On the Homestead

Summer means Chris is home for a few weeks, the garden is going bonkers, and we catch up on a bunch of projects we've been putting off. Here's what we've been up to lately. 

 1.) Zucchini pickles 

I'm not sure whether or not this counts as hitting the bottom of the proverbial barrel, but here we are. 

I've made zucchini bread and have added diced zucchini to just about every dish I can think of (soup, chili, pasta bake, hash...). I've also shredded several pounds of the stuff for the freezer (good for baking muffins, bread, pasta dishes, etc). We're still getting swamped. 

I was pickling some okra and noticed I had extra brine and an empty jar. I cut up some of the many zucchini lying around on the counter, threw it in a jar, tossed in some spices, and topped it off with brine.

 Its edibility remains to be seen. 

2.) Cherries 

I ended up with a couple pounds of fresh cherries for half off at the grocery store recently. 

Usually I pit and freeze cherries, then use them a few months after the fact for a dessert. This time around our freezer is a little full and I'm already hauling the canner out for pickles, so I figured, "eh, why not? Let's can these." 

One very long pitting session, five cups of syrup, and a finicky water bath later I'm pretty sure I'm going to freeze them next time. 

 Pitting I can handle. 

Canning I can handle.

 Both at the same time? Not so much. I think if I can something I have to do that much prep for again, it'll be a multiple person job and an awful lot of whatever we're processing. 

They sure do look pretty in the jar though. 

3.) Tractor, tractor

We're doing an extension on the garden, which meant bringing out the tractor, hooking up the tiller, and trying to break up the concrete-like clay soil out here. 

It turned into a bit of an ordeal. 

Everything was going swimmingly until Chris turned and lost the nut and bolt connecting one of the chains holding the tiller onto the tractor. Work came to a stop, but the bolt was lost for good. 

Well, ok. Guess we're getting a replacement part then. Chris calls up the tractor dealer, he says he has that size, Chris gets in the car and drives twenty minutes to go get it. 

Comes back, tries to replace the part. The bolt and nut are too big, won't work. 

Chris goes back to the dealer, this time with the chain from the tractor and a small child in tow, only to be told "that's an after market chain, I don't have the parts for that. Try this bulk nut and bolt place." So he loads up and heads to the other place. 

Wonder of wonders, they not only have the part, they gave it to him for free. I'm guessing pricing a solitary nut/bolt wasn't worth it. 

So he heads home, shoos the small child inside, and then spends a good chunk of the hottest part of the day tilling rock hard dried out clay. 

Huge salute to my husband and his persevering attitude. 

4.) Embroidery 

So I got a bleached out/faded men's denim shirt at a rummage sale awhile back, and I've been having fun making it fancy. 

I mean, if fancy looks vaguely like a cross between a western shirt and that denim shirt certain boomer ladies wear while antiquing. 

Whatever. Wearing clothes outside of your own generation is whimsical, right? 

...right? 

 I'm having fun working on it. It's what I'm doing with my hands when we watch TV lately. 

5.) A meditation on aprons 

Something I'm realizing more and more is that there were very good reasons our grandmothers wore aprons around the house. 

Usually how I handle clothing is that I have my grungy clothes I wear around the house that are stained or worn, and then I wear the "good" stuff (not stained or obviously mended) when I have a day where I'm out of the house. 

The problem is, more and more of my clothes are beginning to fall into the first category rather than the second. I do a lot of fairly dirty, greasy work at home even when I'm going out later and I can't quite keep up with getting new stuff to replace the old (especially with the hand-me-down/thrift store way I get my clothes). Having an apron handy makes more and more sense. 

I've actually made an apron before, and we own a couple store bought ones, but they're all the type that hang around your neck and those honestly get very uncomfortable after awhile. I'm seriously considering making one that looks like this...

The Etsy shop where I found this image is here. 

with the more shirt-like supported back and the wrap around skirt. It looks more comfortable and prettier, though I doubt I'll make it out of fabric as pretty as this, especially since I plan to actually use it. 

It makes me want to get some older style house dresses too, but one thing at a time. 

6.) Tree trimming 

Something we've been neglecting for years is trimming the trees on our property. In some places, the limbs had gotten so long and heavy that they literally dragged on the ground. 

We finally stopped by Harbor Freight and bought a pole saw. 

Unfortunately I didn't think to take any "before" pictures. Here's one of some of the finished trees though. 

So much nicer. There were a ton of limbs laying around the yard after; we ended up conscripting my teenage brothers into hauling them into the unmowed part of our property. 

So now it looks like we have a bunch of malnourished brush out there. 

7.) Mystery Bugs

Can anyone tell me what these things are? They seem too big to be aphids, but they suck up juices like aphids. They're absolutely wreaking havoc on my (already very sparse) tomatoes.