Cactus Juice Is Bottled. 02.01.2010

We bottled the prickly pear melomel.  It is a gorgeous color.  We of course sampled and it is still a bit hot, but has a smooth almost smoky flavor.  It is a little drier than I would of like, but still very good.

We ended up with 18 bottles or just over 19 liters.  Think about buying wine at ten dollars a bottle.  Now figure we spent approximately $30 to make this batch.  If you like wine or honey mead, it is well worth it to make your own.  There is some initial investment in equipment, but it will pay for itself in the first couple of batches depending on your setup.  This is how we take one step closer to self sufficiency.

Read W.U.F. Update September 18, 2009 to read more about this batch of Cactus Juice.

The freeze is on!

It is official, the outdoor growing season is over. We had record low temperatures on Saturday. It was down to 15 F. There were major accidents all over the city. I was side ways at one point on my way to work.

It has taken me many years to convince Sy that we can support much of our lifestyle with our small suburban spread. As I reflect on the past growing season I am proud of our accomplishment. Sy was amazed at the amount of food we had this summer from the garden. We ate plenty. We were fortunate enough to share with family and friends, some feeling the effects of the recession. We have canned, dried, and otherwise preserved enough to last us through the winter.

We will spend this winter reviewing our notes, and getting better prepared. We will review our failures such as the potatoes, and do more research. We had great vines this year, but they never flowered, meaning of course no potatoes. We haven't had much luck with carrots, but there are a few carrot sprouts from a fall planting. Carrots will continue to grow in winter here.

Over all we had great success and next year we set the bar a bit higher. In the near future look forward to a short video of our 2009 garden. Take care and have a great day.

This weekend was the Pueblo Chile and Frijole Festival in Pueblo Colorado. We picked up Sy's sister Josie and made the short trip to Pueblo. We spent the better part of the afternoon checking out the vendors products. There was everything from jewelry to Directv. Farmers market to antique market. The smoke of roasting chile's wafts about the air. It was a wonderful day out of the house to hang out. We bought a bushel of Pueblo Chiles with garlic and then had them fire roasted. They are delightful and make wonderful salsa, green chili, or chile cheese bread. Anyway that has been the last couple of days. I called in a personal day so we can finish canning what we have. I also have to get some photographic prints mounted and sent for a company photo contest. Hope all have a great day.

Pics from recent trips to Mom and Dads

Greetings all,

Here are photos from my recent trips to the ranch. My brother Evan, his wife Danielle, and their two kids, Logan and Dylan were up from Phoenix so we went to visit the last weekend in August. The first set of pics are from that trip. We had to come back to Colorado Springs so I could go back to work, but I started my vacation the following week and got to visit with Evan and Family some more before they had to leave. we stayed a few more days. We are catching up yard and house work, and making prickly pear wine. More about that later. Prior to our vacations, we have been busy making jelly and salsa. More about that later as well.

Random Thoughts by Syona 3.29.09

 Aloha!  It's only a few days 'til April, and the Vernal Meteorological Schizophrenia is upon us.  We just had a blizzard roll through here not 4 days ago, and the snow's already almost gone.  Windy and almost-warm, with a side of breeze.  

    Our weeds are sooo grateful for the snow.  Gosh.  While I do enjoy seeing my slice of winter-seared heaven turning green, all the greenery seems to be dandelions and tumbleweeds.  We just may try turning our hand at making some dandelion wine again this year.  The poor Chem-Lawn guy had fits driving past our yard a couple years ago, as our lawn was a lush sea of yellow; nothing but dandelions.  He finally knocks on the door, kindly offering his services, since our lawn was truly run over with these weeds.  Giving him my best "big, innocent b

lue eyes" act, he recieved an earnest, "Well, no, we're cultivating them."  When he (understandably) looked confused, I smiled brightly, "You can't make dandelion wine without the dandelions!"  He literally strangled out an incoherent reply, galloped back to his truck, and never returned again.  There's probably a prayer for me stuck to the side of some Chem-Lawn Gods shrine somewhere.  Poor guy.  

    We've got some creeping thyme seed.  This year, our Circle is finally going to be finished.  This project (our Sacred Circle, complete with altar) has been in progress for nearly five years.  The Quarter and Cross-Quarter stones, when installed, were the first real change we made to our yard, our first "footprint," so to speak.  After such a long gestation, to finally see our first project coming near to fruition is thrilling.  We'll of course post pics along the way to keep ya'll up to date.

    Our peas are coming up.  Yay.  The berries are accused of making leaf, but so far we only have one suspect.  Inquiries are being made.  The chives all got their first haircut of the season, a brutal hack job committed by yours truly.  (Well, what did you expect - I never was good at cutting my own hair.)  Their shaggy manes lopped off the morning of the blizza

rd, Jeremy was concerned they'd be thrown into shock.  I however, was totally dismissive of his concerns.  "They're chives," I sniffed.  Well, it's now 4 days later, and these herbs have grown at least 2 inches.  2 of those 4 days, they were buried under 4 inches of snow.  Yeah, I'm real concerned for their tender lives.  They'll probably outlive the cockroaches.  (Jeremy is reading this as I write it, and grumbled.)

    I planted 3 new strawberries not a week before the blizzard, without hardening them off first.  Oops.  The enthusiasm of the rookie - they were in the ground a full day before I even thought about the hardening of our store-bought plants.  They are, fortunately, doing beautifully.  Jeremy is, as I write, reluctantly uncovering my new rosemary in the front yard.  In his words, "it's quite lovely."  Joy.

    My bathroom is the brightest and warmest room of the house.  So now my countertops are covered with seedling trays.  I can't tell you how giddy I am.  My formerly spa

cious and tidy sanctuary is now more organic than some of the yards in my neighborhood.  A

t least I enjoy the scent of moist, fecund earth.  

   Well, as usual, my conversation has nosedived into potty humor.  I'll let you go for now.  Talk at ya some more later.  

Sy;)