OCTOBER CAME KNOCKING AT MY DOOR ALREADY

 Yes, October came knocking at my door and September got a little upset and whirled out of here, with leaves littering my front lawn. I went for a little trip uptown and the leaves are changing so fast. What a beautiful sight, the leaves are so colorful already. I was driving so I couldn't take any photos.

We are still harvesting nature's gifts. My son Vaughan and George are picking crab apples on the front lawn and almost filled a large box. George wants me to make some crabapple jelly again this year.

I got help digging and picking potatoes this year but they speared too many with the fork. This is the upper end of the rows. I was so busy digging that I forgot to take pictures of the helpers.

And this is the lower end. The center was picked a few weeks ago. We gave away a lot and sold some and put the rest in storage for the family.

I made another two large batches of salsa and in all made 35 jars. I'm sure some will go as gifts.

Here are some bottles of salsa in the boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Oh, yummy salsa.

My curiosity got the best of me and I dug up some sweet potatoes from my experiment. I was actually surprised to get some this size as our growing season is short and they need long season and lots of heat to grow.

I dug up the rest as it's been cold and they announced rain for the next three days. I got about 25 pounds.

A friend gave me a bag of apples and I made this apple pie and dehydrated the rest, then my sister-in-law, Pauline gave me 2 big bags of apples that she picked at a U-Pick and I'm still dehydrating some. They are so good, I eat them like candy in the winter. I would like to go pick apples to dehydrate more.

One of George's second crop of cabbage. He sold a lot but this one was starting to split. I put it next to the pie for perspective.

I deadheaded the Rudbeckia to prevent them from growing all over the lawn.

I dug up some daylilies and gave away a lot but I still need to dig up some more on the end of the rows.

I saved all the debris to make mulch to keep the weeds away. I still have so many plants to cut down.

These will need to be cut down as well and I have several other daylily beds to clean up.

That's it for this evening. I hope that you are all staying well and happy.

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate your kindness.

Julia

MY REPORT ON HOW WELL THE CORN BAGS WORKED.

 When the critters overtake a corn patch, they can destroy it in no time but it seems like I foiled their plan this year. The electric fence deterred the deers and raccoons and the corn bags deterred the birds. My first attempt at growing corn has been a success. The corn had the chance to develop fully without any damage and was large and delicious. I've been giving some away to family and friends. I may try a corn relish recipe if I get the time. 

The cotton bags did get some mildew stains on them but a good soak in a mild bleach restored them to like new and ready for next year.

                                                          Corn fresh from the corn patch. 

My sister came for a visit today and I gave her enough corn for her and her daughter's large family, potatoes, green beans, squash, and tomatoes.  She was very happy with the fresh veggies, then I brought some corn and other veggies to my granddaughter also. It feels good to be able to give food to those who don't have a garden. 

 I've been pickling all my large cucumbers and made 14 quarts and 30 pints of Lady Ashburnham pickles, and a small jar.

9 pints of beets,  12 pints and 1 quart of Bread 'n  Butter pickles, 6 pints of spicy pickled beans, 5 pints of salsa, and a small jar, in all 79 jars... 

I still have a lot of green beans to process and I gave some away also. My fridge is full. The harvest was heavy this year and we've been eating a lot of green beans., despite the groundhogs eating the first flush of blooms earlier. The plants became bushier and loaded with beans.

I'll be making some more spicy green beans to give away.  My son and his friends love these. I'll admit that I love them too.

I made a batch of yummy salsa with the tomatoes I picked but didn't have enough for another batch. We usually buy a lot of salsa in the course of a year and I will definitely make a lot more when more tomatoes ripen. 

I always take off the rims when I  put the preserves away and put the rings back on when I open them,  or when I sell or give away. 

This is the damage the deers are doing to the cucumber patch at the farm. We usually have tons of cucumbers but this year, the deers have really damaged the whole patch and we had very few cucumbers in comparison to other years. They trampled the plants, chewed the stems and blossoms, and even ate the small cucumbers and many of the beets at the farm. 

You can see deer tracks everywhere in the farm gardens. 

This is the tomato garden. I picked all the red tomatoes and they are difficult to see as the plants are spreading far and wide, but there will be a lot more to come I hope.  I go check them every other day.

I hope that you are all safe from the hurricane and are all doing well. We are supposed to get two days of rain. 

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. 

Julia