yes, that's what I said. Again, no Eastern cramp about "what if" or "we have to MAKE them responsible" - since they are all adults, they are assumed to BE responsible. And - gasp - they ARE. Imagine that.

As we slide into fall, the smell of the woodsmoke from our fireplace, the sounds, activities, and smells of fall are everywhere. And we are loving it.

The Poop on Walking Onions

YAY!! The Walking Onions are in!!!

Booo... I haven't dug their bed yet. Dangit. Oh, well, they'll keep for a couple of days as long as I keep them cool...

Walking onions - those heirloom buggers that actually produce bulbs at the TOP of the stems, not the traditional root crops. No Vidalias here - the soil is too alkaline, and sandy to boot. Of course, the winter weather would nosh all over any sweet soft onions anyway.

But walkers - man, have I waited to try to grow these! Non-hybrid, which means that I can save any production and replant without worrying about any silly extra stuff getting in the way of yearly production. Long keepers, too; up to 12 months if harvested and stored correctly. And the best part - this fall I can use whatever comes up as green onions (betcher I'm gonna dehydrate those too); and then when the winter snows hit and they die back, I simply wait til spring when they will pop back out again.

They are called "walking onions" because when the tops fall over with the bulbs attached, they plant themselves where they fall if they are not harvested. So they will 'walk' all over a garden if not maintained.

I DID manage to get one of the pole barns and the main corral raked up yesterday, so I have horse poop in a pile, along with my kitchen compost, right by the garden gate. I soaked it for three hours yesterday. It should be working and getting 'hot' even in the cool weather - lotta green, lotta bug activity, lotta brown material and the manure, mixed together and sopping. So by spring till-in I should have some good water retention as well as nitrogen working. There will be residual calcium, too, from all of those eggshells.

Finally living in a place where one can pile up horse poop without comment and complaint from the neighbors! Of course, once it starts working, the only thing it will smell like is - dirt. I've thought about making those cool little manure animals for decoration and fertilizer, since I have the molds and kiln and all - but 1) I'm selfish about my poop, and 2) I don't think the smell of baking manure would be too - um, inspirational!

Hi to Blondie and Casey, and much love. You guys would love it here! I'd ship the bread but it doesn't have preservatives so it might not hold up well! Guess you'll have to come out to get a taste... grin.

What a Sweet Smell!

It is dismal outside, cool and cloudy and drizzling rain. A perfect day to harvest the basil and thyme seeds and leaves. A quick stripping, and into the dehydrator the leaves go, into small 'snack' Ziploc bags the seeds go, for next year's tantalizing and spicy harvest.

Today is Sunday Chicken Buffet day at the Hub; as the leaves dehydrate and fill the air with their sweet and spicy odor, we'll go down and socialize. Yummers.

Doing laundry too, nice smell from the basement of clean linens, rising up thru the basement door and wafting on the slight breeze from the dryer vent outside.

And to top it all off I dug out my "fall" decorations; they have been tightly wrapped in plastic bags and boxed up since last winter, along with the cinnamon/clove potpourri I sprinkle liberally about this time of year. Ummmm...

All these smells make me want to make some spicy tomato/basil bread, to get ready for holiday baking already. The house just glows with soft lights and intoxicating, comforting scents. Ahhhhhh. A perfect "gloomy" day.

Sigh.

Well, it has been a busy two days. Pickled some and dehydrated some yesterday, then helped Mike load the pickup with not one but two loads of trash for the dump (Wednesday is Town Dump Day). Then I went to a meeting in Valentine; while I was there I got a library card.

Today I started in immediately this morning, canning the last of the pickles and making more bread. Today's bread was light and moist and poufy, rising pretty quickly and prettily, and came out with a flaky crust and a soft interior. I made noodles to go under the last of the beef stew for lunch. Then after lunch I sat down to rest.

20 minutes later my right shoulder that had been grumbling since the dump trips finally, truly started to ache. Sigh. So I helped Mike tarp the wood pile ( it is supposed to rain tonite) and put everything away. We walked the yard with the puppies and talked about what we were going to do with the stuff around his shop, still piled on the North side.

Barb came up and told us that there was frost at their ranch this morning in the valley. Frost already! We didn't get any here - their ranch straddles the SD line north of us. But still....
I checked on the sunflowers; they are doing well and in two more weeks I should have scads of seeds. As long as we don't get a killing frost they should be OK.

I stll have to clean the kitchen ( I am a messy pickler and baker!) and grind the dehydrated tomaotes into powder. When it rains tomorrow I should have everything pretty much done and can look at the book I got from the library. It goes deeply into the plants, soil makeup, and water resources around here. I need to have an idea of the different things I need to look at - like soil acidity/alkalinity, etc - and figure out how to deal with the 'noxious weeds' here. I'd rather starve them out than try to fight them continually!

So tomorrow I can rest this silly shoulder. Maybe!

Weird Day

Well, I had made a huge pot of beef stew this morning (we eat our big meal at lunch now), and had been out in the pasture gathering up deadfalls for the woodpile. I was just about to sit down to lunch with some of that homemade bread, when I noticed the oddest thing - there were 10 students with a guy dressed in jeans and a tie standing outside my pasture gate. I put my food up (Sasha is not above eating off of a plate on the counter) and wandered outside. It was the HS class from across the street, learning about plants. I invited them into the pasture where there are lots of different plants - everything from yucca and cactus to grasses and black-eyed susans - and we talked about weather and soil types and how they influence zygonomic and rhizonomic reproduction. The teacher was thrilled that a mere passer-by put so much emphasis on plant life, and was as excited as he to share that knowledge.

Yeah, I know, everyone thinks I just like plants. No one knows that I have studied everything from plant structure and flavenoids to plant reproduction, alkaline vs acidic soils, and even CO2 uptake by plant life. I may have started life with a green thumb - but I have to know WHY things work the way that they do. That's why I want to put rabbits in my greenhouse - not only do they provide one of the most perfect organic fertilizers on the planet, but because rabbits in a greenhouse can contribute up to 300% of the necessary CO2 for plant 'green-up'.

Anyway, it was a good day, and they will be back now that they have permission to come into the pasture and explore and learn about plant life.

I finally ate my lunch an hour later, and then went out and cut up that firewood, did two loads of laundry, and picked up that wire fencing that was strewn about in the east garden and propped it next to the garage. Whew. Guess I'll have to pickle and bake tomorrow - plus I have a Community Development meeting in Valentine tomorrow night. Sigh.

Cold Front

My brother's house in Soda Springs, ID, got 3 inches of snow yesterday, from the same cold front that swooped though here last night. Of course he lives in the mountains, even though we are basically on the same latitudinal line. So all that cold front did here was drop an inch of really fast, really cold, really driving rain over a couple of hours - and take the temps down to the low 40's. It is supposed to get even cooler tonight, down to 38. Perfect for the first of September!

Yup, time to start getting out my fall decorations, and getting ready for Halloween, and planning for the cool weather. I dried apples yesterday and made apple/pecan bread, and I've still got some more cucumbers to pickle and tomatoes to dehydrate. Then of course we have stopped buying the soft and gummy loaves of store bread, so there's bread to be made. We also were informed by Lake the horse that she was NOT happy about all of those huge tree limbs near the watering trough, so I'll be gathering those today.

Lots of things to do today and this week, and with the coolness in the air, it will be so much easier to move and get them done. Looks lke the summer with all of its grinding heat is over. Now comes the real work!