This month seems to be going by so fast that I can't keep up . We continue to can what ever we can from the garden. Mostly tomatoes,beets and pears. Cider season will start soon . The apples are still clinging to the trees and I want to wait for cooler weather. I think that the apples will be sweeter the longer we wait. It will be fun pressing.
Macy comes once a week to spend the night and she gets to be exposed to all of our chores. Maybe when she is up and married on her own she will want to can ,bake,garden and be content doing it. I think that our lives are shaped in the early years by what we see as "normal". I hope to be a good influence in that direction. I still think of my grandmother when I make bread. She took me under her wings early on and taught me how it was done.....and I loved it.


This picture is for Macy's mom Sarah so she can gasp a little. It's heart attack time Sarah!
Don't worry ,be happy.
GG likes to read to Macy as often as she can. It won't be long and this phase will pass she will be talking about school or boys or something. Have to enjoy the moment because it be gone too soon. Ginny was soooo smart to arrange our weekly visits while we could .
This hibiscus(sp) plant is the one that we have had four years now. We bring it in in the fall to keep it from freezing and it has done well. Every year it will lose all of it's leaves and look dead but it comes back fine. It has looked like this most of the summer.....full of flowers every day.
That's the news for now. Over.

Enjoying the end of August

We are still canning ...Ginny has done 26 quarts of pears so far and lots of tomato sauce. It just feels good to have them in the fruit cellar ready when needed this winter. And we know what is in them and not have to worry that some Chinese company has added horse pee or something to them....you never know. Don't these look great. I just don't understand why more people don't put up their own food. It is just to easy to grab it off of the store shelf. I have fond memories of my Mom and Grandmother canning and filling up the basement with all kinds of good food. I like that feeling of being prepared for whatever comes down .

We have a new cat . Didn't really want one but it came wandering in when Macy was here and I couldn't break her heart ....so now it has a home. It will be an outside cat,a mouse catcher. This photo was taken by Macy...heck shes better than I am!

Ginny doing corn for the freezer. I think about five dozen that day.

While she was doing corn I made French bread with Macy. Then we made some yogurt. We make a quart every week or so. Sometimes more.

Next day I got to try out the Cider making Press and Grinder that I made

The neighbors have a tree that started dropping apples already so I asked for them.

This is Paige. She is 6 and she helped with the cider making...sort of .

It when well but I found out some things that I need to improve on. We mixed the apples with some pears to help sweeten up the cider because they were too sour on their own. Must be because of the type of apple they are. I will be doing this again on a larger scale when my apples come in and I can mix them to get better tasting cider.
We got about six gallons this time with the wheel barrel full of apples.......THIS MAKE ME WORRY ABOUT ALL OF APPLES THAT I HAVE GROWING ON MY TREES ..It looks like a hundred gallons worth out there! Scary.

I learned that you don't do cider pressing when the BEES are out@! We had dozens every where! But I only got stung one time and that was when I was cleaning up and one got in my shirt and stung my stomach

Okay I have to add some movies of Macy who for now is the sunshine in my life. Enjoy these.

So it begins...canning season started with tomatoes today and tomorrow Pears! This years crop of pears are bigger than ever. I believe that the pruning I did on the old pear tree paid off. I was afraid at first because it is so old but it is doing fine. Here we are feeding tomatoes into the squeezo fruit grinder and looking stupid.

This is it in action for those of you who haven't seen the light ,it is the best way to get sauce quickly. The cut up pieces go in the hopper and while I crank the pulp comes out one way and the seeds,skins and whatever go out the end. Neat hey. Works for apples and berries too. We then add spices and cook it down to get it thick. The weather has been near perfect and I am hopeing for a good apple crop. Later.

The Garden in August

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While attending Ginny's nephew's wedding I had some good discussions about gardening with Kerry, (she only eats veggies). She asked to see some pictures of my garden so here they are. This over all has been a very good year . The raised beds have been a wild success and a learning experience too. I learned that too many tomatoes in a raised bed can be a problem . I also have some new plants that will become standard in the garden like rutabaga's. We love them! GREENS- like collards,Swiss chard,beet tops,mustard greens,etc. We always thought that they were bitter and were surprised to find out how great they are! Someone gave us a jar of pickled beets and I enjoyed them too. Wow ,I guess your never too old to find something new you enjoy eating. Anyway here are some picts of the garden.

