I know hurricanes reek havoc on the southern part of the country but after having only a few inches of rain in Missouri for the past nine months, it was great to see a full day of light rain from hurricane issac make it's way to us in the Kansas City area from the gulf.
The chickens were out all day and really didn't now what the rain was. They weren't old enough to reremember the last time it rained. The water should help the apple, peach and pear trees, not to mention all the trees that made it through the drought. We lost half of our landscaping shrubs. Oh well, you can eat those anyway!
The grapevines are still questionable. We'll see how they do in the next few months.
I've been watering the garden almost everyday. Cantalopes are doing well, peppers and carrots survived. Not much else. Some swiss chard, it really is hard to kill, and a few tomato plants have survived and I see some small green tomatoes growing.
I started planting for fall. Two kinds of cauliflower, white and cheddar (yellow). They are doing well. Some green beans and a small batch of radishes and carrots. I will plant some more pumpkins and pole beans when I get back home from new york. And I have to buy some herb seeds for parsley and seed garlic. It will be time to plant that as well very soon.
All in all we are proud of our harvest this year, it was 3 times more than last year, but this fall since most of the summer growth fried in the sun, we will build our hoop house and cold frames so we can start 2013 early. Next year we will do even better. Maybe enough to sell some!!!
One final note about fall fruit harvest is the biggest we had since moving here. My apple trees adopted from Jim are overwhelmingly full. I have to head over and pick another 10 gallons or so of ripe apples. I will can apple pie filling. These apples are a sweet and mellow flavor but boosted with lemon jiuse and nutmeg, clove and cinnamon, make outstanding pie filling. Steve just wanted to eat it from the jar. "Forget the crust, just give me vanilla ice cream" he called. Ha! It does make pretty good apple sauce also.
Next month, it will be the pears. The branhces are still so full, they are hanging down to the ground. I will be cooking pears for months also. Ginger pear marmalade with lime is a favorite. I'll have tons this year. I better order more canning jars. If you know anyone who wants to get rid of some canning jars, let me know.
