The Harvest is a coming in! (I'm tired) By JR (Read 4,884 times)

[mauiboy]

Oh and check out the local environment for free food I just scored a huge bag of free limes. with a few pounds of sugar it is lime marmalade which I love. Papaya and mango = jelly/ jam or pie filling or just preserved in syrup for pies. Exactly what you grow or scavenge depends on the climate \ location but theres plenty to be had out there. Mountain apples are a great example here. awesome taste but people are scared of them? At least they don't take them. Back home it was brambles, bill berries \ blueberries \ tay berries, mountain strawberries etc. Loads of free fruit going to waste!

[JR]

No doubt, here in Arkieland one can gather wild blackberries, muscadines, strawberries, mulberries, black cherries, paw paws, huckleberries, and in the fall persimmons, black walnuts, hickory nuts, and pecans. Last year pecans and black walnuts were $9 a lb in the store. My family gathered so many pecans from the cattle ranch next to us that we put over 20 lbs. in the freezer for next year, we picked them all up in one afternoon. They were good medium size pecans with a rich oily flavor awesome for a pecan pie! Black walnuts are savored for cakes and companies actually set up shop at the local co-ops and buy them to put in ice cream. Last fall the neighbors down the road have about 30 huge black walnut trees on their property. I was visiting with them one morning when they brought in a load of walnuts. They were picking them up each day as they fell untill they got them all up. They can be a nuisance to walk on because they get so thick you'll trip trying to walk. Plus they sure will mess up a lawn mower blade.

At that point they had already piked up and sold $600 worth. The trees came up naturally over the years, they planted none of them yet for just taking the time to pick them up they were making a good amount of money. Also don't ever cut one down and just burn it, the wood is very valuable and highly prized for gun stocks even the stump. I helped a fellow a few years ago cut one up and load on a trailor and then he dug up the stump with a backhoe and there is a place on the Arkansas/Missouri border that will buy them. He got over $1500 for that one tree!


When I purchased this property two years ago it already had lots of fruit trees and also native pecan, black cherry, persimmon and hickory nuts trees along with muscadine vines. I have added lots of other fruit producing trees and vines and some will take some time to produce but they add beauty and shade to the place along with value. Even when I trim limbs on certain trees I save the wood for smoking meats, cherry, peach, apple and pecan and hickory. This year some of my young apple trees are loaded and homemade apple butter is on the agenda.

I am also very selective on buying seeds and trees, I buy only from compaines that guarentee their products and if they don't grow I get replacements plus I like shopping on the computer and letting the US mail and UPS wear out their vehicles and spend their money on gas to bring it to my front door. The rural mail carrier here even knows where to put items for me that won't fit into my mailbox if I'm not home, she always put them on my back porch out of the rain or weather and she comes a lot.

Plus I grow lots of flowers and here's one of my favorites;





Knock out roses are what these are called, I bought 25 of these last year and put them around about 3/4 of the house. Got them delivered to my house from a company in Missouri for $8 a piece. they were one foot tall when I planted them. Unlike other roses knock out roses bloom all year from early sping to it frosts. Only work their is to do is cut the old blooms off, that makes them bloom even more! They will eventually grow together and I'll trim them to look like a perfect hedge row and it'll be a solid red row around the house, no bug enemies and fertilize in the spring and they handle heat and dryness very well. In the dryest weather I only have to water them bi-weekly.

I just planted a fence row on the north part of my property with sunflowers, over 25 varities and they will bloom seed out and feed birds plus the seeds will fall and they will come up by themselves year after year from now on.

Love to grow things.

JR

[mauiboy]

JR speaks sense! Food is only going to get more expensive, especially since we insist on wasting so much food pointlessly making ethanol.

[JR]

Well about time for an update, been picking a lot of stuff and doing a lot of canning. Zack and I pulled down several boxes of pint and quart canning jars from the attic yesterday. I'm cramming them into the dishwasher to clean them and then fill them up!

Canned 12 quarts of home made soup last night filled with nothing but stuff I raised and picked in the last few days plus one item that I freeze from the garden too, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions, green beans, and corn. Sure comes in nice on those old cold winter days, just open the jar and add any favorite meat, and seasonings and enjoy.

In the morning I've got green beans to can that was picked today plus tomatoes, estimate at least 8 quarts of each or I may do a few pints also.

In the next few days I'll be pulling beets and making one of my favorite treats canned cinnamon beets. I estimate my corn will be coming off in about 2 weeks and going to freeze a lot of it whole on the cob. I use a vacuum sealer to keep it fresh and from freezer burning. Just about out of it and I'm still eating frozen corn from 3 years ago that still is great. I also can cream corn in the jars.

