I’ll bet I’m not the only one who feels the crisp autumn air and gets all energized to begin outdoor projects and clean out the basement. The summer heat just drags the juice right out of me but I feel 25 today. All right. So I don’t feel 25 but I feel a lot more frisky than I have for a while.
This weekend saw my first foraging trip in way too long. I came home from a woods walk with a basket of Black Trumpets and Golden Chanterelles. They were amazing sauteed in butter, wine and cream. It was clear though that the mushroom harvest was very low. The combination of heat and drought has seriously affected it. Even with the recent rain the woods were very dry.
I spent a good deal of yesterday cleaning up the strawberry patch. It is still not finished but age dictates getting this particular job done in stages. My goal for the next week is to finish the strawberries and get to that basement. I have a lot of food that I bought for one reason or another and found out that it’s just not anything we really like. I have too much creamed corn and canned peas plus some other odd vegetables that will feed the pigs. I think I bought it a good 5 years ago, before we were growing so much and before we were well-educated on the industrial food system. It’s time to let it go and free up the space for the things I really need like canning jars and, well, more canning jars. I just scored an opportunity to help with the butchering of about 80 chickens in exchange for the meat. I need the jars and the room for sure.
If any of you are in the area, Bruce and I will be at the Farmer’s Market in West Stockbridge on Thursday. I’m making up candles right now as I sold out at the Franklin County Fair.
Have any of you caught Revolution on Monday night television. It’s a post-apocalyptic show so of course it was a must-see for me. I can be pretty critical. As a person who makes candles a lot, the idea of burning a couple of dozen each evening is jut plain silly. And that beautiful, flowing hair looks good but it would take a hairdresser with lots of styling products for most of us to get those results. Still, I won’t miss it tonight. Maybe they’ll show something useful or at least no ridiculous.
The Just In Case Book Blog 
September 24, 2012 at 4:42 pm
And those front-yard gardens were picturesque, but awfully small to feed a whole family! But I’ll be watching, too… 🙂
September 24, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Somewhere on the net I found recipes for a creamed corn & pepper casserole that my whole family loved and also a quick bread (made as muffins) with the creamed corn. Of course, it would make a good base for a cream soup. Hate to see food wasted, altho as pig food it really isn’t.
My husband and I watched Revolution and found it quite unbelievable – cross bows? just where did they come from? The existence of commercial bottled liquor, buildings that had not been ravaged, clean clothes, great styled long hair, and all those candles – all this from people who had depended on others. I would have liked to see how they got to that point. We will watch it one more time but it had better get more realistic.
September 26, 2012 at 11:56 am
Re: crossbows
Many States have bow hunting seasons. In many of those States crossbows are perfectly legal. You would probably be surprised how many crossbows are around. Even given that Revolution is probably overdoing it a bit though.
September 26, 2012 at 8:31 pm
I wonder how much they have to make it prettified so more people will watch. Not many would watch a series where the struggles were continually evidenced by people who were undernourished and dilapidated looking.
September 27, 2012 at 12:24 pm
I found it a great conversation starter with a couple of members of my family who don’t prep. Even with it prettied up it still made them think, made them more aware of how dependant they are on our current system. I’m thinking the “flash backs” are where we will see most of the hardships and suffering.
September 29, 2012 at 2:01 pm
I noticed there were no solar lights. While I do have a stockpile of candles and know how to make them, I’ve also got several solar lanterns and could bring the solar lights along my sidewalk inside if needed. I’ve used them for short power outages. I’ve wondered why I don’t see more interest in using small-scale solar energy among those who prep. We’ve got solar battery chargers and solar radios as well. Keep a big supply of extra batteries on hand. Might not work for the zombie apocalypse but would certainly carry us through a few months, or more.