Sorry for such a long delay in posting. The manthing and I both  got the creeping crud after the last post and were completely down and out for two weeks.  Never in my life have I been that sick  for such a long period of time and I never hope to be again!

Last week, though we were both feeling much better, all of our time was spent catching up on things and stuff that we got behind on while ill.  Though we  will never ever be able to say that everything that needs doing is done,  we did get most everything back to a manageable  level of craziness.

 The greenhouse is emptying out finally and all that is left is a few tomatoes, peppers and tobacco. All the beds are planted but two and the tobacco patch. They are even mostly weeded, which is a rarity.  The last two days we got some much  needed rain to  kick all the plants into growing gear. The very early tomatoes I put out survived the two frosts in April and  are flowering  already and  a few of the volunteer squash are as well.

Early spring crops are already fizzling out due to the overly warm spring we have had.  We have had a pretty decent year for greens of all kinds and  for a change I was able to even freeze a few bags of peas.  We skipped out on spring cabbage this year  because we never have any luck with it but the broccoli is looking pretty good so far.   Our puny area of strawberries has given us a few snacks and  a couple meals of belgium waffles with fresh berries.  Today I was able to freeze some rhubarb to  make some chutney with  after  the next town trip.  It looks to be a banner year for  blueberries, grapes and blackberries but many of the fruits off the trees  dropped after the last cold spells.

 All in all it is looking like a decent year for the gardens. Hopefully we will have plentiful, but not too much, rain and warmth, but not like last year. Now all we  have to do is  teach these dogs  that bunnies are BAD, even though they look completely harmless, and  that they must be chased off. Heck, I will even allow them to eat them if they do.

We took a couple days this past weekend to go out and about in the local area. The video is just some of the scenery from while we were there. Pinhoti means turkey home in Creek.

For a change, the moon cycle and the planting season cycle correlate enough that I am trying to plant with the moon. This has meant we have been busy planting root crops. Carrots, onions, leeks, turnips and potatoes have been going in when weather and time permit. We are trying to plant taters in several different areas this year in hopes of a better crops and to eliminate the problem we had with the potato beetles last year.
Some of the beds are being amended and many of the medicinal herbs are going in as they need the time before frost to do their thing and germinate. The remaining beds will be worked up and amended as we have time. Most of the started seeds are now in the greenhouse and things are greening up nicely outside. The few cabbage that made it through the winter are heading up nicely and the peas are beginning to climb. I made three trellises for them today while out putzing about and they turned out quite nice.

Speaking of time, after this week I will have 3 months of free time before going back to school. I cannot wait to not be tied to the computer for half my waking hours unless I choose to be. I have a few projects up my sleeve that I want to work on while I am off. More pallet fun, Hoorah!!

Today I finally strained off our apple cider vinegar that I made after we made jam and sauce from the apples last fall. It looks lovely and we got a bit over five gallons of healthy for you, raw, unpasteurized, product.

To make all that is needed is a container of some sort to hold the peelings, water and a piece of cheese cloth. After peeling and coring your apples set them out to get air for a day or two to brown and then toss them into your container. Add water enough to cover all peels but leave enough room that the vessel does not overflow. I like to weigh the peelings down so that they remain under water. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth to keep bugs and junk from entering and sit in a cool dark place. Let ferment.

The mixture will get a funky covering over it which is a whitish gray mass, this is the mother so leave her be. You will smell vinegar as the process occurs and after 4-6 weeks you can taste test it and see if it is strong enough for your liking. I let mine go 12 weeks with this batch and it is quite strong. When it is to your liking strain and bottle. It will likely be cloudy and sediment will drop to the bottom. This is fine, however, if it is bothersome, strain it through a coffee filter to remove the majority of it.

Though we live in an area with abundant medicinal plants in the wild, I do not trust myself with identification of most of them and do not have the means or time to toodle about the countryside in search of them. I would also rather have them here on the property rather than have to go and hunt them down as I am rather lazy like that. Besides that, many of the herbs have beautiful flowers that attract hummingbirds and other healthy critters that we would like more of. So, a couple weeks ago I went on a herb shopping spree and got us a slew of new herbs and plants for medicinal use and a few off the wall edibles that should do well here.

Two years ago when, we had the glut of peaches from our then lone peach tree, many of the peaches ended up on the ground or eaten by critters. Unlike any year prior, all those peach pits sprouted into tiny trees, so for kicks I decided to let them grow assuming most of them would die a natural death. Oddly enough, most actually lived through their first winter and and all through last summer and on through this winter (what winter we have had and it aint much). Between not having time, having bad weather when we did have time, having people say they were going to move them and then not and my own laziness, I just got around to digging several of them out today and replanting.

I had big ideas of moving all 23 of them today and only got 12 moved but it was a good start. Since these peaches were all surrounding a tree and since they were not in pots, but in the actual soil, getting them out with all the roots was a bit challenging. Most came out with a nice chunk of sod with them, making the transplant fairly easy, but a couple came out bare rooted. Wonder if they will survive?

This is just another experiment around the place that only cost me some time. Will they survive the transplant? Will they grow decent peaches? Is peachling a word? Only time will tell, but if they do, we will have one heck of a peach orchard in a couple years.

Folks that have followed my ramblings for any length of time know that one of my hobbies is finding a suitable alternative to coffee. This time around, the adventure was using turnips. For hundreds of years turnips were animal fodder rather than people food but during the early 1900s in Germany, they became a staple food item. They were used as a coffee substitute, flour substitute and became a primary ingredient of many dishes including war bread.
Since we have had virtually no winter this year, turnips have grown very well and out of curiosity, boredom, and the need to know I decided to make me some turnip coffee. After slicing and dicing, drying and roasting, and grinding it all up I finally got to make me a fine cuppa turnip java.

BLECH!!!!

Maybe it is an acquired taste, that comes from necessity? Hopefully it is a necessity I will never have to acquire a taste for. Of all my experiments, it is the worst tasting and smelling. After all the hard work, it still smells and has the flavor of a turnip. Perhaps not being a huge fan of turnips to begin with plays a part but liquid turnips is simply not appealing. Maybe it will be better used as a flour replacement though I doubt it.

ETA… I should have added that turnips have many other uses beside fodder for man and beast. They have medicinal as well as other uses around a homestead. Rather than write it all up here is a link ….