Much work and waiting have gone into the garden again this year. As days shorten and temperatures lower, it is clear that winter is coming, the growing season is past.

Our wood supply is abundant, but it sits in a woodshed beyond the garden. To get it into our wood room, my husband loads the firewood on the tractor loader, drives across the garden to the wood room door. Hence, the garden must be cleaned before it is turned into the tractor path.

We took up the squash and cucumber vines and collected their fruits. We pulled up the herbs. We pulled out the beet crop and the carrot crop. The broccoli plants had to go, too.

My gladiola bulbs have to come out. They would die with the freezing of the earth, so we got them in.

We cut the tops from the carrots and beets.  Carrots must have bit of the orange cut off with the greens, otherwise, in storage they tend to grow new leaves.  The beets are trimmed with about 1 inch of the stems still on the beet.  If beets were cut more closely they would lose some of their deep redness during cooking.

The cut-off tops went to the chickens.

We washed the vegetables, air-dried them and packed them into wire baskets before storing them. Carrots are stored in plastic bags and kept in the cool cellar.  Beets are stored in a crock as are the squash.

The garden is clean enough to let the tractor do its job tomorrow when piling wood will be on the docket. When the hard freeze comes there will be time to finish.

 

photo credit: Bretta Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau

One staple crop I grow in the garden is tomatoes. We like to raise about a dozen tomato plants each year. I make canned tomatoes, soup, salsa, and sometimes pasta sauce. In winter, tomatoes greatly enhance our diet.

Recently we had a nice bunch of tomatoes to process. Judging from the count of jars of soup on my shelf, I decided to make a batch of soup. The recipe I like to use requires 12.5 pounds of tomatoes to make about 5 quarts of soup.

 

I wash my tomatoes and celery before I put them into the pot.  I cut out the stem end of the tomatoes and cut the tomatoes in quarters. The celery is cut in half-inch pieces. The pot must be large enough for the bulky vegetables. I prefer a stainless steel one.

 

 

 

 

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1-6 chopped onions and/or basil may be added at this time for added flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stir the heating mixture often.  I like to use medium heat to avoid any burning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the tomatoes and celery are softened, the next step of the process is straining.  I use a Squeezo-Strainer. I use this tool for tomatoes and applesauce especially.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wash up the kettle and pour the strained juice in it. I add 2 sticks of butter, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of salt to the juice mixture, and pepper to taste.  I use a whip to mix in the flour and to avoid lumping.  I heat the soup to the boiling stage till the mixture is thickened.

It is ready to pour into hot jars. Place on canning lids and screw bands and process in a water bath for 10-15 minutes.

When preparing to serve this soup, milk may be added.  To prevent curdling of milk, add a pinch of baking soda.

photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau

On our farm, we keep a flock of laying hens. Presiding over the hens is one rooster. After the hens lay eggs for us for about a year we move them out making room for the new and upcoming flock. Most often the rooster moves out with his hens.

Our last rooster, however, stuck around. He was a big rooster, very protective of his ladies, and knew his territory. Many other roosters in the past tended to be of the arrogant, possessive type. They attacked human beings simply because they walked in or around the chicken yard. Some charged when they were in the “human’s territory”.

Not so with this rooster. He protected the hens from coyotes, foxes, and raccoons, yet he knew that we provided food and shelter for the chickens, so he honored our authority. His attitude and demeanor were consistently trustworthy. For that reason he reigned in the chicken yard for about seven or eight years. Now that is a long time, if you recall they usually are gone in one year.

Last week, our good old rooster fought his last fight. He took on a fox to protect one of his ladies. His weapons in fight, spurs and beak, recently were reduced to single spur and beak. Yet he put up a good fight. But, sadly, he did not make it. We sure will miss that guy around here. It’s not often that we have found a rooster of his caliber.

photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau