Mornin All, gotta a little much appreciated rain this early morning. Goes real good with a hot cup of coffee and I'm sure the garden appreciates it, too. Have had a busy week. Finally finished stripping wallpaper in two rooms downstairs and got them painted. Now all I gotta do is the upstairs, but I'm gonna sit and enjoy what I've got done for awhile before I start in on more. The windows in this old house are so tall and wide that my curtains from our other house just don't fit. Sat down the other day to look at some in a catalog and couldn't believe the prices! Some curtains, they sold per panel, not in pairs. Yikes! So, I got myself over to the fabric shop and picked up some unbleached muslin. My Mom always made curtains from the muslin and they turned out great, so I'll give it a try.

The garden is coming right along. Seems like we have had rain just when it was needed. Have only watered the one here at the house, once or twice, and the one at my sisters is doing ok, too. The garden's too far from her house, so it's on its own. Picked a few zucchinni and made a couple of loaves of bread. Yum. The beans are a couple inches long, but not filled out yet, though it looks like we're going to have a ton of them. Still waiting on the tomatoes.....

Got a part time job at an old hardware store, downtown. Going to be doing their books and such. It's an old place that still has wood floors and a little of everything. I'll be able to get things at cost, so it can't be too bad!!! Although, it's canning season, so I'll je juggling one more thing now! Never enough time!

A great big THANKS to Cindy in Ky. for keeping this thread going for as long as she has. If you didn't notice the thread from last week, we're going to be doing a round robin kind of thing. I'll be doing it for August, so we'll need some volunteers for Sept. and beyond.

Hope everyone has a safe and great week. Good Gardening!

-- Annie (mistletoe@kconline.com), July 29, 2001

Answers

Annie, send some of that rain our way. We are definitely having August weather in July. As my husband drives home from work nights he is watching the local fire departments delivering water to homes and running it in their wells, as well as people pumping water out of creeks and the rivers to water their livestock. I put up about 1000 small square bales this week, not bad considering I'm doing it alone with some help from my 8 and 10 year olds. DH came home with a David Bradley tractor with plow, cultivator, snowblade and sickle mower yesterday, my new toy! Enjoy your week everyone.

-- Polly (NNY) (oakridge@northnet.org), July 29, 2001.

Well hi there Annie,

It's has been busy this past week,but strange. One of them weeks where when you get up and get going everything falls into place for you. I am still trying to get back to my gardening, with the last several weeks of hot hot weather I just haven't felt like doing much out there and now everything is going to weed.

I know what you mean by never enough time. Getting ready to go on vacation this coming weekend and have got to change the oil in the van,find someone to watch the dog,I also wanted to finish painting the front porch on the priest's house at work,trying to get my woodworking shop in order and on & on & on. I did order a couple of books to take with me, one is about Lance Armstrong and the other is about 2 guys trying to kayak around Greenland.

Well take care and stay forever young

-- TomK (tjk@cac.net), July 29, 2001.

Our garden has been bountiful and I have been freezing and canning (well sort of) every thing I can (no pun intended). My canning is in the baby stages so I worry so much I don't actually can very much-- mostly freeze. My zucchini jam which tastes like pineapple/peach is wonderful but didn't seal. But I am not giving up--I will face my fears this summer! I have loved giving fresh vegetables to those who appreciate it.

So far we've picked: corn, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, okra, onions, green beans, blackberries, grapes. Field peas need to be tied up off the ground. Hens not laying yet.

Trash picked some great plastic tables yesterday that can be used in the chicken house for nesting boxes.

Polly that hardware store job is what I call pure genius! Enjoy getting your hardware at cost--Plus you will meet all kinds of folks each day.

That cup of coffee sounds great I think I'll start a pot!

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), July 29, 2001.

Good morning, everyone! I was lazy this morning and slept late. After a week like this I need to take a break. We started last Sat. picked 12 bushels of peas, pulled a Ranger truck load of corn, a gathered a bushel of tomatoes. We finally got all of it canned or froze Mon. afternoon. Tues., we picked 8 bushels of peas and pulled a truck load of corn, gathered more tomatoes--finished them Thrus. afternoon. And Fri. we picked 8 bushels of peas and pulled over 300 ears of corn. Finished them yesterday. We have given away as much as we have done! IT seems the more we give away, them more we have! At this rate--our entire famly will be set of the winter!!!We have already canned 175 qts. of green beans.(When I say we-- I mean DH, his mother,3 sisters, and my two daughters) They all come to farm and we work as a team!

