paletteable

Dot was sick yesterday. I moved her into her own box. Today, she is lonely, but happy, and feeling great. Even though she's almost as tall as the box is deep, she likes to look out her porthole. I like to look in.

We've eaten a couple jars already. Yes, it is that good. The photo doesn't do justice. What a color. And it tastes just exactly the way it looks. Fruity, with a hint of cinnamon. Why, I don't know. This is made from the tart "red zinger" roselle, lemon, and sugar.



And here's Roselle today. Since we haven't had a frost, she keeps on blooming and bearing. We've sold baskets of the calcyes. I've been drying baskets more. And the tea has kept me free of the flu. Or at least that's my story.

Smitty & I have been taking some early morning walks. It's been pretty foggy most mornings...but on this day...just glorious...sun peeking through the pines...the strata of color. I wish I could bottle the smell of that field.

The lower field has some gorgeous grasses and weeds.

We had 6 loads of mulch (this is one) delivered over the past couple of weeks. Every morning, I'm blown away by the steaming aromatic mountains. They compost incredibly fast. I've actually pulled out shovelfuls of ash. Holly and Sally approve of the mountains. They go mountain climbing in their spare time.

Yes, it's that time of year again. These are 2 day old biddies...our meat birds...hatched on the 3rd of November.

So what goes on at the downtown Gainesville farmers market? Well, sometimes there's a parade. This fellow appears to be a flamingo damaged by radioactivity. Or something. He was in an anti-nuclear-reactor parade. Told me, "Anything worth doing is worth doing all the way."

So much has been going on! More than a month of garden progress...and still no frost! Ag forecast sez: lows in the 50s and 60s through Nov 29. What? A green Thanksgiving?

Here are some pics from the end of October:



Carolina Wonders & Jimmy Nardellos. Still going gangbusters here at the end of November!



The Last of the Seminoles.



Yamatos Phase II. We're eating these beauties now. Hope to have enough to put up a few more quarts of bread & butter pickles.



Green Cotton Rides Again. Yes...much to everyone's dismay, the cotton, which was all picked, has decided to have another go round. Many new bolls are underway. In this picture, you can see blossoms (folded up and pink) and baby bolls. Our DPI guy couldn't believe his eyes and left the weevil trap in for an extra month. We're out of the weevil woods now, so he finally did pull the trap...yesterday.

Remember a few months back, the saga of Wingie? Well, see Spotty? She is one of Wingie's chicks (sired by Blackie), all grown up. She lays a beautiful brown egg, every day. Spotty lives with Red in a little compound of their own. They share the digs with George, aka Garden Roo. Their "compound" started when Red and another young hen, Blue, were injured. I took them out of the main flock so they could heal without being pestered by the roosters, and made a run for them in one of the big gardens. We built a little coop right in the middle. Wingie and the chicks later moved into the compound. Now, "the compound" is down to the two hens and their rooster buddy. They are separated from the rest of the RI Red flock by chicken fence...so they see each other, but they don't compete for food...or anything else.

Look at how the plant has matured. The blossoms (and their calyces)started along the main center stems. Now, every stem, branch, and branchlet is loaded. I picked one of those lovely red things the other day, trying to gauge seedpod maturity. After 3 days, the pod had dried and popped open, and I shook 30 perfectly beautiful black seeds out. So...I could start harvesting anytime I want.

My first purpose in growing this plant was to grow a gorgeous plant. Second purpose was to grow a useful plant...thinking JELLY!!! But, then, I found out all of the other uses roselle has. Well, I grew several of these gorgeous plants. Now, I'm up for making jelly...but my old Florida recipe calls for orange pectin. So, I am on a mission to find some organically grown oranges. Orange pectin is made from dried pith.

There's a farmers market this afternoon. I'm gonna be asking around. Please let me know if you know of anyone with unsprayed orange trees.