Final Harvest 2026

 Kyle and I just went down

to the garden to do the final harvest.

We picked 10 gallons of peppers.

And another several buckets full of

green tomatoes.

Some of the prettiest tomatoes,

except, of course, for the whole

GREEN thing.

We left HUNDREDS of tiny

green tomatoes on the plants.

(Picked a 2.5 gallon bucket

for the pigs though...)

Why? you ask?

The forecast looks like it's going to

be COLD tonight.

And since the garden is in the valley,

it usually gets a bit colder.

(This is the forecast for in town...)

Likely the plants will either be dead

or severely damaged by tomorrow.

I'm just going to spread them into

some cardboard boxes I kept from

when we got the peaches this summer.

I'll keep an eye on them over the next

few weeks and months and see if

any of them turn.

If not, the pigs love tomatoes.

We also picked a bunch of watermelon.

We will not be planting watermelon next summer.

It took MONTHS for them to ripen.

And they are FULL of seeds.

I'm going to cut these,

run them through the food mill to get

the seeds out and then pour the pulp

into some freezer molds I have and

freeze them and then run them through

the freeze dryer to powder and add

to yogurt or ice cream or white cake mix.

IF they taste good.

If not, more pig food.

(I love having pigs!)

Meanwhile, we also picked the last

of the useable okra.

Next year we plan to plant a LOT of

okra (for the amish auction)

and so we are going to need some of

those nifty harvest aprons.

It has a big pocket in the front and

when you release the straps,

it opens straight down so you

can just dump straight into a bucket.

The best thing, of course, is it leaves

both hands free for picking!

Garden Apron

I found this one at WalMart,

so I'm saving the link here so I'll remember

where it is when I need to buy them

next spring.

I've seen several people who use them,

but put a big silver bowl in the pocket

to pick into. Kind of holds the pocket

open and makes it easier to pick into.

For $12 I'm willing to give it a try!

Anyhow.

Jim is on his way over so he and

Kyle can get the freeze dryer off the

shelf in the prep room and onto a

pallet so we can ship it back and

get it repaired.

(We've been BUSY!)

And now I need to go get ready

for tonight's class.

I need to send emails to all the

students for this weekend's

LA class as well.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

We will be here,

enjoying the fall weather!

(It goes back into the 70 and 80s

next week...)

Raining.... again.

 It's cold.

And wet.

It was only forecasted to get to 50.

But it never made it over 48.

Luckily Rod had some stuff to do in

the attic, so he was warm..... lol.

Before we blow in the insulation,

he needed to change some of the

plumbing - the vent in the laundry room

should have gone into the attic instead

of just into the room.

It smells.

(grin)

He will need some help from one

of the guys - it will take 2 people

and I don't really DO ladders.

But, I was helping him as much as I could.

Like handing up boards for him to stretch

across the joists so he didn't crash through

the ceiling....

I had planned to pressure cook a bunch

of the honey nut squash and get it into

the freezer, but I didn't do that.

I also didn't bake any cookies.

(I was going to do that just to kind

of warm up the house a bit...)

Tonight I'm in my office with a space heater

and the curtain closed on the room.

It's TOASTY in here.

(And quite chilly - 62 - in the rest of

the house, but no need to heat the entire

house if I'm the only one home, in my office.)

However, with about 20 minutes left in my

class tonight, there was a crash of lightning/

thunder and an instant huge rain deluge.

And the power flickered.

Just enough to crash my zoom.

Rod is on his way home from Mutual.

But it's only sprinkling now.

I turned on the porch light.

And I'll fire up the furnace when he gets here.

In the meantime,

I had a nice visit with Mom on the phone

this morning. We are going to switch our

weekly calls to Wednesday since she might

get the opportunity to go to the temple

on Tuesday mornings!

How wonderful for her!!

I have an RS Presidency meeting tomorrow

morning at 8:30.

It's going to stay chilly through the end 

of the week with the low on Friday night

(well, early Saturday morning)

of only 29!!!!

And then it pops right back up into the

70s with 50's overnight.

So just the next few days.

Just practicing for winter I guess.

Anyhow.

