I love you more.....

We say I love you in many ways, so that our people can hear us and that maybe they can hold the words and the feeling of that love in their hearts when we are apart from one another.  We add hearts, and emoji to our conversations to show it, and we remember love from lost ones too. Dried flowers hang or are displayed in a vase, given with love from long ago.

The simple "I Love You" is sometimes overused, or maybe it is heard so often on television or in the world even that some of our people arent able to really hear and feel us say it...... so we try again in a different way.

At our house we say things like; 

I love you more than the sky is blue and than the moon is full.

I love you to the moon, to the ground and all around, 

There among the stars....

and sometimes

I love you to mars, and beyond all the Universe has for stars.

Hubby always says "I love you the mostest!"

Sometimes the I love you is not a spoken thing, it is a "love you" bite from your sandwich.  When we were little our mom would make our lunch sandwiches and take a little bite of each - she called it the "love you bite". (I'm pretty sure it started as a tiny bite of a delicious sandwich, but...) I did the same for my kids - still do if I am making them a sandwich.  I found that I really missed that when I was grown and before I had kids. 

Or sometimes it is a sweetheart cutting heart shapes in your apple when he takes the core out to make your lunch!  Not my idea here but I sure do love it!

I also want to know how he kept that apple from turing brown on the inside!?!  Must be love!

There are also the love songs, sent somehow, from somewhere in the Universe to soothe a borken heart or to fill it with love and make that love known....

Yes, that is 43 hours and 20 minutes of music, sent with love from above somehow.  It's a short list as I don't always recognize the song he sends so I can add it to the list.... still working on that.  Maybe he thinks I need to broaden my horizons some?  Is this a test? 

And still sometimes it is a hand forged sign to hang for all to see and to remind you that now matter where you are or where your people are, and no matter how the cold and snow have seeped in, that you are loved!

Thank you to my Reedo for this one!

Especially in this holiday times, when things get hard for a lot of people, and when it seems dark (and it really IS dark in Alaska this time of year), we've said it bofore and I'll say it again; 

LOVE YOUR PEOPLE!

Blessed be and may you see the love and the light in everything and every day!  I love you more......

Tomato Problem - end of season roundup

 If you havent read it already - start with this one first "Tomato Problem"  I always end up with a plethora of tomatos in the greenhouse and all around the farm (yes- I sometimes let them just grow in the compost pile).  Every year I say I am going to grow less tomatoes - it never works!  Luckily, they arent  making it mandatory for me to grow less tomato plants!

Im giving you the annual tomato roundup for the season - you can use it to plan your next tomato adventures - or what not to grow!

I try to save a tag from each plant as I close up the greenhouse so I will remember what I liked and didnt.  The prescription jars I wash out well and use to save seeds or other small items.

I had 26 tomato plants this year in the greenhouse - I said at the beginning of the season that I was only keeping about 18 max!  As I have said before - I HAVE a TOMATO problem!  There are not meetings for this type of problem that I can find!  Im working on it - but Ill probable figure out how to fit more in next year ayway..... Who doesn't love tomatos?

This is part of the tomato harvest at the end of this season.  It snowed on September 17th, about a foot here in Big Lake, and thinking that the season was over I started to close up the greenhouse.  It hasn't snowed more than a 1/2" since then - of course!

Here's the "whats what" for this year:

Bush Early Girl;  This tomato is once again at the top of the absolute favorites list!  It produces prolifically all season, bright red, medium sized tomatos.  It doesnt care if it is in the greenhouse or outside, it produces!  The tomatos are delicious and can be used for anything that you need a tomato for.  Good enough for salad and sandwich slicers, they also make great sauce or cookery tomatos.  These are good storage toms too and freeze delightfully!  This one will definitely be in the lineup for next year.

Sweet Tangerine;  This was the first year for us growing this variety and we are sold on the flavor and the texture for sure!  This golden/orange tomato is medium-large and produces fairly well for the start to the middle of the season.  It seemed like it got a little worn out at the end of this season, but our weather wasnt really cooperating for the end of summer here - gray and gloomy and not tomato producing weather for sure.  These never lasted long enough in the house to see if they store well, but they are great for eating and cookery both.  Definitely will be part of my tomato problem next year.

Green Sweet Tangerine.  Great size, taste and texture.  They turn a beautiful orange color when ripe (which I forgot to photo).

