Borscht

Working at the Extension service farm we get to "Harvest" some of our labors, this week it was Beets, Red Onions and Carrots.  Quite a lot actually, what to do with all the beets???
We made Borscht and canned 14 quarts.

Recipe: 12 Beets, peeled, shredded in Quisinart
              3 Onions shredded then sauteed in butter in soup pot
              6 Carrots shredded
              Salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, basil

Heat thoroughly to just boil, process at 12psi for 90 min.

We bought a Tractor

OK so its a CHINESE tractor....but for 7,500 I got a front end loader, a backhoe, a 5' bush hog. 25hp, 2005 model 484 hours total??? not really sure about that.  Has a few issues, starts hard, needs new glow plugs, oil changes etc.  Found a neat tractor place in Keno Oregon that has parts and advice and they are really nice.

Bees!

We took a Bee Class at the county extension service and I decided we would have bees to help polinate our fruit trees.  I think the Kids thought i was a little crazy when I said I was building a Warre Hive (modified of course, octogon style) and was going to "Catch" a swarm.  Sure enough 15 MAY along comes this swarm of 17k + bees.  Thank god for U-Tube, showed us just what to do.  Easy Peasy.

 

Planting an Orchard

Got 30 trees and bushes.  3 Figs, 3 Almonds, 3 Peach, 2 Nectarine, 2 Apricot, 5 Apple, 3 Cherry, 3 Olive, 2 Prune (for Porter), Raspberry Plants, Blueberry Plants.  And 5 raised bed gardens.

Fencing Start

In total we did 910 ft of 6ft tall "Orchard Fencing" thats 90 posts dug 2ft down, set in concrete, drilled for; 180 10ft long rails, pencil sharpened on both ends to fit into the drilled holes.  Whole project took 45 days start to finish.

 

 

This is March of 2012, We have thinned out 95+ scrub oak trees and you can see to the left two large piles of "Moo Doo Compost" 15 yards worth and "Garden Topsoil" 10 Yards.  What you do not see is a TRACTOR which we are looking for but do not have yet.  Have borrowed Todd's for a couple of days but he needed it back right away so not much got done.  All 25 yards of dirt here were moved by hand with Wesley's pickup, loaded in and spread about one shovel full at a time.

View off our porch

Got our first snow of the Season.

Rosie Comes Home

Of course when it was time to pick up Rosie, Troy was out to sea and Oliver needed watching.  This is Momma Heaven.

Momma's Got a Puppy

Celeste has been looking for a Boxer Puppy since Troy took Oliver with him...soooo here we have found a new puppy still too young to take home. Have to wait a couple weeks for her to get ripe for picking, she's now 4 weeks so we have to wait for 4 more.  Rosie is her name and she is CUTE!

Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving at the Homestead.  Came to stay after 6 months with Katie, Ryan and Porter.  They have a great start!  And we are starting our journey forward with a Homestead, trying to figure things out and learn all kinds of new stuff.

Sunrise in Late November.

Demolition

So what Hammell purchase could possibly be complete without some demolition project.  We drove west and arrived at the newly painted home 21 JUL 11.  Stayed for a week and then took the trip up to Seattle to be with Porter.  I came back down 6 Aug to start the "Floor Project"

We had two different tiles in the kitchen, another one down the hall and a section of "Engineered Floor".  Ripped it all up and replaced it with Hickory floor planking, beautiful stuff.  Troy of course helped out.

We took down an additional style of wall tile from the wood stove corner.  New look is Hickory floor throughout with a Slate Tile foyer and wood stove surround.  Troy and Sammi got us gift certificate for a wood stove.

Our new floor.

Paint the House

So the first 2 weeks after we got the house, I was the "Painter".  Painted the Kitchen, Living Room, Bedrooms (2), and the ceilings which was the toughest job.  Painted the garage walls and floor, then I went back to Jersey to drive west with Celeste.  Spent the fourth of July with Katie, Ryan and Porter at the Smith Beach House.

Started 21 JUN 2011

Well, we "bought the farm". Not in the usual slang, we literally "Bought" a farm. Well maybe not even in the literal sense, we bought 10 acres with a fine home which in time will become our "Homestead" which we call Thankful Too. Thankful ( the original ) was a log cabin on the Delaware river owned by my Aunt Lillian and Uncle Boot. Actual purchase was 22 APR 11 but the closing was 21 JUN 2011.  We were in Seattle with Katie, Ryan and Porter after moving west on Celeste's retirement from Morristown High School, May 2011.  We are staying with Katie and Ryan to assist them in adjusting to life with a little one. 

Welcome to Thankful Too

Five decades ago, my Aunt Lil and Uncle Boot had a cabin on the Delaware river near Hainesville NJ, they called their camp; Thankful. Many a happy childhood memory was had at Thankful, there were 110 log and stone steps from the cabin down to the river. Stories of lost wallets in the outhouse, vague memories of an old water mill house, young love... The cabin and property was lost in the Tocks Island Dam Project, scooped up by eminent domain....project was abandoned and now is all part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Celeste and I share many fond memories of Thankful and when we finally wer eable to begin this latest chapter in our lives, building a Homestead, we easily agreed on the name Thankful Too.