Town House Homestead Tuesday

What a wonderfully productive, yet slower week and weekend we had. Ginger Bean, my dear Emily, came Saturday and dog sat while my daughter took me to a gallery showing, and we did a few errands. It was quite wonderful. Emily brought her freezer full of compostables and we got them in the bin too. While we were out she filled my crisper bin with fruit and veggies. I knew she brought a few items, but when I looked Sunday morning, this is what was there.

Lots to cook with this week and meals that can be shared. Also included was a head of garlic.

Bright and early Sunday morning I harvested oregano, parsley, bunch onions, chives, one more pepper, and some beans. What a bounty.

I also put some sage and oregano up to dry last week. I will need dry herbs for holiday cooking. 

The seeds from the squash will be saved and dried for my future garden, that is getting closer. If not I have some good compost going, and my buckets to keep container gardening.

I was most excited to harvest my sunflowers. I couldn't believe how large they got and most of them did a wonderful job at seed development. Only one performed less that the rest, but I was only supposed to have four sunflowers any way. I put four seed in pots to start. Only three came up in a week. I put a new seed in the fourth pot and to my surprise both seeds sprouted. The seed company said these don't transfer well, but I did it anyway. I think the result is awesome. I have seeds for my feathered friends this winter and maybe some for us, and a good selection to plant more next year.

We got a living room accent wall painted this past weekend. Yes, notice it's blocked off so that Hunter doesn't end up a black puppy with white paint. He's good at getting into mischief. We are so excited to be able to install wall shelves before the holidays. 

We had the most beautiful sunset Sunday night. My daughter captured it well. The ducks are a constant here because we have a neighbor who feeds them. Some evenings it's like watching a star wars battle, but this picture summed up the most wonderfully relaxing, but accomplishing weekend we've had in a while.

And to end on a mischievous Hunter note, yes he's a puppy, eight months old now and weighing in at at least forty five to fifty pounds. I turned my back to do a chore for a few minutes and one of the sofa pillows no longer exists. That was this mornings adventure with Hunter. I have nothing more to say. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week. Remember to share your bounty along with love. 

Town House Homestead Tuesday

So, I can finally feel the growth of the suburban homestead we are trying to create. As our bodies mend from the injuries we have suffered from working so hard, it suddenly feels like it's coming together. It's been a long sixteen months, but WOW! The immediate roller coaster ride seems to be slowing down. 

The shed is getting a face lift. One side left to paint, and I can see that I need to clean around the spruce tree and mulch before winter. In the clean up I found boarders around the shed, and two sides have slate laid. The side still left to paint has a border with just soil and I am going to set Hosta's in there before winter. Then it will have the floor repaired and new doors. 

A motion sensor, solar light was installed and it is wonderful to know it works. Now it won't be complete darkness in the back yard and we'll be able to find that black puppy when he wanders off.

We had what we call a great harvest this week. We are grateful for any harvest we get no matter how big or small. We got a second harvest of lavender, plus one of my daughter's co-workers harvested hers, and gifted it to her. I got a few bunch onions, a large bunch of basil, more patty pan squash, and of course beans. 

I made myself a fabulous bunch onion and home grown pepper omelet for breakfast with my little harvest. Of course I cook with cast iron skillets, and eat off of vintage plates. Who doesn't? Well, not everyone, but we do here. 

The basil came inside because overnight temperatures fell a little low, so after I cut it back there was still plenty, and I put a good amount into a crock pot of home canned tomatoes, peppers, and a few other goodies and made sauce. We had cheese tortellini for dinner, and there's a quart ready for a small holiday lasagna, and eggplant Parmesan, put up in the freezer. The refrigerator vegetable bin is holding the rest and the lavender is vacuum sealed for holiday baking and crafts.

I'm falling in love with the bright colors the zinnia's are providing. I can't believe the different mixture that is growing, and the bees just love it. 

And, speaking of the bees, they have been an experience this summer. This past weekend they swarmed again. An inspection was done, and there was no indication that this was going to happen. A queen cell was removed to prevent the growth of a new queen, but oh well. This is the third time this summer they have swarmed. So many beekeepers around here say they have never seen their hives swarm, and I have seen five swarms this first year. Three we are sure were ours, one that was ours that left the tree, and one from who knows where that ended up in a neighbors tree. I may see this one fly away, but they have stayed put for a day and a half now. Now it's hope and pray that we can keep the hive stable through winter. 

This is an early Christmas gift from my daughter. It is three and a half pounds of white German hard neck garlic. I will plant a great bit of this and hope for a good harvest next spring, along with some scape's, and I will also ferment some for cooking and medicinal purposes. I will cook with some too.

As of this morning my fifth sunflower is ready to open. I am so excited to watch these grow. They are over eight feet tall and the heads are getting larger by the day. They add a splash of brightness to my day every time I look out my kitchen window. Who knows maybe next year there will be five times as many growing out there. 

I don't know how I can end my blog without another Hunter adventure, so here it is. Sunday morning I bought him a new "dog" ball. Yes, I am trying to get along with this busy, strong, and growing beast. He got the new ball because this week he decided that the soccer ball he was given just a few days earlier, and loved so much, tasted good too. I chased him around trying to make sure he didn't swallow it, and up to this moment in time, I'm not sure he didn't get some eaten. I was in tears because I can't run after him and no matter what I did he just ran faster thinking it was a game. I finally got him to run, without the ball, into the breezeway and shut the door behind him. I later went out to clean up the ball and locate several pieces, for his protection only, and tossed the soccer ball away. So far he hasn't missed the old ball and is having the time of his life chasing the "dog" ball around the yard. That's what's been going on here at the Town House Homestead this week, and thank you so much for stopping by. Stay safe out there and enjoy the end of warmer weather, and "pumpkin spice" if you indulge.

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

It's been all about pumpkins.

Are we tired of pumpkins yet? Not at all. It's been a wonderful pumpkin season and although I've got to do the work, to me it's well worth it. I processed the pie pumpkin and have been enjoying it, and last week a co-worker of my younger daughter gifted me another pumpkin. We had been to a few farm stands, but they were mostly out, but this gentleman had grown a few and wasn't quite sure what he would do with them. 

Yesterday I began putting this large pumpkin up. I cut it and cleaned it and started dehydrating it. My five racks held one quarter of the shredded pumpkin. I guess I'm going to be busy for the rest of the week. It took my old dehydrator eight hours to dry the pumpkin, but I'm fine with that. When the whole pumpkin is done I will make powder and vacuum seal it in a canning jar for future use. I also retrieved two cups of seeds, so I roasted one cup of lightly salted and one cup roasted with sirarcha sauce. 

Autumn is a fun time of year with all the harvests and holiday celebrations and what would be better than pumpkin goodies. I tried for the first time pumpkin empanadas and they are delicious and easy to make. I am going to use some of the leftover filling in a regular pie crust. I've made hand pies all of my life using pie crust and I think these would be awesome in a flakier crust. Here's the recipe I used.

http://www.muybuenocookbook.com/2010/10/pumpkin-empanadas/

I'm not tired of pumpkins yet and if more came my way they would be put to good use and preserved and enjoyed with love. That's just the way it is. Thank you for stopping by and visiting. I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy your pumpkins.