Replacing the Pump for Our Well

An event we have been dealing with this month is having to replace the pump for the main well on our farm. We switched over to the secondary well and had a temporary pump put in the main well until the right pump could be ordered and installed.

Soon after the temporary pump had been installed, we noticed our water pressure was not as good as it should be; and then the faucet in the bathroom by the family room quit working. Next, we began to notice sand coming through the line; so we had J.R. Pauly come out to check things. He cleaned a few of the faucets and said the worse case scenario could be that we would have to replace all of our valves. So we switched back to the secondary well and soon our water cleared up.

In the foreground is the line being pulled up from the well
as Sam backs away on the four wheeler
from the house into the pasture to bring up the pump.

Bo Babby looking at the temporary pump
after it was brought up from the well.

The temporary pump was replaced by a larger new one, but we are starting to see a little sand again. We are planning to install a filter now. Then we will need to evaluate what damage, if any, has been done to our sprinkler system, faucets, heat pump, pressure tank, water heaters, and appliances that use water.

Pickles In the Sun

During the early years of our marriage, I made a variety of pickles. I made my mother's "Virginia Chunk" sweet pickles that took six days to process with the changing of the brine each day before canning. I liked these, but Sam preferred dill pickles. I got his mother's "Garlic Dill Pickles" recipe and made those for years along with the Virginia Chunks, Bread-and-Butter Pickles, Cinnamon Cucumber Ring Pickles, and even Crispy Watermelon Rind Pickles.

However, my husband who is not fond of vinegar in recipes, told me he really liked the no-vinegar dill pickles his mother used to make. By this time his mother had passed on, so I asked his two sisters about this recipe. Interestingly, they did not remember having these no-vinegar pickles; and we agreed that to make pickles you needed vinegar, and I was already using his mother's dill pickle recipe and had been for years.

Well, thanks to the coming of the Internet, I did a search one day and, lo and behold, I found a recipe for no-vinegar dill pickles that you place in the sun for 4 to 6 days to process. I tried it, and Sam enjoys these pickles; so I have been making them ever since. We will be eating from a new batch today.

Ready to make "No Vinegar Dill Pickles."

3.5 - 4 lbs. small pickling cucumbers (not waxed)
15 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
6 bay leaves
8 cups of water
5 tablespoons canning salt
2 - 3 fresh, small green peppers (we like Jalapeno or Anaheim)
1 large bunch fresh dill (or 1 Tb. dill seed and 1 Tb. dill weed)
8 whole black peppercorns

Place the cucumbers in a clear glass gallon jar. Use whole or spears depending on preference and size of cucumbers. If using spears, trim away and discard portions with larger seeds. Place the cucumbers in layers, between which you place the bay leaves and other spices (not dill or salt). Mix salt and water until turns clear; pour into the jar and then stuff the bunch of dill on top so that it rests in the water. Place peppers on top.

Let the jar stand in a sunny place where it won't be knocked over.

Heat is not as important as direct sunlight.
You may open the jar after 4 to 6 days;
when done, place in the refrigerator.
(Whole cucumbers may take longer in the sun.)

Our daughter, Marla, shared a favorite refrigerator dill pickle recipe her family enjoys; and I have a batch of these ready to eat, too. They keep in the refrigerator for two months or longer.

Refrigerated Dill Pickles

Brine, heat to boiling:
9 c. water
3 c. dark cidar vinegar
1/2 c. canning salt
1 tsp. powdered alum

Place in bottom of 5-quart ice cream bucket:
2 big heads of fresh dill (or 1 Tb. dill seed and 1 Tb. dill weed)
1/2 medium onion, sliced not too thin
Clove garlic, optional

5-inch long cucumbers, slice lengthwise into spears.
Place spears on end in ice cream bucket while tipping on side.
Pour hot brine over cucumbers. Cool and put in refrigerator.
Ready in 4 days.

Sweet Corn, Sunflowers, and Weather

With our children all married having their own gardens, I don't do the amount of canning and freezing that I used to do. Consequently, in recent years I have not used all the garden space and have downsized to planting tomatoes, a variety of peppers, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and onions, along with strawberry plants and rhubarb.

Sam planted the rest of the garden to sweet corn, although we also have more sweet corn planted by the field corn. Sweet corn is not Roundup ready, and some of that planted in the field got sprayed by mistake again this year. We also have to set a trap for the coons, because they really do havoc on the ready-to-eat corn.

Corn and tomato plants in the garden on July 21st
with half of a large rainbow in the background.


Looking down our driveway on the other side of the
quanset is the other half of the rainbow. A second
rainbow is also seen, only not as bright.

Then in July, we had a terrible wind storm that really knocked the corn plants over, but they still were able to continue to grow and produce good ears.

The corn stalks two days after the wind storm.
(Photo taken July 25th.)

In spite of the wind and competing with the racoons, the corn produced well. While Marla was here, we got 48 quarts of creamed-style corn ready to put in the freezer. She had come Thursday, August 18th, to bring Trevor so he could ride back to Utah with Beth and children who had been here visiting for ten days. Tauna, Rachel, and Weston came over and were good helpers. We appreciated having Grandpa Sam and Weston shuck the corn.

Ready to make creamed-style corn to put in the freezer.

The angel food pan is used to support the end of the
cob of corn while using the electric knife to cut off the top of
the kernels, leaving the outer part of the kernel attached
to the cob. Then with the back of a table knife, the
cob is scraped to get the inner part of the kernels,
which makes the corn creamy.

The newspapers are put down on the counter and on the floor,
because the scraped corn is starchy and leaves a sticky mess;
but it is worth it.


Cooking the corn with the added ingredients.

The Recipe:
9 to 10 cups of fresh corn, cut from the cob
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 cups water

Combine corn, sugar, salt and water; place in large pan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Cook for 3 minutes after it is bubbly and turns "milky."
Remove from heat; cool in shallow pan.
Spoon into freezer containers or bags and freeze.

We don't like creamed-style corn you buy at the store, but this recipe makes delicious creamed-style corn and is a family favorite.

After removing from the stove, pour into shallow
pans to cool the corn somewhat before packaging.


Rachel is measuring the cooked corn into freezer bags.


The packaged bags with the hot mixture are
laid out to cool some more before putting in the freezer.

If you come for a visit to our home, we will be happy to serve you the "Best-ever Frozen Corn"!

They finished the wheat harvest this last Wednesday. The field corn is not ready to harvest yet, nor are the sunflowers, millet, and soybeans. We don't have as many sunflowers to harvest as we had planted due to a bad hail storm that hit 1,200 acres.

These sunflowers are in a field east of the house.
(Photo taken August 17th.)


Jared in the field of sunflowers that was hailed out August 10th.
There are only a few sunflower heads left on several stalks.
(Photo taken August 17th.)


Joshua playing with the bare sunflower stalks.


This is a happier picture which we took on our way
back to the house after seeing the hailed out field.
(These sunflowers would be higher than Jared's head
if he were not standing on a little rise at the edge of
the road, as they are over six feet tall.)


Nature can be both ugly and beautiful.