As usual, Autumn finds us busy – outside, and I failed to keep up with Daisy’s September Challenge. Some of the items I can do, but have not. One I hate to admit…we do not have A BOB. We do not intend to bug-out.
We have camping gear – in the garage in plastic cases ready to go. Tent gear and lights in one box, cooking gear in another. They are complete with towels, dishes, salt, sugar, and spices, but no food. The sleeping bags are protected in a closet in the house. There are no clothes packed except for the winter bag that I keep for traveling to relatives homes with extra sweaters, wool socks, etc. There is no food packed and ready to go. <– That is a big downfall. I have much I can take, but it is not packed. Something I need to remedy. Something to do on a heavy rainy day – perhaps tomorrow. At least make a list tomorrow so I can start to pack into a milk crate or bucket.
Hubby has been putting in a brick sidewalk. We don’t need a brick sidewalk, but the sidewalk needed repair. He has had one at three other houses and wanted one here. So, this September he started. There was enough sand under the concrete squares to allow him to just remove those 18 x 18” squares and insert brick. It looks very nice. However, our walkway is a sorta lazy Z shape, and it needed to be realigned. The entrance from the driveway while being perpendicular to the house, is not aligned with the doorway. Therefore, we will need two wedges of something perhaps a batch of concrete to fill it in the needed angle changes.
While the brick walk is a vanity thing, the concrete squares that are in good shape have been placed around the firepit in the back yard. That is useful. Now we can have the old, peeling, lichen-covered lawn furniture on the concrete and pull an old stainless commercial kitchen table close to the firepit so we can have a prep table for cooking. This will develop more next year. As campers, and former (if you can ever be former) Scouts, we like cooking over open fires and have wanted to develop a permanent set-up with cast iron cooking system and grate.
Hauling those heavy concrete squares and the bricks is a tiring job for an 80-year old. He is sleeping well at night. Thankfully the project is nearly done except for the wedges. It is rainy today and he is enjoying a much needed nap.
Meanwhile, I am left to tend the garden. I am trying to prepare a new strawberry bed. We had a great crop this year. The plants have grown past their bed’s limits and those will be planted into a new one. Reading about strawberries, it sounds like there should be three beds, and a three-year rotation to allow new plants to start and flourish. I requested a sorta raised bed to keep the strawberries inside. Not much, just 2 x 8 boards to surround it. The area is undulating, so the boards will allow the bed to be more level. Plus, I should be able to put a net over this to keep critters out of it. Hubby has been busy and hopefully will get to my bed frame soon. I have dug compost into it and hope I can transplant before everything freezes here.
We never did get large heads of broccoli this year. Don’t know why. I was able to rescue most of my cabbage. I see the sprouts are growing on the “Brussel’s” plants and hope they grow quickly before the gopher takes down the entire plant. Those critters are smart. Need a new strategy for them next year.
Falls chores: I am pulling out the legumes and preparing those beds for next year. Adding compost to the top that I hope I can dig in before the temperatures plummet. They will become the cabbage/broccoli/ Bok choy/etc. bed. The cole crop beds become the tomato beds; and the tomato beds become the new legume beds. Not sure where the squash beds will go. Vegetable gardens are an art form – what grows well where, and with what.
Now if only the tomatoes will ripen so I can Can them. There are hundreds of green tomatoes just waiting for me! I have made one batch of tomato soup that is not very tasty, just more like just cooked tomato than soup. I have enough, 14 pounds of Roma and San Marzano paste tomatoes, to make another batch of soup today. Then I want to have just plain canned tomatoes on the shelf for casseroles. While I don’t want the BPA and additives in the tomatoes we buy in the store, I do NOT like the tomato soup from the store, so, my priority is tomato soup. Ripen, please!!!
I found four huge cucumbers. I made a potato soup with one of them: potatoes, onion, garlic, dill, a bit of lemon juice, and diced cucumbers; plus, some cannellini beans for protein and creamy texture. It was interesting. The cucumbers made the potato soup taste fresher. The white cannellini beans substituted for the creamy milk base after all was blended. I am going to try and dehydrate the others. Not sure what to do with the dried cukes but perhaps grated and sprinkled into winter salads, or dips. Or perhaps as a dipping vegetable chip? Any ideas? Already have too many pickles from last year.
I do not like the colder weather. I can tell my mood is drooping since I do not want to go outside to work. Time to get out my SunBoxx light and treat the seasonal changes.
Time to go to the kitchen and make more soup. I am happy there is a TV in there so I can just work away and enjoy programming that I want to see but is not important enough to sit down and watch.
Enjoy your Autumn everyone.