The Good Ole Summertime

  Whew!  Summer is so busy here at Buzz and Bleat Farm.  Our goat kids are nearly eight weeks old.  Know what that means?  Almost time to start milking twice a day.  I love my goats.  I love my goat milk.  But milking twice a day is very restrictive.  

We have been blessed/cursed with a lot of rain this year so far.  It is great for the garden but seems to be even better for the weeds.  We plant a huge garden even though there are only two of us.  I can and freeze most veggies and fruits and give away the rest.  Last year our squash was so abundant that we donated 93 of them to the local food bank.  

With feeding ten goats, cleaning two barns, taking care of a huge garden, we were both starting to feel our collective ages.  We decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy a tractor.  We have a couple of tractors already.  But one is a 1946 restored Farmall Cub 

and the other is an old AC that has seen better days.  Neither is equipped with hydraulics nor a PTO.  Since we need help with the heavy lifting we searched for a used small tractor with a loader.   Finally we found one.  

Other things keep me busy.  Still making my dolls and I am working on order number 72.  We also picked cherries.

When we bought this home, we did not even know that there were fruit trees on the property.  Well we have two very prolific pear trees, a peach tree that died last year, and a cherry tree that has seen better days.  When I say "better days" I am not exaggerating.  It looks as if it has been struck by lightning. 

 

But it still produces cherries, which until last year was a yummy meal for the birds and other critters.  Last summer we picked a few and this year I got enough for seven half pints of jelly.  

While I had the canner and jars upstairs I thought it would be a good time to can some pasta sauce so I got a couple of bags of tomatoes from the freezer and cooked up 5 pints of sauce.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I love to can.  But the mess...I could do without that!

I made some soap as well.  This latest is my all time fave.  I made some pretty soap called After the Rain.  It is a pretty soap, perfect for gifting.  It reminds me of the smell of the damp earth after a spring shower.

Some floral soap called Wildflower Field is a mixture of all the different floral notes you get if you are immersed in a field of multi-color wildflowers.

There is also a light evergreen scented soap I call In the Forest that reminds me a bit of those evergreen forests in Colorado.

 And my fave, a cinnamon and citrus soap with ground coffee and oatmeal that I am calling Morning Gardener.  I love the spicy scent of cinnamon and chai coupled with the sweet, refreshing scent of orange.  

My laptop, which was over eight years old, decided it was time for a newer model.  There was such a comfort level though.  It is kind of like starting a new job without your familiar coworkers.  I am sure I will get the hang of it, but for now it is a little slow-going.  

Stay tuned for the continuing saga of growing old on a hobby farm!

The Garden is Winding Down

I never thought I would say this:  I am sick of tomatoes.  I love 'em.  I hate 'em.  The taste is divine. And homegrown are the best!  But this year our tomatoes have gone above and beyond anything I could ever wish for.  I can honestly say that I have eaten tomatoes at least once a day for the last two months.  But the season is winding down and my pantry is getting full and I am getting tired.

Not expecting a bumper crop, I planted all kinds of tomato seedlings.  Big boys, Early girls, cherry tomatoes, Romas, and a whole bunch that I don't even know what we have.  So far this year I have made two batches of salsa, two batches of tomato soup, diced tomatoes, tomato juice, chili sauce, pasta sauce, and soup starter.  And they just keep coming!

This week has been so busy.  With no time to can, I wash the tomatoes, core them, put them in gallon freezer bags, and stick them in the freezer until things slow down a little.  Today was the day!

I had three gallon bags in the freezer and a gallon ice cream container of unfrozen tomatoes.

I use this old strainer that I have had forever and dip the tomatoes into boiling water for just a few minutes.  Fresh tomatoes don't have to stay in as long as the frozen ones.

Another one of my ice cream containers is filled with cold water and ice.  Plunge the tomatoes into the ice water and the skins come magically off!

I save all the peelings and cores.  My chickens love them!

Using the food processor, I grind the tomatoes, leaving all that good pulp and seeds in the mixture.

Heat it till boiling. I had so much that I had to use two pans.  While it is heating, I take my clean water bath canner and fill with water (I fill to the last ring on the top), and turn on.  I sterilized my jars and lids in this clean water.  Fill the jars with your tomatoes, and add 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice to each pint jar.  Of course, if you are using quarts, double that.  Put in the water bath canner for 45 minutes.  

It's okay if you choose to use quart jars.  There are only two of us here so I use the pints.  I use these tomatoes all year long in soup, chili, or any other recipe that calls for canned tomatoes.  

Out of my tomatoes today, I got 12 pints.  The bad thing about that is that my canner only holds 8 pints so I had to run two batches.  

Confession time:  I hope I don't get visited by the police.  My kitchen looks like a murder scene. Tomatoes are about the messiest of any vegetable (or fruit) that I have ever preserved.  And unfortunately, I am a sloppy cook.  

Oh, yes, I have had this food processor for over 30 years.  I like old things....just like me.

Here is a little hint.  When canning, put a little vinegar in the canner before use.  It helps keep the jars pretty and sparkly.  I forgot on my first batch and had to wipe down each jar and lid.  This is especially important if you have hard water or live in the country with a well.

I did squeeze in a little time to put out my garage sale wagon and some pumpkins and gourds from the garden.  I bought the mums at a flea market for $10.  We had everything else.  I love fall 

Canning Season

 I started canning veggies back when we lived in Colorado.  We always had a small garden and never really enough to can but I enjoy it so much!  Each August, I would drive about 80 miles to the East side of the Denver metro area where there were farm stands selling fresh produce.  I bought tomatoes and peppers, and cucumbers and sometimes zucchini.  When we moved to the Ozarks, our garden started producing more. But the first year I bought tomatoes for salsa and chili sauce.  Last year, my neighbor gave me some tomatoes, so I didn't purchase any, but our cukes and squash were only enough for small batches or daily use.  Each year we have added to the soil.  Horse manure, compost, and mulch were added.  This year we could add additional goat poo from our unending supply and some chick manure.  Finally, we have a garden.  But as the old adage goes-Be careful what you wish for.  

I think we have like 33 tomato plants.  And I didn't just get one kind of tomato.  We have cherry tomatoes, Roma sauce tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, and a few heritage tomatoes thrown in.

Last year, our garden struggled.  Some of the squash that didn't do well last year, came up this year without us planting it.  Most of the plants I started from seeds, except for the tomatoes.  I think I only have four that I started from seeds.

I am now picking twice a day usually.  The white scallop tomatoes are taking over the garden and I had to trim them back.  

I swear the zucchini grow overnight.  

I have enough cucumbers for once to actually can some without buying additional from the farmer's market.

So far, I have canned salsa, dill slices, corn, sweet relish, and tomato juice and corn relish. (not pictured).  I have frozen five pints of freezer slaw, four bags of four cups of blackberries, and 10, yes, 10-gallon bags containing 3 cups each. 

And I still have much more to do.  I will try to include some recipes in my next post but for now, I need to go cook dinner and phew! put my feet up!