Sunday Bits #49 (harvest, declining insects, Johnny Appleseed, apples)

First day of October today. Feels like the summer fairly flew by, doesn't it? And here we are in fall and soup weather.

Hubs and I have had a super busy week. The house is clean (for about 5 minutes anyway), laundry is all done, sauna has been scoured, deck washed down from all the dust, back windows cleaned, garden beds harvested and emptied, and the shop painted. Oh, and canning. We now have lots of green tomato chowchow and pickled beets in the pantry!

We have been making this green tomato chowchow for many, many years. It is our go-to topping for burgers, dogs, meats. This crunchy, tangy relish is so good! We use our own tomatoes, peppers, and onions, so we know it is all organic, nothing in it that should not be.

As we harvest and clean out the gardens, we are adding two new beds and raising two of the others. Just making wee changes that will help to improve the soil as we can layer on more if we raise the beds a little bit. The easiest way to do that is to add some sides to the beds. Could we mound them up? Sure we could, but the dogs would tramp that into a big mess, I think. More on the new beds and such in the winter prep blog post coming next week.

Speaking of improving the soil, I shared this podcast on the fb page today... it is wicked good! You really need to read it/listen to it! So many takeaways from this one. I get all inspired and hopeful when I read these podcasts... not everyone is killing every bug out there, lol. We are not alone, you all ; )

Are you an organic gardener concerned about the decline in insects? Are you worried about the decline in bird populations due to the decline in insects? To make a difference, this read about ecological gardening is for you. These 10 steps will help make a difference on our planet.

I do all of these things, but do some better than others. One of the things I need to figure out better for next summer is water for the critters. I am great at water conservation but less so about knowing how to provide the insects with a clean water source. Birdbaths are hard to keep clean at our place as the dogs think they are raised water bowls... both are drooly dogs so create a lot of slime in the birdbath.

Bugs are a necessity for the circle of life. The more we kill off, the less of the other species/animals/critters we will have. Birds are going extinct! Plant flowers and walk away from those aphids, caterpillars, and leaf hoppers, the good guys will take care of them.

Edible Shiny Black Amaranth from Salt Spring Seeds.

Sort of on that same tangent, I have shared this before, I think, but here are some cool season flowers that you can sow this fall for earlier and sturdier flowers in spring. I have my seeds at the ready, will be sowing them next week, as soon as we top up the beds with more compost.

Check out all the great seed offerings at Salt Spring Seeds, a lovely small seed house on Canada's west coast.

I thought this read about Johnny Appleseed was pretty interesting. So sad about the prohibition! Find out more here.

What a lovely yard and cottage!

Check out all these lovely ideas for your patio, no matter how tiny. Some of these spaces are very small and yet so chic.

Give your patio/yard a serene Scandi look with these tips.

I thought this little ghost garland was adorable. I would make this if I had littles living at home, is so cute! Might make it anyways!

And then add these cute and simple to make ghost candles!

These two yummy apples recipes.... Apple muffins with crumb topping and super easy apple dumplings.

Check out all these breakfast recipes, everything from breads to smoothies.

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.

Raspberry swirl bread. This looks delish! You can, of course, use any jam you like instead of raspberry, but raspberry happens to be my favourite ; )

Oat and wheat sandwich bread!

Egg salad with pickled celery! This looks delish! I will be pickling some celery to give this a try.

As soon as autumn hits, I start thinking about soups. Forget salads, soups are where it's at. This minestrone soup has only 175 calories per bowl. Check out this yummy vegetable soup, too. I love that she left the beans in their pods!

Have the bestest of weeks, you guys ~ Tanja