The tribe canned peaches all day (photo essay by fellow blogger and member of the tribe here). From 10 am to 6 pm, we packed peach quarters in light syrup. I believe the last count was 50 pints. About 90 lbs of peaches. We had two canners going. One person dunked the peaches in hot …
Monthly Archives: August 2013
A Day of Food
In the afternoon I felt better. A friend came over – with three carrots from her garden, instantly eaten – to sort through what turns out to be 160 lbs of peaches. We put aside the ripest ones for canning tomorrow, but the rest will be ready on Friday. We’re going to put up peaches …
Crafty Debranding
Today Amie and I had planned to go on the first leg of the Energy Exodus march, but a nasty and (f0r me) unusual allergy attack had me up till 4 am, when I caved and finally took that Benadryl. I never take those because they knock me out completely. I woke up late, still …
Yes Peaches
A canning buddy picked these up at a local IPM Â farm today. I had pursued the farmer for over a week, asking for his seconds. I called him almost every day and each time he reported he didn’t have ’em. Then he took pity on me and gave us these firsts for just a fraction …
What’s Been Happening
I laid down the first three rows of the brick wall for the earth oven (more on that soon). It didn’t have to be pretty (we’ll cover this with mud in the end), just strong. Though I got in a groove, I decided to wait to open another bag of cement and put down another …
Berries
A ten-minute visit to “the pit” – the bramble-infested front of our property, at the bottom of the slope – yielded a handful of raspberries and a handful of elderberries. Amie loves the former and even the latter, raw, if very ripe and black. Don’t worry, we did NOT consume the other berries in the …
Galimoto Birthday Party
DH, SIL and I worked till midnight getting the galimoto’s framework ready for the birthday party. It was fun, chatting, listening to music on the porch while bending and wrapping wires. Â And the kids, mostly aged eight, really got into it, though some parts were pretty challenging. With some help they stuck with it. In …
Homemade Goody Bag: Galimoto
Amie’s birthday is coming up and so is her party. We always do small parties at home with homemade cake and games. For many years we’ve asked the guests not to bring presents, but then I noticed how proud and happy Amie always is to give her present to her friends when it’s their party. …
A Study in Contrasts with Kombucha
On this rainy day, reading Thompson’s Growth and Form (“Nature works true to scale, and everything has its proper size accordingly”) while  listening to Beethoven’s Seventh, second movement (Allegretto) over and over again and sipping sumptuous kombucha tea (I’m getting the hang of it). All three are sumptuous, of course, but one is cerebral, the other mournful, …
An Afternoon with the Chickens
I am so glad we started the free range experiment, because I have learned that being with all those animals, doing what they do, is very relaxing and amusing and just plain good for the soul. I used to indulge in “chicken tv” through their fence, but it’s so much nicer when the characters come …