Fall Vegetable Garden

This week, we are focusing on our fall vegetable garden. This week and next week are the times to plant our fall garden here in gardening zone 9A, where we are. It is a fun time because we know we will finally get the best garden of the year as the heat begins to go away.

We've had a lot of rain clouds this week along with a lot of wind.

Fall Vegetable Garden - 8/23-8/29/21

Monday, August 23, 2021 - Fall Vegetable Garden Time

Garden rows out in between our rows of orchard trees...Our fall vegetable garden will mostly be planted in our raised garden beds not shown.

This morning, the air was cool with very little humidity and it felt wonderful when I went outside to feed the animals.

Electricians came and turned off all of the electricity to the business so they could finish hooking up the generator to the business buildings. They were finished around 10am. We gave our team members the option of coming in at 10am and starting their jobs or coming in at 8am and working out in the garden. Matthew, Linda, Dawson, and Brendon are the only ones who showed up to help out in the garden at 8am. They are adding to our fall vegetable garden and weeding some of the beds where our fall vegetable garden crops will go. Thank you to our team members who helped us this morning. The rest showed up at 10am. Today would have been a good morning to help since there wasn't much humidity...

I worked inside the house where the electricity was on. I am still so far behind on the changes to the website that have to be done.

Sunrise right through the chicken coop as I was feeding and watering them. You can see all of the spider webs. We have had a lot more spider webs this year than the past 2 years.

Our Two Year Farm Anniversary
Prepping For a Fall Vegetable Garden

Two years ago today, we closed on our new home and moved to the shed out in the backyard. Those shed weeks were rough but we are so glad to be out of the city with all of the crazy rules and regulations they have, not to mention the horrible traffic. It is bad enough that we have to go into the city with all of the hospital procedures and doctor appointments that we have been making this summer.

Once we moved here in 2019, we started prepping for a fall vegetable garden by building 100 raised garden beds and then having a farmer come in and furrow the field out back.

This morning, we added a lot of water to the pond. All four remaining fish are still alive and well. For some reason, the water was down big time. It is looking good now and there are baby frogs all over the lily pads.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

The podiatrist did some surgery on my toenail today. I won't be planting a fall vegetable garden this week, although David and Matt will.

Today, I went into San Antonio and had part of my left big toenail removed because it gets ingrown every month. I am just so tired of the pain. It went a lot smoother than I thought it would. One of the numbing injections hit a big nerve and that really hurt but other than that it was good. I have to wait 24 hours to unwrap it and then soak it in Epsom Salts for 20 minutes every day starting tomorrow for one to two weeks. I go back to the podiatrist next Tuesday for a quick post op check. The pain has been very minimal.

This afternoon, we went to look at a beautiful 11 acre property with a stock pond, a huge greenhouse, and a one room cabin that is fixed up nicely. We would love to buy it and build a custom home in the back. Because it is over ten acres, we could build a shooting range and shoot. Here, on our four acres, we are not allowed to shoot. The minimum to shoot is ten acres. So when they told us no restrictions on our property, they lied. We thought we could shoot because we are out in the country. The sheriff came by and told us we have to have a minimum of ten acres in order to shoot anything.

We found a new store assistant to help not only with the store but also with some of the online work. She will start on Monday. I told her she could not tell us, "I don't care" like the last one did.

David is doing well. He has been outside working on the property, getting it ready for a fall vegetable garden for a few hours each morning before going into his office. It is so good to see him up, dressed, and outside doing what he loves each morning. Our son, Matt, as well as a part time worker, Dawsom, have been planting fall vegetable garden seeds and pulling up dead plants and weeds. They have been a big help to us as we are without our farm team.

We have been advertising for a new farm manager for a few months now with no takers, not even any applicants. Everyone wants to sit back and collect the government payouts instead of working. I hear they end on Labor Day so we will see what happens then.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

I soaked my toe in Epsom Salts and it felt pretty good. Of course, it will keep me from planting a fall vegetable garden this week.

