Twisted Oak Farm

Good Morning!  Well, unbeknownst  to me, we had a pour down Monday night about 9:30PM.  I didn't know anything about it until I went outside to start watering yesterday morning.  Everything was soaked.  When I looked in the rain gauge, we had gotten almost 1/2 inch in addition to the previous rain.  YIPPEE!!!  So I was able to skip the watering and go right to feeding my bees and picking off Japanese Beetles.  They have been horrible this year!  We put out bags and they fill up within two days.  When I spoke with Ray later in the day, he said that the city just south of us had received 6 inches of rain in 3 hours.  Thank you, Yahweh, for sparing us that!  If we had gotten that much rain, I would have just gone out and pulled up all of my tomato plants and been done with it.  As it is, we have had just enough to perk everything up.

Due to the rain, it was fairly late in the morning when I began picking berries.  I was trying to wait for them to dry, but it was so humid that it just wasn't happening.  Eventually I just had to go with picking them wet.  I hadn't quite finished when lunch was ready, so I left it until after.  Then I had to finish picking because we had an order to fill.

   Then it was on to trying to get my tomato sauce made.  I brought the tomatoes up to a boil then, working in batches, I put them through the food mill.  The sauce I put in another stainless steel pan and the leftovers I gave to the chickens.  Then I brought the sauce up to a boil again and let it boil gently, stirring occasionally until it had decreased by about 1/3.  Since I like a thicker sauce, I will continue to reduce it today before canning it up in pints.  Who knew it would take me three days to make tomato sauce?  I still have the corn to get put up before Ray buys another 3 bushels on Friday.  And more tomatoes are getting ready as we speak.

Well, it's long past time for me to be off. 

May Yahweh bless you in this new day!

Laurie