Note to Self : Buy more gloves!

I spent the day canning pickled jalapenos. I set out all my stuff and started scorching my pepper skins and realized I only have one glove left! Like a dummy I continued with only one glove for 4 lbs of jalapenos. This is by far the most labor intensive preserving that I do, and it is also the last batch I will do this year! The rest will have to be frozen or flung at passing cars. I can't even feel the keyboard my hands are burning so bad, 4 hours after finishing! Maybe I should have re-read my lessons learned post last month, lol! Oh well, it's done now, and I finally have enough to last for a winter of nachos at night after the kids go to bed. I let about half go to red and half green just for variety:

While watering this morning, I spotted several Black Swallowtail Caterpillars happily munching away on parsley and dill in the garden. No problems here, I plant oodles of these plus fennel and milkweed especially for them!

I had 100 bottles of beer on the wall...literally - last night! The brew wasn't quite ready to be bottled when Sailor/Husband left Sunday, so I had to do this myself. This is definitely a 2-person job, but then again, so is raising kids, lol..."Honey, where aaaarrrreeee yoooouuuuu???" When I was almost finished, I put the kids to work wrapping things up while I enjoyed a Belgian Ale from the last batch. Is this even legal, lol ???

I am hoping to post a little more frequently these days. It seems whenever Charlie's away, I get more done (no offense, dear!)! The kids and I get into a groove and I'm not busy trying to fill our days with plans just because "he's leaving again soon". Yesterday, I even got my desk cleaned up. I am usually meticulous with organization, etc. but lately I have been joking that my desk was "our mudroom"! I have had a piece of paper tacked to my fridge keeping track of my harvest and even finally got around to putting up a "harvest counter" on the blog! I see many of you have them and it seems like a great idea to have a constant reminder of my progress in the sustainability dept. Also on the "to do" list - a homebrew status for Sailor/Husband/Farmer: check! Soon I am hoping to get my slideshows to look a little better on the page. I haven't really had time to mess with that since the day I put them up. Seems I am finding all sorts of ways to avoid going outside in the garden, as this week we are actually having "normal" temps of 90+ and humidity.

I'll take the MN summer we have been having any day, I just want to know ahead of time so I can more appropriately select & date my plantings!

and the winner is....

The honors for the first edible heirloom tomato out of my garden goes to:

The Black Krim!

It was small...but tasty! I have a Brandywine picked also that I will try this evening. Hopefully this weeks rains won't crack all the rest out there ripening!

Leaf Footed Bug

The leaf footed bugs have set up housekeeping in my jalapenos! They love tomatoes, peppers and some fruits. They were the only pest I had last year, but didn't show up until September. Is this a sign of a strange fall/winter to come? My jalapenos are covered with the larve & adults, busily sucking at the plants.

Adult Leaf - Footed Bug

Larvae - look like red ants but huge and bright

This won't work for me this year since my sunflowers are all done, but here's a tip that worked like a charm last year, lol!

Plant a stand of Mammoth Sunflowers (need to be huge and visible!) across the yard from your tomatoes & peppers. When leaf-footed bugs show up, hit them with a spray of H20 from hose and they will all fly up and seek the sunflowers for refuge (they like those, too!). Then, when sunflower faces are covered with Leaf Bugs, hit them with Sevin or something like that. Yes, it's strong stuff, but it works and at least you aren't spraying the tomatoes or other veggies with it! Hmmm, wish I would have planted those sunflowers again this year...

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

I just found this neat aerial picture of the place we go camping, Cape Hatteras. Unknown photographer, but it's a great photo showing how undeveloped and exposed to the weather the island is! The village area is Buxton, NC. The Pamlico Sound is the body of water on the left of the island, Atlantic Ocean on the right. The long spit of sandbar visible is Cape Point, world renown fishing as this is the point where the Labrador current from the north runs headlong into the Gulf Stream from the south, creating unique conditions big species love.

And he's gone again...

The past weekend involved more running away from my garden! Sailor/Farmer/Husband had to leave yesterday for another month of training in preparation for the big deployment this fall, so we decided to go camping prior to his leaving. This is the first time I have attempted a no-plan trip with kids in tow, so it was challenging, but the kids were that much more excited. I decided Thursday morning we would go to Cape Hatteras, NC which is about a 3 hour drive from us. By noon I had the grocery shopping done and was packing the car. When Charlie woke up that afternoon (he works night shift at the squadron) I told him "just get in the car", we're leaving! It was fun, but much different than our trips before kids! I know eventually they will become more self-sufficient and I won't have to micro manage them around the water, etc and will be able to actually relax! Here are some pics of the weekend:

A rare photo of the two of us! I gave my 6 year old the camera and he actually did it! No pictures of a foot, the ground, etc :)

Charlie fishing the Pamlico Sound at sunset

Clouds rolling in...we got 70 mph winds and sideways rain, no pics of the rain since we were in the tent busy bracing the poles! Some people who were absent actually returned to find their tents were completely gone!

