With early September flowers, I always think of this week as the first full week of school, and with that season, every year this is crazy week!
New Smoker
To add to the normal craziness, we decided to buy a smoker. It was on clearance and it is something we have been saying no to for the last couple of years. With hunting our own venison meat and love making food at home, it was about time we got one.
One of the first thing we tried smoking was venison roast- a cut of meat that usually turns out dry if I just try to slow cook it. Granted, I wanted to try a technique that works on beef roasts where the sides are seared first to lock in the juices. But, we really want to try it smoked. It did not disappoint, but the mustard for the base sort of did. It was too strong for my liking!
Flowers in Bloom
Early September always continues to bring beautiful blooms. They usually stay strong until the end of the official summer.
One of new favorites for this season of flowers is Celosia. I was never a super fan of it before and really debated to never grow it again. After this season, I love all the different colors available from the lemony yellows, the magenta purples, and the reds. Oh my goodness, the reds!
Henry Wilde volunteer sunflowers are still going strong. I can never get over how viviacious these plants are. I mean the seeds germinate in the early spring, we rototill them in, and they just grow again. This is ultimately one of my favorite flowers!
Don’t forget the marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, and more warm-season annuals. I saved my own marigold seeds, and although most look worse than the original, there is this orange marigold that looks like a giant fluff ball that I fell in love with. I’m not sure how saving the seeds from it will turn out, but I love it.
I tried saving my own zinnia seeds, and this one cactus type with a giant plate size bloom caught my eye.
Fall Strawberries
Shh! We planted ever-bearing strawberries in a large wooden container that sits on our deck. Don’t tell our woofers either that we have been eating these before letting them outside.
Our middle dog, Bella, loves sticking her nose into the plants searching for fresh red strawberries. She will leave the developing ones alone, letting them develop.
Our end goal is to eventually transplant some of the runners to a raised bed by the deck to have even more strawberries available.
Last of the Sunflowers
With the business from this season, it feels like I missed sunflower season. No armfuls of sunflower blooms. No super excitement watching the first of the blooms blossom open, with new ones starting daily.
When it came to an evening walk, I couldn’t miss the last of these sunflowers to enjoy!
Quail Challenge at Windy Hill Fowl
Everything leads to the bird dogs. Bella and Ruger had their first competition with Shawn this Saturday at Windy Hill Fowl. I love going to Canton for these competitions because Amanda has them set up so well, but I needed a slower day at the house to get caught up on some things that were put off.
After a week of struggles with Bella and Ruger, from retrieving to dealing with the abnormal heat and humidity, they both performed great. Bella would have had a great score if her handler could shoot a bit better! Isn’t this usually the case?
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