Cider Saturday... A brief (very) update

We jugged 102.5 gallons of cider. We sold nearly half of that.
We used just over 2200 lbs of apples in our cider.

We were joined this year by Ethan and Shannon Nuttall and their crew of excellent helpers, Steven and Andrea Stahr, Laurel Stahr, and - of course, Our Fantastic Five. All of whom worked hard to help us get the Cider stored.

Additionally, we pressed another 12.5 gallons of cider the following Thursday for a grand total of 115 gallons of Apple Cider. Yum. This year is one of the best yet.

And now for the photos:

This is one of my favorite cider photos. I LOVE the joy on the children's faces!

Look at all those helpers! Even Grandpa is loading apples!

Ready for Pressing!

Funny how everyone seems to be gone when it's time to clean up... even the kids are nowhere to be seen....

Cider Thursday. The final pounds of apples...

Liquid Gold.

THIS is what I'll be making next year. Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls. Delicious!

Excitement on the farm!

Chicks. We have 2 of them. We used to have three, but the third chick didn't live up to his name of Rocky Balboa, and gave up. Savannah was pretty sad. I'm not surprised. He was a pretty cute little chick.

The other two, Pip and Squeak, are running around after their Mom, and thriving. They're pretty cute, too. Bailey calls them "ninnens." She's pretty cute, too.

Mama Hen with Pip and Squeak

This is Rocky. He didn't survive, but he was cute while he lasted!

We also have kittens. 4 of them. We had five, but I gave one away. The children haven't touched them, so they stand a fighting chance at survival.

Here are the five... the striped one has become part of someone else's family.

 As soon as Mama Cat brings the kittens out, I'll get pictures... of the children mauling holding them, too.

We also have more loads of wood coming in to replenish the woodpile, we're getting ready to plant our gardens, and life is great.

Andrew and LeGrand - tilling the squash garden.  One of their favorite things to do.

Bee-coming a Beekeeper

I am proud to announce that I am a beekeeper. I built my first hive on May 3, after having a tornado of bees take up residency in our woodpile that Andrew brought home from Portland. There is something fascinating about having Honey Bees take up residency on your property. When we first saw them, the children had been sent outside to do some school work (beautiful day, they weren't doing anything in the house, why not?). Savannah shortly thereafter came running down the hill to tell me that we had something swirling in the air, and it must be a "hibernating thing". Not a hibernating thing. A SWARMING, Triangulating thing. Basically, the bees were lost and trying to find themselves.

So, they decided to make their home in the woodpile. Not so o.k. with Andrew. Or me, for that matter. Needless to say, I did some quick research and found a beekeeper who was willing to sell me materials for a bee box, found a friend with a bee suit I could borrow so that I could move my bees without getting stung, and VOILA! I am now, keeper of the bees.

Bees are fascinating. They clean their frames out meticulously. And they are surprisingly gentle. LeGrand was amazed that he could "pet a bee" without getting stung, and has sat with me for many long minutes watching as the bees push old dirt and old hive from other bees out of their new home. Not only is it rewarding to know that we will have our own honey, it's surprisingly calming to watch the bees doing their work.

the box with all 10 frames inside

the box, waiting for bees

getting ready to move the bees

SUCCESS! Bees are moved! NO stings...

carefully petting a bee - under mom's shadow...

cleaning house. The pile of dirt in the lower right hand corner is what they have taken out. They're very efficient.

I would like to say that I haven't been stung, but that wouldn't be true. I was stung last Friday when I couldn't leave them be. (every pun intended). I was checking on their progress, and Andrew needed me to see something. In my haste to put the lid back on the bees, I angered two of them and one stung me on the knee - the other on the side of my hand. The knee hurt. The hand, not so much. And two of my bees died. I probably squished a lot more after the two stung me, too - trying to get the lid down without being stung more. Bees can, after all, smell fear... and after being stung, I was afraid. Very afraid. For now, I am leaving them be. And watching from a safe distance as they clean and bring in pollen and do their work. In the fall, we plunder and eat honey. But they don't need to know that...yet.

we just wanted to replace the deck.....

Three weeks or so ago, Andrew took the deck off. It was our "summer project" to replace the deck and replace the siding on the south side of the house and to replace the windows in the sun room. Sounds simple, until we got the deck off.

What we found left us wondering how our Sun Room hasn't fallen off yet. With the siding off, we found some insulation, but that the house wasn't built the same way houses are now. Our sun room was built from the ground up. With the windows resting on some post type things (Andrew could say what they're called, but since he's not typing this and I am, you just get what I'm going to call them. If you want technicalities, call Andrew.)

So... we started the re-build. From the ground up.

Andrew jacked up different sections of the house, and piece by piece, replaced the mud sill and the braces holding the house up.Then he replaced the dirt sill. And then, he started rebuilding the walls. Including framing in window spots. Windows will be here on Friday.

It has meant that we've boarded up the house nightly, and that we go through a different door. But it also means that our sun room has a stronger base, and that the walls will be sturdy. We also won't have the slight breeze into our house every time the wind blows. The pantry will be larger, the windows a tad smaller, but the difference won't matter because of the craftsmanship that has gone into this "little" project.

