on a waning cresent

we're going on a bear hunt

northwest of Helen GA

this Saturday

the man

the dog

the boy & the cousin

the girl

September Full Moon {what's growing}

13 Wildwood Pumpkins - planted later than I ever have, so we'll see how it goes down.  I'm ready with hoop house materials that will fit over this row if needed - our first frost is around 15Nov.

The garden is a mix of summer stragglers and fall seedlings.
The basil is still going strong - gotta put up some winter pesto.

Cabbage start.

Some late bush beans.  It's a gamble that may pay off.

The horse trough I salvaged from the junk yard for a few bucks.
Painting it & getting it ready to grow carrots in.

Oh yes she did

Do you know what!?  Indi is done with diapers.  I will be marking my calendar.  2yrs&4mos.   I decided to go cold turkey last week & she's had only one accident since.  Oh yes.

Multi-tasking today:  brushing teeth & carrying her baby in a mai tai on her back.

of an evening

Everybody ends up in Daddy's lap at the end of supper.

silly girl

A twilight buzz.  I'm taking a lock to put away.

in progress

I made 500 soil blocks over the weekend & Levi seeded them all!
broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, beets, cauliflower, chard, green beans, turnips, fennel, and some experimental peppers & cold climate tomatoes

longhair

With the slightest hint of Fall coming along, football started, and the seeds of a winter garden being planted, my thoughts often go to Athens - Redlands deer, students coming back to town, and those first football Saturdays.  We've been 5 years away now.

This is Joe in the first year I met him.

Wednesday in September

Pottery shard found at Reno.

mixing compost & peat moss for making soil blocks

purple coneflowers grown from seed

our affable back porch toad - easily picked up 

and once sat back down, he'll hop back to his corner hole



Joe finished his latest handmade longbow....hickory backed with road-killed rattlesnake skins.



Full Circle

I was thrilled to find out Wildwood Pumpkins had been mentioned in the latest publication from Seed Savers Exchange.  I made a seed donation of this family heirloom several months ago & included a few photos.

The article they were included in was "Defining Heirlooms," in which they were given as an example of a family heirloom (versus a commercial or community heirloom).

it reads:

'Wildwood Pumpkin' Squash

A family heirloom from Molly Neely-Burnam of Georgia.  This variety has a history with Molly's paternal ancestors - who all lived and gardened in Wildwood, GA - that extends back to her great-great-great grandfather, William Carroll.  Molly, her father, and her grandfather all still grow the variety today.  In her donation letter Molly writes, "Family oral history places the origin of the variety with the Cherokee Indians who were present in the Wildwood area prior to their 1838 removal."  The variety produces pale orange pumpkins that the family primarily uses for pies.  Pictured at left.

Odds & Ends

Levi *loves* harvesting seeds & precisely labeling them & putting them in the dedicated 'seed' drawer in the refrigerator.  Here he is rubbing off kernels of White Eagle Cherokee Corn.  Next he shakes the seed in a colander to clean them.

This is the 'after' shot from all those pears in the previous post.  Actually, this plus the 3 pints of pear sauce the kids have already scarfed down.  We've gathered over 50 pounds and I quit weighing after that.  There is one more sink full of pears to work & I'm done looking at pears.  Above is 3 batches of pear sauce (one with raspberries added) and three batches of pear jam.

Pints, left to right:  pear jam with very fine orange zest added & a few tablespoons of orange juice (all from one orange), plain pear jam, pear jam with about 1/2 cup sieved raspberries added.

My latest knitting : a shawl for *me*

I bought 20 pounds of scuppernongs from a local vineyard & tried this jelly recipe, as I am no fan of grape jams.  It turned out so-so.  The cooked taste of the juice isn't as good as the fresh I thought.  And even though I checked my temperature precisely (with 3 different candy thermometers in fact) to be certain I reached 220 degrees, the jelly still set very softly - it did not have a good gel.

Dad shows me the ropes on how to make feta cheese.
He brought me 4 gallons of raw milk from home.

Levi pointed this out to me on today's stroll to the pear trees & oh, goody gumdrops I've never seen one before!  Still trying to figure it out.  It is some type of moth.