Frost Warning

The locally respected Farmers Almanac says that the average first frost date for our neck of the woods - Grand Forks, North Dakota is September 27.  That isn't stopping Mother Nature from trying to send us freezing weather two weeks earlier than the average first frost date.  The weather forecast is for freezing weather tonight/Wednesday morning and possibly Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

We'll tuck in the tomatoes and peppers in a nice warm blanket overnight to make sure they stay warm and cozy.  It seems like it's too early in the season to be worrying about frost, heck it's not even officially autumn yet, but you can't argue with Mother Nature, she's gonna do what she's gonna do. 

Super Cuke

This is what happens when you're not super vigilant about harvesting your cucumbers every single day.  They can get unruly....

That's one big ass cucumber.

This particular variety of cucumber is the Armenian cucumber, and has a milder cucumber flavor with edible skin that doesn't need to be peeled. 

And The Tomato Spoke

I was returning with Shaak Ti from a squirrel chasing stroll through the park when I heard a barely audible voice from the garden, that said "Johnnnnnnn", it's barely audible voice trailing off.  It took me a minute of investigation but I found the source.  It was this little guy.

I got closer and heard the tomato say "John - make meeee into a Beeeee L Teeeeee".  Seeing as I had some bacon leftover in the fridge from our out of town visitor the previous weekend, I saw no impediment in obliging this little tomato's last wish.  And lo, it was delicious.  Thanks little tomato for the great idea.

Warm and Dry Weather

After a protracted Spring of cool and wet weather, summer returned to more normal weather in North Dakota, hot and humid.  Maybe even more humid than normal.  The precipitation was also perfectly spaced throughout the summer growing season, and didn't come all at once.  Just a nice quarter to half an inch of rain every two or three days.  It's been a pretty good gardening season for sure.

This week has been warm (mid 80's) and dry, great for the farmers to harvest everything from grain to sugar beets (sugar beet pre-piling started this week).  The warm weather is expected through the weekend and has a "last gasp of summer so you better get your ass out and enjoy it" quality to it.  So enjoy it I have been with meanderings through the garden and wanderings through the shady park with the pups. 

We have a big pumpkin, two watermelons, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, and a bumper crop of cucumbers still coming in.  Alycia has been running the food dehydrator almost non-stop making zucchini chips with the bounty from our garden and donated stuff from her parents garden.

This is a pretty typical daily haul from the garden, lots of various kinds of cucumbers, some eggplant, some tomatoes and a few peas.  Good stuff.

Wordless Wednesday

Bread and Butter Pickles

We've got three different kinds of cucumbers going right now (regular, pickling, Armenian) and they're all kicking into high production.  What better to do with cucumbers than make delicious sweet pickles, also known as bread and butter pickles.  Special thanks to Mama Bear since this is her recipe.

These are refrigerator pickles, they live in your refrigerator, so you don't even need to know how to can to make them.  It's super duper easy.  Just boil up some stuff, chop the cukes (and a few other things), and combine it all in a big glass jar. 

You will need:

• 10 to 14 medium sized cucumbers
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 pepper chopped
• 2 1/2 tsp mustard seed
• 2 1/2 tsp dill seed

In a large pot, bring to a boil the following (stirring occasionally):

• 1 pint water
• 1 quart vinegar
• 4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup pickling salt (regular salt will work too)

In a large glass 5 quart jar add the mustard seed and dill seed and a few of the onion slices.  Then add the cucumbers, pepper, and remaining onions.  Pour the boiling liquid into the jar (please do this carefully) and allow to set in the refrigerator for 7 days. 

My first jar of pickles.  Though when I made this batch I didn't have enough cucumbers to fill the jar, but no worries.  A few days later there were more ripe cucumbers in the garden and I just sliced them up and added them to the jar, and kept going until the jar was properly packed with pickles.

Stella the Stegosaurus

I usually make many promises here on the old Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes blog, but I feel I only occasionally follow through on them.  Promises of fabulous posts go unwritten and great ideas shrivel on the vine of John's brain. But in keeping with the previous promise to review many of my favorite items I present the Stella the giant purple Stegosaurus dinosaur review. 

Many of you probably can't imagine paying $31 for a dog toy, but a) this toy is huge - 19 x 6 x 15, b) it really is tough.  I've had a few of these allegedly "tough" toys before and been pretty disappointed, even going so far as writing an angry letter to the toy maker (to no avail).  Sure they last longer than other toys, but never long enough to warrant the price you pay.  This toy?  It's probably worth every penny, but since we got it as a Christmas gift from my sister, I can't really say it's worth every penny since we didn't pay for it.

This toy has withstood 8 months of daily use from the puppy.  And not just use, but at least an hour a day of destruction, thrashing, tug-of-war, chewing, and deliberate disemboweling attempts.  Stella the Stegosaurus has stood firm, despite losing a bit of purple fur on her undercarriage (there's still at least one more layer of fabric between Stella's innards and the puppy's gnashing teeth), she carries on. 

More Troubling Signs

First the trouble with the law (see the aptly named Trouble With The Law post), now this.  My nephew has started wearing....sigh...floppy hats.

Just about any psychologist, psychiatrist, or criminal expert can tell you that the wearing of a floppy hat is a sure sign of societal deviance and a determining factor for the potential for criminal behavior.  You start wearing a floppy hat or two, and end up like this...

 Never trust a fellow in a floppy hat, no matter how harmless they may look.