Garlic farm

we went on a field trip to Hugick Garlic Farm and got to see their curing process. we also each got a jar of this black garlic salt, which we all love!

That afternoon, we constructed our own wood frame for curing and the boys snipped chicken wire and stapled it along the edge.  

Now we are curing the garlic heads that grew from the cloves we planted last Oct.  It's pretty neat to think each clove will produce 7 more cloves underground, all winter and spring.  We will plant more this fall!

Last week we brought a basket of fruit to church to be blessed, as is the tradition in the Orthodox church on the feast of Transfiguration.  My belly is getting big!  We got some gifts in the mail, cloth diapers, wipes, onesies...and I ordered a one piece rubber pacifier + an amber necklace.  My cousin has a gently used carseat for us.  A friend gave us a used stroller and a diaper changing table.  I plan to give it a fresh coat of white paint.  All neutral, since we don't know if baby is a boy or girl.  I decided to make a wishlist, after my sister-in-law asked:  https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/C71D4EHSN5V2?ref_=wl_share

Just harvested more tomatoes yesterday.  We have all these little ones, yellow, sun gold orange and the cherry tomatoes!

Summer garden harvest

Tomato season!  Also, our garlic is ready to harvest.  It's hardneck, so we cut the flowering tops (scapes) to cook with (excellent in quinoa salad or a quiche) in June.  When the bulbs dry, that's curing them and they should last for months.  We have so many weeds in our garden currently.  I haven't made time to pull the weeds.  Below you'll see those Colorado potato bugs on our potato leaves...we've been using diatomaceous earth, but it's rained so much recently that we have to reapply.

Honestly, I haven't checked my blog in a few weeks.

Paul made beeswax candles in his summer class.

We've had quite a few visitors the past couple weeks.  My Goddaughter and her family, my cousin and then my aunt!

Mama American guinea hog gave birth to 4 piglets, then the other had 5 yesterday!

We went to the Otseaga for brunch this past Sat. It overlooks our fav lake.  You can see how big my belly is now.  33 wks along now.

Lots of time spent at the beach on this lake.  Three Mile Point is where we like to go, it's a place that was once owned by the author James Fenimore Cooper and his family.  And not too far away is Cooperstown.

Oops, that's pollen on his nose, from smelling the tiger lilies at church!

Blueberry picking

We picked 25 pounds of blueberries for $4/pound at Ingall's organic farm on Sat.

My youngest aunt, Sarah, came, too.

Days at the lake, the best place to go when it's hot and humid!  

There's a lavender farm where you can cut your own bouquet, 100 stems for $10.  The whole area smelled beautiful.  Honey bees were on the lavender blossoms. Can you see the bee?

I would like to get a chicken weathervane like this one for the top of our barn.  Oh, our little chicks have grown so much these past 3 weeks.  I'm certain the white one is a rooster. I hope we can have a peaceful relationship with two roosters. The adult rooster we have now is much kinder than the one we had last year.  He finds something to eat and calls the hens over.  So, now we have 32 chickens in all.  We're getting about 20 eggs/day.  When the hens start to molt and stop laying for a few months, the "teenage" hens should be old enough to start laying.  I have water-glassed eggs to preserve them.  If you have hens and haven't done this, it's pretty easy. Just 1 oz. hydrated lime mixed in 1 quart water and gently place clean, but unwashed eggs in, and cover and sit at room temperature in a dark place.

This kitten is Pumpkin.  He is 3 months old.  We got him from a family whose baby was just baptised this weekend.  We also had a graduation party to go to again this weekend and they had sparklers for the kids as dusk came.  

Summer concerts in the park, FREE and fun.  Last week was polka music!  

I just made a blueberry pie filling using arrowroot powder. I haven't been baking much, but the temperature has cooled off a bit, which is really nice.

Digging

My husband has an excavator and has been digging trenches to run water lines 4 feet deep (where they shouldn't freeze), to hydrants near the pasture where the sheep and cows are... Should make this winter a little easier.  Their water trough freezes, our hose would also freeze, so we had been hauling buckets out to them.

George found a pretty stripe feather.  He collects eggs:  https://youtu.be/ub0CDLl_bP8

Our cows like to eat burdock leaves.  Here's another video:  https://youtu.be/ne8hG7GSquI

A friend gave us this bouquet of flowers from her garden.  Aren't they beautiful?

Strawberry rhubarb

we'll be trying out a strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe and making jam tomorrow!  Below, is the rhubarb patch and I've plucked off several flowering stems already.

Have you had carpal tunnel issues?  I'm dealing with it now and it's worse at night.  I've used ice packs, amber bracelet, cypress essential oil, magnesium supplements also magnesium flakes dissolved in water to apply to my wrists and hands.  I had this with my previous pregnancy and am pretty sure it's due to my weight gain and the extra blood for the baby and placenta.  My midwife said it will likely go away after baby is born.  I haven't been crocheting much as any repetitive action makes it worse.

We've had days in the 80s, but cool mornings in the 60s.  I got these new wool socks at a fiber fest near us!  We talked to two people who can process the wool from our sheep, into fleece, roving or yarn, but it is expensive.  

I've made this quinoa salad a few times recently.  It's wonderful as a cold summer salad.  I add chopped peppers, red onions, cucumbers, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.  Any summer dishes you've made that you can share?