The green beans will be producing until it starts to burn them down from the heat and I should get enough to keep from having to can any for about 2 years. I'm going to re-plant them in places that they die out and should get some late fall beans. The way I do green beans is plant them very heavy and can lots of jars and then skip planting them until I run low and have to replinish, same with corn, if I have a bumper crop I can generally skip a year if I need to or just raise a small amount for a little fresh corn.

I'm buried in yellow squash and I plan on freezing some and also making one of my favorite pie fillings with them;

southernfood.about.com/od/summersquash/r/bl30214i.htm

I actually make up this filling and can it in a quart jar and again when it's cold just put it in a pie crust and bake.

Also my zucchini squash is going to be loaded and I also can this recipe plus make cookies and bread with them;

allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Pie-II/

I got to send some of this to a certain Yankee I know!

Plus I'll have peaches coming off again in about 2 weeks, more in the freezer and more jam! Apples are going to be a spell but got plans on apple butter with them plus pear butter with the pears.

My purple and white grapes are starting to ripen so jelly coming with some of them soon plus we freeze any extra juice we squeeze out of them for things later, may even try some wine this year? These grapes are very sweet but have seeds but I planted 8 seedless ones this spring and should get grapes from them next year.

Blackberries are coming off and will make some jam by this weekend with them. I may get enough rasberries for one batch of jelly they are young and will do better next year.

My blueberries are a disappointment this year and this fall I'm going to relocate them to a better more fertile area so they will produce like the should.

I expect cucumbers to start coming off next week and have sweet and dill pickles planned for some of them. Watermelons, canteloupe and pumpkins all later, thank goodness!

Bell, sweet banana, cayenne, jalepeno and pimento peppers all looking good actually picked some banana peppers today. Eggplant is in full bloom and will have some along with okra in a few weeks. Sweet potatoes are looking good and should have a bumper crop this fall and my peanuts and popcorn are beautiful.

Birdhouse gourds along with other gourds looking great. I actually make bird houses with the large gourds and birds love them.

But here's a good one for you, I naturally have to water my strawberries even though the picking season is over.........at least that's what I thought! Since I've been watering them they are blooming again! Damn things got green and ripe strawberries on them. My grandkids picked 2 gallons of them today! My youngest one even said "papa when are these things going to quit?" But man they are good.

Lots of work but worth ever bit of it to me!

JR

[madcollie]

Ok, you ole rebel.

Because I had no power at home and my phone was dead today, I'll answer your last message here.

I get to work early and go about opening shop as usual. You know, fire up the PC, unlock doors, coffee, something to eat.

Well I got a text this morning asking about "strawberry jam" and I couldn't believing my eyes. I was eating it at the time. This rebel had interrupted my 1 peaceful moment of the day to ask such a question!!! HOW DARE HE!!!

Well let me tell you all the truth here and now. The jam is GREAT! ;D Every Wednesday at work they have what they call "Recharge Wednesday" where the cafeteria re-opens @ 2:30 and serves things like sundaes & hot pretzels & hot baked cookies. Just to get another opinion I was nice enough to go to the recharge and buy 2 extra dishes of vanilla ice cream and add 2 table spoons of the strawberry jam.

Comments from friends: "That was the BEST ever" "Never would have thought of jam+ice cream would be SOOOOOO good!" and "That was probably the nicest thing you've ever done for me, Delicious!" (that one was BS, BIG TIME. I do nice things for that b!t@h all the time!) anyways...

To put it in a short version, Damn if that OLE REBEL ain't got some skills in the garden AND the kitchen!

So here is my question to our favorite gardening GURU.
JR, WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU MAKING YOUR OWN PEANUT BUTTER TO GO WITH ALL THESE GREAT PRESERVES?!?!?!?

Damn JR, it's easier than anything, you already grow the peanuts and there is nothing better???

M/C

It always takes a Yankee to show a rebel the obvious.

M/C

Read more: thescooterprofessor.proboards.com/index.cgi#ixzz1yNodyn3t

[JR]

Well that's an easy one MC. First of all it takes a lot of peanuts to make one dang jar of peanut butter. Now I do raise quite a few and they are harvested in the late fall just before frost.

So picture this moment MC, big and I mean big peanuts salted and roasted to a pefect texture and sittting at the computer or watching TV and it's cold as hell outside and munching on these perfect peanuts under a warm blanket with a big cup of hot home made apple cider!