We are so proud of our peas because last year we did not get one pea-- the deer ate them all. So this year we planted 5 acres of peas and the rain has come, on time, every time. Haven't watered once!And the bugs are not too bad- we don't use pesticides!

We think, we have decide on the floor plan for our new house! It is a 2500sq. ft., country farm house with wrap around (10' wide) porch! Twenty two(22) ft. will be screened with a wood stove and sink. We will use it as a summer kitchen when we are canning. I pray we will be able to start this fall--it is so hard having to drive 15 miles do all the chores and then (dirty, wet and tired) drive back here. It will be so nice to only have one place to care for. Sorry that I am rambling! Hope you all have a bountiful week! Thank you , Cindy and Anne for keeping this going. It's so much fun to see what everyone is doing!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), July 29, 2001.

Ann, I sure would like that recipe for zucchini jam that you mentioned, if you're willing to share!

How neat to see another Polly - there aren't that many of us! (May be a GOOD thing - hee hee!)

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), July 29, 2001.

Here's a recipe for zucchini marmalade from The Zucchini Cookbook: 6 Cups trimmed and sliced small zucchini 2 lemons (juice plus 1 Tsp. grated peel 1 13.5 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained 1 1.75 oz. package powdered pectin 5 Cups sugar 2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger

Combin zucchini, lemon juice and peel, and pineapple in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered about 15 min. Add pectin. Bring to a boil agin. Add sugar and ginger. Bring to a rolling boil. Stirring constantly, continue boiling for 1 min. Remove from heat. Skim off foam. Allow mixture to cool somewhat. Ladle into hot sterilized half-pint jars and process 15 min. in a hot water bath. Makes about 5 jars.

It seems to me that I had problems with this sealing too, and it didn't always jell, but it was great as a syrup. Try not filling the jars so full that they boil over in the water bath.

Well, I went away for less than two weeks. When I left we were in a severe drought. Since then it's rained more than 8 inches, and we had winds of 70 miles an hour. More rain this morning, but then it's supposed to end. My garden is flooded. Most of our land is bottom land, so the water table is already pretty high. My garden has raised beds that are 8-10 inches high, and they're above water, but the aisles look like Venice. I expect that in March, not in July! I'm afraid a lot of the beans are going to rot. The tomatoes were partly defoliated by blister beetles during my absence, but they're holding their own, and I canned 7 quarts of tomato sauce the other day. The raspberries are starting to ripen and are tasteless--too much water. I'm afraid that will be the story with the cantaloupe which is a few days short of picking. Needless to say, the weeds are knee-high where there's no mulch, and it's much too wet to do anything at this point. Now the sun is coming out, and it feels like a steam bath. At least we don't have to deal with malaria which was prevalent in our area in the nineteenth century!

I think the idea of a round robin is a good one. I'll be happy to do it one month, but September is not good for me as I'll be away some of that month. I really enjoy reading about what everyone is doing all over the country.

-- Katherine in KY (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), July 29, 2001.

Hey everyone. Steve and I are outside working hard today doing some more fences. Inbetween rain storms. Got new kennel ALMOST done! Dogs love it, it's so nice and cool and shady. I'll write more later, Ta Ta.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), July 29, 2001.

Ok here goes. Perhaps someone can tell me what to do AFTER pouring the jam in the jars--do you put them in boiling water, or what to make them seal correctly. My refrigerator sweet pickles came out very nicely--I'll post that recipe if anyone asks. I'll repost this recipe as a separate post so it goes into the recipe archives. This as VERY easy....

ZUCCHINI JAM

6 cups peeled, chopped or grated, zucchini 6 cups sugar 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 pkg. Sure-Jell fruit pectin (** see note) 1 (6 oz). pkg Apricot gelatin (*** see note)

Cook zucchini, sugar, pineapple & lemon juice in saucepan until liquid becomes clear, about 25 minutes. Add Sure-Jell and cook 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and all gelatin. Pour into small jars and refrigerate until serving time. Nakes 4 to 6 jars.

