Miscellany

Just a quick post to show some effort and highlight a few developments.

Garden Menu
A lot of new things from the field lately. Ichiban eggplant, garden salsa peppers..., juliette tomatoes are doing well.., a lot of summer squash and even a few cukes. Oh, and okra! Some heirloom toms coming on; Brandywine and German Stripe. I had potatoes new this week; Yukon Gold and Nordland Red (All Blue and Purple Peruvians coming in a few weeks). The beans are winding down a bit but should have a few at market. Hope to have more later in the fall. More garlic, onions, beets and chard. Lots of cut flowers! And only $1 per dozen!


Goat Milk Soap
My neighbor has made some wonderful natural goat's milk soap and honey lip balm. The soap comes in different scents; Lavender & Chammomile, Cinnamon, Oats & Honey and Cedar, Frankincense and Myrrh. 1.5 ounce Guest Bars are $2 and 3.5 ounce Body Bars are $4. Lip Blam is $2.



Broilers and Fyers
All my broilers and fryers are now dressed and in the freezer. We took 113 down to Arthur for processing just last Thursday. The Amish are much more efficient at it. Very nice to have that out of the way. We do have plenty for sale. The Cornish broilers are $3 / lb. and average 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 lbs. The heritage breed fyers are $3.50 / lb. The birds are smaller with a wonderful flavor. They average 2 3/4 - 4 lbs.


Goodbye Garden
I recently got the official word from the lady who rented me the garden land that she does not want to rent to me next year. In fact she asked that I have everything out by the end of Septmeber but I talked her into letting me stay until the end of October when the bloomington market ends. She was unhappy with losing her privacy (she lives in the country with no neighbors), the bees I had my cousin bring for pollinating the garden, comments from others about the weeds and various minor complaints. All of these things upset her so much that she exclaimed that she "felt like she had lost a whole summer".

It is just as well. The comments started back in April and since then I have literally felt unwelcome in my own garden. I had imagained spending whole days there and preparing lunch in the field, etc. I soon became self conscious of being there "disturbing her privacy" so that I would only do what seemed necessary and would leave. Gone were my visions of a work crew in the field, although I would occasionally muster a small version. I planted flowers around the garden for her benefit but the weeds made a poor backdrop. I would dleiver fresh produce and flowers but perhaps this only increased the violation of her privacy.

If I thought it would not bother her I would have left the whole field go to weeds or pasture for a season just to rest it and let the soil grow what it wanted for a change. But I knew she would not approve so i thought to try to keep them in check. Later, when it became clear that the landlady was unhappy with us there, I no longer felt as much pressure to keep the weeds in check so I started to let them go. We would still remove a few especially where they interfered with what we wanted to grow but it was more play fight than real battle. If there was one lesson I learned it is that weedy gardens can still give good harvests. I've had the same experience this year.

I'm sure something will turn up. I started from scratch once so I will do it again. I'm disappointed that I will not get the benefits to the soil that will not pay off until next year. To me it is such a shame the care we took with the soil only to have it sprayed and plundered next year. I take consolation in that I gave it one year of rest and love. It is a great year for learning and I have no regrets.