Thanksgiving Break

We had a great Thanksgiving here on the Farm; three generations of family and the addition of friends made for a nice meal and some good catching up time. The really great thing about the Thanksgiving break was the additional days off work for me, which gave me some time to do a few things outside while it was nice. Also, cooking on Thursday and eating leftovers until Monday was great, at least from my point of view!

One of the things we did on was to take down the girl's swing-set. It was twenty years old and well loved, but was beginning to lean beyond repair. When Dave took it down we were glad we had done it, because the wood around the screws was beginning to rot, and it was definitely unsafe. Little bit was sad because she still likes to listen to music and swing, but we will have to relocate the swing to a tree or something for her. Nana lent a helping hand, or at least supervised.

 We also transplanted some hybrid blackberries that a former occupant had planted along a fence row. The problem is that the kudzu and honeysuckle have taken over the fence as well as the berries, causing them to not produce anymore. I have read that they don't like being moved and might revert back to having thorns, even so, thorny blackberries are better than none! The soil around the roots was so loose that it fell right off the plants, so it was like bare root plants from the nursery. Somewhere along the way I either can't count or I lost one, because I thought I had six, but could only find five when I planted.

 We haven't planted this area before, only mowed the weeds we call grass and left the grass to decay, and the soil is amazing! In places it was literally black, and all of the topsoil was filled with beautiful earthworms like this little guy:
They are wonderful for the soil and the plants. I'm so glad that we haven't sprayed pesticides over the years, it really enriches the good critters that live in the soil and garden, and they often will take care of those unsavory critters.

Another little project that we finished was the hoop house, a sort of mini greenhouse. We built it over a existing square foot bed that has some lettuce, spinach and beets growing in it, and I added onions and more beets. More details on this project as we tweak it and make it better. The main thing is that we have added one more way to extend our harvest!



Last but not least, we tried the hot sauce I made from the habanero peppers we grew last summer. I made it several weeks ago, but it has to "age". It is perfect, not too hot, but warm, and with its own taste, not just hot. Now if I could only remember how many peppers I used.......... I found the recipe here: South Texas Sunshine Hot Sauce  and boy is it good. The hard part was finding bottles. I ended up using beer bottles with a reusable swing top.
 

I like them very much, except they are big, and I'd like to share my hot sauce with friends and loved ones, but I can't give away that much at once! We use a lot of hot sauce! So, anyone that knows where I can get reusable, resealable bottles that are in the six ounce range, let me know, and maybe I'll share!