Summer is Really Over

Maybe I've been in denial, but it seems to me it was summer up until today.

We went to the fair last Friday where it was hot, we looked for shade to sit it to eat our lunches. Every day I've gone out to water the chickens and the garden and am glad to get in to the house where it is cooler.

Not today though. It's cold! The weather forecast is predicting freezing temperatures at night later this week. The kids asked for their coats to wear outside. So, I knew it was time.

My husband hung the heat lamp for the chickens and put glass in their window where the chicken wire has been all summer. I picked all of the rest of the gourds, pumpkins and the last of the tomatoes. All of those plants are now in the compost bin and the garden looks so empty! I ate one of the last mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwiches (oh, how I will miss those!) I notice that our Pin Oaks are starting to turn on some outer branches.

My third child and middle son turned seven today (this is totally off the subject, but he asked for french toast for breakfast, Dad's egg pancakes for lunch and my pancakes for dinner - crazy kid), reminding me of the year I was pregnant with him. I remember sitting out in a sukkah, trying to stay warm. I remember the party, the people and wearing blankets around my legs.

This year Sukkot is a little later. This year the fall season has come a little later.

Fall is my favorite time of year, it is just beautiful. But, I sure enjoyed summer this year. I felt like we lived the season to it's fullest, being outside almost every day, walking, gardening, picking, canning, camping, swimming (in the little tiny kiddy pool!) and enjoying every minute of it.

I want to do the same with this season. I need to remember to be close to creation, more outside times, more walks, more bonfires, more pumpkin pies and squash casseroles, more leaf piling and leaf jumping.

Projects for Today....

This morning... my daughter comes to me to show me a poem in her English book that she likes. My oldest son scooters in Tootie style (remember the Facts of Life?) to ask me a math question.

I finished school with my two little boys and everyone that is done with their work gets to pick an activity to play with.

I have the stock pot full of vegetable peelings going to make a batch of stock.

Sitting in my biggest bowl is 32 cups of zucchini, that's not including the peppers, onions and celery added in. This was the beginnings of zucchini relish. I was so blessed by a wonderful Freecyle friend that gave me two gigantic zucchini, literally, 32 cups in two squash, a big bag of tomatoes and another of cucumbers yesterday.

Here are some of the tomatoes ready to become salsa.

This afternoon.... I have finished both of those canning projects.

The cucumbers are awaiting their turn, these will be bread and butter pickles. The vegetable stock is in two different pots, one I will make rice with for the freezer and one will be soup for tonight's dinner. Nap time is almost over - I'd better get busy!

I pray your day a productive, fall in to bed kind of day.

Working the Land

Chain Gang?

Swimming pool beginnings?

No, just a little asparagus planting........

Dig a trench that is a foot and a half deep,

Add compost to your soil and mix it in well. Lay out asparagus crowns and cover with soil, watering well.

'Tis the season! Get some asparagus in the ground now for 18-20 years of future harvests, it is a perennial and will come back year after year. A little work for years of good eating.

The Spice is Right: How to Save up to 93% on Spices

The Spice is Right: How to Save up to 93% on Spices
Submitted by: Ray1 02/16/2009 5:35 PM
(This article can be found at Tiphero.com)

Spices are a great way to make a dull, ordinary meal a little more exciting. I use spices on my omelets, potatoes, meat, rice, oatmeal, and in many other dishes. I'm eating at home more often these days to save money and I've found myself reaching for the spice rack more frequently. The other day I ran out of ginger so I went down to my local supermarket. Naturally I went to the spice aisle to grab a little bottle of ground ginger. After looking out over the sea of spice bottles I found the ginger I needed. Needless to say I got a little sticker shock when I calculated that the little bottle of ginger I needed worked out to just over $40 a pound. I had often reached for these little bottles of spices without ever stopping to think about the cost. I decided to find a cheaper way to buy spices.I knew I could go to Costco but you need to buy spices in larger quantities and they only carry a few varieties. Instead, I decided to check out Winco Foods which has a large bulk foods section to see which if any spices they carried.

Buying Spices from the Bulk Bins, I was pleasantly surprised to find over 50 varieties of spices in their bulk food section, and was even more pleased when I saw the prices. I decided to compare the price of spices from the bulk section with those you can buy packaged off the shelf.The price differential was so large I even went back to double-check if I recorded the prices correctly. The reason spices from the bulk bin work out so much cheaper is because you're not paying for the expensive packaging. Many of the off-the-shelf spices come packaged in glass bottles, but even those that just come in simple plastic containers cost significantly more than buying spices from the bulk bins. If you wanted to you could go out and buy little spice containers at a dollar store for fifty cents each and still come in at under half the price of the off-the-shelf spices.I'm sure the spices at Costco and Sam's Club are significantly cheaper per oz. than the little bottles you buy off-the-shelf, but you have to buy in much larger quantities than you may otherwise need. For many spices I find I only use 6-8 oz of a particular spice a year. Spices can spoil quickly making buying the 27 oz. containers from Costco infeasible for me.

{To add to this revelation - which it is for me - Fred Meyer apparently has bulk spices too. I don't know if the prices are as good but I will certainly be finding out!}

Wilderness Family

While on our weekend camping trip, I was wondering, why is it that we do this? We pack practically everything we own in to our van to go and sleep where there are no beds, no running water, no HEAT with lots of bugs, wild animals and COLD. It's such a weird thing to do.

And, while camping, you think you will be out in nature, resting and relaxing,

Well, maybe some people do, but the rest of the time you,

Pass the time waiting to eat, again.

Endlessly move things from your vehicle, rearrange things, can't find many things that you KNOW you brought, like the baby wipes.

You swim. Even when mom says, "We are just wading!" Of course you will need a third outfit to roll in the dirt with after the above mentioned activity.

You do gymnastics on fallen logs,

you climb up on stuff,

you play in the fire (lots and lots of this),

you go fishing, and even when you catch nothing, you can't stop talking about what fun it was.

And, of course, you play in the tent. Then, you pack it all back up in the van and talk about nothing but clean clothes, showers and beds all the way home. Funny thing, camping is.

Drawing Lessons

I am sitting with my son helping him along in math. Next to me, on the other side are two of my younger ones. They are talking and I'm not really listening, until I hear that he is teaching her how to draw. "And this how you make a head, these are legs..... this is me, see my kippah? And this is you."

I can't say enough for being home. I can't say enough for being here for all of these moments. I wonder how I could have ever believed that working would have been more fulfilling?

Fair Deal

After many hours of preparing, my daughter has entered several of the categories in the youth department at the fair this year. She has 12 jars of different fruits we've canned, one sculpture under the craft category and two decorated cakes. This is her wedding cake. She was up until 4 am (no exaggeration!) making those little roses to meet the deadline for the entrance time today.

I just found out that the prize is $2 for the winning cake. What? After all of that!? I wonder how it ever came to be called fair?