Harvesting Sugar Pie Pumpkins

Let’s make a pumpkin pie! This is my second year growing sugar pie pumpkins and I'm expecting a bountiful harvest. I gathered my ripened sugar pie pumpkins from my pumpkin patch but have 24 pumpkins and more still on the vine that haven’t ripened. I can't wait to make pies, cakes, breads, etc. with these beauties! 

How to Roast Sugar Pumpkin to Make Fresh Pumpkin Puree

• Choose a small 2-3 pound sugar pumpkin(s)
• Slice stem off before slcing in half so you don't have to slice through the stem. Cut pumpkin in half.
• With a sharp-edged spoon, scoop out the seeds and guts.

• Brush inside with oil  and place face down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I roasted three sugar pumpkins since they are so tiny and could all fit on my pan.
• Preheat oven and roast pumpkins at 350F for about 45-50 minutes. The exact time will vary depending on the size of the pumpkin(s)so you may need more time. The skin will be slightly darker and you should be able to poke a fork quite easily through.
• Let the pumpkin cool for 10 minutes before handling. Grab a large spoon and peel away the very thin skin. It comes off almost effortlessly. At this point, you can use the flesh in all kinds of dishes.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

These wild turkeys were parading though the yard in Banner Elk. The word turkey brings to mind Thanksgiving feasts. For the true taste of Thanksgiving, how about going wild. It doesn’t get more free range than this.

"Shaggy Dog" - My Disney Side

I'm showing my Disney side with my "Shaggy Dog" costume for the "Disney After Dark" birthday party. I was planning to dress as Crewella DeVille but that Disney character had already been taken so I had to come up with something else. The "Shaggy Dog" seemed to work for me. How'd I do?

Goldenrod

Fall is certainly in the air when the goldenrod flowers. This is the last major blooming event of the season and provides a late-summer feast for the bees.

Goldenrod is a fall blooming wildflower that honeybees adore. 

Goldenrod is a perennial that blooms July through September. It is a common wildflower that blooms late in the summer.  Goldenrod is source of both nectar and pollen for bees important for the timing of a colony preparing for winter. The botanical name is Solidago, a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae that grows abundantly in meadows and alongside roads and highways. 

Nectar sourced from goldenrod produces a distinct honey, which maybe light to medium amber with a spicy, strong taste, and high in minerals. Goldenrod is a medicinal plant that helps with fungus, especially in urinary tract.

Wild Turkeys - Happy Thanksgiving!

Wild turkeys feeding in the field at the mountain house

The wild turkey is omnivorous and primarily feeds on nuts, berries, acorns, grasses, seeds, and insects. 

These turkeys are enjoying the winter rye that was recently planted.

Can Woolly Worms predict Winter Weather? Just Ask the Wooly Worm!

Wooly Worm 2012

Many people in the Appalachian mountains have used the wooly worm to predict the upcoming winter weather for generations. The wooly worm caterpillar is the larva stage of the Isabella tiger moth.  The woolly worm has 13 alternating black and reddish brown stripes and each stripe corresponds to one of the 13 weeks of winter, from December to March. 

According to the wooly worm, the prediction for the 2012-13 winter in the High Country in North Carolina:

• Beginning on December 22, winter will open with 4 weeks of snowy, cold weather.

• Week 5 (Jan. 20, 2013, to Jan. 26, 2013) of winter will feature light snow and cool temperatures.

• Weeks 6 through 11 (Jan. 27, 2013, to March 9, 2013) will bring normal temperatures.

• Week 12 (March 10, 2013, to March 16, 2013) will be unusual, with an ice storm possible.

• The final week of winter, week 13 (March 17, 2013, to March 23, 2013), will be cold and snowy.

We found this wooly worm crawling outside our house and is seems that this caterpillar's segments correspond to the official wooly worm's prediction from the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk. We will just have to wait and see how the winter unfolds as the mountains have already seen snow and it's still fall.

Black Fuzzy Caterpillar

Caterpillar at rest showing red/orange bands and spikes

I found this huge black caterpillar climbing up the rock wall at our house in the mountains. The caterpillar has spikes and red or orange bands around the segments or ribs when at rest. The red or orange colored bands between its segments become visible when the caterpillar rolls into a ball for defense. The caterpillar can be described as hairy, bristled, fuzzy, spiky, furry or woolly. 

Caterpillar climbing rock wall

So what is it? This is a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar and is sometimes called an Eyed Tiger Moth. Some call it a black wooly bear but the scientific name is Hypercompe scribonia. 

This black fuzzy caterpillar will turn into a white moth with black circles or spots. Its abdomen will have blue and orange that will not be seen when the caterpillar is at rest.

The black fuzzy caterpillar tuns into this white moth

Wooly Worm Festival and Ghost Train 2009

What fun riding the Ghost Train at Tweetsie Railroad Halloween night. You can ride the Ghost Train as many times as you want. There's a Haunted Mansion and Spooky Woods. The Spooky Woods was especially scary as the guy with the chain saw chased me. Below is the Monster Mash pictures featuring the Hodges' monsters
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Banner Elk Wooly Worm Festival 2009

The forecast for the 13 weeks of winter 2009 2010.  Cool according to Wilbur the wooly worm winner:

- Week 1 - Flurries
- Week 2 - Cold With Flurries
- Week 3 - Snow
- Week 4 - Flurries
- Week 5 - Cold
- Week 6 - Cold
- Week 7 - Cold
- Week 8 - Light Flurries
- Week 9 - Below Average Cold
- Week 10 - Below Average Cold
- Week 11 - Snow
- Week 12 - Flurries
- Week 13 - Flurries

Fall in Banner Elk

The Elk

"Nature's first green is gold
It's hardest hue to hold
It's earliest leaf a flower
But only so, an hour
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank in grief
As dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay."
- Robert Frost

Wooly Worm Festival

Wooly Worm Mascot

Westbend Vineyards Wine Tasting

A Sunday visit to Westbend Winery for a wine tasting hosted by Carolyn Huggins. Enjoyed touring the winery, learning how wine is made, and the wine tasting. What a beautiful fall day.