I think I hear Rod in the yard.

Better get some dinner heated up.

(Yea for leftover pulled pork!)

No More Tomatoes!

 Whew!

I pulled the bags and bags and bags

of frozen tomatoes out of the freezer

and let them thaw in the sink in

the prep room.

(It took nearly 2 days....)

So this morning when it was all thawed,

I stood at the kitchen sink and

squished all the guts out of the skins,

put those in a bucket,

and then ran the guts through the 

food mill to get the seeds and any

other hard parts out.

(Like the core...)

Romas don't always have a core,

but when they do, it's pretty tough.

Anyhow...

I ended up with 2 big pots of

tomato sauce on the stove.

(And a BIG MESS.....)

I seasoned it up, allowed it to simmer

for a couple hours, 

and then got it into pint jars.

They went into the pressure canners

just about the time I started class tonight.

So at first break I opened up the canners

and let a little cool air in

(to avoid syphoning...)

and then got them out onto the counter.

Every one of them sealed!

(On the internet, everybody is complaining

about the Ball brand lids and saying they

just aren't getting a good seal....

but every one of these were Balls and 

they all sealed just fine. I'll take the bands

off tomorrow and double check, but

tonight they all look good!)

We now have thirteen more pint jars

of seasoned spaghetti sauce.

Tomorrow I'll put cute little labels on

all of them and get them on the shelf.

And we are DONE with tomato products

for 2026!!!!!

YEA!!!!

(We still have lots of other stuff to

process, but I needed those out of the

freezer so I have room for the other stuff.)

Congratulations to GREG on an AWESOME

half-marathon!!!!!

So proud of you!

Hope you aren't toooooo sore!

Wichita Temple Trip and More Walls

 Yesterday we got up and headed south

to Wichita to volunteer at the open house.

We were signed up to be "Talking Point" 

guides - they give you a card to read from

and you stand in one of the rooms and share

with the folks on the tour what the card says

before they move to the next room.

After a lovely drive (3+ hours) we stopped

at the Taco Bell up the street for a quick

burrito and bathroom break and then

headed to the volunteer tent.

Where we were NOT on the list of volunteers.

(Our Relief Society President texted and 

asked if we wanted to pick one of the days

she had left - she signed us up...)

Anyhow.

The talking point jobs were already covered,

so Rod ended up in the parking lot with a

UV umbrella and a yellow vest and stick to

help people know where to park.

Sometimes he sat down...

They made sure he had lots of nice cold

water bottles. 

I ended up on the veranda (where I could keep

an eye on him) putting shoe covers on

people before they went in for their tour.

When we were done, we went into the

distribution center to get him a new white shirt,

and then slipped into a tour group to go through

the temple again.

Tomorrow is the final day of the open house.

They were at over 12,000 visitors by Thursday.

And were expecting big crowds today and

Saturday. (YSA conference, AND three

mission reunions!)

Meanwhile, today Rod worked at the hardware

store from 10-4 and I puttered around the house.

Tuesday he finished the other side of the wall

under the west side of the house and on

Wednesday he got started on the east side.

Ran out of concrete to put in the blocks, so had

to pick up more when he went into Hays for Mutual.

We are getting closer to having it all closed in

for the winter!

Jim and Kyle went and worked on the new fence

for our friends - got all 57 posts in the ground

and concreted. They will let those cure over the

weekend and be back on Monday to put up the wire.

And now.... dinner is ready!

Hope Connecticut is treating you well Rozann & Greg!

New Island

 The new island is finally

ALL DONE!!!!!

So this morning, we decided to

eat our breakfast sitting there.

It was very nice!

We have some fun place mats that have

yellow lemons on them to protect

the wood, but with the wonderful

varnish, it says it is protected from 

scratches AND household cleaners.

It was fun to sit there though.

(I was going to eat breakfast there yesterday,

while Rod was at work,

but it was a little chilly in the house and

there was some yummy sunshine hitting

his recliner, so I sat there instead... lol.)

Anyhow.

It looks so nice!

I just love it!!!

Jim had another good day selling his

pumpkins, AND he got a nice write up

on Facebook from one of the residents.

