Okay, in reality, this is the weekend update, but I had a talk with my folks a bit ago and I thought their story needed to go into the blog. So, let’s have a chat about habaneros. Those are hot peppers that are really quite hot! If you follow the Facebook page, you may have heard that we sent along a box of bell peppers and habaneros to my folks in California. Now, my mom is not a stranger to hot peppers, we used to use all types in salsas and chilies and things, but I guess she didn’t realize just how hot those little boogers grow out here in Arizona. Today she made a shrimp and rice dish and decided to use one small green habanero to spice it up a bit. When I talked to her early this evening, my dad’s eyes were still watering and they had consumed a large quantity of milk to try to tame the flames; mind you – my dad is the guy who likes to try the hottest hot sauces he can find. Got a bit too hot, I guess. So I gave her this tip from Sue’s son, Dustin: when using these to flavor dishes, don’t dice them up; do remove all the seeds and any ribs and then leave them in large pieces that you can then remove from the dish, so you don’t ingest them!!! She said she’d try that the next time. Meanwhile, the chickens are getting the rest of the rice (mom and dad ate all the shrimp anyway – can’t waste shrimp, after all!). Today’s lesson: watch out for the Habaneros! On to the update…

This weekend and today, saw the finishing of projects in process. Saturday morning, our friend Lily (and her really sweet dog Carlotta) came and helped Sue put the finishing touches on the cold frame. They added hinges and hooks with keepers to the frame to help keep the plastic from blowing up during the winds. (If you aren’t sure about the cold frame thing, take a look at this post for more particulars.) So, the way the boards on the side work is, they flip up when the cover is down – hence the hinges – and then they have a hook with a keeper that latches from the cross boards to keep things tight when the winds blow. I like how well the hooks with keepers work to keep things closed, we’ve used them in several places around the farm, but I have a very difficult time when it comes to actually latching them. My fingers just don’t seem to work all that well. If anyone knows of a similar system that is easier to work, please let us know.  This morning, Sue went ahead and placed the little seedlings and hopefully seedlings in there. By this afternoon, some of the hopefully seedlings were already popping their little heads through the growing medium! We’ll need to get used to opening and closing for a while, until the temps start to really stay low during the days. I think it’ll really cut down the germination time for seedlings. Didn’t it come out great?!!!

While Sue and Lily were working in the hot Hereford sun, I was freezing in the cold Bisbee shade. This was the second trip to the Bisbee Farmer’s Market. It was a really successful trip Market for us this Saturday, even though I wasn’t dressed for the temperature difference. 🙂  We sold all our eggs, except for the last dozen duck eggs which we donated to Goar Park Lunches. It was only a dozen, but he said they’d love to have them to make sauces to go with the main dishes they serve. Not a regular place we donate, but I like their mission! Many of the people at the Farmer’s Market donate their extra produce or breads for this local charity. We are working our way to being able to help ventures like this in our community. I’m really glad I met these people this weekend; it’s always good to find out about these resources. We’ll keep track of these great people we meet and let you know where and when we find them. If you want to know how you can help us reach our goal of providing fresh, organic, whole foods to people who may otherwise not be able to afford them – take a look at the page link at the top entitled “Dreaming Into Reality”. Until next time, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s Weather: Well, people kept telling me all weekend, “It’s supposed to get up to 100° in Tucson on Monday!” I have no idea if they reached that goal, but the Weather Channel app says that it was 91° here today.  Right now, it’s 71° with an expected low of 53°. Fall keeps making these little appearances, then wandering away for a few days to let summer linger.

Egg Report: As I may have mentioned a few days ago, the days continue to shorten drastically here – sundown was at 5:38 this evening – so the chickens are slowly slacking off on their egg production.  Here’s the count from Saturday: the (now) normal 2 duck eggs, with a whopping 24 chicken eggs. Sunday was down to 15 chicken eggs and 2 duck eggs. Today we had 14 chicken eggs and 2 duck eggs. I think it will continue to go up and down as the chickens begin to rest over the winter.

Cool thing from the weekend: Sue caught this lizard in the  pomegranate tree, going after remnants of the grasshopper invasion this summer. Go dude!!! Can you find him??? I think we’ll post a few “search for the insects” photos this week. Sue has a great one for Wednesday!