We realized just before getting the prized pumpkin home that we’ve exhausted our frozen abundance of pumpkiny goodness from last year and *gasp* in our blur of activity this growing season I’ve overlooked planting pie pumpkin! Actually we didn’t even plant the huge field of pumpkin & squash at all this year. No time. 

Plus, we had truckloads of pumpkin last year, more than we could sell or eat so the livestock ate fall pumpkiny goodness through much of the winter!

Our basement is quite ideal for pumpkin and squash storage so we put up lots of spaghetti squash, butternut, sweet meat squash, pie pumpkin and of course fairytale pumpkin. Our last years harvests are still keeping great down there almost a year later but the supply is quite low. All we have left is spaghetti squash, one sweat meat squash and the fairytale pumpkin we just got back from the fair.

We have several pumpkin and squash plants slowly growing around the house this year but they are first for our CSA families shares, if we have extra we’ll put some up in the basement for ourselves… And suddenly I’m in a fall pumpkin panic! I actually blame the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte I had last monday (I know, I get crunchy shame for drinking it. I’m fine with that, it was soooo good).

In the fall we do basically everything pumpkin. The first scents and tastes of pumpkin send me straight into an excited holiday prep countdown. I love fall. We eat pumpkin donuts, drink pumpkin coffee, make pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin soup, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie of course- so not having an abundance of pumpkin kind of worries me!

Just to be sure we had pumpkin on hand for the future I set out to preserve our fairytale pumpkin and sweet meat squash. FYI: Sweet meat has “squash” in the name but it’s actually interchangeable as a pumpkin in all pumpkin baking recipes, read more about it here. It’s sweet and just as good as a pie pumpkin. 

So far I’ve gotten halfway through doing the sweet meat and I’m beat! It is a whopping 16 pounds and did I mention it’s almost a year old? I peeled and chopped 8 pounds of it so far and got 7 quart sized jars full of pumpkin cubes.

I think I’ll hold off a bit on doing the fairytale pumpkin because it weighs about 55 pounds… I don’t have that many canning jars or that much time currently. I’m secretly hoping the fairytale pumpkin just keeps until November when we can eat from it all month, I’m sure it will

For those of you interested in preserving your own pumpkin I used the following pumpkin canning procedure from http://www.sbcanning.com/2011/10/canning-for-fall-squash-pumpkin-and.html

Pie Pumpkins & Winter Squash Canning
These are from the National Center for Home Preserving website. 

Quality: Pumpkins and squash should have a hard rind and stringless, mature pulp of ideal quality for cooking fresh. Small size pumpkins (sugar or pie varieties) make better products. For why we say not to mash or puree the squash, read more about the caution.

Procedure: Wash, remove seeds, cut into 1-inch- wide slices, and peel. Cut flesh into 1-inch cubes. Boil 2 minutes in water. Caution: Do not mash or puree. Fill jars with cubes and cooking liquid, leaving 1-inch headspace.  For making pies, drain jars and strain or sieve cubes.

Process in pressure canner – 55 minutes for pints 90 mins for quarts at 10lbs pressure.
Process in pressure canner – 55 minutes for pints 90 mins for quarts at 11bs pressure.
 

What is your favorite sight, smell or fall tradition, is it pumpkin?

The post Canning Fairytale Pumpkin and Sweet Meat Squash appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Integrated medicine is a mix between alternative medicine and traditional medicine. When there is a health issue things like nutrition, life style and various alternative therapies are often explored first before prescription medications or other more dramatic solutions are used.

We prefer to take the natural route with our health care when possible, I am sure this is no surprise to you considering how Everly was born.

Anyway, back to the updates. Everly weighed in at a whopping 11.8 lbs and had a great checkup with the doc. She’s gaining weight very well and is reaching all the milestones for her age group according to the doctor.

We’ve not started her first vaccinations yet and are doing research on them right now. We know we’ll do some vaccinations. We just want to do them on a delayed schedule and spread them out more than what’s normally done.

We are so happy that Everly is doing so well. It’s a relief to have a good doctor for her too, in case she gets sick or something. Oh, this doctor is actually a family practice doctor so we can all be cared for by her, that is another plus! She’s covered by our insurance too.

That means I’ve got a handle on the baby stuff, for now… Not so much on the pet issues though.

