Updates and fall gardens

The summer with its plethora of weddings and travel came to an abrupt and bittersweet end with the start of classes this week (I'm still avoiding the bookstore like the plague).  The transition this year is especially defined by the changing seasons as we wrap up the summer growing season of abundant tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers and begin planning for the fall.  

Although the weather still feels like summer, we've been busy at the farm planting broccoli (over 600 starts!), cabbage, and cauliflower; harvesting winter squash; still picking blueberries; and generally getting ready for the fall.  With so many other commitments and a busy school schedule, I'll just be working at Twin Springs one day a week for the rest of the fall.  Although it will make my time even tighter, I'm looking forward to having a break from the hectic schedule around Charlottesville to continuing learning on the farm.

Other things going on that I'll hopefully update soon include our recent trip to Chicago and the beautiful Millennium Park gardens, the UVa Community Garden that I'm managing this year, and some insights from my classes.  Hooray - lots more stories to share!  For now, though, I'll keep this short and just share some recent photos from the farm and a depressing shot of the end of my own garden plot (see below to understand.....)

Watermelons ripening at the farm...can't wait until they're ready!

Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower starts

Broccoli start planted with red clover as cover crop

Some of the winter squash harvest - Kabocha Orange and Delicata.

Hungarian sweet hot peppers a row of okra and close up okra plants in the hoop house.

Evidence of raccoons in my garden - most depressing day ever when I realized they ate almost all of my much anticipated sweet corn......

Pickle Making Party

I remember my mom making bread and butter pickles every summer when I was little.  I think I was always too busy eating the still warm pickles, though, to actually learn how to make them.  To remedy this, we had a "pickle making party" one Saturday afternoon on a recent trip to Arkansas to see my family.  I was definitely excited to learn some canning skills (something I think everyone should know how to do) and spend some quality time with my family.

The pickling making crew included Mom-mom (my grandmother), my mom, Pat (my aunt), Dori (my sister), and me. Mom-mom provided the kitchen, Mom brought extra cutting boards and vegetables to pickle, Pat brought fresh dill from her garden, Dori brought bags and bags of fresh cucumbers from her garden, and I showed up as a surprise!

We spent about the first hour chopping cucumbers and other vegetables to pickle and sterilizing the first set of pint and quart jars.  Then it was on to measuring, mixing, boiling, and filling jars.  The whole process was actually much easier than I imagined - basically just a lot of cucumbers, vinegar (and a few other ingredients), boiling water, and jars.  

The bread and butter pickle recipe came from my great-grandmother and has been passed down through my mom's family for years.  I forgot to actually write the family recipe down, though, so I'll have to be sure to get that later!  Hopefully one day I'll be using it to make pickles with my kids!  

We also used a ladle that had belonged to Mom-mom's grandmother - my great, great grandmother - which was probably about 100 years old!  Talk about passing on tradition!  

When we started the afternoon, I don't think anyone realized just how many cucumbers my sister had grown.  It definitely got tiring and more than a little hot with all of that boiling water, but after about 5 hours (yes 5 hours!) of pickling we finally finished our last jar for a total of ten gallons of pickles!  

Since I was flying out the Monday after our party and carrying on my luggage, I unfortunately wasn't able to actually bring any pickles home with me.  Mom is planning to mail me a few pint jars, though, so I can enjoy the fruits of our labor later.  I'll let you know how they taste in a few weeks :)  In the meantime, I'd love to hear about your pickling and/or canning experiences!

My sister and I boiling cucumbers - I think the ideas was for us to learn by repetition - I 'm pretty sure we both stood by that stove for almost five hours (note my gross sweaty armpit and our natural "glow")!

My sister, Mom-mom, me, and Mom with all of the finished pickles.

Mom, Mom-mom, and Pat with the pickles

It's a dirty job...

This is a quick post until I have time to upload some photos from my pickle making extravaganza!

I went to the grocery store this evening with a rotten zucchini blossom smashed on the front of my shirt.  

Not a big deal, except I didn't notice the mushy mess until I was checking out.  Awkward.

Thank goodness I was only buying a few things and could quickly scoot out of the store before the checkout clerk had time to make any comments.

These are the kinds of things that happen when I try to cram too much into my schedule.  I had just made a mad dash through my garden before running to the grocery store tonight to try to take advantage of the last few minutes of day light.  Of course I hadn't been to my garden for a few days and everything was growing out of control so I harvested the monster zucchini (note to self:  do NOT leave zucchini unattended for a long weekend unless you are trying to grow softball bats), pulled a few weeds, propped up the tomato plants, and jumped in my truck to head to the store.  I never even thought to brush off my shirt.  

Oh well, I should be getting used to this type of thing by now.  I never seem to transition well from working in the dirt to being in public.

For instance, a few weeks ago I went to buy printer labels at Staples after work one night.  As usual, I was running late, squeezed in a quick trip to my garden, and didn't have time to go home and wash up before the store closed.  All was good and well until I got to the check out counter.  Conversation with the checkout guy sounded something like this:

Checkout guy:  "Dang!  Your hands are dirty.  Were you just fixing a car?"  

Me:  Glancing down at my hands and brushing a little chunk of dried mud on the counter "Oh, no, I was just working in the garden"

Checkout guy:  "Oh.  Geez, I didn't know gardening was that dirty."

Thankfully by this point my transaction was done so I could just nod, smile, and walk out the door leaving a small cloud of dust in my wake.

And even more recent.....

Just last week I went downtown to try to catch the showing of Fresh (the new foodie documentary).  Of course I didn't buy tickets in advance for what I knew would be a popular event, so I was once again running out the door to jump in my truck at the last minute.  On this same day, I had gotten stuck in a torrential downpour at work and was soaked through when I drove home from work less than an hour ago.  Well, needless to say, as soon as I sat down again in the driver's seat my clean, dry shorts were soaked.  No time to run back inside and grab a towel or change, though, had to get to that show!  

After parking about three blocks away, I briskly walked to the theater hoping if I walked quickly enough no one would really notice my very obvious wet bottom.  I didn't get any crazy looks or comments so I guess my plan worked - or people just felt sorry for the poor girl who sat in something wet.  

When I finally go to the theater, the show was sold out.  Dang!  I did, however, get to see a few people I knew outside (who all had thought ahead and bought tickets in advance) and chatted for a little bit, all the while strategically standing with my still wet bottom towards the brick wall.  Once everyone started to go inside, I slowly walked back to my truck feeling a little frustrated and deflated about missing what I am sure was a good event.

On my way back to the truck, I felt a little better when a guy on sidewalk was obviously checking out my legs.  I usually am totally aggravated by this, but just for that night, I smiled and thought to myself, yeah, I do have nice legs.

A few short steps later I realized I had mud streaks down my legs and a very obvious ring around my ankles where the rain had washed all the dirt earlier.   Sweet life.

Yeah, it's a dirty job sometimes. I better go take a shower.