Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Potato fruit







So this is the first time this has ever happened to me...I have never seen this before and neither has the hubster, but we had a bunch of these on our potatoes this year...so he researched it and this is what we found:


Collecting Potato Seeds

Most modern varieties of potatoes are sterile and do not produce fruits or seeds. If you are fortunate enough to be growing a variety that sets fruits, then you can harvest the fruits and collect seeds, and grow your own unique variety of potatoes. Potato berries grow above ground and look like green cherry tomatoes. The berries do not ripen like tomatoes. They stay green, or might get a slight yellow tint to them. I pick potato berries about the time that they start falling off the plant, or just before my first frost, whichever comes first. Then I allow them to sit around for a few weeks or months until they soften up, or until a few of the berries start to rot. Then I add one cup of berries to 6 cups of water and blend for 30 seconds. The seeds sink. The pulp  floats. I dump the pulp off and rinse the seeds several times. Then I ferment them for a few days by adding a pinch of yeast and a spoonful of sugar to the seeds in a jar of water. Then I rinse them a few times and spread out to dry.

Growing Potatoes from Potato Fruit

If your potato blossoms turned into tomatoes, you can try growing plants from the seeds. Potato fruits have seeds inside just like any berry. You can cut open the berries and remove the seeds to plant. However, the seeded potatoes take longer to produce a plant than those planted from tubers. The resulting plants will not produce the same type of potato as the parent plant either.
The seeds will need to be started indoors because they do take such a long time to produce. The easiest way to separate the seeds is to mash the berry and put the resulting mix into a glass of water. Let it sit for a few days and then strain out the top debris. Seeds will be at the bottom of the glass. You can plant them immediately or dry them and wait until later.

So, as you have read here from a couple of blogs I found...I for sure will be doing this and trying this next spring...how I have not know about this is beyond me...so weird lol....but so exciting!



Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Get rid of em


So this lil rant stems from a few months of going to one establishment to get my nails done in the city.
Let me state first of all...for me to get my nails done for me personally is GLORIOUS.....because for many many years, this was something that would have been unheard of for me....first of all, I was not a "girly girl", I couldn't afford it, things like that were a luxury...so when I do get them done, I am very grateful that I have the money for this extra in life.
Here's what gets my goat....the other woman in this establishment getting their nails done as well. I leave there and come home and just rant to the hubster about how rude and arrogant these woman can be....how they talk down to the people doing their nails....they sit there with their noses up in the air like their shit don't stink...the crunch their noses and yell out demands in a disrespecting tone.
Seriously....it shocks me, that these woman, think that for some reason they are better then the people doing there nails....seems this is a trend in society as well....so I ask...who's freakin idea was it to come up with boarders, separation...it's no wonder there are so many ignorant asses out there.
Because someone one day decided that this side of the street meant you were better, that gives you the right to treat that person like shit.....I don't think so!!!
I am sooooooooooooo grateful to the ladies AND men that work at the nail shop...for they have skills I clearly don't have and will never have and they are damn good at it...yes they often speak in a language I cannot understand...but when you engage in conversation with them like any other human being and ask the about their language they are more then willing to share and teach.
So now when I am at the nail shop...I go out of my way to show these snotty wenches just how great these people are that are doing a HUGE service to them....cause they clearly are UGLY people on the inside who need some prettying up on the outside...and they are starting with their nails! 

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Giantville


First of all....when viewing the following pictures and thinking to yourself....what the hell is she wearing lol....these are Sunday morning pictures okay....and I really don't care what my hair or outfit looks like...what I do care about is how AWESOME my growing things skills were this summer. As the season draws closer and closer to the end....I revel in all things still growing and producing and spend all of our free time canning and preserving!



Giant purple kohlrabi

Super tall sunflowers that are still growing and have about 10 flowers on each one ready to bloom

I will never ever buy another tomato plant in my life again...I started all mine from seed and as you can see, all the plants are TALLER then me and are producing 100's of tomatoes per plant....IT'S FREAKIN CRAZY!


