We had our first frost of the season last night so yesterday afternoon was spent harvesting the last of the peppers, squash, tomatoes and strawberries along with a couple of bok choy for dinner. I put the half tunnel over the lettuce while the the rest of the fall crops are frost proof. I guess summer is finally over.........where did it go so fast?
My son and I were down on the canal last weekend to harvest some American spice bush berries (Lindera benzoin) as they really like the damp under story down there by the edge of the water. Although they do not have official GRAS status, they do seem to be safe and have a long history of use as a spice substitute. They aslso were used to reduce fever, relieve colds and dysentery, and to destroy intestinal parasites up through the Civil War era. I've got them drying in the basement and I'm thinking of doing an alcohol extract as part of an aftershave concoction. It will be interesting to see if the scent is alcohol extractable. Tea was often made from the leaves, bark and twigs.
Chicken Update: All four hens are laying now; FINALLY. It was a bit touch-and-go there as one of the girls waited almost a full month before joining her sisters. It got to the point where we were about to send her back to our supplier. And so far the early training with the nest box blocker at night appears to have worked. We haven't used it in about two weeks and they have yet to sleep in them and make a mess of the nest pads.
With a chill in the air and some new firewood it was time for the annual chimney decon to kill off overwintering stink bugs. They weren't so bad this year so only a few fell down into the flames.
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