Silo Filling 2018

Yesterday was the day...

Jim tested corn stalks twice in the last week, and yesterday morning corn silage went into the east silo.  Jeff (the guy who chops our corn) bought a different harvester over the winter.  He always had a John Deere, and this time he bought a Claas.  Merle ( our neighbor and the man who used to chop our corn) wanted to take some video of the harvester so he hung out on the barn hill for a while...

It didn't take long at all to fill this silo as full as Jim wanted it.  Some changes are coming...soon...on our farm, and we don't need both silos to be full right now.  More on that later...but don't worry...we're good with it!

It still makes me nervous when I see Jim "run" up the ladder on the outside of the silo!  I only do it on rare occasions, and I'm shaking in my boots the whole way up...and down...

The silage is beautiful and the unloader is all set up, ready to go!  As I sit here typing, our Amish neighbors are running up and down the road with their horses/mules and empty wagons, preparing for their corn harvest.  I don't envy them that job!  What takes us a few hours can take them days, sometimes several weeks to finish.

Wishing farmers everywhere a safe and bountiful harvest!

Canning Update...

My garden is tiny this year.  In fact, so tiny that I'm sure the local tour guides who pass by in cars with tourists, use it as yet another way to distinguish an "English" garden from an "Amish" one.  Years ago when my garden was big (by my standards) it was regarded as small by said local tour guides, so I can't imagine how it's regarded now!  (yes, it ticked me off a little bit when I found out, can you tell?!  :)  Oh well...)

It's also very overgrown with grass right now, and I will be the first to admit that an Amish garden would NOT look like mine in this regard.  In my defense, the 10" + of rain that we had in the past month did nothing to help with weed control!

Regardless...I'm happy with the results of my canning efforts this summer!

First came the pickles... 

I only got two batches of banana pickles processed before my cucumber plants wilted, but these will hold us over for a while!  The  pear butter on the top shelf is from last fall...

Next came jellies...

Raspberry jelly, blackberry jelly and white grape jelly.  I like to give these as gifts, and we'll still have plenty leftover for ourselves...

Then came tomatoes...

I have four tomato plants this year, and they were doing great until the monsoon season hit.  Now they're suffering from blight, although there are still enough tomatoes out there for a small batch of sauce now and then. 

I made two batches of salsa so far this year...eleven jars each, and I still hae several jars left from last year.  I'd like to do another batch if I get enough tomatoes at once, because I like to gift these jars as well.  We eat a lot of salsa ourselves, so I want to have plenty!

This year's salsa is on the top shelf, the second shelf is several batches each of pasta and pizza sauce.  I use Mrs. Wage's mix for those sauces.  It's quick, easy, and we like the flavor!  My go to Sunday lunch lately has been french bread pizza.  Just slice a loaf of french bread horizontally, spread some sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice, bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400*, and you have a quick lunch!  Bake it on a stone, and the bottom even gets a little crispy.  Mmmm...

Our white grape vine overachieved this year, and I got what I feel like is a huge amount of grape juice on top of the jelly that I made!  I have sixteen quarts of juice on the bottom shelf that I made "the old way", and twelve quarts of juice concentrate on the middle shelf that I made using my friend's steamer.  THAT, friends, is a nifty way to make grape juice! 

The other things on the shelves are things from last year that I need to use up!  I don't have any canned beans, and that disappoints me, but it's my own fault!  We won't be starving anyway this winter, that's for sure!

What kind of canning/preserving do you do?

Grapes, Grapes and More Grapes...

The grapes are ready!  I guess they really liked all the rain we've had this summer, because the vines are that heavy that they've fallen off the top wire, and have begun pulling one of the posts over!

This bucket full is from a section only about three feet wide...

Yesterday's outcome, from one bucket full...two batches of white grape jelly.  I never tried it before, but just followed the directions for Concord grape jelly in the pectin box.  We had some on English muffins for breakfast, and it got a thumbs up!  (that's salsa in the jars behind the jelly.  The tomatoes are just as happy as the grapes!)

If you need me today...or for the rest of the week...I'll be standing at the kitchen sink!

A Quick Getaway...

It's been a long, long time (10 years!) since Jim and I have been able to both be away from the cows at the same time!  Other than just a couple (4, to be exact!) of times in the last few years where we've missed a milking together for a couple of graduation parties, a wedding and my parents' sale, we've had to divide and conquer when it came to taking time off.

This weekend, while we are in between hay cuttings,and before Jenna heads back to college tomorrow we were able to take a quick trip to Ocean City NJ with Jenna and a friend.  Eric would have gone along, but already had made plans with some college friends.

We left the cows in the trusted and capable hands of our friends Ivan and Victoria, and neighbor Daniel for three milking and we skedaddled!

Ocean City NJ is a short three hour drive.  We tied up the cows in the morning, and pulled out around 6 am.  Before lunch, we were relaxing on the beach...

Within the hour, thunderstorms rolled in, and the beach had to be vacated.  We hung out at the music pier for a while...

...saw a beautiful rainbow...

...and went to an Escape Room for some entertainment.  We were paired up with another group of four, and we found the pirate's treasure before the time was up!

The beach was closed for the rest of the day, so we checked into our boarding house and cooled off, and then headed to the boardwalk for supper .

Later, Jim and the girls rode the ferris wheel...

We bought our salt water taffy and walked the boardwalk for a while before turning in for the night.

This morning was beautiful!  Jim got up early (his body clock just wouldn't let him sleep in!) and went to the boardwalk for coffee.  Later, we all took a walk on the beach...

 The water was warm!

While Jim and I packed up the car, the girls headed out to the water for a quick swim before we headed home again.  It was just a quick trip, but it felt so good to finally get away from the farm for a bit of relaxation!