A wonderful harvest from one little Cara seed potato, you have to see it to believe it. A look around at squash growing in trees and some of the things in the hoop house and of course a look at the four week old Chantecler Chicks.

A lot of activity at the Mason Bee House so I decided to just record five minutes or so of uninterrupted activity to give you an idea of what it is like. Most of the bees in this clip look like leaf cutter bees to me but I could be wrong I know very little about these little guys, I'm basing my opinion on photos that I have found in google searches.

A dissection and close look at the what is it item that I found on a donut box. A look at the cabin in summer. The Chanteclair chicks are three weeks old now and a look at the N.B. wild river grape that has climbed a pine tree. Info on the Chantecler breed: http://www.cfagrf.com/Chantecler_chicken.htm

MAKES 2 PINTS Louise Pawson of the Old Cottage Tea Shop makes this jam to serve with her scones and clotted cream. Black currants are tart and acidic when eaten raw but pleasantly tangy when cooked. 1 lb. fresh black currants, stemmed and rinsed 4 cups granulated sugar 1. Put currants and 1½ cups water into a heavy medium pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a gently simmer and let berries cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until berries are very soft, 15-20 minutes. Add sugar to berries and stir until dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring jam to a vigorous boil, stirring often. Continue to boil, stirring frequently, until jam thickens and reaches its setting point (about 220º on a candy themometer), 6-10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and skim any foam that has risen to the surface of the jam. 2. Meanwhile, submerge 2 pint canning jars, their lids and ring bands, and a widemouthed funnel into a large pot of boiling water over medium-high eat and sterilize for 10 minutes. Remove from hot water and transfer to a clean dish towel. Using the funnel, fill each jar with hot jam to no more than ¼" from the top. Wipe jar rims with a clea dish towel, place lids on jars, then screw on ring bands. 3. Transfer filled jars to a canning rack, submerge into pot of gently boiling water (jars should be covered by at least 1" of water), and place on a dish towel at least 1" apart to let cool undisturbed for 24 hours. To test that jars have properly sealed, press on center of each lid. Remove your finger; if lid stays down, its sealed. Refrigerate any jam that hasn't sealed and use within 4 weeks. Read more at http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Black-Currant-Jam#RhvGIgblaHYXPjZx.99

I harvest my wonderful beet crop, the best I've ever grown anyway, and decided to make pickled beets. To close the video off a little look ant the mason bee house for the first time this summer and of course some footage of the little bantam and her flock of Chanteclair chicks./div>

Garden and Harvest End of July

Harvesting some potatoes, beets, broccoli and cucumbers at the end of July. A look at the recent transplants of tomatoes, brassicas and cucumbers in the hoop house and the bean tower and winter squash in the garden. A few clips of the method I used to lacto ferment some of the daikon radish and garlic scapes.

2013 Plant List

1. Onion Red Zeppelin
2. Okra Jambalaya
3. Pepper Hot Hungarian Wax
4. Pepper King Arthur
5. Geranium Bullseye Mix Pelargonium hortorum
6. Pepper Aji Dulce
7. Pepper Shi Shito
8. Tomato Mountain Merit
9. Tomato Roma VF
10. Tomato Yellow Multiflora (Free seed from Praxxus55712)
11. Tomatillo (Free seed from Praxxus55712)
12. Mustard Southern Giant Curled
13. Mustard Dragons Tongue
14. Mustard Red Giant
15. Lettuce New Red Fire
16. Broccoli Gypsy
17. Collards Flash
18. Cabbage Bronco
19. Cauliflower Fremont
20. Kohlrabi Kossak
21. Peas Dwarf Sabre
22. Daikon Radish April Cross
23. Sweet Peas Old Spice
24. Summer Savory
25. Cucumber Rocky
26. Parsley Forest Green
27. Sage
28. White Wonder Cucumber (Free seed from Praxxus55712)
29. Buttercrunch Lettuce (Free seed from Praxxus55712)
30. Heshiko Green Onion (Free seed from Praxxus55712)
31. Beets Merlin
32. Summer Squash -- Elegance
33. Winter Squash -- Sweet Mama
34. Calendula -- Fiesta Gitana Mix
35. Garlic Susan Delafield
36. Potatoes Yukon Gold & Cara
37. Swiss Chard Fordhook Giant
38. Rutabaga -- York
39. Cucumber -- Calypso
40. Pole Beans -- Blue Lake
41. Lima Beans- Fordhook
42. Common Comfrey