Gleaning

End of harvest clean-up, or whatever you want to call it.  I went over the pots on the deck and the mini-garden, to see if there is anything left that can be of some use.  I came in with some salad tomatoes, rose hips for tea **, flower heads for saving seed (marigold, mini snapdragon, and my favorite blue salvia), and I put the red pelargonium in a pot to see if I can overwinter it inside.

**For tea, Rose Hips  may be used fresh or dried:

• For fresh brewing - steep a tablespoon or two of clean hips in a cup of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Sweeten with honey and enjoy.
• When using dried hips, use only two teaspoons to one cup of boiling water and steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

The monster tomato plants at the corner of the deck were showing no ill effects from either the drought or the chilly nights we've had lately.  They are 7-8 feet tall and just as wide.  They didn't seem to produce much, though.  All foliage and little fruit.  I cut them back by about half and threw the cuttings on the compost heap.  I don't know why I didn't just cut them down.  Lo and behold I found several pounds of green tomatoes,  medium and large.  I have ripened a few inside already, and will do the same with these.  I like fried green tomatoes, but juicy red ones beat that for me.

I have seed beans saved from the pole beans and I put some herbs I have dried in jars and labeled them - Dill (weed and seed), oregano, peppermint, lemon verbena and basil.  I still have some marjoram to do.   There are still chard, lettuce and turnips growing, and I'm hoping the seed on the basil will develop and begin to dry before frost.

 I'm doing a little gleaning inside, too.  I pulled out a couple of boxes and started looking around the house with an eye toward what to get rid of - some to Goodwill, and some I want to take to the auction to sell, and see if I can recoup a few of the dollars I have spent there.  It is usually a buyers market at the auction I go to, so if they sell, I don't expect to make much.  It's better than messing around with selling on-line though and it feels good to have some of the clutter going out of the house for a change. 

This week - be still my heart - I bought a partial set of old (Enoch Woods Woodsware) cranberry red transferware dishes, for a price that I have seen one or two pieces go for in on-line auctions.  22 pieces in all.   I was so convinced I didn't have a chance at them, I was shocked when I had the winning bid.   They are in pretty good shape for being old (1900-1940).  No crazing in the glaze,  and only 3 pieces had chips.  My favorites are a small platter and vegetable bowl.  The pattern is "English Scenery" and each type of piece has a different scene.  The serving pieces had a man and boy herding sheep (no wonder I like them best) and the man has stopped to talk to a woman in a cottage.  The boy has his arms up and hands on his head, and even on such a tiny decorative element, the body language screams "I'm bored.  Let's go..." 

I would like to find a few more pieces of brown transferware, then I'll quit.  Like the silver spoons  I collected, my view is there can be too much of a good thing, where decor is concerned.  I like the charm of old transferware, and have several pieces of blue, and now the red/pink.  I only have 1 piece of brown , and those are the only colors I like.  When I get enough, it's easy for me to stop.  (She says.....am I in denial?)

Now, with books, or animals for that matter, it's a bit harder.....