Delivery, Picking, Pickup, and Building - Friday

Off the farm more in a day than yesterday than I have been in a long time. Started with the co-op delivery. Squash, cucumbers, and beans which mostly cleaned out the cooler. It is really nice to see everything go.

I had to pick about 10 squash to finish the order before taking it in. Once I got back I picked the rest. Only got about 30 for the day but it was enough for what I needed. Already have an order for the CSA box for next Friday.

The plums had cooled and have created a nice slushy juice. I poured it all into a 7 gallon bucket, put the lid on, and set it in the cooler. We will work on it this weekend. Now that the kettle is free we can use it for canning.

Got the boys loaded up and we drove to the southwest of Spokane a bit to pick up our cow from the butcher. 14 of their boxes full turned into 5 large boxes of mine and a large tub. I strapped them all down in the back of the truck and we headed home quickly before the sun and heat of the day. Once I got home I put all the beef in the cooler to hold until @stryeyz got home and we could get it in the freezer.

After getting the boys' lunch ready I went back to the pole beans and finished picking the last rows for this cycle. Got 8.5 pounds which of Kentucky Blue and Blue Lake.

@stryeyz got home from work and we set about reorganizing the chest freezer to fit the cow. I pulled out 20+ pounds of elderberries, 15+ pounds of chokecherries, 10+ pounds of hawthorne, well over 40 pounds of rhubarb, bags of peaches, blueberries, strawberries, and plums. They all got tossed in the cooler while we organized the beef. This weekend is largely devoted to dealing with the fruit and berries.

For dinner I cooked up a pair of sirloin steaks. It is still hot and it would have taken too long to get a fire going in the grill so I used the center skillet from the stove and put it on the burner outside. It worked like a charm and cooked the steaks perfectly. Big bonus is the house stayed cool without running the stove. We also had a stuffed acorn squash from the squash garden and cucumber/tomato/chives salad from our garden.

After dinner I went up to the shed and got the center section of the front upper wall built. This will sit over the slider opening and the windows will be to either side. Today I am going to build the 2 end sections that are 19 inches wide and get them braced into place so I can put the header boards on and fit the center section.

This morning i already went and got a load of grain which is the first in weeks. They haven't been going through as much so haven't had to brew for a while. The birds and sheep are deliriously happy. I need to get a bale of hay for them now and am going to have to get new tires for the trailer as one about de-lamed on the way home this morning.