Thank you for the idea, Carolyn - I love haiku(ing) 'tho I wouldn't quit my day job...
Chickens lay few eggs
Must I send in a masseuse
walk on chicken backs
Family fun is not
birthday full of miffs and sniffs
orphan status optional?
Beans and greens get cut
Pressure not just in canner
Ears coming out my ears
Although rain threatened all day yesterday, it didn't fall in earnest until last night and into this morning. Thankfully (this is Scrappy talking) there was a let-up just as I let them out in the yard. As soon as they came in, it started up again. After a weekend of everything out-of-sync, it was a nice feeling to be in rhythm with nature again for, even as I am Princess DeNial, daughter of the Queen of DeNial, I am facing up to the fact that I may be gluten intolerant. And, even though I am facing up to it, I have already worked out in my fevered mind ways of sneaking in bits of the bread I love. Cripe. Isn't it funny how, when you know you can. not. have. bread/chocolate/dairy/etc. it becomes the only thing you want?
I noted in my daily egg-laying journal, my hens have produced 8 eggs every day for the past four days. I would be thrilled with this if I had 8 hens. But I have over 20. So, I am not thrilled. I've checked them for parasites, I've upped their feed rations, I've cleaned their nesting boxes out every other day. Ergo, the masseuse crack. Heads will roll if the eggs don't.
I did a lot of pressure canning over the weekend - 12 pints of green beans, 6 pints and a quart of mixed vegetables, with 3.6 dozen ears of corn to go. I also dried six zucchini squash, four yellow squash and a large bunch of Swiss chard. I doubt if this will end anytime soon, as the beans, squash and chard are going gangbusters. Wish I could say the same for the tomatoes. Plenty of fruit on those miserable plants, but not a blush of color on most of them. My next indoor project is to catalogue my canned goods. While I can feel the first stirrings of tomato-mania in my heart, I need to come to grips with what I already have. I need to battle the seasonal "Channeling of the Prairie Housewife" (the one with a family of 8). I may need an intervention.
9 comments:
Was wondering what was going on with the chicken massage parlor thing. My hens may have been lazy, or I haven't caught the "other" snake yet. Caught one just last week eat'n eggs.
Good luck on your canning adventures, I wish we had enough to can this year, alas only zucchini abound.
I wish I could show you a picture of my 1 little cherry tomato sitting on the counter with 1 med. size plum---funny. I love your talk but don't ask me to repeat it.Pete and repete went down to the lake ,Pete fell in ,who was left? RIGHT!i ENVY PEOPLE THAT CAN STICK TO THERE EATING PLAN,I WISH I COULD-NO WILL POWER LEFT,AT ALL. I GET STRESSED I EAT.I get sick I EAT, WHOESME
I'm sorry about the gluten intolerance; that would be a hard thing to accept for me, too. No tomatoes here to speak of, either. Please tell how you dehydrate the summer squash, and then how you use it!
Gluten intolerant! Holy moly. You don't need that to deal with. But if you think you might actually be, you'll feel much better if you stay away from gluten, that's for sure.
You get so much done! A real one-(wo)man dynamo. Don't ever feel bad about putting up a lot of food. The way our economy (and weather for growing crops) has been going, it's better than money in the bank. What can be better than your own homegrown, nourishing food. It's pretty basic and it will be bad if people don't have enough of it.
My tomatoes wont turn either and it is driving me up the wall. I had to bum a few tomatoes off the neighbor so I could put up a little salsa, while I have hundreds just sitting green on the vine while blight spreads. Sorry to hear of your problems with gluten. That is a tough one.
I sure hope you get some goodies soon, you work too hard to be eggless and tomatoless!!
Carolyn - Well, I figured I have tried everything else I could think of. Maybe they need to relax?
Judy - I tend to be an emotional eater, too. Unfortunately, it tends to be carbs and wheat-based food. I'm going to try and cut it all out to see if that's the culprit.
Michelle - The only thing that could be worse would be no cheese or wine in my diet! To dry the zukes, I slice them about 1/4 inch thick and lay them on my dehydrator trays. I let them dry until they are crispy disks. Then I just store them in jars until I need them. Nothing like tossing a handful in a pot of soup this winter!
Mama Pea - You can see why I was in denial so long! It just makes me cry. I think I am going to look at canning as a biannual affair. I have enough tomatoes to last until next season, and I'll have enough corn to last until 2013!
Jane - Doesn't it kill you to have to bum vegetables from neighbors? I think that's what ticked off my zucchini! Now it's taking its revenge.
Erin - Let's hope the garden will listen to your very sage words....
We are all going to be eating mince meat pies this winter if those tomatoes don't start changing! You, the poet and canner now too!
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