Busy harvesting days

Whew,we have been SO busy,everything was ready to do at once.No wonder my ancestors were such lean leathery people who were most likely ready for bed at days end.
Chance picked 10 gallons worth of hops yesterday. I helped him by plucking the hops from the vines.They are beautiful nuggets of green spread out to dry in the big pantry.We have put the bulk of them up for sale hopefully a local brewer will want them.
Chance also made Cashew Butter.The more things we make for ourselves the more we lose a taste for store bought anything.His Cashew Butter is so simple and only took a couple of minutes.
Here's the recipe.
2 Cups Cashews
2 Tablespoons Honey
1/2 Cup of Veg or Canola oil

First put the nuts in a food processor or blender, whir until it has a peanut butter texture,ours was chunky. Now add in the honey and oil whir to mix it in. You are done.Put in a container and keep it in the fridge.
I have been slowly but surely getting the Pears into the freezer and helping Chance with his projects.
I also had Chance make some pastry dough for me today, I don't make pastry dough.I suppose this is because I come from a long line of excellent pastry bakers who failed passing on to me their knowledge.I don't want to let them down.
My plan for the dough was to make the boys some homemade PopTarts. School will be starting and sometimes breakfast needs to be fast.Even though we have gotten rid of most junk foods I still want the boys to feel like they get some goodies that resemble the junk their peers eat but with a healthier twist.
I had my helper Sol working with me on these Mom Tarts as the boys have dubbed them.A double batch of the dough made 2 dozen tarts.I used Apple Sauce and spices for the filling. We rolled them out and cut them into rectangles so they even looked like the ones out of a box.They are good but I don't think the boys will let this batch hit the freezer. I think in order for any of these to make it to the freezer I will have to make them while the boys are at school and have them put away before they are home.
Ok,I know not the best nutrition but if it is only part of their morning meal and only once in awhile they will be all right.
I met a new neighbor yesterday who lives right around the corner.She stopped by as we were picking the hops.She asked me if I would be interested in trading some Dahlia's later in the fall.You bet! She went home and brought me back a couple of her's so I could see what she had.She brought one that she says grows a bloom that grows up to 10 inches across,it's a deep red with a yellowy under tone. These will look amazing next to my purple ones.She also brought a white with pink tips water lily type,very elegant.We are both happy with having met and working out a trade we both want. Look what happens when you spend time in your front yard, you get to meet new people.
We have a new rooster,not a planned thing but he is so handsome he had to come home.We named him Zephaniah or just Zeph and he is an Araucana, white with a black tail that looks like it will grow long.He also has his breeds beard.He's a sweet little man.He was left at Urban Farm to be taken out to the chicken growers farm to live.His original owners just wanted him to have a home so we got him instead. We are hoping he'll help us with some chicks in the future.
(Big Red is still here.Chance says he is heading to the soup pot.I on the other hand am feeling dubious of this idea.Will Big Red cheat death again? We shall see.)
Someplace in there we have been getting closer to the starting of school, trips to both schools,shopping and check ups. (Issac's went great he has grown and put on weight,blood work looked good .Although the Doc dose not think he will grow any taller.Mr Cheerful Issac is fine with it,he said he's always been the shortest so whats the problem.He always see's the positive side.Crazy boy.)
We are still waiting for the Salmon to finish it's curing.Tomorrow it will go into the smoker then I can get the final photos and blog about it.
Tomorrow we finish picking our Asian Pears.These are being traded and given to friends.We like a few of them only and this was a bumper crop so it is time to share the wealth.We have Italian Prunes to pick too.As I said in the opening everything is ready at once.
I think the amount of time I have sat here writing this is the longest I have sat down in the past two days.Now that I have stopped I can hear my bed and book calling to me.(Is it totally nerdy that I am reading a book about the making of the Oxford Dictionary? )
Rois