Garden Notes: November 2022

Rainfall 

• 5th-6th: 0.25"
• 10th-11th: 1.8" (Nicole)
• 15th: 0.7"
• 25th: 0.05"
• 27th: 0.75"
• 30th: 2.3"
• Total: 5.85 inches

Temperature

• range of nighttime lows: 28-66°F (-2-19°C)
• range of daytime high: 44-80°F (7-26.6°C)

Weather Notes:

• It's flannel bed sheet weather!
• My garden work schedule has changed, now, to doing indoor work in the morning and outdoor work in the afternoon. 

Harvesting and eating

Even though October's frost killed off the summer garden, the cherry tomatoes and pole beans growing on the porch trellis survived. I reckon that's because they are somewhat protected by the eaves of the front porch. They extended our summer harvest for about three more weeks and were very welcome!

summer garden remnants on the front porch trellis

cherry tomatoes, fresh pole beans, and some dry for seed

Of the fall garden, we're getting daikons and greens to go with the last of those cherry tomatoes. 

November salad: cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and greens
(kale, collards, chickweed, dandelion, turnip, and daikon)

Chopped fresh greens make a nice addition to my frozen leftovers soup.

Before our mid-November freeze I still got a few red raspberries every couple of days.

I added them to the others in the freezer. Sometime this winter I'll make raspberry jelly. After the hard freeze, I cut back the canes for better production next year.

The other thing I harvested was buckwheat.

Mostly seed, but leaves and stems too.

It grew as part of a cover crop mix Dan planted for soil building. Most of it will be for seed, but I'll see about processing some too, for groats and flour.

I'm still working on last summer's wheat.

Winnowing wheat with a box fan.

Last year we got the wheat done in July, but this year July was flooded with figs, pears, and tomatoes, so I didn't have time then. Dan got most of the threshing done, so I'm winnowing as we need flour.

Chicken winnowing clean-up crew

Of the green slicing tomatoes I picked before the frost, we ate the last one right before Thanksgiving.

There's nothing like homegrown tomatoes

Growing

Wheat patch

Garden bed with lettuce, kale, and garlic. The
cattle panel is to keep critters from digging!

Garden bed of daikons. 

African keyhole garden with various young greens.

Planting

It's really too late to plant, but I poked a bunch of fava beans into the garden swale berm and sprinkled the bare spots in the hugelkultur with turnip seeds. Likely, they'll be an early spring crop.

Parting Shot

Our blueberry bush in late autumn color.

I reckon that's it for my November 2022 garden notes. How about you? 

Garden Notes: November 2022 © Nov. 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Thankfulness as a Choice

The internet is a wonderfully international place, with numerous glimpses into interesting cultural traditions all over the world. Because of that, American Thanksgiving is probably one of the more obscure global offerings, appreciated mostly by Americans, although I think even that is changing. Whether it's because of the rising costs of food and travel, substitution of family with political loyalties, or because of manipulative name-calling meant to shame Americans about their cultural traditions, it seems there is a lot to complain about regarding this holiday. And that brings me to my blog post title, "Thankfulness as a Choice."

I think this is an important topic because in general, it seems that more and more people are not happy. They are not content. The list of things to complain about seems to be ever growing: job, finances, physical appearance, politics, politicians, the government, spouses, gender, inflation, taxes, the weather, the environment, morality, ethics, equity, justice, product quality, social compliance, neighbors, the traffic, what so-and-so did or said, what they didn't do or say, and (heaven forbid) someone is wrong on the internet. And that's just the short list. 

Years ago, I heard a saying that stuck with me. "The poor are luckier than the rich because they don't know yet that money can't make them happy." Some people won't get that, but I think at some level or another, most people understand happiness based on circumstances is brief and fleeting. 

I spent many years of my life trying to make people happy because I thought it would make them like me. Eventually, I figured out this doesn't work. That if I change in the thing they don't like, they'll just find something else to complain about. Eventually, I figured out that complaining is a habit. And like all habits, it can be changed. If one is willing to do the work to change it.