Gotta love our Subarus! Gets us out onto the 4-wheel drive beach.

Kids fishing

Finn preparing a mess o'shrimp

Yum, fresh local shrimp!

Cape Hatteras Light

Lunch on Ocracoke Island

Marley & Sprocket love the dog-friendly Jolly Roger Pub in Ocracoke

Finnegan & Daddy

Of course when we returned, there was a harvest. We actually had a few heirlooms ready, although they look terrible! (You should see the ones that didn't make it into the picture, lol!) Finally a few french beans, and ugh...another 100 jalapenos. I really need to find a happy medium between not growing enough of something and holy crap, why do I need 1000 jalapenos?!!! Actually, I knew better when I planted them, but since I started them from seed and wasn't able to give all of them away, I planted them like a moron...it seems like I look at the seedlings as if they were pets...why couldn't I have just thrown a few seedlings into the compost pile? Anyone else have this problem? I didn't have a problem throwing the tobacco hornworms in the trash, that's for sure!

Sloooowww Garden!

Who else is bewildered by the summer weather across the nation this year? I know I am not alone, thanks to Kelly and Mama Pea's updates from MA and MN. Who else wants to chime in? Don't get me wrong, I am loving the cool, dry weather for myself (I can't shake that part of the MN girl out no matter how many years I spend in VA!), but my tomatoes don't like it a'tall! I still have yet to obtain an edible heirloom tomato out of my garden, and it's the end of July!! I have oodles of green ones out there but they don't seem to be in any hurry. The 2 that I have picked were split so badly they were inedible. We have been dry, and then when it does rain it rains 2 inches at a time so they swell up and self-destruct! In normal years, I would pick them prior to a rainstorm and let them finish ripening for a day on the counter, but in normal years they wouldn't be completely green!

Here's a pic of a True Black Brandywine that seems to be approaching 1.75 lbs this morning and isn't even faintly pink:

These are Black Pearl Hybrids...no cracking problems here, although slow, at least I am getting a handful daily now.

Heirloom Hokkaido Squash are coming along quickly, although I am not sure what I am going to do with all the squash yet!

Cucumbers look awesome, although it takes a good amount of hunting for them since they are mixed in with the squash!

Here's a rare sighting around the homestead: who is this creature? Why, it's sailor/farmer/husband! And he's actually sitting in our house! Since he's leaving again in a couple of days, it's more like a mirage!

Yesterday's Harvest. The 2 small Heirloom tomatoes were useless, had holes in them and cracks...and maybe someone living inside, lol?! They were tossed. I have let my jalapenos go to red and they look great this way, think I will do that to all since I am tired of the grocery-store green!

Wasn't sure what to do with this particular bunch of produce, so I made refrigerator pickles. This time sweet Red Popper peppers went in with the cukes and one jalapeno and garlic clove and some fresh dill added to each jar along with a fresh grape leaf to keep everything crisp. Thinking the jalapeno might give it an interesting kick. And why not? It's not like there is ever a shortage of cucumbers!!

Lastly, I have a bit of news I have been keeping to myself trying not to get my hopes up...NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT!....

I was accepted to the Master Gardener program in the fall! I attended orientation in May, but out of about 90 applicants I think, there are only 30 slots, so I was quietly keeping my fingers crossed! The other day I recieved a letter from Virginia Tech University Extension Service and was pretty excited since it appeared to be thicker than a standard "are you crazy?" response, lol! I start the VaTech based classroom training in the fall and then start the intern phase. I know I'll be busy since Charlie will be on deployment, but am excited nonetheless!

Summer Camp

We picked up Lochlann from summer camp! He had a great time, as we knew he would! I promised him I would put the pictures up "TODAY, MOM!"...so here they are. None of it garden-related, by the way...but all our family lives at least 1000 miles from us, so the blog is the easiest way to communicate our events! Some of the pics Loch took while he was there, and the end-of-camp ceremony pics I took. Enjoy!

Loch's Bunkmate

Loch showing us one of the Animal Science class animals

This boy turned out to be Loch's first "camp-best-friend", and the little boy was teary eyed saying goodbye when I took this. All us parents were a little choked up by it too!

View outside the bunkhouse

Last Day Ceremonies

The lake

Counselors performing skits

The Council Ring/Campfire Area

Loch with the canoes

Entire 5-8 year old camp with their counselors

Yay! My kid is the only one not holding his certificate in front of his face, LOL!

Go 4-H Cloverbuds!! Can't wait until next year when both my kids can go!