Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

They look so much nicer in your picture than they did to me when I stuck them in the box!!!!!... and all the potatoes are in separate bags with the names so she can do "taste tests" on her own...

It was nice to have the day out.... wish others could have come too.... but we enjoyed ourselves...

 

[farmerjan]

While I am thinking about it, we talked about different varieties making better potato salad....
Envol, has a "floury" texture... good for mashing and baking.

Santina, are "buttery and soft as silk"....good for most things...

Eva, Starchy texture good for baking, mashing, frying and homemade potato chips. Have some already that are over 1 lb each.... WOW....

Red Pontiac, good multi- purpose..... got some huge ones that I gave a couple to @Mini....she can get a whole meal on a couple of them, and then lots of golf ball sized....only dug 3 hills so don't know if they all will have some lunkers and then lots of small ones

French fingerling... nice red skin with yellow flesh, large for fingerlings...

Austrian crescent.... yellow skin with yellow flesh... they are somewhat crescent shaped... some are knobby.... lots of little ones I pop into stews and such... supposed to be decent to use in potato salads too....

Got 2 varieties that I haven't dug yet that specifically mention being "waxy" which is supposed to be good for potato salad...

The fingerlings are VERY PROLIFIC...... as have been the few hills of pontiacs I have dug....

I am not a good one for actually doing these taste tests as to me, a potato is pretty much a potato... I mostly like them boiled with skins on, a little butter salt and pepper........ or mashed.... or baked..... or home fries..... or in a stew... well, he//, most anyway they can be fixed...

 

[Baymule]

What a perfect day! Not to mention what a great way to celebrate your birthday!

 

[Mini Horses]

We celebrated the day WITH someone....we strolled, talked, looked around, forgot about home & chores. Both of us are busy loners, at home. we're of like minds, so --

I ate a whole lot of those little pear tomatoes last night. Sweet & yummy, a touch of salt. After getting up early, 4 hrs of strolling up & down hills, in fresh air, I slept like a log last night!!

 

[farmerjan]

I think that those pear tomatoes are about my favorite for snacking, salads... they are a little milder and just taste good. There were so many knocked off the vines so I gathered up the biggest ones that will hopefully big enough to go on and ripen along.
I slept good too but am a little achey this morning.... I'll work out the kinks in a little bit.

60 last night, cloudy, we had some rain overnight... the roads and grass are a bit wet.. forgot to look at rain gauge... Radar shows some more coming along around noon time with some more serious "green" for a few hours.... we need it. Our one TV station shows the drought monitor that is put out every Thursday and the area around us went from extremely dry and some moderate drought right along our area; with all my farms to the north 15-20 miles solidly in the moderate drought section..... to the moderate drought moving down into our area and south of here. It is dry and the farmers were pushing to get the corn chopped with it drying out sooo fast. The silage is not going to be the quality it was last year by any means so cows will not make the milk .... part of the whole scheme of farming...

Was thinking to see if I could get out with the walk behind weed eater and get the garden weeds all knocked down so that I can see about getting the potato digging going... but it is already getting alot cloudier/darker... so not even going to start and then have to quit halfway through. Rain is only supposed to be today, then another week of dry. It can wait for Monday or something. I will be testing a farm Tuesday morning, won't get home before noon, then set up at the close farm, to test Tuesday aft/Wed morning... Got 2 that are wanting a day in the last week... and that is the week DS is going to the regional "roadeo" competitions in WV and I want to go up to watch since it is only a couple hours away.... never been to the regionals since they have all been alot further away... and I am not missing that for testing... Tough SHT......

So, inside stuff today pretty much... might pick some of the peppers and get them frozen... about at the end of them too...
There's ALWAYS housework......

 

[Mini Horses]

I just had a Mr Stripey sandwich...very good. A little sweeter than the reds - less acid - like the pears. The 2 of these had the hail damage and softening at that side, so cut and pulled seeds -- on plate to cure & dry for starting plants in spring. saves $. Plenty of them, I'll share seeds. Have plenty plum type, Cherokee purple, reds for slice & canning. We can start our own next yr. I'm looking at a greenhouse of some size or form. Even a small one on my back porch. Plenty sun 3/4 of day.

