Monday, October 26, 2009

~ * ~ Thankful for the Pepper Harvest ~ * ~

Yesterday was a busy day , I gathered all the peppers off the vines. The bell peppers weren't as bountiful or as beautiful as last year , but at least we have a few to put away for the winter. The jalapenos did better than last year , although quite a few have cracked skins , need to find out what causes that. My guess would be not enough rain , but I plan to do research on the problem. I'll be pickling the jalapenos and freezing most of the bell peppers.
I also harvested a huge bag of the mixed greens , I'll be cooking those today. The leaf lettuce is also ready to start picking , so we'll be eating salads this week too. I'm not sure if the broccoli , cabbage and collards are going to produce anything , they're growing , but very slow and the cold weather is almost upon us , so we'll just have to wait and see.

I made this Soul Collage yesterday , haven't analyzed it yet , but it ended up being about " Harvest ". I think it expresses happiness about being finished with the harvest season , although I'm thankful for all we've been blessed with , glad it's coming to a end for awhile.

I still have roots to harvest sometime this week. I'll be digging dandelion , echinacea and yellow dock roots , to make tinctures. I also need to make more pine oil , so need to gather pine needles and I thought I was through with the harvest season (LOL).

I also had to clean the chicken coop , the girls are still laying well , getting 3 , 4 or 5 eggs a day. The keets have really grown , they're in chicken coop with the hens. I'll probably keep them in the there until Spring. We've had 4 of the adult guinea killed on the highway in the last month , they started wandering again after the females quit nesting , so we're down to 3 from the original gang. There are 20 keets , but we have 10 sold to a friend , so we'll have 13 guinea , maybe 11 if 2 go home with Curious J.

Well , that's what is going on around our homestead , hope everyone else is having a good week .
~ Autumn Blessings ~
JoyceAnn


7 comments:

Mother Moon said...

the peppers look wonderful...

Flassie's Fil'a said...

LOL! You thought your harvest had come to a seasons end.

Is it just the dandilion roots you are taking. I was wonder if the leaves can still be harvested and the bloosoms still?

Can you tell me how to identify white pine from others?

Oh, The instuctions at that Stevia site does not say to strain the leaves from the liquid. Do you strain it or just leave the leaves in and put it in the frig?

I think I'd like to try and grow peppers and potatoes. I seen on a program that the fresher the potatoes the better they taste. The bagged ones get startchy.

God Bless You and Yours!!!

JoyceAnn said...

Flassie ~ I know you dig the roots in the Fall , I would think you could still use the leaves and blooms , not sure how bitter they would taste. You could give them a try , I think I'll try some of the leaves and see. Dandelions are safe for year round use , but the older leaves get really bitter in the heat.

White Pine is pretty easy to identify , there will be 5 needles in a cluster and from far away the tree has a white hue look.

I did strain my stevia after 24 hours , but I may have harvested it to early. I plan to try it with vodka next time , used water the first time.

Fresh potatoes do taste different , they're delicious.

I read that you were moving , are you moving to a house or another apt? Will you be able to have a garden ?

Flassie ~ Could you e-mail me at joycea at gmail dot com

Hope you're having a great week.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

J C said...

Hi Joyce Ann. I haven't visited in awhile; looks like you have been really busy. Your veggies look scrumptious, much better than what I see in the market after it's been trucked here and picked three weeks ago! I hope your collards come in. I LOVE collards!! Never ate them til I lived in NC, but now I just havta have them. And mustard and turnip too! Are you raising parakeets now too? Love to see a pic. Maybe if I scroll I'll answer my own question. I'm still not blogging but thinking in that direction again. Take care. I'll be back soon. xoxoxo

JoyceAnn said...

Hi Judie ~ It's so good to hear from you ~ I'll be e-mailing you tomorrow , need to give you my new e-mail address.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

Lisa said...

Your peppers look great! We've got some out there we need to get in, too. I hadn't thought about freezing them.

You recognized my background, huh? :) That made me smile, thinking of it hanging there.

Unknown said...

I love collaging! My friend and I get together with stacks of magazines and put things together. It's always fun and interesting to see what comes out of us. :)