Thread: Friday the 21st

Sorry your friends don't can any more but glad they gave their jars to
you.....you have until next season to decide what you want to put in
them!!...Carol

On 10/22/2011 7:32 AM, Carol S wrote:
> Sorry your friends don't can any more but glad they gave their jars to
> you.....you have until next season to decide what you want to put in
> them!!...Carol
>
Usually we have a fall canning season here in SW Louisiana but we've
been in drought conditions for two years and therefore no fruit ripened,
most of the garden died, etc. In the last two years we lost a pear tree,
a lemon tree, and most of a multi-trunked fig tree. All the Japanese
persimmons fell off early, the peach tree delivered two peaches total
and the quince tree gave us two quince that were undersized and hard as
a rock.

Usually by this time of the year I have thirty or forty vacuum bags of
chopped sweet chiles in the freezer. I actually had to by bell peppers
the other day for the first time in the 21 years we've lived in this
house. Please send rain if you have any to spare.

Our friends are only a few months older than we are but the wife has had
problems since being in a car wreck several years ago. She was one of
these folks that drive with her thumbs inside the steering wheel. She
was struck from the side by a driver running a red light, tore all the
ligaments up in both hands, had to have a right shoulder replacement due
to the wreck and is generally going downhill. The husband is doing his
best to look after her with the help of a home health care worker but
she isn't getting better and he can't be away from the house more than
an hour. They're good people and are trying to stay on the 68 acre
property they own and maintain their independence. I'm counseling move
to town where you don't have so many things to care for and sell the
property and invest the money in something reliable. Probably not going
to happen as they love the woods but moving is what I would do.

Miz Anne, my wife of nearly 51 years, and I are sprucing up our home to
get it ready to sell. Once on the market we will find a smaller home
closer to our children, grand children, and great grand children. Right
now it's a three-hour drive for any of us to visit. I want about an hour
between us so they can't drop their kids off when they go out. <G>
Of course we will continue to garden and put up our own food no matter
where we live, it's ingrained in our extended family culture. I don't
know about anyone else but I get a rush of endorphins just from growing
and preserving our food.

George

George....I pray you get rain for next years crops......I get a warm
fuzzy feeling when I can anything....even just a few jars of
something.....Carol

On 10/23/2011 8:41 AM, Carol S wrote:
> George....I pray you get rain for next years crops......I get a warm
> fuzzy feeling when I can anything....even just a few jars of
> something.....Carol
>
It's a sense of accomplishment for us, something we grew or were given
access to by people who don't use what they have. Then the joy of
canning it properly and sharing with family and friends.

On Oct 23, 7:12*am, George Shirley <gmshir...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
> On 10/23/2011 8:41 AM, Carol S wrote:> George....I pray you get rain for next years crops......I get a warm
> > fuzzy feeling when I can anything....even just a few jars of
> > something.....Carol
>
> It's a sense of accomplishment for us, something we grew or were given
> access to by people who don't use what they have. Then the joy of
> canning it properly and sharing with family and friends.

George, if I could send you rain from Oregon I would. It's just the
opposite here - way too cool and too much rain. If we combined our
two geographies, we'd have a gardening paradise!

We live in a rural area on 10.5 acres and love it. We are 44 and 50
and I think more and more frequently about independence and how we can
maintain it as much as possible. Moving back to an urban area does
not appeal. I'm hoping I inherited my parents' good health - they are
84 and still in pretty decent health and quite active. I know for
sure I inherited their desire for independence and gardening/self-
sufficiency habits.

I certainly can't move now. I'm just now getting a respectable garden
in place. And my husband plowed up a pasture for cover crops. And we
are planting a pumpkin and corn patch next year. And the chickens
love to roam all over the pastures. And, and, and....

Best wishes to your friends. I know they have hard decisions to
make.

Beti

On 10/25/2011 12:18 PM, Beti wrote:
> On Oct 23, 7:12 am, George Shirley<gmshir...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
>> On 10/23/2011 8:41 AM, Carol S wrote:> George....I pray you get rain for next years crops......I get a warm
>>> fuzzy feeling when I can anything....even just a few jars of
>>> something.....Carol
>>
>> It's a sense of accomplishment for us, something we grew or were given
>> access to by people who don't use what they have. Then the joy of
>> canning it properly and sharing with family and friends.
>
> George, if I could send you rain from Oregon I would. It's just the
> opposite here - way too cool and too much rain. If we combined our
> two geographies, we'd have a gardening paradise!
>
> We live in a rural area on 10.5 acres and love it. We are 44 and 50
> and I think more and more frequently about independence and how we can
> maintain it as much as possible. Moving back to an urban area does
> not appeal. I'm hoping I inherited my parents' good health - they are
> 84 and still in pretty decent health and quite active. I know for
> sure I inherited their desire for independence and gardening/self-
> sufficiency habits.
>
> I certainly can't move now. I'm just now getting a respectable garden
> in place. And my husband plowed up a pasture for cover crops. And we
> are planting a pumpkin and corn patch next year. And the chickens
> love to roam all over the pastures. And, and, and....
>
> Best wishes to your friends. I know they have hard decisions to
> make.
>
> Beti

Been there done that, when we were in our twenties and thirties. Had ten
acres, pigs, goats, a cow, rabbits, and chickens. 50X90 vegetable garden
and grew our own fodder for the critters, anywhere from three to five
acres of field corn. Had a three-quarter acre pond full of fish and also
provided water for the critters.

We moved away in 1976 for a much better job opportunity for me. Never
looked back. We do backyard gardening now that we're approaching our
mid-seventies and enjoy that plus the home food preserving. Rather live
in a small city with good medical facilities after strokes and heart
attacks debilitated me. You have to be happy with what pleases you so
I'm happy for you and your husband and happy for us too. Stay with what
makes you happy, that's the life we should all strive for.

Now I've got to go sponge mop the walls of the dining room after I spent
the morning hand sanding the wallpaper glue off the sheetrock.