What's this got to do with homesteading (the focus of my blog)? A lot, because I think our perception of our circumstances is key to homesteading success. Most of us making an attempt at it figure out pretty quickly that homesteading isn't about replicating our accustomed modern lifestyle in a more natural setting. If the stated goal is increased self-reliance, that necessitates lifestyle changes. Neither society at large, nor nature are very cooperative in this endeavor, which means it requires a fair amount of commitment and determination to succeed. It also requires accepting that some (many) things are beyond our control. And that leaves us with a choice: complain or look for some small something to be thankful for. 

Many of you tell me that while you appreciate my lifestyle, it's something you would never choose for yourselves. Which is okay. I agree it isn't for everybody. But the world is experiencing a time when many people are having to tighten their belts and look at ways to change. What Dan and I have done by choice, is being imposed on many of you through no choice of your own. I empathize deeply, and hope that my posts (both present and past), and books can offer some helpful and encouraging ideas. 

However, even useful changes will be sabotaged by negativity. And that's what complaining reinforces, a habit of negativity. It's a choice, however, and unfortunately, I think some people really like being negative. Or think that if they don't complain, nothing will change. The irony is that when we have no control over a thing, change is mostly a matter of attitude. 

So, to my fellow Americans who still celebrate this holiday, I wish you Happy Thanksgiving! To everyone else, I encourage you to focus on things you are happy for, rather than on what you are unhappy about. I encourage you to choose thankfulness.

Parting shot:

Thankfulness as a Choice © November 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

This is not a combination I would have come up with by myself, but my daughter assured me it's a delicious combination. I always make a dessert for the weekend, so this weekend, we gave it a try.

I had a can of organic pumpkin in my pantry, and used that instead of winter squash (my usual substitute for pumpkin). I was surprised at how orange it made the batter!

Here's the recipe. It's an adaptation of several recipes I found online.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

15-ounce can of pureed pumpkin
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup soft butter
2 cups flour
1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup whey, buttermilk, yogurt, or kefir
1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Blend pumpkin, sugar, eggs, and butter. Add flour, spices, soda, salt, and liquid. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 45 minutes or until done. Cool about 15 minutes and turn out of pan onto a cake plate.

Dan thought it was really good, but I thought it was just okay. I love chocolate chips, but I think pumpkin would go better with dried cranberries. Either way, I liked that it was definitely not just pumpkin spice!

Recipe Notes:

• As mentioned above, I would try dried fruit as a substitute for the chocolate chips.
• If I make it again, I'll use only one cup of chocolate chips.
• Next time I'll try it with two eggs instead of three.

Is anyone else trying a new twist on traditional seasonal items? Care to share?

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

 © Nov 2022 http://www.5acresandadream.com

Greenhouse Progress: Not Much

Photo taken November 4, 2022.

There are a couple of reasons for the slow-down on greenhouse progress. One is the weather (rain), and the other is that Dan's sawmill needed repair. And while he was at it, he decided to re-level it. Between growing tree roots and the ground shifting as it expands and contracts with varying degrees of dryness and moisture, the mill wasn't level anymore. So that took some time. Fortunately, there's no deadline for this project.

I mentioned in my greenhouse planning post, that we had saved all the old wood windows we took out when we upgraded them. Those will become the greenhouse walls. What we didn't think about at the time, was the old jalousie windows we saved when Dan remodeled the back porch. He replaced two of them, and of course, we kept them. 

Jalousie crank windows. Photo from September 2013.

My idea was that they could be incorporated into the greenhouse roof, because roof vents would be very helpful. Dan nixed that idea, however, so we decided we'll use them on either end of the greenhouse walls. We plan to install a solar attic fan to vent the greenhouse during hot weather, and the jalousie windows would be great for helping to facilitate air flow. 

With the sawmill up and running again, Dan is back to working on posts and rafters for the roof. Weather permitting, of course. Hopefully, I'll have construction progress to show you soon.

Photo taken November 14, 2022.

