Valencia Family Memoirs: Beginning of Fall

Whew, where did the last month go? I can't keep up with anything anymore. So, real quick, here's a recap of the first few weeks of Fall around here. Or at least up until the first week of October or so, I can't find my camera cord to upload pictures. Up until a little over a week ago, we still had high 70's dry weather, so we were outside playing a lot as you'll see in all of these pictures. My next update will be wetter I think.

On the first day of Fall (yes, a month ago), I closed back up the chickens away from my kitchen back door because they poop everywhere and we like to play outside, but not in chicken poo! I had gotten these pallets from a friend with the intention to turn them into raised beds. Well, the nails were varigated and there was no way I could take them out without splitting the wood. So, they became a gate to keep the chickens contained.

As for my garden and garden beds, Armando convinced me it would be cheaper to just buy wood rather than continue to scrounge and drive around picking up used salvaged wood pieces all over town. Gas is way too expensive! I gave in. Within a few hours, I had raised beds!!!

I still need to make dirt for them. I do have a plan...I just need to gather all the stuff and get it going.

Later that day, we drove up to Armando's uncle Rafaels house/property to pick green tomatoes. They live at a high elevation and were expecting frost any day. With hundreds of green tomatoes still on the vine, I got first pickin'! We arrived while they were shelling and drying beans. Unfortunately, all my good pictures are on my camera, these are from my phone.

compost pile decided to grow a squash plant

Honey bees

Lots of tomatoes and other veggies

Ezra helped shell the beans

70+ pounds of green tomatoes. I was kinda scared they wouldn't ripen. They sat on my kitchen table like this for a week, slowly ripening from the little bit of sunshine that came in through the west window.

Fresh picked beans! They are called Peru beans. Rafa and Danette had hundreds of plants and let me take as many as I could pick in the amount of time the kids allowed me. The beans are white and creamy when cooked and delish. I've never before cooked fresh beans before. As in picked and cooked the same day...before they are dried or canned. Amazing difference!

We went to pick grapes at our friends house down the road a few weeks ago.

They also have pears!

I spotted a fig tree!! These people have so much food on their property! I'll have to come back for those!

Within just a few days, almost all the tomatoes were ripe. I did process them in several different batches, several days in a row, so that I was using only ripe tomatoes for each batch. In the end, I only lost 2 or 3 tomatoes.

I didn't think 70 pounds of tomatoes were enough, so we went to a local farm and picked more

My mom and Mary came with us.

Romas for sauce

Tio Rafa's beautiful tomatoes

tomato sauce underway

Done!

Stuffed baked pumpkin one afternoon

Sibling Love

On a walk, with the Ergo and no stroller. Guess who wants to be carried?

The kids help with putting dishes away. Ezra hands them to Esperanza and she puts them away. Ideally, I should go and reorganize, but that doesn't really happen in my house. It just stays a mess.

I asked my brother in law to bring me tomatillos. He did. I made and canned salsa verde with them.

Playing at the park

She's becoming more daring lately. And more coordinated thankfully.

Ezra loves going down slides

We met one of Esperanza classmates Max and his mama down by the river near our house one afternoon. They are big river explorers like us, probably bigger actually. Max's mom decided a walk across the river was in order. Ezra wasn't feelin' it so we stayed and played in the water.

Ezra has a fixation with BIG trucks and tractors. This big tractor did not go unnoticed by him while at the Washougal River one afternoon. It was a weekend and it was just sitting, so we walked up to it and he got a very up close look at it.

Grapes!

I made a batch of spicy salsa from the last of the tomatoes

Ezra and Esperanza on the slides at a park

Loving some Fall strawberries

Playing with Lucy

A fall birthday party for Kiera

Ezra runs to the door whenever he hears a big truck drive by, which is often. Even though we live on a narrow road in a little neighborhood, somehow our street is used by all the big City vehicles and even a semi or two every day. Keeps Ezra happy. He'll point and say "WHOA!"