The Tomato Harvest

I have been in the midst of remodeling my studio and apologize for my absence over the last two weeks. The studio looks great and the paint has almost worn off Marty's coat.




Two weeks ago we harvested half of the tomato crop and instigated a canning party at Papa Steve's house. Our love for peeling tomatoes grew with a smallest addition of midwest brewed beer. I would advise against "dry" mass canning sessions. If anyone is interested in our canning tally, we boastfully present our numbers:





12 pints tomato sauce
24 pints canned tomatoes
6 jars of apple sauce
4 jar of pear butter



The apples were picked on my grandfather's farm and the pears were from my father's farm. The second wave of tomatoes have ripened in the garden this week, plus I have three Publix bags of pears and apples in the root cellar. For the time being we are just ignoring the bounty of fruit that still needs to be canned. (shh, don't disturb the fruit flies)

Update on the Dandelion Wine

As I posted earlier, the dandelion wine tasted a bit like gasoline for the first six weeks of it's existence. However, I am happy to report that after three months it has developed quite a nice flavor. I can be quite particular about wine, about the cost of the wine that is, with a self imposed seven dollar price limit. So having admitted that I am no great expert on the subject, I would recommend the dandelion wine. In terms of cost it is quite recession proof, costing only a dollar a bottle. The only regret I have is that I only made seven bottles and have since run out of wine.

Here is a link to the dandelion wine recipe. I followed this recipe exactly. However, I would recommend that you do not leave the bottles open as the recipe suggests. I had a issue with fruit flies and have since read that you can attach a balloon to the top of each bottle to allow the gases of fermentation to escape when it expends while still restricting the admittance of flies.

I'm off to research beet wine so that I might restock my wine cabinet.

Harvesting the Butternuts

We have been harvesting the butternut squash now for three weeks. I cooked fresh squash, squash and apples, squash soup with dumplings, butternut bisque, and squash stir fry. So I guess the real question is, does anyone else want some squash? As I attempt to unload some "product" I begin to notice that my regular "clients" each have in their homes at least two uneaten squashes (the plural of squash is odd sounding) .




If you are in Iowa please feel free to stop by and pick up some squash. (we live one hill away from my childhood home in the blue house. E-mail me if you need directions.)


Bryan continues to harvest the carrots.

When farming becomes mundane there is always stop motion

Corrupted baby chicks

I had to repost the original video of the baby chickens. Here is shortcut to the video.

Coming Out Party