Fall Photos

Sunset over the greenhouse

9/11/11

My sister Emily had a baby. Asher James 9/13/11

Lemon Cucumber. My new favorite cucumber! We have had problem with bitter cucs in the past, and this one seems great for our area. It did well with the high heat when grown in the greenhouse. It also did well in the garden despite some drought conditions in the bed they were grown in due to a plumbing problem. The flavor is great too!

Walter snuggling my sneakers.

Walter and Matilda holding hands.

We had our first good year for eggplant. The long purple were plentiful and delicious. The skins were a little tough though, so they had to be peeled before eating. Black beauty were also good, smaller than expected and not in great quantity, but still tasty. NOTE TO SELF: plant more eggplant next year.

Winter squash for the year. Pretty disappointing. We had some irrigation issues in the lower beds this summer which resulted in smaller squashes. The one that did the best was the large green one above. It is called Underground Sweet Potato, we received it as saved seed from relatives in Iowa. Definitely growing it again. It had a root system unlike any squash we have ever grown. One plant literally had several feet of root. Those who plant no irrigation gardens should consider this one.

Walter has become quiet the bed buddy and he has taken a liking to Khma

We did put the peppers and eggplants in the greenhouse at the end of September. We had an extra 3 weeks in the greenhouse before a freeze hit compared to outside. It helped the peppers and eggplant grow a little more and the peppers all changed color in time for harvest this way. The labor involved in planting peppers/eggplant in pots in the spring, digging and planting the pots into the ground, then pulling the pots back out of the ground in the fall may not be worth the extra 3 weeks, but it was a good experiment.

We are also trying to grow lettuce in the greenhouse during the winter. So far the growth is minimal. We planted in late August. I think next year it would be better to plant at the first of August.

Red pepper ripened in the greenhouse.

We brought the orange tree inside for the winter and Matilda likes to keep it warm.

Hopefully her warmth will help it grow tall and strong this next summer.

WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES BEYOND THIS POINT. I blurred out the parts that I can't really see again, even though I was there.

We bought a turkey this spring to have for Thanksgiving but he died when he was really young for some reason. I really wanted to eat turkey for the holiday, but we have been only eating meat that has lost its' life at my hand for a couple years now. So I went through the process of trying to find a live bird in time for Thanksgiving. I was lucky enough to get in contact with Palouse Pastured Poultry. They raise organic pastured birds. I bought the turkey live and processed it a few days before Thanksgiving. 

The turkey was butchered in a peaceful way that not only abides by the Jewish way of slaughter, but also Kelsi and my morals about how an animal should be treated in the end of life. I won't go into the details, but it was peaceful from start to finish for myself and the bird.

After hanging for a while once dead, I plucked the bird. It took time, but the turkey cleaned up well.

I used a torch to get the 'Pin Feathers' and that was that.

Matilda came out to visit while I was working.

The turkey tasted great, and I can sleep at night knowing that it died a peaceful death and lived a humane life. It was our first meat consumption in 4 months, so we got a good protein fix. Who knows when we will eat meat again?

Thanks for reading!