Mendolonium

I haven’t been posting my Independence Days updates due to the need to gaze adoringly at a certain grinning baby, but while he sleeps I’ve been busy working in our ridiculous heat.  Since my last update, I’ve:

Planted something or take care something you’ve planted:

• Trellised tomatoes (Jeff gets all the credit for this)

Harvested something:

• Parsley
• Leeks
• Shallots
• Cucumbers
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Bell Peppers
• Frying Peppers
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Serrano Pepper (just one!)
• Tomatoes
• Blackberries
• Strawberries

Our total harvest since March 2009:  24.4 kg (53.7 lbs )! – Not including the countless berries that we have consumed before we ever got a chance to weigh them.

Preserved something:

• 20 pints hamburger dill pickles (canned)
• 6 cups sweet cucumber relish (canned)
• 9.5 cups carrots, cut into coins (frozen)
• 6 cups carrots, shredded (frozen)
• 8 cups green beans, blanched (frozen)
• 10 pints strawberries (frozen, for smoothies and sauces) – unfortunately not from our garden, our plants aren’t nearly that prolific yet

Waste Not:

• Brought reusable plates, utensils, etc. on our beach vacation last week

Want Not/Prep:

• Stocked up on 3T – 5T clothes for the boys at Goodwill and on clearance at Gymboree

Build community food systems:

• Does giving away cucumbers and pickles to family and neighbors count?

Eat the Food:

• Found a recipe for Pad Thai and am going to give it a go tomorrow night.

Sadly, peaches aren’t on the list of fruit harvest.  At the beginning of the summer I estimate that we had around five dozen peaches on our tree.  Last week they all disappeared.  I blame squirrels and rats.  Now our tomatoes are starting to vanish – while still green.  Anyone have recommendations for kid-safe and pet-safe ways to get rid of rats?  And when I say “get rid of” I mean kill.  My pacifist, vegetarian values do not extend to vermin eating my food.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 11:51 pm and is filed under Around the Farm, Independence Days, Theodore. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.