It goes on to say "and Jim is very friendly"

or something like that.

And then there were some nice comments

from some of the folks who already bought

pumpkins from him.

He's enjoying meeting some of the folks

from town.

He said he's pretty sure he has waved

at EVERY resident in town and several

of them multiple times!

He's set up on one of the "busier" spots

in town and most folks drive by there.

Rod got the whole east side of the cinder

blocks under the house and today he

started on the west side.

Got 2 layers on, but then ran out of

the mortar so had to go get more while

he was in town for Mutual.

Kyle loaded up his excavator and dug

a trench for the EQ President and his

wife. (The people who actually own

Winston, the guardian dog who has been

living here for the last year while they

decided how / where they wanted their

new fence.) They have finally made

the final decision, and the weather is

finally cooperating.

(NOBODY wants to build fence when

it's in the 100's... and then we had all that

rain, and you can't fence in the mud either.)

Kyle will be ordering all the fencing material

and picking it up tomorrow probably

while Rod and I run down to Wichita to

volunteer at the new temple.

Anyhow.

Life continues to be one adventure

after another around here.

Punkins!

 Jim set up his pumpkins in the back

of his truck and parked in a really

good spot there in town.

He had several folks come by,

one lady bought TEN of them!

Another picked up 2.

And another lady bought a couple.

It's still early in the month, and

today is was still 90 degrees.

It just doesn't really feel like fall yet.

Next week we are expecting a cold

front coming through, and I think that

will help people feel a little more

like decorating for fall.

Fingers crossed!

Monday Musings

 There is stuff to do.

But I don't want to do it.

(grin)

I could say it's because I taught

over the weekend.

Or because it's chilly in the house.

Or I'm a teeeeeny tiny bit burned out

on preparing food.

And all of that would be accurate.

I have cucumbers that need to be

put into the freeze dryer.

And tomatoes that need to come OUT

of the freezer.

And onions that need to be chopped

and put IN the freezer.

And a chest freezer that needs to be emptied,

inventoried, and organized.

And I need to get a big pot of soup on

the stove for dinner after class tonight.

(yum!)

But I don't WANT to do any of that.

Kyle came by and we went for a walk

up our magical path.

It's so pretty after the rain last week.

We got to the fence where we usually

turn around, and instead we headed up

the hill to the hill top tree.

If you squint really hard, you can

just barely make out the garden.

With my glasses on, I could just see

some of the white tops on the t-posts

and a couple of the orange buckets.

It was a lovely walk.

The dogs were tired!

(Bear starts with a trip to the pig yard

where he runs and plays with the big dogs,

and THEN they walk down to our house

and what ever walk we decide, and then

they still have to go back up the hills to

their house...)

So we stopped for a bit at the big stock

tank and Kyle lifted him in so he could

play in the leftover rain water.

Cool off and get a drink.

(I just dipped some water into a bowl

for Beau, he's not as big a fan of

"swimming" as Bear.)

Rod is busy putting another coat on the island.

In between getting the cinder blocks cemented

in under the house.

And Jim just arrived, so he and Kyle are down

harvesting pumpkins for Jim to take into 

town and try to sell now that it's October.

I guess I should get something done.

I blogged....... doesn't that count?

hahahaha.

(I also sat down and played my piano

for a bit - first time since we moved!)

Need to get ready to teach here in 2 hours.

And maybe I can have the guys help

put the freeze dryer on a pallet so we can

get it shipped back to Utah for repairs.

Ok.

Get crackin' girl!

Smallest Class EVER......

 Well.... not EVER.

But since I started teaching Louisiana.

I only had 17 students registered,

so was expecting a tiny class.

And then about 7:58 they started to

dribble on in.

And by the end of the first hour

I had 6. (And then somebody popped

in at 9:03.) 

Seriously?

You're gonna show up an HOUR LATE???

A few hours later she quit.

And then another student who was also

quite late quit.

And another.

And then there were FOUR.

Which doesn't make it very fun to play

Kahoot. Or have any real interaction.

On top of that, zoom decided to do an

update and EVERYTHING is different

and so much more difficult.

Sheesh.

