My backyard has become the place to be to watch our new neighbors. They are, we think, a young couple, no kids and very quiet, keeping to themselves and not going out of their way to make friends. The folks around here are not shy about their interest, using binoculars to spy on these newcomers and speculating on them incessantly. How did they get here and what attracted them? Will they stay? Raise a family?
The new neighbors are a pair of bald eagles. They have been here for a week, staying even through the noisy dumping of several tons of huge slabs of rock being placed along the riverbank in an effort to protect it from erosion. To say we are delighted is an understatement.
In spite of the breaks for eagle watching, in a bit more than 5 hours yesterday, a group of us pressed more than 30 gallons of cider. Most will be frozen and some hardened but a lot will be consumed fresh. Fresh pressed cider is one of life’s pleasures. I have another 300 pounds of apples coming today. Some will be pressed but most will be dried or sauced.
I’m heading off to the Greenfield Farmer’s Co-op this morning. My quest is for seeds, anything with a shelf life that I can put away for next year. I am particularly interested in dried beans, French horticultural beans and winter squash. Also on the list will be herbs. I have a patch of grass that I’m going to cover with cardboard and mulch and use to expand my herb garden.
My summer kitchen is coming along. It’s completely roofed and sheathed and the subfloor is down. It has already come in handy as it started to rain in the middle of the pressing party and we moved into the kitchen and kept on pressing.
FYI-I got a couple of emails today warning of big price increases coming for peanut butter, as much as 40% for some brands. If you have been thinking about stocking up it might be prudent to do it now rather than later.
October 13, 2011 at 9:13 am
Bald Eagles! How lovely.
I also read about the increase in peanut butter prices. I thought about heading to Sams to pick up some Jif (not the best, I know), but wondered if someone could let me know what the shelf life would be on peanut butter.
Good luck on your seed quest!
October 13, 2011 at 10:36 am
The apple activities sound lovely!
Re the peanut butter: we buy bulk organic peanuts and make our own (easy-peasy in the food processor). Prices have already almost doubled, from $2.92/# last month to $5.80/# this month. !!
October 13, 2011 at 12:58 pm
That’s so exciting! I’m delighted for you.
I heard about the peanut butter shortage on NPR recently… guess I’d better get me to the store and stock up! Life would surely grind to a halt without PB&J here.
October 13, 2011 at 1:28 pm
If you have a young pair of eagles nearby, be careful of letting out small critters to run around the yard. We have a couple of eagles flying nesting in the area and there has been a big decrease in populations of squirrels, outside cats and other small critters in our area, which more than a few people are attributing to these eagles. They also fly right over us when we are walking out Jack Russell, so while they may be majestic to watch, they are watching for opportunities to eat also.
October 13, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Eagles, how wonderful! Watch your chickens!
My best pnutt butter has gone up almost a dollar over the past two years anyway, so I’m always on the lookout for more pnut butter. this will just get me going sooner.
thanks for your blog,
Shamba
October 13, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Update to my penutt butter comment earlier. I was too late to miss the price increase on my favorite pnut butter …..
I decided to walk into the local Safeway, where I do some of my shopping, and check on the prices of my favorite pnutt butter. For years I have bought laura Scudder’s Smooth Old Fashioned Peanut butter. It’s sold with oil and pnutt mixture separated and you have to mix them together. They’re not supposed to have Hydrogenated Oils or trans fats. My family has always liked the taste better than other pnut butters.
Laura Scudders has always been towards the high end of pnut butters and has gone through price increases and changes in jar sizes the past 5 years like everything else has.
I really can’t remember what sizes they had or or prices I bought before the last 5 years but since then I’ve gotten the 24 oz jars. Up to a year ago I think they were 4 -5 dollars; 2 months ago all of a sudden they were 5.75; today they were $7.59. :0 :OAstonishment!
I like to get 2-3 at a time and then don’t buy more for another 3 months or so. I guess I’ll be checking more often now and examining other pnut butters!
peace, shamba
October 13, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Thank you all for the comments. That is a huge price increase!
October 13, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Oops, pardon my type while posting in haste before work this morning. Our bulk organic peanuts went up to $4.80/#, not $5.80. Still a painful increase for our peanut butter-dependent household. 😦
October 13, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Photos of the summer kitchen? Best wishes!
October 17, 2011 at 11:17 am
Yes, I would like to echo the request for photos of the summer kitchen. It sounds brilliant! Thank you for your kind and informative posts, Kathy! I always look forward to reading about what you’ve been up to.