Saturday, August 9, 2014

Sauerkraut Saturday

Remember the free cabbage the farmer gave me this past week....well since it was huge enough we decided to make some kraut from it...so I added so me purple and orange carrots from our garden along with some white onions in our garden too....oooohhhh boy this Kraut is gonna be yummy.

Hubster squishing it all down

All squished...but how to keep it all down under the juices to ferment?

Oh wait...I married a German, what was I thinkin...this is no problem...fill a bag with sugar so it's heavy and it easily spreads all over the whole jar to keep it all under the liquid...YEAH GERMAN lol
Oh yeah...and we made some yummy mustard yellow beans...10 jars...mmmmmm

Friday, August 8, 2014

Take the money and run

Well, we were gone back to our farm in BC for 10 days....and in these 10 days we kicked some ass....well....as far as organizing goes....we got a lot of stuff done and organized....on the last two days of our trip we cleaned house so to speak....we had a giant yard sale....we did no advertising in newspapers....all we did was put up neon green signs with arrows and huge lettering and all the people showed up in droves....and I literally mean....there were so many people the first day it was insane...and they had a TON of Cariboo money too! I have never seen so many people walking around with wads of 100's 50's and 20's....but hey....it was all good for us though!!! People told us our garage sale signs were perfect and perfectly placed, and that we seemed to have something for everyone. At the end of the second day...anything we had left was able to fit into one pick up truck and it was donated to the fire dept in Canim Lake, so they can make some money off of it in their garage sale in Sept.
It was good to see the ol farm, sad though too....sad that it's not the same as how I used to have it...it's all overgrown...and I felt overwhelmed...like I should have been there for 3 weeks just weed wackin it all.
We visited some great friends and old neighbors and were just so happy to get all of the stuff gone and done.
One more trip back and we will be done there totally.....not sure what we are gonna do with the property yet....time will only tell :-)
After the yard sale I felt like such a pimp.....counting all the cariboo money....grinning from ear to ear....wondering......just how much of this money is "grow op" money....after all....it's prime BC bud area lol.

Hubster driving our old 1950's Massey Ferguson tractor to it's new home

Sold our antique Almira wood stove to a happy guy looking for one just like it
Garage sale day one, BEFORE the insanity started

This is also day one just more crap

and again...more crap....like I said...we had something for EVERYONE!


Wednesday, August 6, 2014

On a day I really miss my Farmily

Well one year ago I would have been at Shambhala already having the time of my life, beginning my journey of an awakening.
I was hoping to be there again this year, planned it and all....but as life has it....I was unable to attend do to a work change that made it impossible.
So I imagined all day long all the festival goers packing and traveling and getting super excited about arriving at the farm in Salmo BC.
So I will admit I was a wee bit sad and jealous about this today....but the universe would have no part of that pity party.
I was sooooooo blessed today....blessed with the kindness of others....the kindness that one would experience on the farm at Shambhala.
At a bakery I delivered at today, the owner made and bought me lunch and gave me some super delicious treats....so that was my first amazing gift....the second one came just down the road at a cheese factory I deliver at....TWO HUGE BLOCKS OF MY FAVORITE CHEESE.....seriously....how can this day get any better???


Well it did...I had to do a pick up at a farm, and when I arrived, the old Japanese farmer came out with this huge cabbage for me....he told me that I was a good truck driver and handed this to me and scurried away.
And last but not least.....I also delivered to a sausage making place and the owner there knows I am a vegetarian....but that my husband LOVES sausage....so every time I go there, he gives me a free package....today's package was Chicken Apple Sausages.
So I was so excited by how over the top blessed I was with such great kind karma today, I could hardly wait to share it with the hubster....and when I walked in the door, he told me a package arrived for me today.....and this is what I received....

I won this book on a blog contest I had entered.....AWESOMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So tonight when I lay in bed going to sleep and thinking about all the people I wish I could be partying with on the farm in Salmo....I will smile and thank the universe for it's kind kind blessing at a time that I totally needed it :-)