Harvest

The harvest is coming in full force now. The tomatoes are ripening and the green beans keep coming back after picking. I do have a problem with powdery mildew on my squash plants. I read that a good organic approach was to use a diluted milk spray on all areas of the plants. Although this will not solve the issue, it will keep it at bay. Only time will tell. I also realized Friday that I had an infestation of squash bugs on my zucchini. Between the bugs and the powdery mildew I decided that the plants had played their last tune and pulled them out. I bagged and threw them in the trash to attempt keeping as many bugs out of the garden as possible. Unfortunately, my efforts were not completely successful and some vines on my winter squash are withering. I think I will be needing to harvest those soon before everything dies.
The chickens are laying 3 eggs a day now, just in time for this salmonella scare. I am happy to say that our chickens are happy little girls mucking about in the coop and run, eating fresh scraps from the kitchen and garden along with organic feed and fresh water. It feels really great to be able to make an omelet knowing that my eggs are not infected with a disease likely caused by the conditions under which factory farming takes place. Not only that, but my eggs are a lovely pale blue color thanks to the Aracauna breed. So they are simply more fun to eat anyway ;-)
I also put up some peach butter this weekend. The only peaches I can eat anymore come from a hobby farmer 10 miles away. His peaches are the most flavorful that I have ever had and have quite honestly spoiled me for anything else. Every year I buy as many as I can and either freeze them, eat them, or can them. This weekend I tried a new recipe for spiced peach butter and it turned out fabulously. I plan to make more with the remaining peaches this week. I also made a spicy bloody mary mix with my tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers from the garden. It was really great. I just made it to taste by blending everything up and then running it through a food mill to get the seeds and skins out. Super easy and awesome when doctored up with some worchestershire and lime juice.
Its raining outside and it is absolutely perfect. The sound is drifting in while I type on the computer and I can see out into the garden. This really is my favorite time of year.

Spiced Peach Butter
4 lbs peaches (pitted, not skinned, and cut into small chunks)
2 cups water
2-3 cups of sugar
2 t cinnamon

Place peach chunks in a pan with the water and cook until soft, 20-30 min. Run mixture through a food mill to remove skins. Measure the pulp, for every 2/3 cup of pulp add 1 cup of sugar. This will vary from batch to batch. Add cinnamon and place back on the heat for another 30 min, stirring ocasionally. The butter is ready to can when it is thick enough to mound on a spoon. Pour into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace and process in a boiling water bath for 10 min.

This is great on bagels, toast, and english muffins but is also fantastic on top of ice cream!!

I grew up in the Midwest, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota to be exact. We moved around a lot, I think at last count I lived in 13 different homes before graduating from college. Some houses were in the country but most were in small towns and even a couple intermediate sized "cities." The one thing that I learned from my childhood was that I did not want to be a farmer. I also didn't want to stay in Iowa. I had aspirations of moving out east, living in some dinky apartment in the city, walking to cute little restaurants for dinners, and lugging my groceries home on the subway.
At 27, one would think that is the life I am living now 5 years after college. Well as life sometimes does, it threw me a curve ball in the form of my lovely husband. Although I do live out on the East Coast, I I traded my dreams of an open concept loft for an old defunct blueberry farm of 225 acres. We have been living on the farm for almost 8 months now and I have come to a completely unexpected revelation, I like farming! Well, I certainly like gardening and the solitude of the country. Of course, life isn't always peaceful out here, we have had our fair share of adventures. Dogs running away, snakes by the front doorstep, 3 foot snow storms that forced me to be out plowing our road on the little John Deere lawnmower at 11pm so I could catch my morning flight to Miami. My life is an interesting dichotomy of farm and sophistication, travel and garden, rubber boots and high heels. I certainly never expected this life for myself but I am happy to say that I am really enjoying living it.