Potato Party

Well this post is a little late, but I figured better late than never. Back in September we were blessed to have the help of friends, family and neighbors to get our potato crop out of the ground. We made it into quite a party. In the evening we all had a harvest dinner of potato soup and Asian cabbage salad. We also celebrated David's 4th birthday with a some cupcakes, balloons, and gifts.

The Potato Harvest Crew

Matthew Helping Sort Potatoes

Picking up Potatoes

Potatoes

Happy Birthday

David Turns Four

Honey Cough Syrup

Cold and cough season is fully upon us now, the days have become chillier and everyone at our house has caught a bit of a cold. Time to make some healthy, natural cough syrup. It is so easy to make, too! I made two different kinds; one is elderberry and the other is lemon ginger. I use honey as the base for both, it is naturally antibacterial and also feels soothing on the throat. Elderberries are great for your immune system and are excellent for coughs and colds. Ginger is also good for your throat and lemon has antibacterial properties as well. I also added a dash of cayenne to the lemon ginger syrup. Cayenne is good for your immune system and improves circulation. So here are the simple recipes.


Lemon-Ginger Cough Syrup

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup water
juice and zest of one lemon
1 inch piece of fresh ginger grated
dash or two of cayenne

Elderberry Cough Syrup

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup elderberries(mine were frozen, we have elderberries growing wild abundantly around here, so I harvested some this past summer and froze them)


To make your syrup combine all ingredients from your chosen recipe in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Strain through a wire strainer into jars. Store in the refrigerator for several weeks, it should last for quite a long time. To use simply take a teaspoon at a time. Your kids will love it! Warning: do not give this to babies under 1 year old, the honey can contain botulism spores.

Simmer gently for about five minutes

Strain into a small jar

Harvest Season

It's that time of year again. That time when the evenings get dark earlier and the mornings have a chill in the air, while the days are still warm and sunny. The leaves are beginning to turn a golden shade. And the garden is winding down. It is the time of the harvest. I love this time of year. We are gathering the potatoes, onions, and squash in from the field. The dehydrator is running most of the time filled with tomatoes, pears, or onions. I canned 21 pints of salsa verde and the apple butter is cooked down and ready to can also. The pantry is filling up, all stocked for winter. Soon it will be time to get our firewood in. This time of year is busy and yet there of something slower about it,  something cozy, a hint of winter rest.

Snowmen

Finally the snow was just right. David had been wanting to build a snowman for so long and we either didn't have any snow or it was too soft and powdery. So when it was finally perfect we all bundled up and headed outside to have fun. We started by building one snowman. Then David told me that the big snowman was Mommy and Daddy's snowman and that he needed a little snowman. So I helped him build a baby snowman too. It was such fun and he was very pleased. Everyday he looked out the window and said "I see big snowman, I see baby snowman."

Planting Garlic

This fall we planted a large area of the garden to garlic. We have ten beds, one hundred feet long with four rows in each. It was quite a bit of work to get it all planted but we did it. It was just in time too, before the ground began to freeze and snow stared to fall. It looks so nice all planted and mulched.

Harvest

Harvest was bountiful this year. Summer was busy, sometimes even crazy. We had a great season at the farmer's market. We always had a full table. I had an abundance of produce to can and freeze as well. We have been so blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

Pumpkins and garlic in the living room. We don't have a proper storage area yet so when it started getting too cold outside our abundant harvest filled the living room until we sold some of it, used some of it and organized the rest in the other room.

I did so much canning this year; pickles, jams, chutney, salsas, beans, tomato sauce and more. It is so satisfying to have it all on the pantry shelves. I also froze and dried quite a bit of fruit.

Picking Sunflowers

Redfield Apple

I love the unique, the colorful. I love striped tomatoes, purple cauliflower, speckled lettuce and ... red fleshed apples. We got these gorgeous apples from someone at the farmer's market. They make a very pretty pie.

Autumn at the Market

Autumn is a lovely and abundant season at the market. There are lots of pumpkins, potatoes and autumn fruits. There are still some greens and also the last of the tomatoes. The colors are so beautiful in the sunshine.

Pumpkins and Squash

Blooming

Daffodil

Puddle Ducks

With spring coming and snow melting comes mud and mud puddles. Our ducks have been loving the puddles. They are quite cute as they run around to all the puddles!

Our Hoophouse

We are so excited to have a hoophouse this year for growing vegetables in! We put it up about ten days ago. As you can see from the pictures there was still quite a bit of snow left then, now it is mostly gone. We have some lettuce plants and Chinese cabbage plants growing in there now. Later in the spring we will be putting in tomatoes and cucumbers. We think having the hoophouse will be a big advantage to us this year.

Putting up the hoops

All up and ready to go

Preparing the ground

About a week later, most of the snow is gone now

Lettuce

Chinese cabbage