Firewood. 9.2.2020

 Our property has a few stands of small to medium size trees.  I love trees, but there was a stand of evergreens within 20 feet of the house.  They were mixed species - pine, fir, juniper, spruce - and planted as a hedge, as little as a foot apart.  Over the years, they reached about 20 or 30 feet tall.  This presented a fire hazard to the house, being near a long row of Leyland cypress on the neighbor's property.  So we had them cut down two months ago.

We have a wood-stove, which is under-size.  This wood-stove is nice as a supplemental heat source on cold winter days.  The ashes go into the vegetable garden, source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, among others.  We gave away the largest logs, but kept the smaller ones for the wood-stove.

I want to get those into the woodshed to dry and for storage.  All of them need cutting into half, or thirds, or trim of the ends, to fit into the wood-stove.  The larger diameter logs get cut into cookies, to lay sideways in the stove, instead of lengthwise.  I think those will dry faster, and they burn faster.  Each day, I cut enough to fill the small wagon.  It's a hard job, but is gradually nearing completion.  I think there are about three days of work to go.

These go into the woodshed at the other end of the property.  They will cure for a year or two or three, before use as wood-stove logs.  This may be the last of my major firewood cutting.  It's too much.  But it will be nice to have them there for when we want them.

Sauce Tomatoes. 9.2.2020

 This spring I started a batch of Ranger sauce tomato seeds for tomato sauce.  I think those are the best ones for my garden and climate, no blossom end rot or other diseases, and they are highly productive, and delicious.  However, the postage and handling from Territorial Seeds was something like $7, when they could have just been put into an envelope and mailed for under a dollar.  And it was only something like a dozen seeds. in the packet.  I'm going by memory, but it was something like that.  So, I"m not sure what I will do for next year. Traditional Romas and Marzettas are great but i lose about 1/2 to blossom end rot.  Maybe just pay it and gripe about the gouging.

I love these going from seed to sauce.  This is the best of slow food.  Mostly, they ripen over about two or three weeks.   This was the first batch, enough for 20 packages of frozen, finished sauce, 1 cup per package.

This is about 3/5ths of the harvest.

I wash the tomatoes, then cut them hem into quarters, filling the cooking pots.

Then I cook on the lowest possible setting, stirring every 10 min or so for the first 30 min, until the tomatoes sort of melt and release juice, then stir about every 20 min.  These simmer for about 2 hours, lowest heat setting, lid ajar to release liquid, until the volume is 1/2 of what it was when they first liquified.

Then I let the sauce cool, to just a little warm.  I ladle it into the food processor, and process so there are no significant pieces of skin.  I do that instead of skinning them because I think the skin is important for nutrition, and is removed commercially due to texture.  By processing them,  there is no detectable effect of skin on texture.  Also, mine are organic, raised in my own garden with no chemicals, so there is no residue to remove.

I portion 1 cup into each freezer zipper bag, and freeze them flat for space considerations. 

I add other ingredients when cooking, for spaghetti sauce, or pizza sauce, or chili.  For spaghetti or pizza sauce, it's usually 1/2 tsp salt. 1 tsp Italian spice, 1 tsp minced garlic, some pepper, and add oregano when it's cooked.

I usually aim for one pizza or pasta a week - usually it's the pizza.  So, I like to make 52 bags to freeze.  This time was 25 bags.  I think there could be enough on the plants still green or ripening for about 20 more if I'm lucky.  That's OK.  I grew 9 plants this time, not wanting to over-do it and wind up with waste.

Honeybee forage. 8.22.2020

 The clover is done, and there aren't a lot of other things blooming en mass this time of summer.  I have some milkweeds that are finishing, and a few zinnias that are starting, but that's not enough for a difference.  Oregano plants are still covered with bees, but I don't have a huge amount of those.  The main flowers are dandelions and Queen Anne's Lace.  Our yard is filled with those, and the honeybees are foraging them now.

Wildflowers, Seeds Planted in June. 8.22.2020

 This was an area that contained irises.  I didn't want them there, because it is on an easement than can be paved at the whim of the holder.  Instead of just planting grass, I mixed together clover, grass seed, and wildflower seed.  I really didn't expect much, it has been hot and dry.  Even so, they are starting to bloom now.

I think some of these mixes are just extra annual flowers.  I really don't think zinnias, alyssum, cosmos, and bachelors buttons are native wildflowers.  Even so, they are nice.  Pollen and nectar sources are welcome now.

Chestnut Graft Updates. 8.22.2020

 I removed the remaining wrap from the chestnut grafts  - two more grafts.  They appeared a little constricted.  I think they will be OK in the long run, glad I removed them now.

The graft that was loose, I thought did not take, actually remained alive for the past two or three months, hanging on bt a thread.  I shortened it, and splinted it to see if it heals and maybe next year grows better.