Feeling Fall...
I looked at the date of my last post and I couldn't believe it said August 1st! How does this happen? Life seems to be flying by. We have had such a crazy summer...wait, have we had summer yet? It has been so cool and rainy. I can't imagine that the pools around here have been very busy. We have had morning temperatures down to 45. Thirteen more degrees and we would have frost! Yikes! Even with all the crazy weather, the garden has thrived. I have been canning up a storm and the pantry is filling up. Today I will be canning chili tomatoes and freezing more corn. So far, I have frozen 18 pounds and have that much out in the garden to do. When I cut it off the cob, I weigh it on a kitchen scale as I put it in the freezer bags. This way I can keep the bags the same size and I know how much I have. We also have enough spaghetti squash out there for an army. Not sure what to do with all of that. The chickens might be going to benefit from that surplus. All in all though, we are so thankful for yet another great garden year.
We are back to foggy mornings now. Every orb spider web is outlined in dew. The school bus rumbled by for the first time this year as I was finishing the milking this morning. Every once in a while you see a leaf drift down from the maple out in the front yard. The Iron Weed is unveiling the most beautiful purple you have ever seen. Crickets are deafening at night now and the lightening bugs are dwindling. The frogs in the pond have quieted down. The cicadas sing loudly in the afternoon. The Joe Pye Weed is weighed down with giant swallowtail butterflies. I used to be able to be outside until 9:30 or 10 but now it's too dark to see by 8:30. As the days get shorter, the milk bucket gets lighter. Yep, it's sure starting to feel like fall.
We have been raising dairy goats for 15 years now. If we have a buck in with the does, they are always bred by the first or second week of August. This gives us early January babies, just when we like them. They grow out the best and are the healthiest then. This year however, our does are not coming in season yet. I've never seen this before. Is this natures' way of putting babies on the ground later in the spring? If so, why? Is this a sign of a very bad winter? Just wondering.....only time will tell. I'll keep you posted.
Better get back to the kitchen...tomatoes are calling my name.
We are back to foggy mornings now. Every orb spider web is outlined in dew. The school bus rumbled by for the first time this year as I was finishing the milking this morning. Every once in a while you see a leaf drift down from the maple out in the front yard. The Iron Weed is unveiling the most beautiful purple you have ever seen. Crickets are deafening at night now and the lightening bugs are dwindling. The frogs in the pond have quieted down. The cicadas sing loudly in the afternoon. The Joe Pye Weed is weighed down with giant swallowtail butterflies. I used to be able to be outside until 9:30 or 10 but now it's too dark to see by 8:30. As the days get shorter, the milk bucket gets lighter. Yep, it's sure starting to feel like fall.
We have been raising dairy goats for 15 years now. If we have a buck in with the does, they are always bred by the first or second week of August. This gives us early January babies, just when we like them. They grow out the best and are the healthiest then. This year however, our does are not coming in season yet. I've never seen this before. Is this natures' way of putting babies on the ground later in the spring? If so, why? Is this a sign of a very bad winter? Just wondering.....only time will tell. I'll keep you posted.
Better get back to the kitchen...tomatoes are calling my name.
What a lovely site! I will be back this evening to look at it. Quick glance is calling me back. I live in the NW Hills of PA on a small farm. Right now I am in the midst of canning relish and dilly beans. Later, cherylbryants.blogspot.com Cook'n by the Creek ♡
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