The new door will be centered in the entryway of the sun room. The windows will be equal on both sides. This view through the wall will be gone... but I'm grateful for a husband who has the skills to do this work.

This work in progress, unlike other projects that are still on-going, will be finished by the end of this month. At least the outside part will. The inside part is not as essential, and can wait. For a little bit, at least.

Improvements include new siding, new windows and a new door. A more stable sun room - with the corner no longer drooping as badly as it used to be.

Really, we just wanted to replace the deck. What we're getting is a new sun room, new windows, a new door, and a lot of sweat equity. Andrew's sweat.

Finished pictures to follow. I promise.

All work courtesy of Andrew Stahr Specialty Woodworking. Thank GOODNESS!!!!!

CIDER!

I figured that since it's been a while, I should probably start with the oldest event first.

Apple cider. A Stahr tradition started - in our little family, three years ago when Andrew brought home an antique cider press. We've made mostly delicious cider ever since. (I say mostly, because last years cider was a little off... This year, we've outdone ourselves in deliciousness.)

The cider day dawned crisp and cloudy. Andrew and Savannah were outside by 8:30, getting the press all prepped for the pressing of 1600 lbs of apples. (Yes, you did read that right.) One Thousand, Six Hundred fantastic pounds of apples. In all shapes and colors and varieties. As I got some breakfast ready, Andrew and Savannah pressed some apples for breakfast beverage. They brought the first gallon in at 9:30 am. It was gone by 9:45 am.

This year, for the first time, Savannah was old enough to be pulled from "DUNK DUTY" and became a CRANKER. Andrew was Press Slave - once again.

LeGrand and Margaret were bucket fillers... a fun job when you get to go diving for apples in the massive bins! Sometimes, all we saw was this:

And then, he came up for air, and we saw THIS:

We pressed a grand total of 97 gallons of apple cider. It was a glorious day. Our freezer is now full.

Cider for sale: $8 per gallon. Shipping is extra.

The Law of the Harvest

"That which ye sow, that shall ye also reap."

Three years ago, the Stahr family planted a garden. We included corn, peas, beans, and something else that I can't remember because it was three years ago. I'm lucky I remember today! Our corn blew over in the wind, the peas didn't really grow, and the beans were thin - at best. Not to mention the deer. They ate what we didn't pick as soon as it made a showing. We vowed we weren't going to plant another garden until we had a fence up. And so, we didn't.

This year, Andrew put up a fence made of fishing line. I will admit that I was extremely skeptical and kept hinting that we do something different. The fence was wonderful! We didn't have a single deer in our garden, and it flourished. Not because of the fence, I'm sure - although the fence certainly kept critters at bay!

In our garden, we planted corn. We planted pumpkins. We planted beans, peas, onions, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, three different types of peppers, and the weeds came on their own. That was the upper garden. In the lower garden, we planted tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, and more peppers.

Fast forward to the end of summer... Our broccoli died. Our cauliflower died. Our zucchini is JUST NOW getting zucchini (just in time for the first frost! How fantastic!) The weeds did fabulously. The corn blew over - but not until we had already harvested most of it and canned a lot of it. And when I say a lot, I mean 40 quarts. The onions didn't do very well, but that's o.k. Our potatoes harvested out two 5-gallon buckets full of the largest potatoes I have ever seen. Our beans didn't get picked except for dinners a couple of times. We just ate the 12 carrots that we grew (we started with two rows, and they just didn't grow... Tonight, we picked 43 sugar pumpkins, and the children grew 3 carving pumpkins each - we had 4 giant jack-o-lantern pumpkins volunteer themselves by our burn pile to the side of the house. We picked more gallons of tomatoes than I can count. We've picked a peck of peppers to pickle - and there are still peppers left to pick. We pickled 3 gallons of dill pickles.

In the last three months (because we started in August...) we have canned the following:

41 pints of blackberry jam.

11 pints of gooseberry jam.

50 quarts of applesauce. (spiced and plain with a little sugar)

97 gallons of apple cider.

38 quarts of white grape juice.

23 quarts of peaches.

7 quarts peach pie filling.

9 pints triple berry jam.

5 quarts pickled tomatoes.

40 quarts tomato juice.

12 pints tomato basil sauce.

11 quarts spaghetti sauce.

20 pints pizza sauce.

5 pints, 6 quarts pickled peppers.

40 quarts frozen corn.

11 quarts southwestern salsa.

9 pints corn salsa.

11 pints sweet pickle relish.

15 pints, 8 half pints dill pickle relish.

And we pick up between 15 and 18 farm fresh eggs daily.

We have literally filled every. single. one. of our quart jars. And we still have pumpkin to do. And red grape juice. And I forgot to count the quart of dried tomatoes that I put into the freezer.

So... if there is a food emergency on the planet somewhere, and grocery stores are all sold out of things that are yummy to eat, you're all invited to dinner. We can eat some of the meat stored in our freezer and grind wheat to make bread. We'll have to use rocks, because we don't have a wheat grinder, but... at least we won't starve to death!

