Autumn has again rolled around here on the farm. We are again sticking pretty close to the place as it seems so many in the community are sick with Covid right now. Just a little caution goes a long way and may be prudent right now it seems. The temperatures have dipped again and we even lit our first small fire in the fireplace last week. The leaves are slowly falling and we again are picking up hickory nuts out of the yard.
We got 3 inches of rain last night and a tornado siren to boot. All is fine though just plenty of hickory nuts and leaves down. As soon as it dries up a bit we will start cleaning them up and chopping up the leaves. I have a crockpot of horticulture (cranberry) beans in the crockpot with onions, garlic and sausage in it. Last night we had cottage pie and will have the leftovers for lunch.
I picked figs this morning. Got about 2 dozen as they tend to split with these big rains and the ants want to get in them. Cranked up the dehydrator and have sliced the figs and dehydrating them. O Wise One has went to harvest walnuts as I am sure there are plenty down from the storm. Looking forward to replenishing my stock in the freezer as last year was kind of lean on walnuts. While out with the truck he is hauling off the household garbage.
All around the house are plates and dishes with seeds of various kinds drying. In the photo above in the white bowls are tomato seeds drying on coffee filters with the names written on the filters. The jar contains enough gloriosa daisy seeds to plant the entire state and the platter holds Jade green bean seeds. With the number of crops I grow throughout the year I would hate to have to buy all those seeds especially at todays prices and with todays shortages. So as I have done for the last 40 years I try to limit myself to open pollinated crops and save seeds. It ensures I always have enough seeds to grow food no matter what is happening in the world.
It gives me peace of mind to know that the seeds I save are specifically acclimated to my soil and my climate and grow here well and have for many years. A safety net for our food needs in an unsettling and constantly changing world. I can't control what goes on outside my fences but within I am queen of my domain and we will eat. As long as the sun shines and my body holds out we will eat.
As a child growing up on a small farm in south Louisiana I always remember fall being seed gathering time and burlap sacks and old pillow cases of dried seeds hanging from the rafters in the outbuilding where we kept our potatoes, sweet potatoes and such. It was not underground but served as an above ground root cellar of sorts. ( No cellars in Louisiana as they quickly become indoor pools ). Burlap sacks of pecans dried suspended from the same rafters beside the seeds. Pears were placed on the shelves along with pumpkins and winter squash. My mother always had a cat or two that she allowed to come and go in there for rodent control. My grandmothers old wood cooking stove stood in the corner to add a bit of heat if needed. Simpler times indeed.
For those interested in seed saving I found a pdf online from the organic seed alliance that is written well and tells you about everything you need to know to start saving your own seeds. It is about 30 pages but well worth printing out and putting in a binder. Here is the link:
I am off to turn compost piles now and pick up the hickory nuts off the back porch. Hickory nuts on steps is a real danger for us old people fighting to not have any falls again this year. The dehydrator is whirring full of figs and the crockpot is cooking away on those beans.
In the meantime everyone stay safe and don't forget to count those blessings.
Blessings from The Holler
CQ
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What a wonderful, comforting post. Good to know you are doing well and are well-stocked with seeds and good things to eat. Lots of old-time wisdom here, the best kind.
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy your posts. We are battening down the hatches getting ready for winter here in NW Arkansas. Juicing tomatoes this morning to can later today. Have a gallon of hulled out black eyed peas drying on cookie sheets. Canned 50 quarts of Jade green beans to go with the twenty or so quarts left from last year and have bean seeds drying. After knee surgery in March and a six month stretch of back and forth to the surgeon and the wound care doctor, I’m ready to be done with gardening and relax by the fire with my quilting.
ReplyDeleteLots of hickory nuts here this fall, but few black walnuts. Happy preserving to you!!!
My tomato canning is done for the year. Don't you love those jade beans that is all I grow pretty well. While I love to garden a winter break is always nice.
DeleteI always love hearing what you're working on and growing! We are finally on fall break for a week, so if it stops raining one afternoon I plan to sneak out to the garden and gather the tomatoes that I've neglected. Hoping to make some tomato powder.
ReplyDeleteI hAve already powdered my tomatoes. I am seriously thinking of picking mustard greens this morning.
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