 

[farmerjan]

I'm going to make a tomato sandwich also... cut around some of the hail damaged spots.... I like the less acid ones, maybe they just "like me" better... I like the little red pear ones too... thought I had some this year but guess not... yeah, that is what the little 1/2 greenhouse I have was supposed to be for too... been looking at where the pieces snapped and am going to see about taking the connecters apart and see if I can find something similar at Lowes or somewhere to replace... doesn't look like it damaged any of the cover... just snapped the plastic connectors...
Picked the rest of the peppers, washed off all the dirt etc., and am going to sit and slice up while I put a movie in the DVD... it has sprinkled off and on and now it is a little more of a light rain... looks like it might last most/all afternoon and into early evening... we can use it and it will make digging potatoes alot easier after I get the weeds chopped down and can find things better...

 

[farmerjan]

55 on recording thermometer.... sun is coming out but alot of clouds too. Need to check the rain gauge but don't think it was very much.

I got all the peppers sliced and vaccuum bagged so that part of the garden is done. There were a few I left that will hopefully get a little bigger but peppers like warmth so if not, I'll just snag them and cut up and fry with some onions. Get out a pkg of kielbasa or something in the freezer and make peppers and onions and have a "fair type" sandwich all homemade since the kielbasa and some other stuff was made from some of my meat.

Got to get back into the "work mindset"... get bottles in the trays for the farm tomorrow morning and meters and hoses in the car so that I can come home from the morning test and go directly to set up for the herd that I will be at to test on Tuesday eve.

And I think once it dries off some I will get out the walk behind weed eater and get on the weed whacking project in the garden so I can get with the potato digging project....

Past time to eat something.... I am hungry.

 

[murphysranch]

I've missed the Birthday Greetings! It sounds like it was great. It woulda been fun to walk along side you all for the day!! But its too far of a drive for me....

 

[farmerjan]

Tuesday eve...
Yesterday, I didn't get the walk behind out ... I finally got into the carport to take stuff off the shelves that came partway over in that bad wind 10 days ago ( and then I got this bug so felt crummy) ... got them back upright and am going to attach them to the side. Got the stuff back on them, sorted out some stuff and got the meters in the car and the hoses I would need to set up. Filled the walk behind with gas and it is ready.
I got the bottles all in the trays for today's 2 separate herds....and put the ones in the car for this morning's test. Then, I picked up some branches in the yard, and I really didn't have the push to get out the walk behind at that point. ... DS called and we talked about who was where and all sorts of stuff of what he needs to do with the crops and such to get a cover crop of wheat or rye or something on the fields and what hay he still wants to cut... so next thing you know it was getting later and I just decided not to start. Got the chickens in and went to bed so I could try to get a halfway decent night's sleep...

Left at 4 this morning to test... got there about 5:10-15 and of course they didn't get there til 5:30 and we didn't start milking til 6... she said the "helper" who was supposed to milk texted her at 4:45 and said she didn't feel good and was not coming in... so of course it was just her in the barn and it drags there...got done milking at 10..... computer glitches as usual... even with the new computer, she still hadn't gotten all the cow ID's put in.... so I left there at nearly 11.......and she is supposed to fix the ID's and upload the herd to the computer center so when the lab gets the samples they can process... if she doesn't get the herd uploaded then they call me wanting to know why.... got home right at noon...

stopped let the chickens out... went and set up at the farm.... then went to 2 different pastures to check waterers and cows.... got home at 2:30... ate a sandwich, brought samples in and took bottles out for the afternoon farm.... sat for a half hour or so and left at 4 to go to the farm to test at 4:30 milking. Got done at 7:15.... home to put chickens in... samples in the house... and I am shortly getting a shower so I can fall into bed and be back there by 5:30 in the morning... at least it is only 15 minutes from the house... but it will be 10 or later when I get out of there, and get the meters and all after the wash cycles... and come home to get the samples all packed.
And DS has mowed a bunch of hay and needs me to rake... Thursday.... and of course now a farm wants to test on Thurs... and I am going to text him and tell him I am already scheduled but can do it tomorrow or Friday.... or next Monday.... have several hours of hay raking to do and that has to get done with the sun/dry weather before we get any rain.... which is forecast for Sat......

ALWAYS feast or famine....