Rain, Finally

Finally we are getting some rain. We had 7/10 inch in the gauge yesterday, and it's rained off and on all day today. It's a good thing I finished some garden chores! I don't have a pic, but I got the rest of the clover planted in sector 1. That should be it for planting this year, unless I stick a few favas in on the edge. It didn't rain until yesterday, but by Friday it was clouding up a little, making for a nice sunset.

Dean came over and brought us some acorn bread that he had made. He leached the acorns over and over until they were edible, then baked it up. We all had a small piece.

Saturday, we finished getting the window installed. It's much nicer. I need to get busy and paint the rest of the wall.

What's great about this picture? The pallet of extra pavers is gone. We also attacked some weeds along the fenceline, and generally cleaned up this corner.

Nancy walked with us on Monday. This sign cracked me up. Notice the little pig sticker too...

Nancy is in town all this week, so we went to lunch yesterday. Rick got the afternoon off and he and I went to the Goose after lunch. I had the Manzanita, and Rick had the Faction.

I picked some more peppers this morning.

Mid November

This time of year, there isn't a whole lot of new planting going in, although I did finally get the last of the garlic planted in my backyard. There are 6 short rows here. From the left, the first row is Chandon, which Karen got me from one of her grape growers. It's a turban type, and reputed to be very hot. Next two rows are oddball ones from before, probably mostly Lokalen Red. After the middle path, I planted three rows of the Killarney Red I ordered this year from Peaceful Valley. I tucked a few more Killarney Red's behind the Poblano.

And speaking of peppers, I harvested a ton of peppers from the farm, because I needed to get those rows dug up so I can get the cover crop (crimson clover) planted. If I wait too long, it will be too cold for it to germinate. I put the green anchos under the broiler to blacken them, then just flash froze them. I took all the red peppers (mostly anchos, but a few paprika and red peters), cut them in half, seeded and stemmed them, and put them in the dehydrator. They dried out pretty fast. I ground half of them, and got a nice bottle of ancho powder. I'll grind the rest later to keep them fresher.
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What We're Eating
I harvested this.

And made this. Yum! I also made the first big broc mac and cheese casserole. And, the homegrown cabbage makes great slaw.

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We've had some good drinks as well. Karen and Glen brought us some Churchhill from Bear Republic. It was a very hoppy IPA, so of course I loved it! We shared it with the usual suspects, and Catherine noted that it tasted of grapefruit pith: citrusy but with a hint of bitter. The bitterness was impressive, but smooth and not at all sharp.

 And Saturday we went to the Handle Bar for the Drake's tap takeover. We had some excellent beers there. And as you can see, it continues to be warm and dry. We have long sleeves on, but we're happily sitting outside in mid November.

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The Drake's Hella Fresh was my fave, although the Drake's Expedition Imperial Red was a nice beer as well. We started Drake's Blonde Kolsch.

Sunday we listened to Tom's band at Has Beans again. They are trying to think of a name. 

After the gig we went outside to take band pics. 

Winter-Fall

We've had a long, glorious fall, starting with a warm dry Summer-Fall, proceeding through a cool dry Fall, and now we're entering Winter-Fall, with cold temps and wind, although not much rain yet. We got a sprinkling last weekend, but not much else. It's definitely berry season with my Chinese Pistache street trees. I got really energetic and raked, mowed, and blew all the leaves and berries, and the street pickup guys grabbed them today. The shorter days are limiting our farming time, but, we had a big burst of effort last week, and got the rest of the crops in. Buddy cleaned up row 2B. Look at the root structure of that Volkov! It has roots as long as Buddy is tall. Next season, I think I'll plant one Volkov in Row 8 and let it sprawl.

I got all the garlic planted in Sector 4 (by the house). There are two big beds of Spanish Roja garlic, and one bed of onions.

Rick took the afternoon off on Halloween, so we went farming. I got the rest of the onions and leeks in 2A, and got the chickens working on 2B.

I harvested a bunch of lettuce and broccoli. That Continuity Butterhead lettuce is a real keeper! It's beautiful and tender and tasty.

I finally got the last of the lettuce starts planted in Row 8. Most went here but a few went in where the cabbages had come out. Speaking of cabbages, there are a lot more ripening now! So far my favorite recipe for them is in Thai red curry sauce over rice.

I also got the old apricot tree pruned. That was the last of the pruning. Rick got the back window framing cut, and I painted one side so far. Saturday we had a party at Karen and Edd's so we didn't go farming, and yesterday was cold and windy, so we stayed inside then too, but I'll try to get the other side painted today. I'd sure like to get that window up! It will keep us much warmer and drier.

I've also had no excuse for not walking, so I rejoined Buddy, but in the afternoon, which works MUCH better for me. I read an article recently that said that walking in nature was a great way to beat depression. It certainly is lovely, anyway!

I got this beautiful reflection shot in Sycamore Pool. The fallen leaves in the water look like part of the leaves in the reflected trees.

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What We're Drinking
Wychwood beers: Buddy arranged a beer tasting for us of three appropriate Halloween ales. All were a bit sweet for my taste, but I liked the Wychcraft the best, while Rick preferred the Scarecrow. The Wychcraft is "triple hopped" with Styrian Golding, while the Hobgoblin was a dark roasty brew, with notes of coffee. The Scarecrow is an all-organic ale.

We also went to the Goose with Karen and Glen on the Friday before the Halloween party. It was a nice crispy Fall day so we walked the few blocks, and added a few more beers to our life lists.

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