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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I'm back and busy





Today was my first full day back from vacation. I had a really great vacation. Spent a lot of time driving the back roads and seeing the sights in the great state of California. I really had planned on blogging from the west coast but somehow that did not work out for me. Guess I got busy having fun. I will post some pics from my trip in a second post today. The scenery was beautiful.

But back at home today there was the garden to get to. The tomatoes plants have been ravaged by blight and the tomatoes are scarce but we did pick about 1/2 bushel for salsa. Last evening when I first got home Jason went with me to see what all would need to be picked in the garden today. Sure didn't count on the tomatillos producing so much. We started checking them and by time we got done checking we had picked a half bushel basket of them, and there will be that many more a little later. They will be salsa of some sort. The cabbage are ready, the taters need to be dug, more corn to harvest and squash to deal with. Not to mention the peppers have really out done themselves, little watermelons and cantaloupes are all over the place.
We pickled some jalapeno peppers this afternoon and started a batch of barbecue sauce to can. The cucumbers are almost done so we only had a few to make a quart of dill pickles from.
As we headed out to check on the wild blackberries we noticed the cats had something cornered under the edge of the flower bed. We thought snake and decided to poke at it with a metal fence post that was lying there. It finally stuck its head out enough for Jason to get a shot with the .38 and rat shot. It was a good sized copperhead. I am thinking it was a female that was about to give birth as it was rather fat in the middle. Did I mention I hate snakes? Well I do. We have killed more snakes this year than I have seen in many years on this farm. After disposing the snake we did go pick about a half gallon of blackberries. Got those in the freezer to make jam a bit later when I have less to do from the garden.
I was so pleased to find my root cellar nearly complete when I returned home. We will have to wait about 2 weeks for the concrete to cure before we can cover it up. Am looking so forward to using it for all the good canned stuff and root crops.
I think I will give it up for the day, its been a busy one. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

2 comments:

Gianetta said...

You and me both...I can't stand snakes. Glad you had a good trip; looking forward to hearing about some of your adventures.

stella said...

Thanks for visiting MA, I had a wonderful time in California. The state has some really pretty landscapes off the beaten path. But dang it was hot in the desert and cold on the beach. Whats up with that? lol

stella