Good Wednesday morning. I am waiting until 10am to unwrap and soak my foot after surgery. I went over and opened the store and now I am working in my home office. We are making the necessary arrangements for the new store assistant to be comfortable in the store. We are getting new payment hardware so I think that will simplify things as well.

I soaked my foot for 20 minutes in Epsom Salts and it wasn't bad. It barely hurts. It looks much worse than it feels. I put a bandaid on it and am now working on the computer. I just need to stay out of the sand and stickers for a few days. I go back to the doctor next Tuesday.

Fall Vegetable Garden

Have you started to plant your fall vegetable garden yet? If you don't know what you can grow in your fall vegetable garden, contact your local county extension agent and he or she will be able to help you with that information.

Our first time to grow leeks and we had a ton of them. It took me hours to clean, chop off ends and then slice them. I will dehydrate them. Leeks are good for a fall vegetable garden.

We had a huge leek harvest today and the number of leeks is insane. I cut the ends off this evening and cleaned them. Of course, they are covered in sand.

I closed the store at 5pm and walked outside to lightning. I hurried and put my stuff down in the house, let the dogs out to pee before the rain, and then zoomed on out to the chicken coop. I fed and watered the guineas, rabbits, and chicks and then collected 24 eggs. A moment later, I was joined by Annabelle, Lucy, and Molly. Someone left the backyard gate open. Ethel did not want to get wet so she stayed up on the covered porch.

It poured for a little while. I was in the kitchen when it stopped and then I saw a faint rainbow over the big oak tree out back. I grabbed my phone and took some photos. The rainbow doesn't show up very well but it was beautiful. It was then I saw some red wasps and looked up. I found five new wasp nests on the back deck and house. I got a can of wasp spray and used it all.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

This morning, I finished cleaning up the leeks and then I cut them all. Now they are soaking in a bowl of water to get out any sand that is in between the layers. There is a lot. Once we get back from seeing David's surgeon this afternoon, I will put them in the food dehydrator and then store them in mason jars. I had to look up on YouTube how to process leeks as we have never grown them before.

We drove into San Antonio where everyone is wearing a mask and taking temperatures. Once we got past the guard, we were allowed inside David's surgeon's office. He came in and pronounced David healed as far as his surgical incisions go. After paying the balance due, we stopped by McDonald's for cold drinks and a snack for the road. Then we came back to the farm and I had five packages waiting for me as well as some of David's medical bills.

Matthew took care of customers this afternoon. I opened everything and will be getting a new payment system set up for the store this weekend. Right now, we use PayPal and we have been using them since we started taking payments back in 2014. They are okay but I am told that Shopify will simplify things. First, I have my doubts because I had to pay $789 just to get the kit that does not include an iPad. That is nuts.

It is miserably hot out there right now, 96° Fahrenheit. I do not want to go out and tend to the animals but I know I have to.

I need to drain the leek slices that have been soaking in water to get the sand out of them. Then I need to dehydrate them for six hours.

Tomorrow, we are scheduled to go to the funeral of a classmate of David's in Leakey. I don't think I have ever met her. But don't worry. Our crew will be here working and waiting on customers so there should not be a problem. In the early morning, some of them will be putting in a fall vegetable garden.

Sliced leeks are in the dehydrator. They will take six hours. Make sure to break up the layers on the slices or it will take longer. I had to take some apart and put them in for another 2 hours.

The dried leeks look pretty. I will store them in air tight containers. They will make a great addition to soups and casseroles. Grow some in your fall vegetable garden.

I did three loads of laundry this evening. During the third load, I started hearing a lot of beeping. I went out to the laundry room and the washer was in mid cycle, beeping and flashing E1 and F9 and the door lock red light was on. Then the washer stopped. I turned off the breaker and turned it back on, even left it off for 30 minutes. It came back on and kept on beeping, flashing, and refusing to open. Finally, around 11pm, David told me to stop. I turned the breaker off for the night.

