Homestead Happenings

A few updates from our very busy and already very hot summer. We’ve got bad news about the blackberry issue mentioned last month; a brief report on what Handy Hubby has deemed our ‘ Summer Sausage-fest’; some harvest and critter happy snaps; and a really funny question. Ending, like the beginning, with my favorite flower.

Novice seed-saving mistake on my part—don’t plant Kakai pumpkins next to zucchini. Even though one is a winter squash and the other a summer squash, they are both part of the same family: Curcurbita pepo.

According to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange “Curcurbita pepo: Most zucchini and summer squash are of this species. Winter squash varieties do not store well and are best eaten within a few months of harvest, but also need less time curing to sweeten up. Best planted in monthly successions throughout the summer due to vine borer susceptibility. If you have trouble growing these squash, try luffa gourds or Tromboncino summer squash as a substitute for zucchini.”

Squash, Pumpkin, & Zucchini Growing Guide

I planted these pumpkins for the first time because a friend gifted me the seeds. The seeds are so delicious I decided to try them even though I’ve not had success growing pumpkins in years past.

Well, these are a big success! Except, now those seeds have surely been cross-pollinated with the neighboring zucchini, which according to this farmer, means the seeds will no longer be hull-less, defeating the whole purpose of planting this variety of pumpkin.

Don’t I feel dumb!

And dumber still! We are no closer to solving the blackberry issue. Hubby did some scientific-like sleuthing to eliminate potential variables. One commenter on a forum said what we were seeing was totally normal blackberry development and we just had to wait a bit longer for our huge harvest.

So, Hubby took some before and after photos, about two weeks apart. As hopeful as we were that he was right, we were skeptical, and he has now been proven to be wrong. Unfortunately for us, the mystery remains and the blackberry harvest is puny.

But, we have been blessed with a few weeks of prolific chanterelles, which we love, though their tiny size requires some patience while picking. I’ve tried them preserved in oil for the first time and we’ve been enjoying them in crepes, omelettes, soup and sauces.

Chanterelles and while foraging for them we find
Not-Bert ducking and covering! 😆

We’re also getting a bumper crop of tomatoes and peppers, with Hubby continuing to pressure can while I remain fixated on fermenting.

On left Pressure canning carrots, green beans, banana peppers and jalapeños;
fermenting the same on right.

We rarely eat an entirely vegetarian meal, but with so much produce I thought I’d challenge myself to use every vegetable in one meal. As it’s so rare I thought I also better commemorate it with a photo!

More garden happy snaps.

Because obviously we have a lot more seeds than sense or cents, Hubby decided we didn’t have nearly enough to do with a huge garden, an orchard and squash plot, and a menagerie of critters, so he planted a separate melon maze as well! It’s actually pretty impressive and already producing, but we’ll see with this heat and drought how well it does. We were hoping the ‘El Nino’ predictions would be correct and we’d be wetter and cooler this year—so far, not panning out!

Hubby’s ingenious companion planting—esthetically pleasing and practical— sunflowers helping to shade the melon mounds.

And still dumber still!! We’ve been gifted an unwelcome ‘Sausage-fest’ this year as far as livestock goes. A whopping 80% male birth rate among pigs, goats and sheep.

Of course, all the critters are cute little blessings, but no one really wants a Sausagefest.

However, Hubby did take the next big leap in livestock rearing and learned to castrate the piglets. He’s been avoiding that like the plague for YEARS! The lambs and kids are pretty easy and he’s been doing that since the beginning. But piglets are a different story.

I’m too squimish for all of it, so he never got any pressure from me to buck up, I’m not that big of a hypocrite. The nudge actually came inadvertently from a timely email from a friend who didn’t even realize at the time our current Sausagefest challenge.

I think it was seeing a girl do it, alone, that put the final bee in his bonnet! Or, is that spur in his boot, since this gal was demonstrating the ‘Boot method’.(We’re not on FB, so couldn’t see the entire post, but here’s the link, if you dare.) https://www.facebook.com/100064629581910/posts/in-the-past-ive-struggled-to-castrate-piglets-for-a-few-factors-i-took-an-old-ti/632005412297106/

He did the deed and it was a full success, bravo brave man! A real homesteading hero! 🤗

Now for the funny question, which sprouted from a favorite blogger’s recent post.

Plans for the Weekend? – Dispatches from the Asylum

In it we are presented with the ‘13 Do’s and Don’ts’ from the CDC about survival after a nuclear attack. It’s even funnier than the original!

From the life-saving list:
Do take a shower, but don’t use conditioner on your hair.
That’s even better than Duck & Cover!
Yes, you read that right! There’s our tax dollars hard at work to keep us safe.

I laughed so hard I wanted to include it somehow in our ‘Funny Friday’ post, but decided it really needed a whole section devoted to it.

So, before you click the link to look it up in order to verify (or afterward, if you promise to come back and reply!) here’s my question.

Can you guess why hair conditioner should not be used in the aftermath of a nuclear attack according to the experts?

Finally, the gorgeous, sublimely-scented Datura to leave us with some beauty and grace to cleanse the palette from the bad hair days certain to haunt us for decades after nuclear destruction. 😂

Thanks for stopping by!