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This kitten came wandering in a couple of weeks ago when Macy was here. I have to keep her now so I am calling her Tigger ( to match Pooh in the house)
I have pepper plant that are falling over because of the weight of the fruit!
I planted some late cabbage and collards. I plan to store some cabbages in the ground this fall to see how it goes.
The raised beds that I put Red Currants and Goose berries in. I also planted sweet potatoes that took over the whole bed.
Ginny's flowers.

Getting the ground ready to plant some late stuff ...garlic,beets,lettuce. This raised bed is my herb bed. I got a late start but it may be okay. I can cover it with plastic to extend the season.
I pruned the pear trees this year and have bigger fruit.



A walk in the garden means work! These are the best green peppers that I have ever grown. Must have been the raised beds.

Our visit to New York

We just returned from a graduation party in up-state New York. Shell's sister Elizabeth is pictured here. All of the kids are home schooled and are great kids,respectful,fun,smart and just a pleasure to be around. Anytime that we needed anything the girls would jump up and take care of us. Nice for a change. We spent 5 days there visiting and helping out with some of the farm work on their 170 acre farm. It was beauiful to say the least. A slower down to earth pace that I just love.

This is Liz sitting on the porch one morning talking.

They have a few horses that the girl ride and take care of. This is Patrishia and she is a little shy still at 15. She and I worked on the wagon loading hay bales on the elevator to be stacked. I think that she can outwork me...but don't tell her!
Both Matt's up in the hay mound. It was very hot .
Trish and I loading bales. I had fun working with trish even though it was hot heavy work. She kept me busy too...farm girls,you gotta love'em.

Matthew and I took a long walk around the farms rolling hills.
Coming back to the house after our walk. I think the house is from the 1800 era.
On the last night they asked if I would take a family picture so I took a bunch but could not get them to laugh.....so I pulled up my shirt and took the picture and this is the result. A great shot. I just love the quick smiles that they have. My thanks to them for letting us visit.

Making a Cider Press and Grinder

I have a very good crop of apples this year and they are not to buggy because I have been spraying. Now I have to put them to good use so I am building a "Whiz bang Cider Press". I sent for the plans and then started on the press and a grinder to prepare the apples for pressing. The grinder is made from a garbage disposal that I got online. All Stainless parts. I removed the motor and hooked up a better motor that will not overheat and is strong enough to handle the job. This is where I got the plans... http://www.whizbangcider.com/

This is as far as I have gotten with the press. I am looking for more material to make the pressing discs(5). The pressing is done with a car jack in case you are wondering.

The plans call for Stainless steel bands but I am using HDPE that I cut from around a blue barrel that I had. This is food grade and very tuff stuff. All stainless screws of course.

This is the finished Grinder! The disposal is a Kenmore . The original motor shroud and stator windings were removed and a 1/2 hp motor adapted to fit. The original even though a 3/4 hp would overheat because it is not rated for constant duty. No vents. Lots of heat.

Getting some work done.

I have been busy. I fixed my small trailer finally . I re-painted it and put on some new plywood sides. The best part was that I had all of the bolts and hardware that I had gotten from the auction at a fraction of the price.
I covered up the tomatoes to keep them warm at night.

This hoop system is working great so far. This fall I intend to

plant some cold weather plants and see if I can get a late crop.
I rebuilt my troy bilt tiller. It was tore down completely,every part removed from the gearbox. I replaced two gears,all of the seals and bearings. Then got new tines. Runs like a new machine now.
Waiting for the first tomatoe

Little Feet

Sometimes you can tell how much fun you are having just by looking at

your feet. Here are some good examples.

These show how happy Grandpa is to have his

granddaughter over.

These toes are a princesses prize .
Looking at these feet makes grandma and grandpa smile.

Just remember how long it's been since you had to

get on your tip-toes to brush your teeth.

Garden update raised beds

The raised beds are doing great so far...the tomatoes seem to really benefit from this type of space even though I put way too many in too small of a space. I have a good variety and they are growing faster than the ones in the main garden. Maybe it is the fresh dirt. I will need to stake them soon. Thinking of using the hoops to help. I need to study the layout. As you can see the garden needs weeding. My tiller is down for repairs ...when it gets up and going I will clean things up a little.
Strong growth in the raised beds. Nice thick stems. I lay down newspaper then cover that with a thick layer of wheat straw to hold in the moisture and help hold down the weeks. Works very well.

We had three Zucchini so far and more coming fast. The summer squash are producing too.

The pears seem to be doing well this year. Hoping for some size.
Our biggest matters. Called Big Early. I got one plant from my brother-in-law Jerome just to have some early tomatoes.