Blog

The month of February was incredibly cold and lots of snow too. Usually by now the Red Winged Blackbirds have returned from down South. Not this year. I told a friend of mine that if they come back now they will need boots and snow shovels! I can not wait to hear their song! Read more →

The temperature was 12 degrees this morning. Plenty cold! A good day to stay close by my stove while I work. Latter this afternoon I will roast a turkey in my kitchen wood stove. Life is good! Read more →

It is the middle of November and I have just harvested my turnips and beets. I scrubbed them with a brush using plenty of cool water.They are being stored in my refrigerator. I boil,roast or use my turnips in stews.The beets will be boiled or roasted. A sweet nutritious treat for Winter! Read more →

Finally all of our canning is done for the year. It was a great year for so many vegetables.Our jars are full!! We still have turnips, beets, spinach, lettuce and dill growing for a nice Fall crop. Read more →

I decided to enter our Beefsteak Tomatoes, California Wonder Peppers, Sugar Pie Pumpkins and Provider Green Beans in the Woodstock Fair. Woodstock CT is a town which borders on our town of Union.This Fair was founded in 1809 in Pomfret CT. It has 50 areas of fair grounds and welcomed 175,000 people this year. It is always held on Labor Day week-end. I was delighted to get three first prize ribbons and one second. My cousin, who also entered, won a first prize for her chestnuts and a second for... Read more →

Summer is such a busy time of the year. I began my canning this year with 25 pints of Bread & Butter Pickles. Two days ago 11 quarts of stewed tomatoes went into the jars. Many more tomatoes are slated to be canned. We like Tomato juice and Salsa as well as stewed tomatoes. They say that tomatoes are very healthy for you I know they taste delicious! Tomorrow I will be harvesting beets to make Pickled Beets. My grandma had a great pickled beet recipe and that is the... Read more →

Our garden has been producing food for quite some time now. We have been enjoying broccoli,cabbage,peppers,lettuce, spinach and beet greens. I froze 5 meals of broccoli so far. The corn and tomatoes are looking wonderful! I had to replant our cucumbers as cut worms cut many of my first plants off. I dug around the cucumbers and found the worms. They are no longer a problem! Read more →

Today, I will set out my Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage plants, they were started inside the end of February. Every day for about a week I have been hardening the plants by putting them outside during the day for increasing amounts of time. That way they will be acclimated to outside weather. Cabbage can take a light frost and here in New England nights can be a bit frosty this time of year. I will also plant lettuce, spinach, beets, dill and peas. These vegetables thrive on cool temperatures. Read more →

According to Suzanne Ashworth, in her book Seed to Seed, Flint corn will retain a high germination rate for up to 10 years and sometimes much longer. This corn, when ground into meal, makes delicious corn bread, pancakes and muffins. Flint corn is not difficult to grow or harvest. No wonder it has been a life sustaining crop for centuries. Read more →

Today, I will be sowing my Beefsteak Tomato seeds.I start my tomato seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost date. Several weeks ago I started Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage, California Wonder Peppers and Parsley seeds. Those plants are now ready to transplant into 3"X3" pots. Pepper and Parsley seeds take longer to germinate than tomatoes or cabbage.Tomatoes and peppers are very frost sensitive but cabbage and parsley can take a light frost. All of these factors must be keep in mind when starting seeds. Read more →