Velvet Red;  This was our first year growing this one and although the plant and the leaves are beautiful, I cant call it a favorite.  Although it has good flavor, I found the texture to be a bit dry and pithy.  Great for cooking, but probably not a must have annual.

Sungold; Always a great producer and tasty!  I call this one my "breakfast tomato" because I have no problems eating a handful of them when I check the greenhouse each morning!  It is great at any time of the day and also freezes well and is a delightful addition to pasta sauce and any other way you want to use it!  A bright pop of tomato flavor without the acid backwash that some of the others have.  It is an every year greenhouse and outdoor staple.

Chocolate Cherry:  Perpetual favorite!  Huge producer and although it takes up a bit of room with its viny habit it is worth it for the flavor and beauty of this tomato!  It also qualifies as a "breakfast tomato" and it stores, freezes and cooks up well!  Yum!  I have trouble choosing between this one and Sungold as favorites!

Cherry Sweetie; Great flavored tiny red tomato, a little on the lines of the Sungold, but although it is a heavy producer, this tomato splits easily (well before it is red), and if you jostle the vines too hard it falls off them green even!  I wont grow this tomato again, it takes up too much room (even though I grew it in hanging baskets) and the unpredictible nature of the plant makes it not a favorite!

Austins Red Pear;  This is a small pear shaped tomato and was new to us this year as well.  It also won't be a keeper as far as my greenhouse goes.  Although the flavor is good, the texture does not make it a good eating/snacking tomato but it is a great cooking tomato.  Doesnt take up too much space, but also doesnt produce enough to make it worth the space.  It may be a late season tomato also and didn't have tine to get going before it got cold again?  Might try this again to see if it was just a bad summer for it.

The Austins Red Pear are there in the center right, the pear shaped ones that are just turning red.  The bigger pink ones are the Pink Beefsteaks ripening up!  There are a mix of all flavors including the Chocolate Cherry and the Sungold too. Of this box I had only a handful that were not ripe withing a couple of weeks.

Pink Beefsteak;  I love this tomato!  It is a fun color and great flavor!  It is sometimes mis-shapen, but it is a good sized tomato and can be used for any use!  We had BLT sandwiches with this one a number of times and were not disappointed.  We brought the green ones inside (see above box picture) and they ripened up nicely in a box in the kitchen.  It is also a semi-determinite plant so it doesnt take up a lot of room or demand a lot from the grower.  Definitely will be on the list for next year.

Pink Beefsteaks on the vine.

Container Choice;  This also was a first for us this year and I was not overly impressed.  It grows great in a container but the Bush Early Girl produces more in the same space and are a little bigger, more "tomato" flavor plant.  I may try it again for "try it" sake and to see if a different summer makes a difference.  Ill keep you posted on that!

We did not have the Brandywine or Brandyboy tomatoes for this year and I can't remember why.  They are both great varieties as well.  I just didnt have the seed or couldnt find the plants - and i was trying to not have such a tomato problem too!  Will probably pick them up again next year.

Cuke;  Snows Fancy Pickle - This has been my favorite this year for Cuke's!  I had started out with 4 Tasty Jade and two Marketmore cukes.  I got a few off of each of them and then they just died off!  I started again with this "Snows Fancy Pickle" and got a plethora of Cukes off of them!  They are tasty, firm and a great size for pickling or just eating.  I love them for lunches to take to work and for sandwiches - replace your lettuce with thin slices of this cuke and they are delicious!  I will definitely grow this one again!

If you haven't seen it before, or lost track of it, click here for the blog with the Pasta Sauce recipe made from all the tomatoes you are saving!  It is so delicious!

As the days go by, almost getting brighter again, may you be blessed with summertime dreams and tomato delights!

Beautiful Fireweed - Alaskan Super plant!

I know it seems that spring just came to our Alaskan Burg but there is snow on the mountains - "Termination Dust"!  Meaning that the termination of our summer is coming quickly and the snow is moving down the mountains!  The only saving grace is that it is time for harvesting and foraging!  One of my favorites is the beautiful Fireweed!

Fireweed is another one of Alasks's "super plants".  It is rich in Calcium, Fiber, Vitamin A, Magnesium, and Potassium. I add the fireweed leaves and flowers to my detox tea for joint inflammation relief, and it is said to have some pain relief properties as well.  Fireweed leaf can also be used as a woundwort to help in the healing of wounds.  It has also shown effective for migraines.

