Cooking fall harvest on the wood stove

It smells like something grandma would cook in here and the cinnamon sweetness puts a smile on my face. Since the wood stove is going today, I decided to use the heat to cook some butternut squash. This is the recipe I used and it smelled as good as it would if there were an apple pie baking. I left the potatoes out of the squash soup recipe so it would freeze better, then forgot to make a big batch. I followed the recipe except for that and it only made enough for about 2 1/2 bowls. Next time I'll make a lot more as a matter of fact, I'm pulling the baked squash out of the freezer and making it up tomorrow! It is so delicious it's going in the top 5!

Recovered Personhood

Everybody is thinking about the economy. The generic advice from experts is all aimed it seems at keeping everyone dependent on the system that is creating their pain. "Work any job, make looking for a job your full time job, buy generic food at the grocery store, if you are not going to retire for 10 or more years, just leave the money alone...lets go to a commercial." Where is the real advice for people seriously hurting and needing to make change?

There are so many issues. How about some advice from the experts like plant a garden, get into a bulk buying club or a local coop, completely change your relationship to grocery stores and gas stations, and learn how to setup long term food storage. If the government wants to help people, how about start by letting neighborhoods use abandoned property for community gardens and teaching kids and families self-sufficiency. As a basic human right I wish everyone would focus more attention on learning how to not be dependent for everything from someone else. But we are the product of what? 5 trillion dollars of advertising I think, or is it 5 billion? Either way, we have been taught dependency and the "ease" of buying everything in a store.

Our beautiful cat Benjamin died sometime this morning. He was named after Benny Goodman. Jeffrey found him where he sleeps on top of Rufus' house in the garage. Last night he and I fell asleep on the couch together and I'm so glad that I spent his last evening with him. He wouldn't climb on your lap fully like most cats. We took to calling him "half on half off kitty" because that's how he would get on you; front paws on, back paws off. He loved laundry and if you couldn't find him anywhere, all you had to do was start hanging laundry and he would appear. He'd roll on is back and purr under the hanging clothes and some days would stay out there a good part of the day lazing in the smells of fresh laundry. He had a soft unique mew that sounded like a whispered brrrrrrreeeet, with a trilled r. He loved being brushed so much, sometimes he would drool uncontrollably. Lately he's enjoyed the company of a lone, tall Mullein plant in bloom. He'd stare at it, sit next to it and would take naps near it. We buried him this morning on the hill under the tree next to Mr. Hobbs. We'll miss this sweet, gentle boy. I won't post another picture of him since I just posted one yesterday.

The weather here is fantastic right now. Maybe it's the weather, but Benjamin the cat (who is normally found at the clothes line) has fallen in love with a Mullein plant. During the day he sits in front of it and stares and yesterday I found him asleep in front of it. I like to appreciate the Mullein in the morning when I take Lucille out to potty. It's usually covered with dew, since it seems we've had fog every day this summer in the early morning. Yesterday we took some back roads to town to see the leaves changing and to enjoy the weather a little longer. There is a reason people come here every year to see these beautiful leaves exploding into fireworks.

Winter is coming and we are getting as much out of the garden as possible and learning what to do with it all. Our last load from the big garden filled the bed of the truck which was surprising! Most of the haul was beans, but there were all sorts of goodies like turnips and beets. I was able to can and freeze 18 quarts of tomatoes, not a world record but I"m happy. We built a root pit for the damp/cold storage, but aren't sure if we did it exactly right because the only other person I know that has one has such a tremendous ego, it's difficult to even be in their company. We did the best we could based on no experience and just what we've read and seen. For the dry/cold storage for things like winter squash, onions, garlic and pumpkins, we decided to leave the coldest room unheated by keeping the door closed and are using the shelves in there to put the produce on. I'm also storing the tinctures and herbal vinegars I made there since it's dark and cool. The house at Crooked Creek will have a root cellar and that will keep the vegetables fresh longer and be easier to get into.

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike tore into South Texas with larger-than-life size and tidal surge last Saturday morning. I lived most of my life in South East Texas and the landscapes that were riped apart have deeply rooted memories. Most of my friends and all of my family live there. The reporters have more than covered the details, but this storm and that place are more than just statistics.

Beautiful Broccoli

Tonight I'm thinking about my family and friends in Texas and Louisianna while we wait to see the outcome of Hurricane Gustav. I have been checking all day and talking to my mother who is family message relay central. She has gotten 2 households ready for this hurricane and has the worry of my brothers and their extended families all along the Gulf Coast and East Texas. My parents live on the river so we know what storms can do. They are as prepared as they can be and she and my aunt have my grandparents home ready as well. They also have bug out bags ready if the storm turns so they can ride it out with my Grandparents. Tonight my Grandmother wanted to know why I didn't write a story about the broccoli. So Grandmother, here is your story...

This is the first time we've ever grown broccoli. Several people told us they heard you couldn't grow big heads here. We figured we'd at least get something from it and love it, so in it went.

Gratitude and humility

After my last post, I was going to do a garden gush. The corn was getting tall, the tomatoes loaded down and beautiful and most of the rest of the garden doing well too. I was cutting the bottom land for mulch, everything was tied and tended. A spot had been cleared near the highway for the farm stand and we decided it's size.

Last Sunday, a 20 minute hail storm hit the big garden at Crooked Creek and we thought wiped out most of the garden for sure. In the last week, some of the plants are showing signs of recovery, but it sure didn't look hopeful when the damage was discovered. Here at the house it just rained like usual. We didn't know there was hail in the area. After our garden was hit we went to town and found out many were hit. People reported foot and half piles of hail off the roof line. Snow plows were used on one stretch. On the way out of town and back to the house we saw the worst. The damage we have sustained seemed slight and trivial. Acres and acres of corn shredded like wispy grass. Just as many soy fields destroyed beyond recognition. A neighbor told us further North, the corn stalks were stripped completely. It is a good time to reflect on humility.