I love the night life...not really...

The tomato pic from the last post produced 28 quarts of crushed tomatoes.  Problem is, those 28 quarts had me up until 5 a.m.!  What. The. Heck.

I did get a late start, and it does take quite a while to wash, quarter, grind, heat, and can all of that tomatoey goodness.

I don't necessarily have to quarter the tomatoes.  In fact, I just cut most of them in half, just to be sure they are good inside.  One bad tomato can wreck an entire batch of sauce.  I have a Roma food mill, pictured in the previous post, which saves me a lot of time.  I no longer have to skin the tomatoes, or cook them before crushing.  I do, however, heat the crushed tomatoes before packing into hot jars.

I use the water bath method, which takes 45 minutes to process a batch of quart jars, not including the time it takes to heat (at least 10 minutes if water is already hot) and fill (about 10 minutes) the jars.  Add in the five minutes after processing before removing from the canner, and you are looking at over an hour per batch, minimum.

It's certainly worth it, on the cold winter days, when I can pop open our homegrown tomatoes and make a hearty stew...or sauce...or just tomato soup.  Not that I was convinced of that this morning, when I had to get up at 7 a.m., after only two hours of sleep.

If you have never attempted canning, don't let my late nights scare you.  Like I said, I get a late start, and there are generally at least 40,175 interruptions that require my immediate attention, like Little Sis insisting I come look at the dead thing she found, chasing the geese that don't want to go into their pen at night, etc.

I recommend Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving. It won't help you pen those pesky geese, but will help you can one tasty tomato sauce.

Guess what I'm doing...

 How many quarts of crushed tomatoes do you think this will make?

Part 2

As I was saying....

I tend to be a bit of an ant/squirrel when it comes to stocking up, especially in the fall.  Then again, that's what I'm growing all this stuff for, right?

But I wasn't always that way.  In fact, the first year we moved in, there was no garden.  The house was too big of a project to worry about much else.

That first winter, a big ice storm was predicted.  I went to the store. I stocked up.  I was pretty darn proud of myself, knowing we'd be comfy during the storm.  Only I forgot one thing: kerosene for the kerosene heaters. At the time, we had the oil furnace and a full tank of fuel, but that's not much good in a power outage.  The same goes for our fireplace insert.  Without the blower, most of the heat goes up the chimney.

Of course the power went out. For THREE DAYS.  We slept piled up together in front of the fireplace, with the door open on the insert, trying to keep warm.  It was a miserable experience, and a lesson learned.  I tried to keep thing stocked up after that, especially the kerosene.

A couple of years ago, sick of kerosene fumes, we installed the free standing wood stove that can heat the whole house, even without the blower.  I can cook on it, and a place to make coffee is worth it's weight in gold around here.

I guess I should mention our cowboy coffee pot.  One of those camping blue enamel dealies with the percolator gear inside.  Here's a hint:  if you are using bean coffee, either pre-grind a bunch, get a hand crank grinder, or keep a stash of regular old ground coffee for power outages.  Otherwise, you'll be crushing beans with a rolling pin, smacking them with a hammer, or maybe stomping them with your last pair of stiletto heels, screaming, "Caffeine!! Coffee!! Damned stubborn beans, give me your deliciousness!!".  Just sayin'.

I have wanted a hand crank radio for a while, and kept putting off the purchase.  Money is always needed for something else, isn't it?  After the little earth shake Tuesday, and the aliens from Seattle putting some sort of brain leeches into my electric weather radios, I decided it was time.  I got a hand crank weather radio, the kind that also picks up music and news stations (or it would, if we had news stations around here).  It has a flashlight, siren (so I can chase people around telling them to pull over), a cell phone charger, and even a usb thing-a-ma-bob so I can plug up a music thing-a-ma-jig.

It's funny, I get a lot of eye rolling from people when I talk about stocking up, putting together first aid kits, canning extra food, and anything else that sounds a little bit "survivalist".  After all, Walmart will always be there with fully stocked shelves, the ATMs will always be full of cash, and the roads will always be open.  Right?  Um...no. Not really.

We can't seem to learn lessons from what happens in the rest of the world.  Remember the zombie post about the food riots in Pakistan? Heck, we can't even learn from what happens in our own country.  You'd think 9-11 and Katrina would've opened a few eyes.

Remember the Northeast Blackout of 2003?  These things can happen when you least expect them.  And no, I wasn't prepared then.  We still lived in the city, where it was never really dark, so I didn't even have extra flashlight batteries.

I'll admit, I'm a procrastinator about some things, including keeping the first aid stuff fully stocked.  But the earthquake was a literal shaking that I needed to wake up and realize what I've known all along: crap happens, and it's best to be ready.