Ain't broke - DON'T FIX IT!

It took me nearly 10 minutes to get

my zoom started. So I wasn't unhappy

that nobody was waiting for me right

at 7:30.

Anyhow.

Here's hoping they all decide to come

back again tomorrow.

It won't be any fun with only 2 or 3 students.

(When that happens in my night review

classes, I have "fake" students....

Stephanie, Michael, Jonathan and Emily.)

And they are GOOD students and get

all the answers right.

But in this class you have to have your 

camera on, so all the students can see you.

And it would be pretty obvious.

Oh well.

Rod is working today until 6 and then

running to the church to conduct a baptism,

so I won't see him until late.

Probably after 9:00.

I'm going to hop on the 4-wheeler and

run up to Kyle's. 

I went for a walk during my 3:00 break

down to the mailbox (where I got a fun

card from Mom, thanks!!!)

and I saw him grab the tractor with the

post hole digger on the back, so I want

to go see what he's up to.

And then I'm going to read a book.

Island Looking GOOD!

 Rod and I dashed into town

(Hill City) this morning and

picked up his paycheck and some

varnish for the island.

Also 2 boxes of brownie mix.

And a loaf of bread.

(grin)

And then he got started on the island!

Doesn't it look good???

It really brings out the grain and

the interest in the beautiful acacia wood.

And I'm happy that it's a little darker

than the floor.

Now it's a statement piece, not just an

extension of the floor colors.

This is after one coat and a light sanding.

We are going to let it dry overnight

(it was dry, but it's pretty chilly in the house

and it was balling up a little on the sander,

so we are going to give it another day...)

I hope to have a class tomorrow, but there

are only 17 students pre-registered... so we'll see.

He has to work at the hardware store and

then head straight into Hays for the baptism.

So there won't be time to do another coat.

So we will probably do one on Sunday between

conference sessions.

We'll see.

Anyhow.

I'm excited with how it is looking!!!

More Food Preserving

 We got a little more rain this morning.

About a quarter of an inch.

We ended with just over 3 inches

yesterday by the time we headed

off to bed.

But it's still pretty muddy out there.

Kyle was BORED after sitting

at his house with nothing to do

for 2 days.

He's not good at just sitting around.

So he and Bear walked down here.

And then he washed a bunch of

the red potatoes we harvested

a couple of months ago.

Then sliced them up and headed

into the kitchen to blanch them.

But first they had to soak for 

about half an hour to get some

of the starch out of them.

So while they were soaking,

we peeled, sliced, and seasoned a

bunch more cucumbers and got them

onto trays for the freeze dryer.

Ran down to the garden and picked another

milk crate full of cucumbers.

Jim will take them with him to the market

and see if he can sell them.

I'm out of seasoning, or I would put them

on trays for the freeze dryer too.

The onions FINALLY got done!

(They were pretty juicy...)

so I got them out of the freeze dryer

and into 2 big mylar bags and 3

quart jars for daily use.

I covered each of the trays with some cheap

white bread to help absorb some of the odor.

It worked really well!

I couldn't smell them at all while they were

in the machine and when I took them out

there was just the faintest onion smell.

And then I ran all the dried bread through

the food processor and made them into

really fine crumb to add to meatloaf.

They smelled delicious!

I got 2 quarts and most of 1 pint of crumbs.

That should last for awhile...

The potatoes are all sliced, blanched,

cooled and now they are on a bath towel

on the counter drying a bit before we

bag them up and put them in the freezer.

I can hear Kyle in the prep room going through the

big bucket of potatoes and sorting them.

We have a few more reds,

a couple purples (he took most of them up

to his house a few weeks ago) and lots of

yukon golds.

We got one basket of yellows.

A small tote of reds, and another small tote

of purples hiding in the background.

They are tiny, but they had a gazillion of them

on each plant and Kyle says they are tasty!

We ended up with 4 quart bags of sliced reds

to put in the freezer for this winter!

They will be delicious in the air fryer!

Meanwhile...

The road should be dry enough by tomorrow for

Rod to run into Hill City and pick up his paycheck

and a can of satin finish varnish.

Then he can finish working on the island.

