Luckily, the rain held off mostly yesterday, and we got nearly all the carrots, beets, potatoes, and rutabagas pulled. David and Delilah came over in the morning and helped pull a crate of carrots. It was so much fun watching her squeal every time a big carrot came out of the ground. I tossed the tiny ones on the ground with the tops, but she picked up every one and wanted those in the buckets too. Gee, was she born with the “waste not, want not” gene?
I started in digging Bliss Triumph potatoes and made it down two thirds of a 100-foot row and had to stop. There was another row of russets next to it too! Luckily, Will came out and dug that row, then our friend, Angie and her family came out, at our invitation, to pick beets, carrots, rutabagas, and cabbages for their family. Her guys helped Will crate up the potatoes he’d dug and had lying on the ground. I got a bunch of beets pulled, along with a whole crate of onions. The onions weren’t as big this year, but there were more of them than I’d thought.
I put the onions on the bench, in the greenhouse, to dry and we’ve got the carrots, beets, and rutabagas on the front porch to protect them from freezing tonight and tomorrow night. Then, we’ll move them into the basement for storage. I’ve still got some more to pull when the rain quits today. (And even if it doesn’t.) We have some huge cabbages this year. I tried some of Baker Creek’s Giant Chinese cabbages and they are truly giants, weighing nearly 20 pounds each or more. Wow!
Well, gotta go, the garden’s calling! — Jackie
Beautiful carrots. I always struggle in growing those. Our cellar is full and we’re thankful. Winter is coming. Soon time to fire up outside wood burner. It has been unseasonably warm so far. I always ask my grandkids to look for the oddest potato when we dig. Kinda fun. They enjoy the pumpkins too.
When David was young, he found a potato that looked just like a moose head. We both thought that was really funny. We had snow yesterday, although just a skiff stuck on the ground. But the high was 28 degrees F, today. Kind of nasty! We so enjoy our wood stove, especially this time of the year. We’re only burning “ugly” wood now. That’s stuff that’s gnarled or knotted so it won’t fit in the wood pile nicely or pieces of old boards Will has cut up when repairing the cow’s fence around the lot. We don’t need much fire, just enough to keep us toasty. Our pantry and cellar are full to overflowing, the HOUSE is stuffed and there’s still a few cabbages out in the garden. We’re food-embarrassed.
LOL.. we also call those pieces ugly wood. They tend to do the job quite well despite how they look. Sometimes the pieces just don’t want to split but the result of the attempts allow it to catch fire quickly.
You have been truly blessed with a wonderful harvest . I am so glad things grew well for you this year .
We are too! It was a tough growing year, but we were sure blessed with a great harvest. So grateful!!
So thankful to hear of you getting most of the crops in, whew!
My Scarlet Nantes from your seeds were incredible this year too.
Glad to hear Will doesn’t struggle with pain, and the remedy will go well, hooray! I hope you will not overdo, and both be able to rest a bit.
My canning shelves are full, but I managed to put up 7 quarts of potatoes too; there is always room for a little more, ha!
Yes, there is! Every time I think I can’t fit another jar in the basement, I always find an unused spot. Ta da!!
Jackie, does one of your books have a pantry list of what and how much in quarts are needed for a year supply, 2 to 4 people? Thought you might have a very good guess, because there’s you and Will. It would be a handy fact to know to work towards as a goal of prepping for a year at a time.
Rain, yeah had rain all day here today – likely close to an inch (which we needed earlier in the growing season!).
And I do believe there is some truth to the waste not want not gene. One would think after x number of generations, not wasting food would be ingrained.
Glad you made a big dent in the harvest. We keep piling leaves on the garden and into the compost. It is easier to corral them when they are wet!
Whoo Hoo! You are crossing the finish line! The end of growing season is always bittersweet. Fewer garden chores is a relief, but winter and her chores are soon to be here and they are no fun. We have been getting a little rain which is desperately needed. We have been getting 0.17 or so each day for the past few days. It all adds up and as we are in a pocket of exceptional drought I am very thankful. We had a freeze last night, but at least we are not forecast snow anytime soon. Those carrots are gorgeous! Isn’t is such a good feeling to have all those vegetables in the cellar. Prayers for a blessed week.
It’s snowing right now. The low is supposed to be 18 degrees F. And being so wet, it’s damp and chilling right now. We’re so grateful to have such a great harvest. I’m making a roast with potatoes, rutabagas, carrots and onions tonight, all from the homestead. We eat like kings!!
You are so lucky to have abundant leaves. We have leaves too, but they’re in the woods where a tangle of brush makes raking them impossible. So, we make do with rotted hay from the mulch and plenty of cow manure.
We had snow last night, which stayed, just a bit. Our highs for the next 10 days struggle to reach the low thirties. Brrr!
We’re finally getting a freeze – two weeks later than historical average. Glad we’re ready for it. There are a few spots in one perennial bed where we can put a few leaves. The annual garden area has a nice blanket for winter. Probably can fit a few wheelbarrows more into the compost bins but the rest will be mulched by the lawnmower. Of course we always have a few trees that insist on dropping leaves all winter – nothing better than leaves, snow, leaves, snow lol..
We may get flurries on Halloween but better flurries than the year we had at least an inch of wet snow on Halloween.
Correction – we got 3 inches of wet snow the one Halloween!
My oak leaves are hard to get, because mixed up with pine needles. I manage.
We have oak leaves (along with other hardwood trees as well as some “soft” /other trees). One of my neighbors won’t put oak leaves on her garden area and I am not sure why. Yes, they are slow to decompose if you don’t mulch them (so they say). We usually till in some leaves in the fall and will till what remains in the spring. Asparagus patch gets burned off in the spring, strawberry patch is manual remove of whatever leaves landed.
Suffice it to say the soil at this house/area is not the rich, black of our previous home. But with effort and patience, the soil can be greatly improved.
Our pine needles never get anywhere close to the garden area and end up as lawn mulch.
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