We Sure Know How to Make Work for Ourselves!

This time of year there is so much to do!  Since we are really into growing our own food and homesteading, harvest time means a lot of work.   It seems like everything comes at once.  And there are plenty of other chores besides food related stuff to do too! But we sure do enjoy being self sufficient - it brings a level of satisfaction that is hard to describe.  It's the old-timey kind of lifestyle that we truly enjoy.  Today's world is getting just a little too crazy for our taste.
     For the last couple weeks, Harold has been working on tilling up the pasture.  When we had horses, the pasture was as smooth as a putting green, as they kept the weeds and grasses trimmed to the ground.  Since the horses have been gone for almost 2 years now, the pasture started to look like this:

The pasture was getting to be tall weeds, big clumps, young trees and a big mess.

Eventually it would be impossible to get into.   So Harold decided to cut and till it, so that if we wanted to plant something we could.   We don't need any more woodland.  The pastureland is too precious to waste on weeds!  Our goal is to plant a few more apple trees there, and also some chokecherry trees and Nanking cherry bushes.   Harold might even plant some corn here.   If I was 30 years younger, I would start an orchard and have a U-Pick apple business.   But we're too old for that......
     So here's what he did:

And Harold did it all with his tractor and this vintage 1940's 3 bottom plow, that we borrowed from a local farmer.

Here's Harold at work:

Plowing up sod.

So he is almost done.

The garden is really producing now.  This spring I carefully planted winter squash and pumpkins and cucumbers about 20-25 feet apart, thinking that would surely be enough room for them to expand!   Well, maybe not.  Check out this mish-mash of growth.

I guess 25 feet apart is not enough space to grow vining stuff!  Somewhere in all this mess is a bunch of cukes, pumpkins, and 3 kinds of winter squash!  What fun trying to find all of it!

The greenhouse is starting to give me plenty of tomatoes.

In another week I will have tomatoes coming out of my ears!

I've been so busy canning.  I already did peaches, pears and green beans and two kinds of pickles and potatoes.   I still need to can more potatoes, salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, applesauce and make a couple more jelly varieties.   Pretty soon corn is going to be ready and that will go into the freezer.   I need to dig out carrots, and onions and leeks.

Gradually filling up the pantry. 

We had to pick all the apples from our tree, as they were starting to fall on the ground and the deer were eating them.  No way was I going to let the deer have our apples!  This year our tree gave us a huge harvest:

All of this from our tree!  I already dried plenty of them, and filled up 12 quart bags with dried apple slices.  This photo is what's left AFTER I filled up the 12 bags!

The other day I dug up onions from the greenhouse.   I still have sweet onions to dig up out there, as well as about 100 feet of garden row in the regular garden to dig up.  I planted yellow, white, red and sweet onions.

Two boxes of onions just from the greenhouse. 

Today a friend from church gave me two big boxes of apples, both large ones for pies, and smaller ones for applesauce.  Another fellow at our church gave me a bag full of big pie apples.  So I guess during my spare time this week I will be making and canning applesauce.
And of course, we are in the process of extracting honey.  We pulled about 12 supers on Friday, and we have about 15 more to pull.  All week long we will be processing honey.  We'll probably have our big honey party this weekend.  The other day Harold filled up the pick up with honey supers, which are now sitting in my kitchen.

After all the honey is done, I will be also picking dry beans and podding them out.  I planted 3 kinds of dry beans this year - pinto, red Mexican, and navy beans.  It's kind of relaxing to pod them out in the evenings.  Then there's garden clean up, more grass cutting, putting things in the freezer, market day preparation every Thursday, plus the usual house chores.   Also need to dry herbs.  Then Harold will be working with the sugar beet harvest.
     Like I say, we can sure think up plenty of work for ourselves to do!!  No boring times here!
Now, if I could just relax like my cats around here.   Here's a photo of a couple Mama cats and a couple kittens relaxing in the cool shade of tall weeds.   What a life!   Well......... they have been working hard lately getting mice! 

Taking it easy, living the good life.

And this gets you up to speed on what's going on here at Honey B Farm!