Clearing the gardens... thoughts on meds

I cleared  18 (half of the 36) garden beds, Hubby prepped 5 of them that I marked for the garlic coming in to plant next week. Then cleared out the old potato beds since he was going to have a fire of scraps of tree limbs etc burning in the hole he dug to keep the fire contained. UNLIKE E's fire that came across and started to come in our yard. We caught it happening, Hubby dealt with it while I got E to come help. Two of his fence posts got burnt a little. I told him next time to say something to us so we could help keep an eye on it. He had to go up to his house as one of the kids had problems with calves. We had NO wind when he started it, 15 minutes later wind was close to 10 mph. We have fire extinguishers and water hose so we had it back under control instead of calling fire dept. He said he might have Hubby dig him a trash burn hole like Hubby did for us.

Winter squash and last of watermelon harvested.

Cabbages harvested before the bugs eat them.

Probably lost all of the brussels sprouts as the bugs went nuts over them even after we repeatedly treated them.

There's a little bit of broccoli ready and more bell peppers turning (I can't eat green which is unripe anyways (I did not know that). 

Pumpkins are still growing and slowly turning. Last count was 7 and they are huge. Won't need to grow them next year.

Tomatoes are starting to dry up and bugs are starting to eat the skin of them due to no rain and since I KNOW the deep well is getting low (we get an odor when it does and E told us 2 weeks ago he picked up the odor when filling his 1000 gallon tank for his horses and cattle (same underground spring).  I won't be watering gardens. I am watering the mums I have along with heart flower garden and the vegapod. Dog water is going on flowers pots that the hummingbirds are still eating from. 

I harvested tomato seeds for next year. 

I was making apple cider molasses when it blew up all over the stove. Glad it was off and had been for awhile but an air pocket must have developed and when I stirred it to help it cool down , it "exploded",it was nasty. Thankful I was not taking supper out of the oven when it happened. I had a deep fryer blow up on me when I was 18. Do NOT want to go through it again. I have one more burner to finish cleaning. I can say, I would rather scrub at grease than syrup.

I still need 5 pints of tomato sauce and instead of 8 qrts of pasta sauce I am going to do 16 pints instead for when we are having ravioli when I would not need as much sauce.

I bought potatoes from an Amish lady, they are small so I will still need to buy baking potatoes. Hubby mentioned wanting to try Hasselback potatoes and English Jacket potatoes.

I still want 2 acorn squashes, 1 large butternut for autumn stew *I grew baby butternut* and 2 spaghetti squash. That will give me 1 winter squash per week until March.

Son2 brought up a way to use extra buns. Hotdog buns can become garlic bread, hamburger buns and sub buns can become mini pizzas.  Last night we used the leftover sub buns for pizza using my pizza sauce (had 1 didn't seal). I need to focus on what I can use in another meal in a different way to lower waste or what gets shoved in freezer and forgotten.

I talked to my pharmacist about my meds when I got a warning of side effects from a med I have been taking for 25 yrs. It's suppose to help prevent bone breaks... it can cause thigh bone breaks along with bone along with jaw bone problems so I couldn't get a dental implant for the tooth I broke, joint and muscle pain and low calcium (which you need for strong bones). They looked up my other 2 meds , both cause bone, joint and muscle pain along with stomach/lower back pain. That pain triggers my Crohn's. 

Talked to my doctor, I understand he looks at what the meds does help but for now on I have to also ask what is the side effects. Meds that cause bone fractures and any kind of pain is not something I want to take. I am off those meds until I see him in 3 months. I have to now take my BP 3 times a day as he is wondering if the bouncing of my BP is coming from the side effects.

Need to go finish scrubbing the stove so I can get back to canning. 

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace and truths.  

UPDATE

 49 days to election !!!!!

I am going back to gardens to finish taking them down and get the last of it processed.

Neither of us is watching more than the weather. 

I have turned off my latest updates for my local news due to Lies from JD Vance and Trump... I am more upset with JD. 

SICK AND TIRED

 

I have been independant, Republican and Democratic...

I will NOT put a felon who thinks it's fine to grab women privates even when they don't want that touch. I will not put a felon that thinks it's okay to not pay his fair share of taxes or hides how he pays off his affair with a porn star. I feel for his wife and young son.

I will NOT vote for JD Vance that is our state senator that is supposed to be HELPING our state NOT LYING .. THEY ARE HERE LEGALLY JD . My grandson couldn't go to school due to bomb threats while you brag about not verifying your facts and willing to lie to get attention.

Like Jim Jordan who has never passes a single law he did on his own though he as cosponsored some that did  pass. He has repeatedly voted against the farming bill that would help OHIO farmers. 

I will add that they should have been required to take drivers training before getting behind a wheel on their own, but really..we have  folk doing drag racing through Columbus and the cops are trying to deal with that.

The Election wasn't stolen but Trump and his GANG are trying to steal it with lying NOW.

From NBC https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/baseless-rumors-haitian-immigrants-threaten-unravel-springfield-ohio-rcna170513

 From 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians who fled political turmoil and violence in their home country have landed in Springfield over the past five years, arriving in the U.S. under a federal humanitarian program for migrants, according to the city. Others are in the U.S. on tourist visas and green cards.