I have also been known to add it to a favorite flavor of tea when I am running low to make it last a little longer.  It works well with just about any kind!  Delicious!

Fireweed is an amazing plant.  Some here say it is a weed as it will grow pretty much anywhere and it is hard to get rid of if you should try.  I don't really try to get rid of it because I like it for its telling of the season and for its many uses as a food, medicine and tea plant.  It is called Fireweed because it is the first plant that grows after a forest fire, adding beauty while holding the soil and preventing erosion when the rains come!  

Alaskans tell how long the summer will be by how soon the fireweed blossoms and how far up the stem the blossoms open.  When the blossoms are bloomed at the top of the stem, fall is upon us and snow not far away.  When this happens in August and Sepgtember- there is generally crying throughout the community - "We are NOT ready"!

Fireweed blossoms dry beautifully and can be used in tea or to make jelly!  Fireweed Jelly is very tasty and makes a beautiful gift, especially with a loaf of fresh bread.  Read on for a recipe for the jelly.

Harvest the flower petals when they are almost fully open.  If you harvest too early (before the flowers open) they are a little bitter and I don't think as tasty.  If you are harvesting whole plant

then take the flowers off as they are, but if you are only collecting flowers, then just pluck the ones that are almost fully open and dry them in the sun.  I have found that in my dehydrator they lose a little of the color so I prefer to sun dry for that reason.  Store them in a cool dry place - I use a reusable container with a lid.

We are a little past the fireweed flower stage for this year - but make sure you plan to gather some next summer!

Below are fireweed leaves in one of my big glass bowls.   Harvest the clean dry leaves by "stripping the stems" - basically just running your mostly closed hand down the stem and letting the leaves fall off.  I like to wash them off with the hose while the leaves are still on the stem and hang them to air dry for a bit before stripping them onto a clean sheet or large towel.  Let them wilt for 12-18 hours and then place them in your fermentations bowl.

To make fireweed leaf tea (and it really tastes almost like a green to black tea) you have to bruise the leaves in the bowl.  Some like to roll 4-5 leaves at a time between their hands in the traditional tea leaf manner, and I have done this method but I mostly just bruise them good (because - yes Im usually short on time and rolling is time intensive).  Rolling probably bruises them more and they turn out looking like the traditional rolled black tea leaves.

Cover it and let it sit for a few hours, then bruise the leaves again and let it sit a few hours more.  Don't tear them up - you just want them bruised before you dry them.  Once you have done the process a few times the leaves should start to look black.

Here they are after just the first bruising treatment.  They will settle in the bowl a little as you go.  Give them a stir once in a while after they have turned dark colored and leave them to ferment for 48 to 72 hours.  I have accidentally left mine for a week once and it seemed no harm.

Once they are dark colored and you can smell the wild on them, its time to dry them.  

Fireweed leaves cannot be done in a dehydrator as the leaves need to be bruised and ferment or the flavor and benefits arent the same.  I have done it (when I left it to ferment for a week), but I could tell a color and flavor difference.  Take the time!  Store it also in an airtight container.

But also as winter comes and the fireweed blossoms end and go to seed, it floats like cotton across everything, blanketing the fall pictures with the white that will be winter, just like the Dandelion does in the spring.

Here is a fireweed all bloomed out - to the top and sending its fluffy snow cotton seeds out to the universe.  The end of summer, yet beautiful still.

As with everything, there are some folks who are allergic to the Fireweed, and it can cause some havoc with those folks.  Please be aware before you use it for anything.

FIREWEED JELLY

8 C. Fireweed blossoms

5 C. Water

Juice of two lemons (apx 1/4 C)

2 tsp finely ground cinnamon (optional)

5 C. sugar

2 packages SureJell Pectin (1.75 oz each)

Start your water boiling for water bath canner, and prepare your jars and lids.  

Put the fireweed blossoms, lemon juice and water and cinnamon in another pot and simmer gently for 10 minutes, strain in a colander lined with cheesecloth or a dishtowel.

