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| I laugh every time I see this pic! |
My neighbor (the only close one) has a huge pear tree. That dang thing is at least 30 foot tall. It is full of fruit all the way to the very top of the tree. She told me that the pears this year are really small (and they are) compared to last years crop. This year though (because of the drought and the heat I'm sure) the pears are pretty small. Smaller than a baseball but very sweet. Her horses have eaten all the ones they could reach. Anyway, she and I picked two big grocery sacks full of pears for me to take home! She told me that I could have all I wanted if I wanted to get up there and pick them.
I thought about it but I weenied outwith this excuse. Pitiful I know. I have a pinched nerve right now and two fingers on my left hand are numb. It's hard to hold anything right now. I didn't realize how handy your pinky finger was before! LOL That's why it took me almost a week to get the ones we picked processed. Those little pears fought back but I finally won. lol
The nice thing about it is that next year I'll be able to put up as many as I want!! Pretty awesome, huh?
It took some time but I finally got the pears all processed and put up. Several quarts of sliced pears and several pints of Pear Honey are now smiling at me in pretty Mason jars! I had never heard of pear honey before but I'm glad I did. It's really good. And it really does taste like honey!! Of course I veered off the original recipe some. I always do it seems... But the original recipe calls for cooking it on top of the stove for two or three hours while tending to it so it doesn't stick or burn. Right now, I just don't have time for that. I did it in the crock pot and it worked great!
We are still piddling around in the garden. Most of the squash has blooms on it and so far no sign of those DAMN squash bugs! I've got my fingers crossed. I've got a new weapon for them now. Look out, I'm armed!!! I swear one day I am gonna have a decent squash crop!!!
The okra is still gong like gangbusters. I've been picking it daily and drying it. I need to count up how many jars I have put up so far. Anyway, there's no sign of it slowing down any time soon. I don't mind. I love me some fried okra!
I've got some beans planted too. I really liked the Cherokee Trail of Tears this spring and didn't get to put up enough of them. I'm hoping for another crop this fall. They are looking good right now. This spring I also planted some dixie butter peas. I'd never tried them before either. They didn't produce too much over the summer but are really taking off well now. They are actually from the lima bean family but put out smaller rounder peas. We love beans around here so I'm excited.
All the peppers are starting to recover from the heat. They all were trying to produce this summer but could only push out little tiny premie peppers. They are loaded with blooms again and the peppers are starting to get bigger. 4 of the bell pepper plants I put inare called Keystone. They have produced like crazy and with huge peppers in the spring. I'm hoping they'll do it again this fall. I'm saving seeds to. I bought the plants so I really don't know "what kind" they are. I did buy them from a local place though. Hopefully, they will be viable seeds and I can regrow them. We'll see.
Hmmmm.... what else has been going on around here. We are putting parts of the garden to bed. Trying to get a head start on some of it. I'm set to pick up two rabbits (does) next week. Rabbits are a big part of the plan around here so I sure need things to work out this time. I've had
The chicks aren't chicks anymore but full fledged chickens. Some are starting to lay but its still sporadic. It shouldn't be long now before we have plenty of fresh eggs again. We've got 5 roosters that will be headed off to dinner once it gets a little cooler. I've never offed a chicken before so stay tuned for what I'm sure to be quite an experience.
~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ...~~~
Oh, I wish we had pears on our trees! Still too young. Pear honey sounds splendid.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any nasty roosters? Call PETA on me, but I practically smiled when I offed one of the meanest roosters to make soup out of him.
Carolyn, I promise I won't call PETA on you if you don't call them on me. What gets into some of these roosters anyway?? Geesh... I've got one that I've had to pen up by himself. He's so mean he'd probably kick his own butt if he could reach it. I have a feeling it won't be smiling I'll be doing when he gets his... I'll just try to keep from laughing!
DeleteThis is how my mother "offed" chickens. Grab up two of them by the feet, holding them up-side down. Then put the head of a chicken under each foot and pull up, popping the heads off. Throw the chickens in a clean trashcan with a lid until they quit flopping. Scald in boiling hot water for a minute or two and pluck. Then clean the innards out saving the giblets.
ReplyDeleteConfession! I've seen Mother do this several times. I, however, am not, evidently, strong enough or I'm doing it wrong, because it doesn't work for me. I've also tried wringing a chicken's neck that wasn't successful either. I find an ax quicker, more humane and easier on my psyche. Reading about your adventures in chicken processing will be interesting.
Sounds like your mom knew exactly what she was doing. As for my chicken adventures being interesting I don't know but I'm willing to bet they'll at least be entertaining. LOL
DeleteSci, On keeping the bunnies cool. I had good luck using a water soked burlap bag and a Fan/wind? I didn't lose any even when it got over 100 degrees for several days. I live in S.W. Idaho and we don't get the humidity like y'all do but it might help! A lot of farm stores have burlap bags and those coffee shops that grind their own coffee has those 50 pound bags for free or cheap.
ReplyDeleteYou can also use those big bags for growing potatoes
That's a good idea! I hadn't thought of burlap bags. Of course,I was using ice bottles but I think the lack of moving air was probably the culprit. I'll have to look into some bags. I've also been thinking some sort of cheep mister might work as well. Thanks for the great idea!
DeleteI love me some pear jelly. Sadly, my source moved away...
ReplyDeleteCraig, it sucks about your pear source. Maybe next year I'll make some special for you!
DeletePear jelly sure has my mouth watering, but thinking of pear honey really rings my chimes!
ReplyDeleteI love your recipes, especially new ones!
Awwww Jim, thanks for stopping by and letting me "ring your chimes"!! lol have a Super Day my friend!
DeleteI just love pear honey! You need to try pear butter. YUMMMMM! Rabbits and heat DO NOT mix. I can have tons of rabbits in the winter though. Hopefully I will!
ReplyDeleteGirl, I'm so happy to have found this recipe. I'm sold on pear honey now. I've done pear butter, as a matter of fact I still have a couple of jars from a couple of years ago. I don't the the pear honey is gonna last that long though!! Hopefully we'll both have a bunch o' bunnies in the freezer soon.
ReplyDeleteWow, you sound great! It's hard to imagine a garden that's yet to produce such fragile plants as peppers. Our first frost will be here any time in the next 2 weeks and I can really feel it coming - especially in the evening. Your canning cupboard must be full - full - full. Sounds wonderful as does the pear honey. I've never heard of it, but with 2 of my favourite ingredients how can it go wrong?
ReplyDeleteOK, I need that recipe! Is it using the pealings etc Like peach slip jam/honey? Do tell!
ReplyDelete