The post Everly's first visit with a doctor, an integrated medicine physician. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Every effort is helpful whether you are making it on for one day or if you are setting out to try and do something differently for the entire year. Some of the things we are doing year round are rain water harvesting and grey water harvesting. I take baths often and am always feeling bad about sending the perfectly good water down the drain afterwards. Since I use biodegradable shampoo and soap I have been eager to siphon my bath water out into the garden. We life in the desert so sometimes rain water is limited.. If I can take my bath water and store it for use in the garden that would reduce the amount of water we waste and it is good for the plants! We rigged up our low tech bath water harvesting system yesterday and it worked well last night!

We also have a compost bin and are able to greatly reduce the amount of waste we contribute to the landfill by composting and recycling our waste. Our compost goes right back into the soil to replenish it and provide nutrients and our recycled stuff gets reused also.

What things do you do to tread lighter on the earth?

Anther great way to celebrate earth day is with the kiddies. After all one day tis earth will be theirs and we need to teach them to respect and value it. Crafts are great ways to teach kids things with a hands on approach. Consider doing some earth day crafts with your kids today if you can, it is a great opportunity to bond with them and teach them. Here are some ideas for parents who want to craft with their kids:

Making Earth Day meaningful for children of all ages

Recycling craft ideas

The post Happy Earth Day! Earth day tips? appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Today I am outlining the two reproductive hormones Estrogen and Progesterone that are naturally produced by our bodies and how your waking temperature (BBT) provides information about your bodies production of these hormones.

Obviously your waking temperatures can be inaccurately influenced by sickness, fever, the time you take your temperature from day to day, alcohol consumption and many other factors but if you are thorough in noting these occurrence and inconsistencies you will be able to make sense of your bodies function through these temperatures.

Basically estrogen typically results in cool waking temperatures, progesterone results in warmer temperatures. A normal reproductive cycle (from the end of menstruation to the next menstruation period) looks like this:

• A period of lower waking temperatures/ estrogen is present.
• Then a temperature dip followed by an increase in temperature/ progesterone is present.
• After 3 consecutive days of elevated temperature you can confirm that ovulation occurred.
• Sometimes dip in temperature during the high temperature days is noted anywhere from 5-12 days past ovulation (DPO) and this is often referred to as “the implantation dip” which means the woman may have become pregnant.
• The high temperature days (DPO) typically last from 11-15 days and are followed by a decline in temperature (which also means a decline in progesterone) that leads to menstruation.

Some notes about pregnancy and your temperature chart:
If your temperature does not decline after 18 days you are likely to be pregnant. Taking a pregnancy test is recommended if you note 18 days of high temperatures after ovulation.

The two weeks between ovulation and the day you expect to get your period is often referred to by women trying to conceive as “the 2 week wait” because If you had intercourse around your ovulation time you will not know if you are pregnant till the 2 week period has passed.

Taking a pregnancy test during this 2 week period is not recommended, it will often render inaccurate results because the HCG hormone that the tests detect will not be produced until after implantation has occurred and the hormone has had a chance to build up in your body. Implantation can happen anywhere from 5-10 days after ovulation, it does not happen immediately.

A sample chart is available for your to view here. If you are interested in getting an electronic chart like it or want to find out more about charting your fertility I would encourage you to use the sign up link at the top of the chart.
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Did you know?

• Excessive creamy cervical fluid is noted in pregnant women and it often concerns women because they don’t know it is normal and common.
• High temperatures during menses (your period) is normal.
• Not all women experience a temperature dip before ovulation, this is normal.
• The only way to predict future ovulation is by observing your cervical fluid. Eggwhite, stretchy cervical fluid means ovulation.
• Charting your fertility signs will help you to know what is going on with your hormones and it can help your doctor diagnose any hormone imbalances. Charting is beneficial for those trying to prevent pregnancy, achieve pregnancy and it is even beneficial for those who are approaching or experiencing menopause.

The post How charting your temperature can give insight about your hormones. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Now I just need to wait 2 weeks before I can take a pregnancy test and confirm with my waking temperatures whether or not we conceived. Conveniently enough I have the “woman doctor” appointment in 2 weeks. Oh, the suspense is killing me!

If you are trying to get pregnant or even if you are trying to avoid pregnancy you should consider learning the fertility awareness method, it offers great insight about how your body works and gives you much more control over your fertility!

I bought the book taking charge of your fertility and have learned so much from reading it. Every woman needs to learn about her fertility signs and gain more control over whether or not she gets pregnant.

The post Did we conceive? My NFP-FAM charting and ovulation. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.