Planting Time!

the lower garden...

Andrew and LeGrand watering the upper garden

Savannah

Margaret

LeGrand planting his pumpkins

Savannah planting pumpkins

Margaret - trying not to get dirty while planting pumpkins...

It's taken us three weeks to plant our garden, but I am pleased to report that we're finally finished. This year we planted TWO gardens. An upper garden with corn, potatoes, peppers, carrots (if they come up...) beans, onions, pumpkins and peas. The lower garden has tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins and strawberries. Savannah helped Andrew put a fence in, the rest of the children helped to plant all the plants.

LeGrand was a good helper when it came to digging in the dirt... Savannah and Margaret did a fabulous job helping to get the actual plants in - the two of them planted onion and peas with Andrew and have been thrilled to see that their plants are coming up!

The three oldest children each planted their own hill of pumpkins yesterday; it's been wonderful hearing them pray that their plants will grow!!!

All in all, we're praying for a good harvest and just enough rain...

Update 5.17.11

So. Since it's been a couple of weeks, and we've done a lot, I thought it was about time to add some photos.

Savannah finished the third grade sometime last week or the week before! YAY! Now on to a mix of 4th and 5th grade depending on the subject! (She's NOT counting down days for school to start again...) She just finished reading The Extraordinary Princess and is now in the middle of The Princess Academy. Both books she's hoping to discuss with others who have read them. She is a lot like her mom in that she seems to always have her nose in a book. She may be reading more than one book now... I'm not sure. If only she'd have the same enthusiasm for schoolwork......... (I think my parents may have said the same thing about me!)

Margaret has decided that it's o.k. to stop substituting the "T" sound or "D" sound for certain letters, and is thrilled that she can now pronounce "K" and "R" and "G" properly. (She came running downstairs and announced to me "BONK! I can say, BONK!" And then went back to bed. She's adding new words daily.

LeGrand thinks that we bought him a tractor, but that it's at the neighbor's house because he's not old enough to drive. We didn't. We borrowed the tractor, but he's still claiming it as his own.

Caroline is enjoying life and wandering everywhere she can as long as she doesn't let me out of her sight. Her preferred location is still where I am. Her favorite thing is her stuffed penguin, it's small enough that she's a lot larger than it.

Andrew just finished an amazing entertainment center and some bunkbeds and is now working on a bookshelf! (Pass the word if you know of people needing beds or any other special wood project!) He's right in the middle of baseball season and getting ready to start summer ball and the busy umpire schedule that will bring. He's been hit by the ball quite a bit this year - which has brought some impressive bruising and some nights of extreme soreness, but he still loves it - and I love that it gives him something else to do!

Me... I spent all last week cleaning. I cleaned the sun room (and changed out the picture frames too...) including wiping down all the walls and getting rid of the cobwebs and washing the windows. I cleaned the study. I cleaned the music room. I cleaned the kitchen. I cleaned the bathroom. I cleaned the living room. I cleaned the dining room. I cleaned my bedroom - including vacuuming under the bed. And then I cleaned them all again! I had my first piano recital - it was a marvelous display of talent from my students. I planted oregano. I planted thyme. I planted peppermint (in a container). I planted rosemary. I planted becopa. I planted lobelia. I planted something that I really don't know what is, but the flowers are beautiful. I planted strawberries. I went with the children and purchased tomato plants and other starts to plant in our garden. And I still haven't had this baby. I'm about ready to do jumping jacks. The upside to all of that is that my windows - some of which haven't been washed since we moved in (I know - gross... but I'm really sort of unintentionally anti-window washing) have all been washed. Some of them on the outside as well as on the inside. Amazing what a good washing will do for lighting in the house!

Our home school co-op even took a trip last week down to Albany, OR to see the makings of a new carousel. The animals are being hand carved and painted all by volunteers. It was awesome. LeGrand loved the guy carving stick horses. And all the other animals. I was fascinated by the skill and the beauty of each animal, and the stories behind them. Each animal is sponsored by a different family who got to choose what the animal would look like. The animals are hollow, so that the sponsor can put a little time capsule inside with information about why they chose the particular animal and why the animal has the name and clothing or design that it has. The base for the carousel is circa 1909 with some updating, and was donated by a man who's mother had it in her driveway. (Some people have an excess of vehicles, she had the base for a carousel. Bet she's glad to have the driveway space back now!) After the carousel museum, we all went out for ice-cream cones that were $1.10 each. Soft serve. HUGE. Well worth the money. And then we went home.

Andrew has tilled up space for our garden (hence the purchase of so many plants) and he and the children planted onions and peas last Saturday. We're still waiting for warmer weather to plant the remainder of our crop (which will include 37 tomato plants, a lot of pepper plants, cauliflower, beans, broccoli - just for you, Dad - squash, cucumbers, zucchini, corn and potatoes.) We're hoping to do that this coming Friday (which will be day two of warm weather this week...)