**one recipe said can omit. One said to use a 13 oz. aize can of pineapple and omit sure Jell. *** Can use Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry, etc. gelatin as options.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), July 29, 2001.

Annie - For your curtains, if they have a rod pocket you might want to try hanging the old curtains using a tension rod. Place the curtains so the bottom touches the sill and leave an open space at the top. You'll have privacy and it's an interesting look.

Not much out of our garden so far just lettuce, snow peas and radishes. We've got lots of green tomatoes and a few small cukes. The potatoes have bloomed and are starting to die back. Can't wait! We planted Carole variety. They have a very buttery flavor.

Katherine and Cindy in KY - What part of KY are you in? One of my sisters is going to begin medical school in Pikeville this fall.

Have a good week!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), July 29, 2001.

We are 1 hour south of Louisville.

Steve and I had a wonderful day outside! It feels so good to work and sweat and get things done. Mowed some, smells soooo good. Steve put up a garden gate with 2 big tall posts, now I can carve out a sign and hang over the gate. My ridin mower wouldn't start and my husband actually fixed it! He got a big kiss on the cheek from me.

I got 4 loads of wash hung out and dried. I took down allot of fence and T-posts on the old kennel. (remember me, put it up, take it down, put it up, take it down!) The ground is perfect for pulling out the posts. I even got some out I haven't been able to in 4 years, old wooden ones too. I think I finially got my kennel where I want it, this is the fourth place in 4 years. This week I dug and put many wheelbarrrow loads of dirt into it. They love the cool dirt.

I moved my milk stand out in the middle of the field. What a neat way to milk. I love it, no flys. And I don't sit there and sweat.

My garden is a jungle still, but it's producing a ton of stuff. The flowers are so beautiful. I put flowers in between all the veggies and let the wild morning glorys grow, it makes it look so cottage like. We're beginning to get cucumbers now, winter squash, of course Zucinni and tomatoes and peppers. Didn't plant any onions, forgot.

I've got to do allot of web site work this week at night, gotta get it done. Steve says Hi Ya. We'll see ya later. Keep busy out there.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), July 29, 2001.

Well another dry week herein se.ks we only got 3 tenths out of two little showers.been putting up garden stuff like crazy but the freezer is full so today i caned tomatoes. boy what a job if i could of filmed it it would have been better then winning the lottery. what a mess. on the round robin ill take a turn this winter some time. got to send ken a email so you all be good to each other. Bob se.ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@hit.net), July 29, 2001.

Cindy in N Y, can't believe your sister is going to college in Pikeville! I'm from right around the area. My Aunt and Uncle used to live right across the railroad tracks from the college. The college sat up on a hill, and there was the longest set of steps going up to the college. Got my first spanking from my Dad because I crossed the tracks and a train came. He was waiting for me on the other side when the train cleared! Was back a few years ago and can't believe how Pikeville has changed downtown. They had to reroute the river because of flooding, had a horrible one in early 60's I remember. My Aunts house has been torn down because of the rerouting, but Pikeville is a wonderful town and I'm sure your sis will like it.

-- Annie (mistletoe@kconline.com), July 30, 2001.

Cindy, I'm 30 miles east of Paducah in the western part of the state, far from Pikeville.

-- Katherine (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), July 30, 2001.

Annie - My sister, Susan, applied to about 20 medical schools but Pikeville was the only one to accept. She didn't have trouble because of her grades, it was her age. She is 38 and most of the medical schools don't want to take on older students. Pikeville graduated it's first class of medical students this past year. They have an OD program, not MD. She will be there 2 years and then will go into residency. I was surprised at how much they are paying for housing though. They are renting a house since they may only be there for 2 years and are paying $900 a month! They weren't picky, just a lack of housing available. She came up here to see us last week and we went to the fair. Found out she would love to have a pygmy goat some time! Has anyone had one? Also saw some goats that didn't have any ears. Never seen any like that!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), July 31, 2001.