“Many of them were professionals, ​​medical doctors, attorneys, teachers, engineers, you name it,” said Sophia Pierrelus, an immigration advocate who left the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince nearly two decades ago. “Culture shock happens for both Americans and Haitians.”

In the gardens for storage

 We have 9 red kuri squash, 3 possibly 4 dickinson pumpkins, and 6 baby butternut. 

I want to pick up 2 spaghetti squashs and 2 acorn squashs.  That should cover us of 1 squash each week from October to March.

My onions are the size of golf balls. I said something to M and she asked if I really needed a big onion... I got to thinking about that. Not really unless I am using it in something that I am canning. I usually cut a big onion in a thick slice for my casseroles etc. SO a golf ball size one or a couple of them would work just fine. I need to check which ones are cured and deal with putting them in storage.

Hubby checked garlic that has been curing. It's ready for storage also.

I have room for 8 qrts of pasta sauce, 10 pints of tomato sauce, 16 pints of ketchup/catsup and 16 half pints of pizza sauce.Then all the shelves are full.I need to organize the herbs and spices but that can wait until winter.

I am dehydrating the cherry tomatoes that are coming in.

I have room for 7 more meals of half bell peppers for stuffing and 1 gallon on diced bell peppers and 6 more meals of eggplant in the freezers. Then the freezers are full until we quit making ice for M to make ice cream. In the past week we have received chocolate and strawberry ice cream... she used the flavoring for kids' milk to make the ice cream. Was good. I added small frozen strawberries in ours.

Seeds I planted for fall garden in the garden beds did not sprout. I think the birds got them as we have noticed a lot more birds on the electric wire at the road. The ones I planted in the vegopod are doing well. I also have 3 cabbage plants started that I hope will grow for this winter. They are 90 to 120 days from seed.

I've already bought my seeds for next year except for flowers. I am still debating on growing my own or buying from Amish. The one that died I used to buy from, the young lady she trained is going to run the greenhouse with her sister for the widower. The other Amish I bought from told Hubby that she was going to 3 days a week as she has no one to help her since school started and the oldest girl got married and moved away.

Be safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed be 

current home pics

 

We are going to redo the gardens(berries are on other side of driveway with asparagus) and thinking of adding a green house. The one Amish family built one and the wife told Hubby that the vents work nice that it didn't get over heated during the 100 heat index days but it would need heat if trying to grow through the winter if we get a cold winter.

From a distance you can't tell we have a ramp on the front porch.

We have the roofing supplies for the wood shed (small red building to right of house) E is going to put it on. It doesn't leak so if he don't get to it this fall, it's okay. He is finishing up his wife's wash house, his mother's wash house and his sawmill building while harvesting hay, planting cover crop and waiting for the feed corn to finish ripening. LOL

Aug 31st

 6 years ago we looked at this house. A lot has changed and I should update this photo. 

We bought it March of 2018, 3 years later I had paid off 20% so we refinianced to get rid of PMI and get a rate half of what we had.

Sept of 2021 was the start date for the new mortgage. We took 30 yr. loan as it had the best rate and payment. We have paid off 9 years in the 3 yrs we have had the loan. 

Hubby is okay with that rate, figuring we will have it paid off in 7 years.

I want to get it paid off in 5 yrs. I wrote out how to do it, what the budget would be and still cover repairs and a down payment for a new to us truck or SUV (I struggle to get out of a car).

I compared it to a slow pay bankruptcy, A chapter 13... but reality is we have no other loans BUT the mortgage. We have some odds and ends needing done for maintenance on the homestead. BUT they are things we can save up for.

I know the electric bill is going to be higher than normal for Aug due to AC running for a solid week (heat index over 100). Finally broke that heat wave, still NO RAIN . I already started pulling plants from the gardens. 

I would like to have 12 more pints of plain tomato sauce, 12 more quarts of pasta sauce and 16 pints of catsup. I would like to vacuum bag 7 more halves of bell peppers so I can have stuffed bell pepper once a month. I would like 6 more meals of eggplant in freezer to have it twice a month. Except for winter squash ( I have red kuri and small butternut, want to add acorn and spaghetti squash) those would cover main groceries for the year until next year's gardens. We need to buy apples also. 

I have Jan. king cabbages and Brussel sprouts in the gardens that will be ready after the first frost. The cabbages will hold until Jan/Feb with a row cover. The winter squash will be ready then also along with the Dickinson pumpkins.

We have the new garden beds to put together and the dirt needed to fill them. I have drip line to install... might need to add to it but we can work with that by saving for what we are short. I have seeds and seed starting soil already. I will need to pick up some flower seeds to grow for my hanging baskets since the Amish grower died I haven't found anyone that is as good as she was with baskets. 

I will have to get sweet potato starters, seed potatoes and onion sets. I have that in the budget.

I wrote it out for Hubby as he does better seeing it and it will help me track what we are spending. We have maintenance on the tractor and both lawnmowers and his truck this fall.

I just need to update the finance spread sheet.  Between canning and harvesting LOL.

Stay safe

Prayers for peace (counting down days until election and all that is over)

Blessed Be