End of July - Where Did It Go?

I've been extremely thankful for the garden this year despite any issues I have faced.  This past week we have begun harvesting thing such as cantaloupe, which have been the best!!  Super sweet and flavorful!  This is seed I saved from some starts I purchased from Azure Standard in 2022.

We have been able to harvest a few winter squash, though most end up having bugs in them.  This one started rotting and I had to process it yesterday.  After all the waste from trimming, I had six quarts.  I am pretty close to saying I won't grow squash any longer, but we shall see.  

The paste tomatoes are loaded, but I have been struggling with blossom end rot.  All of my tomatoes are rotting.  I had to add calcium, but I don't know how many more will be ruined before the soil is corrected.  The tromboncino squash continue to get out of control and I am not sure it is worth allowing them to wreak any more havoc on my tomato plants. 

 

The purple Murasaki sweet potatoes are doing well.  I go out every few days to trim back the excess foliage to encourage the energy to the sweet potatoes. 

Our popcorn has started to tassel and I have some small ears forming.  I will need to spray with BT soon to make sure those pesky worms stay away.

This bed of green beans has shot up since pulling out all of the cucumber vines.  They now have sunlight with no competition.

The other bed has already produced some green beans for us, but not enough to can.  There are a few Chinese long beans planted here as well.  They just started producing beans for us.

The cherry tomatoes are growing so tall!  I know I planted them so close together, but they are at least producing.  So far, our favorite in flavor have been the Barry's Brazen Crazy Cherry.  Unfortunately, the plant is being smothered and the tomatoes are being nibbled by bugs. 

Peppers are doing phenomenally!  I am so thrilled to think I will have plenty of peppers and while it isn't enough to put away for chili pepper, I at least have plenty to snack on or preserve in some way or another.  I tried to ferment some banana peppers, but they just didn't smell right, so I dumped them.  So far, the top producer is the Jimmy Nardello.

And finally!! We harvested our first few watermelon and it was so worth the wait!  These Royal Golden watermelon have taken the difficulty out of knowing just when to harvest!  Wow!  The skin turns gold and the tendril across from the melon dries out and there you have it!  For years, I have had dried tendrils and nasty watermelon. 

In other news:

Dad and Mom have officially sold their house in Kentucky and are on their way to Arizona.  They should arrive tomorrow early in the afternoon.

Andrew was in a car accident last Saturday.  His car was considered "totaled" by the insurance company. We are truly blessed that the timing through the intersection was as it happened.  Yah is good!  

Leandra informed me today she was hired at a "higher end" restaurant in Panama City.  She will be doing either prep work in the kitchen, or be pastry/dessert chef.  

Al made our yearly hay purchase today.  He put 32 large round bales under the awning.  

 

Another Week with Losses, Plus Some Harvesting

view from the school room

In the "barnyard...

The livestock deaths just keep coming, and somehow, Abba keeps me strong and I don't find myself angry or sad.  

In the last few days, we lost two kids, Hazzard and Song, and just now, Al drove to the "graveyard" with Amber. 

We bought Amber several years ago.  She was our oldest goat, turned nine in January.  Nine is certainly not too old to breed and provide milk, but this year proved to be difficult for her.  She didn't produce enough milk for me to milk her.  Then when parasites hit her, she simply could not recover no matter what.  She had been my trouble child, so-to-speak, for quite some time and I knew her inability fight parasites would essentially end her life.  

A few days ago, I told Al that it was time to put her down because she was not looking good at all.  Her condition was poor, her "saddlebags" had dropped even more than before, and she just could not get over the anemia.  

Al found her laying down on her back, bloated more than anything I have ever seen, and I quickly determined she was done for.  I helped load her up into the tractor so he could take her back to euthanize her, but she died on her own right there in the grapple.  

She will be missed. 

Al and I have been discussing some changes around the homestead and I will share them with you all soon.  

In the garden...

Meanwhile, the first planting of potatoes have been harvested.  The star performer being the red potatoes.  So from this year forward, we will plant red potatoes instead of yellow.  

I also harvested the Canada crookneck squash which I found hidden under some of the Tromboncino vines.  

I was able to harvest a single Tromboncino as a summer squash last night when it broke from a vine that was over the potato bed.  It was probably a five pound squash.  I only used the neck of the squash which was approximately 2 feet long.  

I have given up on my grow towers for now, but will work toward amending the soil for fall planting.  

Meanwhile, the tomatoes and pepper plants are loaded and promising a great harvest. 

In our homeschool...

Al and Andrew made the final trip to Dad and Mom's to get the last of the things we took off their hands.  Many of these items were for the purpose of organizing my schoolroom and the library.  

I was finally able to finish the school room and I absolutely love how it turned out, though the kids struggle with the concept of sitting at the table for work.  

A few weeks ago, I was able to lay out the next four years of school subjects for Alexandra, the next six for Abby, and the next year for Caleb.  You can see the new home school schedule in the home school page at the top of the blog. 

With the four bookshelves from my parents, I worked on alphabetizing all the books (except children's books, which are in Caleb's room).  After the books were all sorted, I labeled the edge of the shelf with the letters that begin the authors on that shelf.  Now it is like a little mini-library, complete with a "Dewey alphabet system" (no numbers here). 

And in other news...

I have also been organizing my room, which includes my craft table/shelf.  I am slowly working on getting all the sewing items to two cabinets downstairs.  I don't do enough sewing to warrant having the things in my room.  

Al and I finally got our Wills, Powers of Attorney, and like documents finalized and notorized.  This is also a huge load off of our backs. 

Well, dinner is on the stove simmering and I need to get it finished up...whatever it is.  Hah!