Then it's that time of the year when mama is getting ready to make all her homemade Christmas candy and she puts these delicious peanuts in the best peanut brittle known to man (my wife can make candy)

So if you think about this then you realize you'll leave the peanut butter to Peter Pan! Plus think of the sweet popcorn balls made with my own popcorn!

Ready for summer to be over and the harvest in the cubboard!

JR

[madcollie]

Oh come on JR, really? Peter Pan? Seems like another fairy tale to me for sure.

You were saying not long ago that the new place had soil that wasn't worth dirt and peanuts like crappy soil so I say it's just a case of you sitting down on the job.

Come on for Pete's sake! What do you have to spend your retirement time on? You wake up and spend all day watching soap operas! OK, once in a while you crack the whip and use your child labor to reap your rewards from the garden (I know I'm gonna pay for that). Then you go and enjoy yourself at a ballgame while you make the kids do all the running and swinging and you sit and have a cold drink.

When your not troubling your self with that, you sit in the air conditioning and play on the Internet while those same poor children bust butt polishing your truck. SHAME SHAME!

When was the last time you entered your goods in a fair without someone having to come to your house and twist your arm?

Stop slacking and get to making. I want some Arkieland peanut butter! ;D

I don't know how Mrs. Ryan RN (boy, that's looks good in print) puts up with you. I bet the animals around there do more than you, all 200 of them! ;D

M/C

Who luv's ya Jack?

[scooterran]

Hey M/C, I think you've got it ! When I caLL JR , he says that he's watering the garden but all he does is turn on the the water to the soaker hoses. I trhink it might be time to visit Arkie land to reap some of those veggies before they get canned. ( Pick me up on the way through )

[madcollie]

Randy,

I was think the same thing and planning a surprise attack, I mean visit, to the "garden" myself!

Now about picking you.. might have trouble with that. I don't know if i can swing 4 weeks off to do that kind of travel. That sly ole rebel will probably have picked all the good stuff by then and only have that evil squash crap (he calls it crop) left in the ground.

Meet me half way and we synchronize your watches, OK?

M/C

Hey, it's a bit out of your way but I hear that CCPROFESSOR has a garden too! What the heck, why not raid 2! ;D

[scooterran]

I think the rocksalt might be waiting but if you pick up near the house , I'll watch your back from the other end of the garden. The rocksalt will only sting for a few minutes while the Miss-RN digs it out.

[JR]

Yea yea both of you are full of you know what. So you think all I do is run the water huh? Well feast your eyes on this and weep!



Brand new batch of strawberry jam........... and drum roll.........BLACKBERRY!..Made by yours truly just last night in fact when I took this picture the jars were still too hot to handle. This morning at 5:00 a.m. yes A.M. while all of you were in bed I was running that water hose again. Dang strawberries are going top kill me this year! More I water the more they bloom.

Just got done canning five more quarts of green beans and ten jars of cabbage.

Green beans are slowing way down, official first 100F day yesterday and they hate the heat, blooms won't set but if I can keep enough water on them they'll start making beans again this fall.

Canning tomatoes tomorrow plus zucchini pie recipe and will have purple grapes and peaches by next Friday at the latest.

In about two weeks I'll start replanting some things again for the fall stuff and keep it watered good until it cools off and rains.

Now I'm going to my shop and get out a cold one, turn on a room full of fans and work on Zack's Bali a liittle, he just landed his first job and needs the scooter to go to work on and doing all of this by my lonesome, they are all at the state park swimming pool!

I tell ya I'm just a slave! .



JR

[alleyoop]

Very Nice JR, I like the walk around you put up looks Fantastic and those roses man YOU DO HAVE A GREEN THUMB
Looking Good my man.
Alleyoopl

[larrball]

That does look good, and whats even icing on the cake is that the food you harvest doesn't have all the inset-asides and what not.
So it's much better tasting just to say the least.
Looks to me like your a one family farmers market.

This is by far one of the best threads I've seen to date.

[scooterran]

Ok , OOk ! I'm weeeeping . Got any Sugar Free Jam ? Lol"s

[madcollie]

Well ScooterRaN THANKS FOR MAKING THE YANKEE THE TARGET! I'll be sure to ware a few red rings on my arse for these raids!

There ain't no safety limit to these "CROPS" now. I'm gonna ware a bunny outfit and take all I can. Better add pepper to that rock salt rebel so you can add a little flavor.

M/C

Going to eat some peaches and ice-cream now and plot!