Friday, August 27, 2021

My mother-in-law passed away in 2013. I had forgotten how close to the road she is buried. We found it without even looking as we were there for another funeral.

So it is 3:30pm. We are back from the funeral in Leakey, Texas for a classmate of David's. It is pouring down rain right now. We got back just after 3pm. I tried to see if my washer would now open. Of course, it would not. I pulled it away from the wall again. It will not drain anymore. It still keeps flashing E1, F9 and the door lock red light stays on. I cannot get my clothes out. How foolish. I will never buy a Whirlpool anything again.

I went back inside the store and grabbed a package of mine and ran to the house. I was pretty wet when I got here. My package was the 2022 Christy Wright planner. This year, I have been depending on my planner to work and keep track of things so I decided to treat myself and get Christy's planner this year. She is awesome.

This Morning...

David was on the 1975 team when they won so here is one of the signs in Leakey.

Up ahead is the small town of Leakey. We came for a funeral. David moved here when he was 12 and left for the Army at 18. We spent 10 months here in ministry back in 1996.

Early this morning, I tried the washer again. No dice. We left around 8:15am to drive two hours to Leakey for a graveside funeral. There was a nice turn out, probably a lot more people than will show up for mine. It was hot and miserable. Then we visited David's father who has to have a video conference with a VA doctor on Tuesday about some skin cancer.

David's sister wants us to drive out to Leakey to be at the video conference so I had to reschedule my post operative appointment for my toe surgery. That means I have to see my doctor on Monday, when the new person will be starting with me. I won't get to train her on Monday or Tuesday so I think she won't get to start now until Wednesday. Turns out, David made me an appointment to have my hair done on Wednesday as a lovely surprise. I have not had my hair cut or anything else done to it since December of 2020. I look like a shaggy dog.

While we were gone, Nacho and his helper came to do some work. We got several packages throughout the day.

This is the very cloudy pond reflection. They lined it with white river rock today so it needs to settle. Of course, right after, it started pouring so that adds to the cloudy water.

Matthew harvested some jicama that I planted back in March.

I planted jicama (aka Mexican turnip)in the spring and today they were pulled up. I love it peeled and sliced raw. Part of the early fall vegetable garden harvest.

It is now an hour after the rain started and it has stopped. A FedEx lady driver came to the house door where I am working right now, asking for a package. David had already scheduled pick up for next Wednesday, not today, but I knew nothing about any of it.

Matt came to the rescue, taking the washer apart so I could get a lot of my clothes out of this piece of garbage. It is not even 3 years old.

The white button had to be pushed inside the washer so the door would open. Now it is locked again and will not drain. Time for a new machine.

Matthew is here now and he will try to take the washer apart and see if we can force it open. Good news. Matt got the top of the washer off and was able to push some button and open the washer. My clothes were sopping wet and felt soapy. I got them out and hung them outside to dry. There is still water in the machine. Matt took out the drain hose and washed it with a hose and a bunch of dog hairs came out. Now he is trying to get to the filter to clean that out.

There is a lot of water still in the machine. We tried to drain and spin but the washer is now locked again and won't go, flashing F3, E1. I give up.

I took the sliced leeks over to the commercial kitchen where my food dehydrator is. I spread them out and turned it on. They are supposed to be dry in six hours but that will be after dark so I will check on them tomorrow. Too many snakes to go out in the scary darkness if I don't have to.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

It is early Saturday morning, still dark outside. David has been looking on the internet for stores that have washing machines in stock and not many have them in stock thanks to covid. Most places make you order them online and then you have to wait ten days for delivery.

He found a few in a store not far away so we will visit this morning and see. I cannot believe the stupid Whirlpool locked me out of my own washer. We finally got it open last night and rescued a whole load of my clothes. Then we tried to drain it out and it won't go or open again.

I am back in our truck and David is making sure the new washer is loaded properly. We got it home safely and Matt helped us hook it up. It works great.

