Fascination with fasciation

Sweet potato with abnormal growth. This is the second sweet potato I have seen with faciation. Someway the apical meristem gets deformed and results in plant growth like this. (Scroll back to my very first post to see something similar in wild mullein. )

Be Prepared

I happened to get a look in the trunk of somebody working in the financial sector recently. Wonder if they know something I don't? This guy has plenty of calories at least for this winter. There is a little bit of protein in the beans although it isn't a complete protein. The part where he is really short is in fat. There isn't a good fat that will store at room temperature for a long period of time. Maybe he will find a possom to run over. On a similar note, people in Cabarrus County bought every canning jar and every canning lid available in the stores. Not sure how widespread that phenomena was. Must have been the year to stock up.

Food Availablility at the Goforth House

I have been very busy with a project for work and haven't had a chance to touch base lately. Here are a few notes on the end of the harvest season. The fresh whole China Pearl peaches lasted until Oct in the refrigerator but commercially it would have been an unacceptable loss by that time. It wasn't brown rot but something more like Botrytis that took them out. The sliced tutti frutti style china pearl peaches lasted a little longer but they are gone now. I pulled the last of the fresh blueberries out of the refrigerator so my little boy could make a smoothie this morning. I rate them as still marketable if I had done a little sorting. The last of the outdoor blueberries were picked on October 17th. Figs played out about the same date in Oct. I still have muscadines unless the freeze last night destroyed them (and I don't expect it did.) I started picking muscadines on August 8th so I am close to having 3 months of fresh muscadines this year. I have gotten several oriental persimmons already and need to check the tree again. In fact, I have enough that I ought to try drying some this year. Also I still have apples. The Yates, Arkansas Black and limbertwig apples have just started. Changing the subject a little, I picked my first "foot round" apple this year. This is the only variety I have on its own roots. It may not be as outstanding as a few of the other selections but it is still a true heirloom (obtained from Mr Sid Hartsell of Concord, now deceased but actually planted by his father from a source in Southern Cabarrus county.) I really ought to try to propagate it this winter since 3 nearby apple trees were killed by either voles or cotton rats.
In the burned over area, a number of wild cressy greens came up. Now that they have matured, I will try to harvest some. I'm glad they are available because the vast majority of my turnip and kale seeds washed down stream in the heavy flooding we had some time back.

Hunt Shack

The lower picture is the first picture I have of the shack where my uncle used to live. When he died, everybody expected the cabin to fall down. After about 10 years, I noticed it hasn't fallen down. After a closer look, I noticed that it was made from oak boards and had some fairly good bones. My brother and I replaced some of the foundation, hauled off a dumpster load of trash, replaced the porch, installed some salvaged windows and have started adding pine siding. For the last 15 years, I have been backpacking and deer hunting out of primitive campsites during muzzleloading season. Eventually, I plan to hunt out of this shack instead of hunting out of primative campsites way back in boonies.

The Story of the 3 little piggies

The first little piggy planted invasive plants. They eventually overwhelmed his entire landscape.

The second little piggy had a traditional landscape. She didn't know the names of the plants or their uses. The third little piggy planted a landscape that provided food and shelter for wildlife and humans.

County Fair Ribbons

I had quite a bit more loss in my refrigerated China Pearl Peaches this year than I did two years ago. Still I was able to pull out peaches which were good enough to win a ribbon at the county fair. These were put in the refrigerator on August 1 and removed on September 3. I still have some peaches left in there.
I also won a ribbon with apples, muscadines and a specialty melon.

Fair booth features landscaping by the 3 little piggies

Visit our booth at the county fair. It features landscaping by the three little piggies. The first little piggy used invasive plants. The second little piggy had a typical landscape with high energy cost and plants of limited value. The third little piggy created a landscape that feed and sheltered humans and wildlife.