Apple Picking And Three Sisters

Well, its afternoon, the hottest part of the day. The cats have found a cool spot and the dogs are asleep. All the chores of the day are done and supper is made except for the biscuits. The Elderberries are ready to pick, I need to do that this weekend and make the syrup we use for coughs, colds, etc.

I took a stroll out to the garden to see what was going on and what would need some water this evening. The children are picking apples. We’ve got enough now to do something with them. I am thinking of making canned apple pie filling… but then again we like dried apples really well. Why, you may ask, are the children picking apples in the hottest part of the day? Not because I made them, because they remembered that their DAD had told them to get it done today before he got home.

The varieties we have are Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. The Granny Smith tree isn’t big enough to have apples yet, though it did bloom.

Golden Delicious ready to pick

Sam and Lydia picking apples

Basket of apples

More apples

The Cushaw squash are about ready to pick too. I usually make pies out of them, but this time I will make puree and can it. I may dry some too. I placed my hand on one squash so you could see its size. Cushaw squash get pretty big. There are 4 or 5 squash altogether. They’ll get much bigger, but I don’t want to leave them til they are pithy. Another week or less ought to do it.

The corn is about ready. This is the popcorn we planted with beans and the Cushaws. Its a Three Sisters planting. We’ll let the popcorn dry on the stalk as long as it doesn’t keep raining. If it stays wet, we’ll harvest it and then allow it to dry on the cob.

Popcorn

The other day, my husband was out in the yard and saw a squirrel running through the grass with an apple in his mouth. I think I found his apple. Yes, that is a Golden Delicious apple, when they’ve been exposed to the sun for a while, they do get red.