Pumpkin Weigh-In

It has been two weeks since I measured the pumpkin so time to see how much weight it has gained. It is getting harder to measure because I can't reach around it any more. The numbers are 62" x 61" x 105" = 228 inches. So the chart says it is at 256 pounds. The vines are really starting to get brown so I don't think it will get much bigger. We will see!!

Sunny Sunflower

This makes me smile. Could it be any more yellow!! I think the birds are just waiting for the seeds.

Concord Grapes are Ripe

Does anyone know how to make these concord grapes into wine? I think that would be a fun project but I  don't know where to start. I'm going to ask hubby to do some research and see if we could have wine by Thanksgiving. Wait...they let wine age in oak barrels for a looooong time. Got to come up with a different plan. Any ideas?

"There Are Only Two Things..."

"There are only two things money can't buy: true love and home grown tomatoes."      - John Denver

Hurray For the Volunteers

I have always heard that most trees that come up as volunteers will not produce fruit. Well, I beg to differ with that opinion and have two trees to prove the theory wrong.

Several years ago we had chickens and naturally they got the kitchen scraps. The chickens disappeared one by one. We never found any feathers or evidence as to what happened. We do see coyotes around and so must assume they had chicken dinner. We don't have any more outdoor cats either and I don't even want to think about that! Anyway, where the chicken pen used to be has produced two beautiful volunteer trees; one a nectarine and the other an avocado. The nectarine is just loaded this year. I'm worried that the branches will break. We have been eating them mostly fresh but I may try a tart this coming week. The avocado has a good crop too. We can't identify what variety it is but I know it isn't Hass.

These trees are not in the best spot...but they are where they want to be and they are doing their job. They get to stay right where they are. I am thankful!

Summer Bread Salad

One of our favorite dishes this summer has been this bread salad. We gather all this good stuff from the garden and cut it up. The zucchini and green beans need to be blanched. I make a dressing with olive oil, vinegar, mustard and lots of herbs and mix it with the veggies and let it set for about an hour. Then, I cut the loaf of Ciabatta bread into 1 inch cubes, drizzle with olive oil and toast in the oven. Mix this with the vegetables and you have a real treat. Our neighbors across the street gave us the recipe which she had found in the Sunset Magazine. It is a winner!

Jack Creek Farms Thrashing Bee

We drove up to Jack Creek Farms in Templeton today to attend a threshing bee. This was certainly a day to make you count your blessings and appreciate all the hard work people used to have to do. The weather was beautiful and the farm delightful.

This is a tractor in the field cutting the wheat and tying it into shocks. These were loaded onto a wagon and taken to the thrasher.

The thrasher was loaded by pitchfork and the grain was separated from the chaff which fell down under the machine and the grain went into sacks.

This gentlemen was sewing up the wheat sacks after they were filled. Someone told me he was 100 years old. It was clear he had lots of practice.

The straw was discarded into a big pile and was fed to the goats and made into straw bales for bedding.

Now, back from the field. This is the little hand grinder that ground the wheat into flour. They were giving samples of bread and let kids do the grinding. That's a lot of hard work for a bag of whole wheat flour. Sure makes me appreciate what people did years ago to have bread!

It was a good day!

Meanwhile...Back at the Pumpkin Patch

I went out today to measure the biggest pumpkin. My pumpkin growing book says to first measure the circumference. Second, measure over the top, side-to-side to the ground. Finally measure over the top, end-to-end to the ground. You add these three measurements together and then go to their handy dandy chart to give you an estimated weight. My three measurements were 94, 56 and 60 giving me a sum of 210 inches. So the chart says it weighs about 220 pounds. It seems big to me, but I know in the giant pumpkin growing world that it is really not very big. Winning pumpkins are in the 800-900 pound range. I hope ours will continue to get bigger. The gophers are pushing up dirt all around, so I wouldn't be surprised if the vine gets eaten or worse yet that they come up underneath and eat the pumpkin. The ones we grew last year were about 330 pounds, so we have some growing to do! It should still grow through September. Let's hope we can break our own personal record.