Clearing Buckthorn to Plant Oak

After 20+ years of chronic pain and a decade of environmental sensitivities, it is amazing to be back to outdoor work projects!

This oak was sprouting in our friends' flowerbed back in May. It grew in in our kitchen window all summer and finally found a new home in the edge of our woods.

But first, there was lots of buckthorn to clear.

Then a hole to be dug and filled with compost by our professional shovel-man!

Now, water, and wait to see if this little sprout does as well as the first oak tree planted on our place just a few years ago...

September in the Kitchen

This is the first year I have tried canning Chili and Autumn Soup. Nice, quick meals that don't need to be thawed from the freezer!

Mom grilled up a bunch of sweet Italian peppers to restock the freezer.

And Elsa has perfected her whole grain einkorn sourdough bread. She is now on to experimenting with kamut sourdough!

Stepping Back in Time

I'm so glad my sister's kids are growing up with annual visits to a local steam-thresher's reunion where they can get a better picture of the history of midwestern America. 

Some years we get to enjoy it right along with them!

There is always something more to learn, whether in the barn...

I didn't know turkeys had purple and teal around their eyes!

The man in the print shop answered so many questions.

And I also learned that I love the warm, reedy sound of an old pump organ! Now I understand old books better and how these instruments were prized in the parlors of small homes such as that of the Ingalls family in "These Happy Golden Years."  I wonder where I could fit one in our house...

September Flowers

September Harvest Begins

September was a time to freeze early apples...

pick Concord grapes...

...and can grape juice. 

We also enjoyed our first-ever moon flowers (after sunset).