The end of summer is upon us, as the season will soon change from those nice warm summer days to the time of year when the chill starts to settle, and it gets chilly as soon as the sun goes down.
Summer 2011 was another good year for the farm. While the peaches and apricots weren’t as prolific as we would have liked, the trees seem primed for a better year next year. In the absence of the stone fruit, we had great years from our other varieties of produce. We had an incredible amount of tomatoes, squash, onions, garlic, cucumbers, blood oranges, and even grew some giant watermelons. Most of these goodies made it to our porch stand, and we’re very thankful for all of you that stopped by.
Like everything in life, all good things must come to an end, and as summer ends, so does the major growing window for produce. We will have a winter garden, and our blood oranges will be ready mid-winter, but the variety and amount of produce won’t quite rival summer. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t keeping busy and having fun on the farm still!
This little break allows us to do some other fun things, like making more of our own blood orange wine and also trying to make our own sunflower seeds.
We recently bottled both batches of our latest blood orange wine. We still are trying to figure out all of the nuances, but we’re definitely having fun trying (and tasting!).
Another fun project that we’ve been undertaking is experimenting with sunflower seeds. In the garden, we have some big sunflowers growing, and instead of the letting the birds pick at all of the seeds, we decided to pick the flowers and try and make our own sunflower seeds. We picked the head of the sunflower, and let it dry for a few days. Then, we removed all of the seeds and rinsed them off. Then, we let them sit for a few more days in a salt-water solution (almost like brining a turkey) and the next step will be to bake them. Will these taste anything like the seeds you buy in the store? Who knows. But it certainly gained us an appreciation into how much work goes into those snacks.
So as we say goodbye to another wonderful summer on Promacks Farm, we are grateful for another good season, and hopeful for what our approaching seasons will bring.
Stay tuned for updates on what to plant now for your winter garden…