Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Winding Down--A Trailer Park Homestead update

Things are definitely winding down for the year at the Trailer Park Homestead.  I processed the last of the free pears from the house up the street the other day, my cucumbers are almost all done, and I'm probably going to lose the area that used to be the cornfield in the next few days as the contractors step up work on the garages.  Not to mention that many of the other plants keep looking sadder and sadder and the forecast for the next few days shows a couple more nights dipping into the 30s, so the chance of losing even more plants goes up even more.  Here's what's going on at the Trailer Park Homestead in pictures:
Looks like I might end up having a homegrown jack-o-lantern after all!  I never got around to trying a green pumpkin pie as someone suggested for my unripe pumpkin de-vined by the evil squash vine borers, but it is ripening sans vine, so it's all good I guess.  Too bad that's my only pumpkin and there are 3 littles (plus a hubby) that are going to want to carve pumpkins!
Using sunflower stalks to hold up the peas really didn't work well at all.  The fall winds and rains kept knocking it over so I finally gave up.  It probably would work if I buried the bottoms, but that would be something to try next year.
I was very glad to see that some of the bean pods are starting to look leathery, so my chances of getting some seed in before the contractors come rolling in is pretty good.

On the other hand, I don't think these little watermelon just outside the garage have much of a chance to make it to maturity.  I'm not going to give up on it until I know for sure though.
The canning continues as I find more things I can can!
I forgot to include my canning totals for last week in my last Trailer Park Homestead update, so my two week canning total was: 2 quarts of dill pickles, 7 1/2 quarts of salsa, 13 quarts of pears (some actually in pints, as seen above, but that was the total amount), 7 quarts of tomatoes, and 4 jars of ground cherry jam.  Yum!  In addition, my husband got a doe during Michigan's early doe season, so we have a substantial quantity of meat now.  I'm definitely not feeling so much like a grasshopper anymore!  I don't know what I'll be able to find at the farmers market this week (apples were more than I wanted to pay last week, or I'd probably be saucing up a storm by now), but I definitely will be taking what I can put up into consideration with my purchasing, even as my stuff to put up from my own garden dries up.

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