Wonderful fall supper

As we anxiously await the first real snow of the season, or so they say... we had a most wonderful evening with my dear friend and spiritual adviser PB and his wife, Karen.
Sunday was gray, all day. But, not too chilly until the sun went down. Naturally, it is officially soup weather. It is after all nearly November. We dined on wonderful vegetable soup with everything local, including the soup bones. We had marvelous fresh baked bread and butter and for dessert, rhubarb crisp with ice cream.
Not wanting to do too many dishes on a Sunday evening I set the table in an eclectic collection of plates and extras. I decided to offer jellies and left them on the table in their respective jars, not ever once checking to see the condition of aforementioned preserves. Somehow in my brain, I'm thinking jelly has so much sugar it rarely spoils, or does it.
Not until the very end of soup and bread did Karen open a jar of plum jam. I could tell by the way she hesitated that something was not quite right. Lo and behold, mold.
That's right, I tried to serve moldy jam to the pastor's wife. Wow. I was stunned and felt really embarrassed. From now on, I will serve jams and jellies in little tiny cups with spoons so I can see first if they are past their prime. One forgets how quickly food used to spoil, before the days of preservatives anyway. I usually freeze my bread and cookies immediately after we have sampled the fresh-baked taste. While most conventional loaves of bread don't show mold until five weeks, most of my home-baked bread spoils in five days or less. It does not go to waste, I do try and feed the birds with stale bread. Now, weather or not the raccoons or some other wild animals beats me to it... well - I'll never know.
 It was a blessed evening and one that was a long time coming. We cleaned the house furiously on Saturday and did most of the cooking before hand so we could sit and visit. Truly a wonderful Sunday reminiscent of the days of my youth when Sundays were reserved for family and food. There was a time that my mom and her sisters were not even allowed to pick up a scissors on Sunday because that was considered work. It's raining this morning... wet and wonderful. For sure today the rest of the carrots must be removed from the garden... just couldn't get them out of the cold hard ground yesterday. It should be softened by now and so sometime before the predicted snow I will be outdoors enjoying one last moment of fall. And hey, it's Monday, so in a few minutes I must officially go to work. May your Monday be full of wonderful surprises, friends, good food and a warm home.

Changing of the seasons

Summers like this one are far and few between. First, we received ample rain and heat to make our gardens go wild and then... one moment of hail and that's the end of the row -- literally.
There were signs everywhere. Things reminiscent of the days between school's beginning and end. The days where we were allowed to run at large as children exploring. Discovering what the world was made of. Not necessarily understanding everything, including ourselves and our relationships. These summers free from the indoors were as important, if not more important, than any classroom studies.
Dirt devils. Before the vacuum we saw dusty tornadoes in fields and along the gravel roads on which we learned to ride our bikes. The weather ran hot and cold and could change in a moment's notice so one had to be always aware of the sky. Big and blue and filled with wonderful clouds, a friend of mine deduced that storms began in the Badlands. And if you heard every evening on the news the potential for thunder coming from the west, he's probably right.
I love the storms, I do not however appreciate the fact that my beautiful community garden plow has been destroyed by hail this week. The squash leaves are completely gone exposing the now blemished fruit. Big, small, green, orange and pale white, the squash in varying stages naked on the straw mulch.
My garden north of town escaped without a single incident and I'm grateful for that, but really disappointed that I will not be harvesting those Black Krim tomatoes in bushel baskets. (I tasted a nearly ripe one and they are AWESOME. Put them on the list for January's seed order.)
While we may not have been outdoors at the crack of dawn as children, I have rarely missed a sunrise and those of late have been spectacular. Between the cold and hot air, the river temperature and the rolling green valley, the sun has been masked behind moisture for its first hour. Whether clouds or mist, the color has been red - red - red filtered.

And, there are the birds, bugs, snakes and bees. Delightful. The deer, well I could do without. They eat my flowers young and tender. Nearly every morning this week, two spotted babies graze across the lawn, passing up the lush nearby fields. Must be easier to graze the low lawn.
It will be another very hot day today, and maybe more storms, so I must go now and gaze upon my garden and enjoy its beauty and bounty - for who knows.... in a heartbeat, it may be gone.

Our potato experiment

It could have worked. Next year, it will. There's a patch of natural weeds to the south of our garden spot just begging for some attention. Since there's not need to till your garden each year, I talked JC into helping me with the potato experiment.
Because I cannot resist seed catalogs I ordered 25 sets of red, white and blue potatoes. (The hummingbird is behind me.) We do not have room in the garden for all those plants so we thought if we could make use of the little property beside it we would learn a few things.
So we thought if we used some Roundup to kill the weeds, dug some holes (85 in all) and planted potatoes, we could super mulch and the weeds would stay away and the potatoes would thrive. We have sandy river-bottom soil.
Well, it began good and well, but as the days passed the weeds became stronger and stronger. We are thinking the weeds were not thoroughly killed and they came back, with a vengeance. Even after mulching with straw and paper; almost creating a paper mache around each plant, the spurge and showy milkweed among other natives just wouldn't give up.
The potatoes survived, at least most of them, but by comparison to the ones in the garden in town, they are tiny.... and that's too bad, I was really looking forward to some awesome colored spuds.
So yesterday while roaming around in the jungle of a garden I thought I would see what was under those tiny plants. Well, guess what, there's potatoes down there. Not huge, but we got a late start. I was very excited and so plans are to pull those at the end of summer and begin the kill system again... somehow, we should be able to get some thing to flourish and extend our garden, our local eating and our work. It's okay. The reward of fresh food outweighs anything that closely resembles work in the garden.

Thanksgiving

Wow, the end of the month already and here we are ... no snow? I'm puzzled a bit because it's hard to get in the spirit of things without some kind of winter weather. It's gray out today, but didn't rain or snow last night like predicted.
So how thankful are you this year? I actually feel somewhat guilty when I hear stories of unemployment and food pantry lines getting longer and longer. We are so very fortunate to live in a state where folks are responsible and sensible with money matters. We also still like to work, or at least we realize we need jobs to keep providing for our families. In my current job I have had the pleasure of meeting many new friends over the past year and we all like vegetables, gardening, cooking and canning.
I'm grateful for that.
I'm also thankful that our family is safe and in good health. I'm praying for a good next year as there are always many changes on the horizon.
Give thanks, be happy...

Mandan Community Garden

We had a great turnout at the Mandan Community Garden meeting tonight. It was kinda exciting to see the renewed interest in gardening in Mandan. We platted the spot at Dacotah Centennial Park and I can already imagine the plants growing. My little tomatoes are doing well. Yesterday I planted some more basil and some peppers. The basil popped up overnight. Wow, I brought a "greenhouse" with little plant pellets that grew with a bit of water. Then I put them in the oven with the light on. It's hot in there. The seedlings are going to love it there. I'm so excited to plant some things in the ground, so very excited. Gotta go now, just got home and there are things to do...