SUMMER BEAUTIES SOON TO BE JUST MEMORIES.

 

It's been a very busy summer for me so far and I didn't blog very much lately as usual. Between working in the gardens and working in the house, I also kept busy preserving our bounty. 

 My hip has been hurting so bad, enough to make me limp quite badly. Weeds continue to take over in grandiose ways because I can no longer do it all. 

 For some reason, we had lots of rain and the grass has grown so fast this summer. We are at the end of August, and it has not slowed down, everything is lush and green this year.  The lawn should be mowed every other day to keep it tidy. My son is mowing with the big lawnmower but there are places he can't get by with it. 

I had promised some flower garden photos in my next post instead of preserves and pickles but because my iPhone had too many photos, the last batch didn't curate and they vanished. 

Rudbeckias and a patch of creeping Charlies 

Coleus of normal size that I propagated from last year's sole surviving plant started from seed this year.  

I started these Rainbow coleuses and they look like Coleus on steroids. lol...

One of my hydrangeas that survived deer attacks in the spring.

A young hydrangea and daylilies.

Arthur Moore daylilies which by now have all spent their flowers

Toltec Sundial daylilies

One of my many Asiatic lilies

I think these are Saloam Button Box Daylilies. I have way too many to post on this blog and you have all seen them in past posts anyway.

I had a question from Robin the Cranky Crow about what kind of electric stove I was using for canning vegetables with my large All American  Pressure Canner. It's a Samsung electric glass top stove with a very large burner. It has worked fantastically so far.

I hope it answers your question, Robin. I had taken a photo of the Large All American pressure canner on that burner but because I had too many photos on my iPhone, it did not curate and I lost it along with many other flower photos I had taken for this post. 

On a sadder note, my brother Leo, lost his battle with brain cancer this past week. I'm glad I got to see him before he died.  I hadn't seen him since before the pandemic. He was extremely emaciated and in a lot of pain lately. He had been paralyzed, and couldn't see in one eye and everything was blurred in the other since his brain operation in December 2021. Also, he had lost his hearing in one ear and needed help to sit and eat, and couldn't do anything for himself.  He was admitted to Palliative care and the next day, he passed away with his family at his side.

Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment if you care to. 

Julia

TRUDEAU GREATEST HITS

   

I came in for a wee break, sat at my computer and saw this and thought I'd share it

THE GARDENS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING IN ABUNDANCE THIS YEAR

 

Here's George with our first batch of cucumbers, a big Laundry basket full. It was so heavy that we couldn't carry it very far and he got the skid steer to carry it to the house.

The cucumbers came with a vengeance and I had to pick every other day and I've been pickling non-stop for days. I made Bread n' Butter Pickles, lots of Dill pickles, some Million Dollar Relish, some Pickled Beets, and Lady Ashburnham Pickles. I've made extra for our Church Vegetable and Pickle Market for this fall as a fundraiser. 

Just a sample of my pickles. I didn't bother to take pictures of all my pickles and preserves this time but I processed 104 jars of pickles, 15 jars of green beans, and 13 jars of pork loins so far. 

I froze an amazing amount of broccoli and cauliflower.   I  also froze some chopped-up cabbage for soup in small portions. I still have lots of assorted cabbages in the garden.  We are giving cabbages away. I'll have to learn to make sauerkraut for George. lol...   My new 7sq ft. freezer is almost full already.

Last September, we had an overabundance of beans and I ordered an All-American pressure canner but it only arrived in late September so I didn't use it last year.  I had to freeze the beans and I made Dilly spicy green beans pickles with the rest. This year, the deers ate most of the beans but I still have some in my son, Vaughan's garden.

Already, I canned some pork loins and several batches of green beans in my new pressure canner.  I love my big new canner. I was a little worried about using it the first time but after watching a Youtube video, it was easy and a joy to use.  It sure has been fun preserving all that food but an amazing amount of work too.

The pork loins were on special and this is my first batch. I went back and got some more and made another 6 bottles. 

I had to work at another funeral reception on Tuesday so I did get a break from preserving food. Wednesday I weeded my flowerbeds that were being invaded by weeds full of seeds that I couldn't ignore.  Some vine weeds came up in the straw and I suspect the seeds were in the straw mulch. The war on weeds continues and that'd normal, even with mulch. I'll continue using straw mulch anyway. Not all my beds were mulched as I just didn't have time because of adverse weather.

There is a feeling of Autumn in the air already and my Hydrangea is already changing color. I have lots of flower pictures but this post is already long enough.

What the heck, a picture of one of my Asiatic Lily that was eaten by the deers last year, survived this year by using some wire-fanned supports that were bought at the dollar store. Not a great picture to show the fanned wire support but Lauren wanted to know what kind of support I used.

Thanks for reading my blog and leaving a comment.

Hugs, Julia