Prepping isn't just for creepy survivalists, living off in the woods and eating what they kill.  Oh, wait, that sounds kinda like me.  I've never considered myself a survivalist, though.  A survivor, maybe.  More of a homesteader, actually,  learning to be self-sufficient. 

Prepping is now for everyone, and is encouraged by the government. 

I never thought we'd need a "bug out bag".  We're more the "shelter in place" types. However, after the earthquake, it occurred to me that we are close enough to major highways that, should there be a chemical spill, we may be forced to evacuate. 

Coming up in the next post:
Bug Out Bags for Beginners.  Or: What the hell do I put in this thing and how the hell am I supposed to carry 3 gallons of water in it?

I feel the earth move under my feet....

Oops...another earworm.  I can't be the only one with that song stuck in my head all friggin' day, right?

Unless you live under a rock....

....ok...I can't start that way. I, personally, live under a rock.  I only listen to the radio when I'm in the car.  I don't have tv.  I go for days without booting up my pc.  I hadn't even heard about Hurricane Irene until today.

So, let me rephrase:  Perhaps you have not heard (doesn't that sound nicer?) about today's earthquake.  The epicenter was in Virginia, but we actually felt tremors here in Ohio.

It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever experienced. I don't know that I would have felt it if I'd been working outside.  As luck would have it, we were in the middle of lunch.  Little Sis asked if the table was shaking.  I realized the wind chimes, hanging inside the window, were tinkling.  Little Sis asked if it was an earthquake.  I was just about to laugh when my chair did this weird carnival ride thing that actually made me dizzy.

We were all jumpy the rest of the day, waiting for aftershocks, or more tremors, or the sky to fall.

You guys in Cali can stop laughing at me now.  Thanks.


I never thought we'd have an earthquake here in Ohio. Of course I also never expected a hurricane to hit us, either.  It's too far to drive to the beach. How does a hurricane hit Ohio??

We've had tornadoes.    We've weathered hurricanes.   And now we've been through an earthquake. Ok, stop laughing, it was really just a tremor, but it's not an everyday thing around here, ya know?

The thing bothering me most right now is how under-prepared I feel.  Not unprepared.  We are able to deal with major events more than the average person.  Just under-prepared.  


I have this ant/squirrel thing about stocking up in the fall, anyway.  I work hard to get the garden produce put up for winter.  I used to have to work hard to get our firewood put up, as well, but now we are fortunate enough to buy wood while our woodlot recovers.  Calling for a load of wood and then stacking it doesn't even count as work after hauling it uphill.  But I digress.

I'm running through a list of things I need in case of a major catastrophe.  I know I'm running low on first aid supplies.  I also want a hand crank radio.  Both of my NOAA radios are on the fritz.  I don't know if it's a problem with them,  NOAA's signal, solar flares, or just aliens from Seattle, but it's frustrating. I count on the weather radio alarm to let me know when big storms are headed our way.  Most of them are false alarms, but still, better safe than sorry.

To be continued....
I have a lot to add to this post, but it's late.  Hoping to finish it tomorrow, but I'm publishing this part in the meantime, just to prove I'm still around. lol

Garden Notes

From my garden this week:

First Charentais Melon of the season!

Ok, you got me. Actually,  it was the second.
  We ate the first one before I got the camera turned on!!

Grossgrossgrossgrossgross!!!!!

As gross as it looks, it's good news in the garden. This Tomato Hornworm is playing host to a Braconidae Wasp party. Or maybe it's more of a daycare?  Or maybe just a buffet?  Anyway, those little white things are Braconidae Wasp larvae.

The crate in the back is mostly bell peppers.  It was ALL bell peppers, but I gave away quite a few.

Edible pod peas and broccoli. 

Crimson sweet watermelon.
Everyone says that ice cold melon is the best,
but I prefer melon straight from the garden, still warm from the sun.

The Cherry Tomatoes That Weren't.

The pic doesn't really show how dark these are.  They look a bit like Japanese Black Trifele.
They were supposed to be cherry tomatoes.

And these were supposed to be Green Grape tomatoes.
They are blushing, so will probably ripen.
I doubt they will ripen into a Green Grape, though. *rolls eyes*

The lack of cherry tomatoes is depressing.  The seeds were new, from two different companies.  It's not the first time I've gotten seeds that grew up to be something completely different than the package promised.


I also picked another two baskets of ground cherries.  I dehydrated some of the last ones. I'm happy with the results. They are sweeter than raisins. I think they'll be awesome in zucchini bread.  Now I just need more zucchini...