The new washer has many more features than the side load washer we got almost 3 years ago. I did 4 loads and it seems to work great.

David and I went over to the Sears Appliance Store in Pleasanton and they had several top loaders available to take home today. We got a 4.7 capacity so we can wash a large comforter. It is a Kenmore.

Matthew came over and helped us get it in the house and hooked up. It works great. I really like it. There are a lot more features than on our old Whirlpool. David's son is going to take it and fix it since it is only two years old.

This afternoon, I got the largest egg haul ever. We have 33 hens and I got 27 eggs today! That is just crazy. There will be plenty of fresh eggs in the store on Monday morning so if you want good, farm fresh, organic eggs in plenty of pretty shades, come by David's Garden Seeds® Farm Store soon!

These are the 27 eggs I collected today. Isn't it amazing?

Svengoolie was a repeat of one that we watched earlier this year so we skipped it and watched the original Hawaii Five 0, season 7, where we are at in watching this classic TV show. It is a very good show. We grilled steaks and veggies and had a nice time.

Sunday, August 29, 2021

The new zinnias that I planted are already starting to bloom! They are heat tolerant and will bloom until the frost takes them out. Soon I will plant seeds in my fall vegetable garden.

This morning is a humid one. I went out and fed and watered all of the animals. David wants to visit the church down the road that we visited almost two years ago.

My toe is doing okay. I have been soaking it in Epsom Salts and will see the doctor tomorrow to make sure it is healing correctly. I think it is.

David scrambled some eggs and we had breakfast tacos and coffee. Now I am dressed and ready to roll but since we live just down the street, we don't have an hour commute today, more like five minutes.

I have been continuing to clean up and reorganize in the house. I hope to get it all done since we are having company this coming weekend. Jeremy and his family will be coming to pick up my broken washer.

A vanilla bean. Slice down the middle without cutting all the way through the bean with a sharp knife. This releases the little black seed flavor found inside the bean. My fingers smell so yummy!

I had to cut the beans in half for them to fit in the 8 ounce bottles I got. I put 3 and a half beans in each bottle and I made 7 bottles.

This afternoon after church, I boiled some eggs for us. I loaded up four dozen eggs to sell in the farm store tomorrow. I peeled and chopped up my jicama harvest and, by the way, it tastes so good raw! I watered all of the plants outside of our farm store.

Then, I made homemade vanilla for the first time. I saw some videos of how to make homemade vanilla. I ordered vanilla beans from Amazon as well as dark bottles. I bought some vodka and spiced rum for the vanilla. I made three bottles with vodka and four with spiced rum. Yes, real vanilla is made from the vanilla beans in alcohol. Read your vanilla extract bottle and you will see that it has alcohol in it, unless you have fake vanilla. It takes four to six months before you can use your homemade vanilla extract. I only had enough to make seven bottles so I have ordered more vanilla beans. Now my fingers smell incredibly delicious like vanilla and I have washed them several times since.

This afternoon, I collected 20 farm fresh, organic chicken eggs from my 33 girls. Yes, indeed, there will be a lot of fresh eggs for sale at the farm store tomorrow.

I just fed the fish and finally, the water is clear, the particles have settled down and I can see to the bottom of the pond. All four remaining fish are fine so that means the snake repellent sticks are working!

Fall Vegetable Garden

Adorable, small bush bean plants are coming up which means delicious, fresh green beans soon! Yay! There is nothing in your fall vegetable garden like fresh green beans!

Let's talk about our fall vegetable garden. I, myself, have not planted anything yet. David and Matthew have been planting out back. David's bush beans are already coming up. We get our best beans in our fall vegetable garden so I am very excited to see their cute little leaves emerging from the sand.

We have also planted other things in our fall vegetable garden, some summer and winter squash, zucchini, melons, and we will be planting a lot more like carrots, onions, beets, broccoli, cauliflower and more.

Return from Fall Vegetable Garden to Business Growth

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