Greenhouse Progress: Not Much © Nov 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Autumn's Last Hurrah

I'm cheating a bit with this post because it's a duplicate from my photography blog. But I traditionally seem to have an autumn color post every year on 5 Acres & A Dream The Blog, so I want to continue the tradition. Our autumn color starts in October and by the end of November the deciduous trees are bare. I took these pictures last weekend, when I took the goats for a walk in the woods. I'm glad I did because this weekend, the remnants of Hurricane Nicole have pretty much kept outdoor time to a needs-must status. 

Autumn's Last Hurrah © November 2022 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

My New Sewing Toolbox

We've been working on our winter project list, and one of my line items is mending. I have a huge pile of it, but have been frustrated because my sewing tools are never in one spot. Part of the problem is that my studio became a storage area when we started working on the house. The same was true of the extra bedroom, and every time we start working on another part of the house, everything gets moved and shuffled about. So nothing has a home, and I can never find anything. Some of my sewing tools are in baskets, some are the sewing machine cabinet, some are in the mending box, and some are ??? It seems I'm always hunting for something before I can get started. 

Time to get organized! When I found this cute wooden box for $3 at a resale shop, I couldn't resist buying it.

It's the perfect size to keep everything I need for sewing. 

Several of the items in the box are special to me.

These little wood boxes were gifts from my granddaughters.

One is perfect for safety pins, the other is perfect for my tape measure.

These came from my great-grandparents

The thimble is 10k gold and belonged to my great-grandmother. She was a quilter. The steel container that I use as a needle case was my great-grandfather's. The embossed words say. "Colgate & Co. Shaving Stick New York U.S.A."

Buttons are handy to have so I made a button lid for a half-pint canning jar.

Besides scissors, thread, and a pin cushion, other useful items ...

Needle threaders, scissors sharpener, seam ripper, and darning egg.

Everything fits nicely in the box and there's still enough room for small projects I'm working on. And it's decorative enough that I'll be happy to keep it out and not be tempted to stuff it away somewhere where it's out of sight. I think this is a good step toward a productive winter!

My New Sewing Toolbox © November 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Silicone Dehydrator Tray Liners

One of my learning projects this year has been learning how to make fruit and vegetable powders (like dried pear sauce and powdered tomatoes). The problem is that dehydrator trays are mesh. That works great for solid slices and pieces, but not so well for sauces and purees. I've tried both waxed and parchment paper, but they tend to stick to the food and need careful peeling off. This is a tedious extra step, so I finally decided to invest in some silicone tray liners for my dehydrator. The Excalibur brand is pretty expensive, but I bought some from Amazon for about $18 for a four-pack. 

They fit my Excalibur trays perfectly. I tested them out with more mashed potatoes for homemade instant mashed potatoes.

I really like that these have a rim on them. It made it easy to spread the pureed potatoes evenly.

When I checked on it after several hours, the top was dry but the underside was still wet. So I flipped the sheets of potatoes and dried them for several hours more.

The sheet of potatoes shrank, as dehydrated foods do, and the edges curled. But they didn't stick to the silicone tray liner! 

I broke them into chunks, powdered them in my blender, and transferred them to a storage jar.

I think this was a useful purchase for me because, unlike waxed or parchment paper, these are reusable, plus save frustration. I've slowly learned that not all purchases actually end up being useful, no matter how appealing the item was at the time. Learning to not succumb to impulse purchases has really helped in that department! A thoughtful purchase, on the other hand, is well worth it, even if the item is used only rarely. I don't mind putting time into any project, but being efficient with that time is important too.

Silicone Dehydrator Tray Liners © Nov 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Greenhouse: Framing

Here is Dan's progress since my last greenhouse post.

A door will go on the right.

That is pretty much the stopping point for now. The next thing to work out is the details for the windows, especially how to do with the roof. We have the wall windows, but we still have to source something for the roof. Lots of options, so lots of calculating, analyzing, and number crunching.

Greenhouse: Framing © November 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com