This has not been a great year for zucchini.  Granted, I didn't pamper the zucchini the way I did the peppers and tomatoes.  After all, it's zucchini, and usually I'm begging for the plant to die so I can stop processing the stuff.

Also not our best year for sweet corn.  I'm not sure what happened with that, besides the sneaky varmint that has been raiding the corn patch.

I have a tentative plan for next year's garden.  More on that later.  I'm headed to bed at a reasonable hour for a change. Woot!!!

I love the night life...

Ok, raise your hand if you now have that song stuck in your head.  Good. I'm not the only one.

Anyhooo....yeah...lovin' the night life.  The canning night life, that is.  *Nods* Oh yeah...Country Wife knows how to par-tay. :)

The sneaky raccoon that has been in the corn (Did I mention he'd been in the corn? I can't remember.) has moved on to tomatoes.  Not only does he pick each ear of corn as it hits that perfectly ripe stage, he only likes those lusciously ripe tomatoes.  He's elusive; I've been looking for him for a while, armed and ready to take him down (that no-good-corn-thievin'-'mater-eatin'-masked-ball-of-fur), and he consistently avoids the live trap.  To stay ahead of the game, I've started harvesting the tomatoes just short of ripe.  Thursday, I finally had enough ripe ones to make my first batch of salsa.

Mornings are busy here, so it's always afternoon by the time I start canning.  Thursday, being the first batch of the season, of course took a lot longer than normal.  I had to make room to set up my folding table (taken out of storage and scrubbed the day before, thank goodness, or I'd still be in there on the first batch of salsa.)  I had to remember how to assemble the Roma food mill.  I also had to remember where I'd put all of my canning paraphernalia, and how to use it.  Yeah, I should be able to do this stuff in my sleep by now, and in fact I think I did, since I was up so late.  However, it does amaze me that I forget so much from one season to the next.   Then again, I'm old enough to remember the lyrics to "I Love The Night Life", so maybe I'm just senile. ha. (Ironic, isn't it? I can remember that song, but I can't remember where I put my...um...my...what was I looking for?)

So, true to the post title, I was up pretty late finishing up the salsa and cleaning up. (Wow, I used "up" three times in that sentence!)  I made 18 - 8oz jars.  I think it was after 2 a.m. before I sat down for a snack of leftover salsa and chips.

I love the night life. I got to boogie....

OMG I will never get that song out of my head!!

I almost forgot to mention my ground cherries!  I'd never grown them before, but I'd had some from a local market and liked them fairly well.  I bought 5 plants from a fellow homesteader, thinking I'd have at least enough to snack on.  Wow. I had no idea they were such prolific producers! I'm going to try dehydrating the ones pictured.  Then maybe I'll make some jam from the next picking.

I was pleased with the flavor of our homegrown ground cherries.  They are much tastier than the ones I purchased.  If you've never grown them, but are thinking of giving it a shot, you should know that unripe fruit, leaves, stems, etc, are TOXIC!  Ground cherries are in the nightshade family.

Ripe fruit falls from the plant and has a dry, papery husk. The fruit inside the husk is yellow.  If you have ever tasted star fruit, it's pretty similar.  I can't wait to try them dehydrated.

And now it's past 1 a.m., so I'm off to bed.  I will not hum that song again.  Must. Not. Boogie.

***Boogies off to bed***

Finally. Lunchtime.

Some days, all I want is to crawl into the  hammock and sleep until dark, then crawl into bed and sleep until morning.

Today is one of those days.  I'm exhausted.

It's after 3 pm and I'm just now eating lunch.

My day so far:

Got up at 7:30 a.m., did morning critter chores, took shower, and did two loads of laundry, putting a third in to soak. Had a quick, single cup of coffee with Eöl, then out to run errands. Came home, did last load of laundry, and reheated leftovers for lunch.

The rest of the day:
Harvest onions, Tom Thumb popcorn, Delicata squash, and a few hubbards whose vines have died.  Water western garden.  Mow old goose pen, bag grass, and use to mulch beets...after I weed beet patch.  Sweep porches, tidy up yard.  Process yesterday's cucumbers and peppers.  Make some phone calls (not social).  Take down and fold laundry (I think Little Sis has this one covered for me.) Do evening critter chores, take shower (I am not kidding. I will seriously need one by this time.), eat dinner, do dishes, and hopefully get to bed.  Most likely I will end up outside raccoon hunting...again.

Today is mild compared to yesterday.  I had lunch at 1 and didn't sit down again until after 10 pm.

If no one hears from me in a while, assume I have farmed myself to death.

At least then I can sleep.