I love this time of the year. I needed a sweatshirt last night and, this morning, it’s downright chilly. I have more energy, more enthusiasm, more get up and go which is a good thing as I was offered a bushel of peaches today as well as extra milk for cheese making. I’m out of bread and the cukes and beans need pickling. I have eggplant to dry and carrots that I want to lactoferment. Some old bean plants should be pulled and peas planted. I need to get more lettuce starts going for the greenhouse and the list goes on. The lazy days of summer heat are past and it’s time to be the ant.
Bruce came home with a surprise yesterday. he was helping a friend pick up a milk cooler and came home with a stainless steel table for the summer kitchen. It was a deal and just the right size. He has the wood framing and got a sink off of Freecycle so we’re good to go. The stove really needs a trip to the Stove Company for a refurbish and cleaning so I should do that today too.
We have the chimney people coming to repair both chimneys and make sure they are safe for heating with wood. I worry that there will be house fires as people try to use old infrastructure to burn wood. The markets may have recovered and the price of oil is down but it won’t stay down for long. I just read that most people don’t have $1000.00 in savings to cover the cost of an emergency. That’s pretty scary. Times are tight and likely to get tighter. I made a trip to the market last week. All I can say is that I’m glad I don’t have to do that often.
The great kitchen clean-out is well under way. I have a big box of stuff headed for the thrift store but it’s funny how much is getting picked up by visitors. I had friends over for a wine making session yesterday and my friend, Dan, took home all of my 50′s era aprons. I was so pleased as they took up a lot of space in my drawer and were too frilly to actually wear. I looked pretty silly in them as I’m not a ruffle kind of girl. My mother made several of them and she was the worst seamstress ever. I kept one for memories sake but the rest will be well loved in their new home.
Last night we had pork chops, apple sauce, potatoes and onions, dilly beans and winter squash for dinner. I was a 100 foot diet as all of the food came from right here. Some was older (the pork and squash were in the freezer from last year) but it tasted wonderful. It makes those grocery store prices seem unreal and disant. After dinner I realized I had a cup or two of green beans that I never got put up. I had the jar of juice from the dilly beans so I cooked the beans for a couple of minutes and then stuck them in the brine. I will serve them up in a couple of days. The waste in this country is atrocious and one of my goals is to fight it at home as much as I can. One cup of beans is not a lot but it represents like energy, earth energy and the gifts of the soil. It seems a sin to waste it.
August 12, 2011 at 7:13 am
You’ve mentioned dehydrating eggplant a couple times…how do you use dried eggplant? We’ve accidentally ended up with bumper crop and I don’t know what to do with them other than frying for egpplant parmesan.
August 12, 2011 at 8:21 am
Sounds lovely! We had green beans here last night, too – I was teaching the children how to can them, and a couple of cans didn’t seal properly, so – beans with dinner!
August 12, 2011 at 8:27 am
Mostly because we are both so busy after work, we have been eating “veggie” dinners all week. Throw some green beans and potatoes (from this years garden) into the pressure cooker….throw some carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic in the oven with some sea salt and oil and roast them…its quick prep and cooks without attendance so we can work outside in the garden or get pickles ready to go into the crock in the basement, etc. Amazing how much money is saved by not eating meat, or just eating a left over pork chop with the veggies.
Side note: my friends were all complaining about the government and the price of stuff, etc. so I gave them my BEST advice – “Prepare for an uncertain future.” They looked at me like I had suddenly become a genius…LOL!
August 12, 2011 at 8:56 am
good points! I like it when the first bite of autumn is in the air. We have more wood to put up and I have dilly beans to make…it’s all good work though. People are surprised at how productivity makes them feel good (duh!)…I guess there is nothing like knowing you can actually take care of yourself from seed to meal.
Have a good weekend!
August 12, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Re your outdoor kitchen: I take it it will be a completely separate structure from the house. Wwill it also be a proper building, with solid wall and a roof? Forgive the obvious question, I was thinking it might be a structure like a large screened in porch but I don’t think that would survive as well in a Mssachussetts winter!
I’ll be glad to see sweater weather here again!
peace, shamba
August 13, 2011 at 2:37 pm
I am soooo envious of your cooler temperatures!! We’ve been in triple digits here for a week. No rain either. Ack!!