Rinse the pot and add the juice back to it and bring back to a boil.  Add the sugar and the pectin, bring to a rolling boil, and cook for 1 full minute.   Remove from heat and immediately ladle into hot jars.  Place the lids and rings, wiping off any that spills on the rim of the jar first.  Place your jars into the water bath canner and process for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on a towel on the counter and listen for the "pop" of the lid sealing!  if a jar or two doesnt seal, refrigerate and use first.  The jelly should gel nicely within a few hours.

Enjoy!

This batch I used dried flowers instead of fresh and some of the color was lost, but it is still beautifully honey colored and the flavor is exquisite!

May you be blessed with a fine fall that provides all you need for the winter!

Little Garden Wonders

There is a lot of magic that happens here on the farm, and not just the kind that makes you think your house might be haunted!  Wicked Raven survived the Millers Reach Fire back in 1996 but it burned off all of the organics, and what wasn't burned off was pushed off with a dozer prior to the fire by the owner at the time - trying to save the house!   We have a few areas where nothing will grow at all, including lawn grass!

You can see the bare spots behind the mower in this shot.  This photo was about 5 years ago and still nothing grows there!  We have lots of sand and gravel and tons of clay!

So it is always very special when we find delightful "little garden wonders" throughout the yard!  Things that come up despite the harsh conditions and the lack of water that occurs - we dont generally water the yard - the weird water people (us - mostly Hubby) think its a waste.

This year has been amazing for little garden wonders coming up randomly and deliciously all around!  the above is an Alpine Aster that came up in the space that is currently occupied by the "fake deer" that is actually an arrow target!  It has also been used this summer as a 4 wheeler track through the middle of the yard.  Dry and barren and with wheeler tracks.  So beautiful!

This is either a random Lovage herb or a sweet cicely - Im leaning more toward Lovage but, my sense of smell is still not working the way I need it to due to an ongoing sinus issue so I can't fully determine what it is.  I found two more of these after I took this shot, just out in the middle of the yard.  

So I moved them into the herb bed over the septic area.  It will be fun to see what they turn out to be!

I also found this little pink fungus in that same area - this little patch of pink is actually in the middle of a driveway area where the grass has grown up through just gravel!  Aren't they cute?!

This little patch of joy is "pussy toes" (Antennaria - probably "Neglecta").  It is a small and delightful little plant that grows in little "fairy circle" formations all around the yard.  It is hardy as all get out and it is such a special delight to find.  For some reason it is very uplifting to the spirit whenever I am discouraged!  It just makes me smile and breathe away my cares.

Can you see it?  No?  All you see is a puny stick sticking out of the ground?  Thats because that stick is marking one of the most tiny of garden wonders!

It is the beautiful blue Campanula Alpina!  Even the clover head is bigger than this tiny flower!  Ahhhh the blue delight though.  This one is also growing in the middle of one of the barren patches of lawn, where almost nothing else grows.  It is so small that the mower doesnt even touch it when the grass does get mowed.  It is a treat to see for just a few weeks a year.

Many of you will recognize this little garden wonder!  Cranberry plant - we call them lowbush cranberries, but some folks call them Lingonberry.  I love to see these growing around the yard - mostly on the edges of the tree line or in slightly mossy areas.  The little pink flowers are so happy, and when I can smell them properly they are a delicious scent, fresh and clean and bright berry smell.

This treasure though, this treasure!  Coral Root Orchid - Corallorhiza (probably Wisteriana). No leaves, and a very dark brown and green color - almost obscure.  I had no idea what it was - I had to put it on the Facebook and be the butt of many jokes thinking I was kidding about not knowing what it was!  Luckily there was that one guy..... lol!  I found it when I was yarding out underneath an apple tree - the Duchess - she of the one apple fame!  I very nearly pulled it out with the weeds, but I had only recently been tromping around a neighbors hay field edge and had found a lovely pink plant that was a bit like this one.  (See below).

Pink Pyrola.  Liverleaf Wintergreen. This little garden wonder came right out of the forest and into the yard among the cranberry plants and the star dogwood.  It is growing near my strawberry hugelkulture and the honey berries at the edge of the yard and I had not noticed it until the trek around the neighbors field - I came right home and trekked around my yard and found this one!  It has become one of my favorite delights of all time.  After I noticed this one I was able to find a few more around the property in different areas.  Popping up and giving a bright spot in the middle of the desolate places!

Take a trek to the "not so wild" magic places in your yard and see if you don't have some little garden wonders at the end of your rainbows!  Or just on your rough edges!

Blessed Be!