I'm teaching this weekend,

and he's working at the hardware store

on Saturday from 10-6 and then needs to

run into Hays for a new member baptism

at 7:30. I need to send some cookies or 

something, but I used all my chocolate chips,

so I might just have him buy a bag at the

grocery store.

He won't have enough time to go to

WalMart to get any before the baptism.

Or maybe I'll have him pick up a box of

brownie mix tomorrow and I'll bake up a

batch of brownies to take.

We'll see....

You don't need to frost brownies, right?

Glug Glug Glug

 It's a little wet here...

It has been raining pretty steady all day.

And then about 4:00 it broke

and the sun actually came out for 

a few minutes.

Then, just about 15 minutes ago,

it opened up again for another deluge.

The time is wrong, it's 9:05 not 7:05...

We are now at 3.01 inches for 

this 24 hour period!

Kyle walked down during the break

so he and Bear could get out of the

house. He said it was pretty muddy.

So we are all just staying in

for the next day or so.

Rod spent the morning sanding the

top of the big island.

And then an hour or so CLEANING

all the fine dust off everything

in the house.

(hahahahaha)

It created a nice fine mess,

but it sure looks and feels nice!

If we are ever able to get out

of the property again,

he's going to run to his hardware

store and get some varnish and

we will coat it so it will be protected.

I don't want to spend forever saying

"Ack! Don't put that on the island!!!"

We want to be able to LIVE here.

I'm excited to see how pretty it will

turn out with a nice clear satin finish.

It's such beautiful wood!

Anyhow.

I just finished class.

Rod just cooked us a nice big pot

of spaghetti (with our home grown

and home canned sauce!) 

so I'm going to go eat.

Stay warm and dry everybody!

(Most of us were in the path of 

this one.... it says it will stop

raining here sometime overnight.

And then the cold front comes in

so we have a high in the 60s and lows

in the 40's but then it jumps right

back to perfect fall weather again.)

Nite all!

ONIONS & Hurricanes

 I've been promising myself I would

process the onions.

But I keep putting it off......

So today I pulled the mango out

and set the machine to defrost,

and started on the onions.

I made a nice dent in the basket.

There are still a LOT left...

but most of them are still nice

and firm and juicy.

Kyle said the internet told him these

are NOT storing onions and are

only good for 3-4 months after harvest.

But its already been 3 months and

they are storing just fine.

I'll probably put the basket under

the shelf next to the squash and leave

them until later.

We have PLENTY.

Kyle processed a WHOLE BUNCH and

froze them in his chest freezer in his shed.

And I did 5 trays for the freeze dryer.

I read on the internet that if you put

bread slices on the top of them,

it helps to keep the smell down

AND (bonus) when you are done,

you have onion flavored croutons!

We'll see.

All I can tell you is every time we open

the freezer.... HOLY ONION BATMAN!

I'm in my office and Rod needs to open

the freezer to get some ice (I put it in

a tub with a LID, hopefully it doesn't taste

like onion...) and then he needed to

get the pizza for tonight's dinner.

And I'm in here with my eyes BLEEDING!

(hahahahahaha)

Anyhow.

I'll probably have to change the oil

after this run.

But I need to get them OUT of my

freezer.

So I'll start the batch in the morning.

Meanwhile,

Rod and Kyle have been working on

getting the bottom of the house

all closed in for the winter.

Looking good!

It's 1/4 of the way done.

But now that they have finished this section,

it always goes faster on the next runs,

since you know what you are doing.

So hopefully they will be able to finish.

However, the hurricane is a'comin'.

Who knew we would still be thinking

about hurricanes after moving to Kansas!

They are predicting between 3 and 5 inches

of rain over the next 3 days.

We have a flood warning until Thursday.

So, probably no work on the house.

And Kyle will not be going into town.

(He won't be able to get his car out

of his driveway... it gets REALLLY thick

with sticky, slippery mud.)

I plan to can some more spaghetti

sauce and run the freeze dryer some more.

I think the rest of us are all getting rain

this week too, right?

I know Utah and Arizona are both in

the path... so get out your snorkles!

Good luck everybody!