Thursday, August 28, 2008

Almost September! Harvest! Quick!!!

This morning I feel determined to write *something*. One of my best friends (since Jr. High!) wrote last night and wondered if everything was alright since the there was nothing new on the blog for so long. Way to kick my butt, Patty :-).
This time of year gets so hectic. Besides all the things that go on inside the house, like getting the kid off for her first day as a senior today - sob! - the things going on outside are driving me to distraction. Suddenly I realize that if it isn't gathered and preserved now, it will be gone until sometime next year. Things like plantain and jewelweed are used for products that are needed before they are big enough to use next spring. The elderberries are are turning just about dark enough to pick --- when the birds eat them. We have a constant battle going on. If I pick them just at dusk, they will have had a whole day to deepen, and it seems that the birds feed in the morning.
All of the sudden, everything is ripe or just about to go to seed or drop seeds.
The garden is pathetic, but occasionally I go out and kick a clod of dirt and mutter to myself.

Right now I'm looking out the window at the roving band of banty chickens on the hillside. It is a good 100 - 150 yards away, but there is a optical illusion caused by the way the hills and valleys make things appear. The chickens are on the next rise over, so they appear closer. Anyhow, there are several generations of these cute little fowl. My sister calls them the kids, the teenagers, and the grown up. There is also a gang of babies, but they don't go up on the hill yet.
They wander among the rows of trees, and it is a funny sight. First thing this morning Molly and I were standing at the window watching and laughing. The funniest part is that the guineas have decided that they want to be chickens too. The pale guinea doesn't want to hang around the gray one anymore. They were 2 peas in a pod for years. But the pale one thinks she's a chicken and the poor gray one stands in my yard plaintively calling for her friend who pretends to be deaf to her call.

Below is a picture I took a couple of weeks ago of some of the tobacco in a farm field in the other end of the county. Tobacco seems to be coming back as a crop here. Locally, the tobacco grown is for cigar wrappers. As kids we tried it a time or two (I believe we used notebook paper - gag) and believe me, it is different. But the farmers "top" it when the blossoms begin to appear.
After seeing the price that tobacco absolute is going for, perhaps I should talk to one of these guys and ask them to save the flowers for me. Wouldn't THAT be fun to distill!?!

3 comments:

Pat said...

Oh, Tina, do I feel your pain! After our recent rainy spell, all the weeding we had accomplished was for naught. Well, probably not completely, since it would resemble a rain forest if we hadn't pulled what we did. I'm picking and canning beans and have managed to sow some fall goodies (various greens, beets, rutabaga, and broccoli). Not to mention that 2009 wholesale activities are starting... But I LOVE IT!!
Hang in there!

patti flynn said...

i feel your pain too.
i've never had to deal with a glut of anything in my life.
suddenly, all i can talk about is zucchinis and beans!
and basil! and parsley!

i think i need to buy a dehydrator.

Tina Sams said...

Patti, I'm not really one to recommend products, but I was talking to the owner of this site the other day: http://traditionalcook.com/products.shtml
She has some great looking dehydrators! The stoneware baking dishes look good too.
I am just about to hike out into the field to finish working on the second annual homegrown Dish swap. OH! our baker at market would happily take the zucchini off your hands.