Trees

Another load of triple-ground hardwood mulch arrives.  We had many areas to cover and recycled several trees.









The tree workers edged the planting line and carried the mulch by wheelbarrow to each planting.  They had to work on hand and knee to spread the product under the low-hanging branches.







Staking the road-side planting and doing some raking where  needed completed this section in a professional and expert installation.

The west side of the house is refurbished with a wonderful selection of trees.  A scalloped edge to soften straight lines was created along with new grass seed on the bare spots.  The north side of the studio is featured at the left.

New Trees

We needed replacement trees for the west side of the house along the pasture line and part of our road frontage north of the fenced riding ring.





Planting holes are dug, and the trees begin to find their new homes.  We had beautiful weather to tackle this important task.
















We purchased nine-foot norway spruce trees.  They are very heavy, and it took some strong young men to "wrestle them into place.

The west side of the planting area is cleaned.  The rockhound on the bobcat tractor does a great job of gathering, and the human element rakes and smoothes the ground prior to finishing with mulch.

Peppers and beans

Despite a bad growing season, our peppers thrived again this year.  We end up with trays of winter meals that we freeze now for use later.  This was our third production of the year.

Our bean crop also made a late season recovery.  Three varieties of beans are cooked with onions, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and sugar to start the production of canned bean salad.

The usual 30-minute bath in boiling water seals the tops on the jars.

The end result is the base for a wonderful bean salad.  We add 4 or 5 varieties of canned beans and marinate the mixture overnight in the refrigerator.  This is one of our favorites!

Pears

We have two long-standing pear trees on our property.  They produce on a bi-annual basis, and this was the "on" year.







The pears were cleaned, pared, and trimmed to produce usable fruit.  Raisins and lemons were added to the pears before chopping everything in the food processor.

Sugar and spices were added to the fruit, and the mixture was cooked down to make a thick sauce.









The end result, after a hot-water canning bath, is several quarts of pear mincemeat for the cupboard.


We add sliced apples to the mincement to produce some wonderful pies... Yum, Yum!

Reunion

A tasty reunion cake:

All alums who have celebrated their 50th year since graduating from our local high school are invited to an annual reunion luncheon.

This year's event was held at the Carey Lake Party House, and there were more than 200 in attendance.




At my table were Janet, who was a classmate from kindergarten through senior year, and Joan, who we met in 7th grade.

Studio visitors

Nancy and Linda were here for a sewing day.

Linda was visiting in the area for the week and made time to get a sewing project started.

Nancy added hand and machine stitching to her piece below.

Thanks, Shawn!

Our friend, Shawn, works as a baker.  On one of his days off, he experimented with making a very fancy and delicious jelly-rolled chocolate cake.

Thanks so much for sharing, Shawn!!

Peeps Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Peeps (Art Quilt People) gathered for their first regular meeting after a break this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat has been busy making samples for the classes she'll be teaching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She also showed us some of the fabrics she worked on over the summer.  This large piece was overdyed and then discharged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanne was finishing up this lovely quilt that she is gifting to her daughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the meeting, we adjourned to the raspberry patch.  The raspberries are still producing lots of berries -- plenty for everyone to take some home.



Tomatoes

Some years are painful for the home "farmer."  We planted our usual 4 dozen tomato plants and almost none of them produced.  We found a supplier near Irondequoit and were able to purchase 3 bushels of roma and canning varieties of excellent quality.












We have been making our own tomato sauce for 40 years.  We use a "squeezo" to strain the cooked tomatoes and vegetables.  All the skins and seeds are separated from the sauce.



















Further cooking on the stove reduces the final treasure to the desired thickness.












From starting with 2 bushels of roma tomatoes, we ended up with 28 quarts of sauce, which will add flavor and color to many winter recipes.

The canning tomatoes were peeled, quartered, and packed into jars, and then boiled in a hot water bath to seal the lids.  We canned 18 quarts to add to our inventory. 

We have found such a good replacement source for the future which relieves the insecurity of any future plantings we make here on the farm.  Happy days!