Fantastic Fall

We're enjoying a really glorious fall, with warm days, cool nights, and so far, no rain. That means we've been getting the last of the fall plantings in. We mulched and composted rows 4 and 5b and the end of 6a. 5b is planted in daikon, red radish, and arugula. 6a has more drunken woman frizzy headed lettuce. 4b will be arugula, but I'm just staggering the plantings.

We've also been working on the pizza oven. Here you can see that the area is dug and the rebar inserted. 

Then last weekend we poured the cement. We used 8 bags! But now the slab is big enough for our new brick design. 

We got lots of concrete blocks. We need more, but the truck can only hold so many at a time, especially if you have cement in there as well. 

We're still harvesting lots of veggies. The broccoli in particular has been delicious and plentiful. It was interesting to note how much earlier the Belstar was than the Apollo. The Belstars are in full head, and by now are mostly picked. The Apollo are just barely starting to head up. This is giving us a lovely extended season. Both were planted mid July. Next year: twice as much! Plant again in early August.

The other big harvest right now is grapes. We're getting tons of lovely grapes off the red grape vine. The Thompsons weren't as productive (we need to get them more air, and fewer whiteflies), but this grape really put out. What do you do with that many seeded, non-wine-type grapes?

Make grape juice! First, I destemmed and carefully washed the grapes. I had picked a 5-gallon bucket full!

I put up the food mill, and used about every bowl I own.

With lots of cranking, the juice comes out one side, and chicken food comes out the other. I juiced out a couple gallons of juice, and it's unbelievably good.

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What We're Eating
Chef Nathan food! Sarah and Nathan came to the farm with samples of Nathan's homemade sausage. He's also making meat pies and other goodies, just for friends for now.

I also made tiny pies! These have butternut squash in them, which I grew in the backyard.

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I finally found the right shelf to hold all my jars of dried goods. This fits in an unused space, and frees up a lot of counter and cupboard space. Besides, the jars are pretty, and it reminds me that I have those things so I use them up.

When I'm stressed, I tat. I've made great progress on this window insert.