It's waking up!!!!!

 Hello my friends!

I've had my hands full with yet another patient, Rubic, to care for.  He hasn't demanded all of my time, but I try to stay close just in case.  He needs me mostly first thing in the morning; then periodically during the day.  That gives me time to do some things around the house, and also work on more dolls.  The house is falling behind cause I'm doing more doll work.  It's just exciting to get to work on them again, and lets face it, housework is...well....housework.

In addition to inside the house, I've actually managed to get some outside stuff done as well.  I've moved this fence up to the top of our driveway.  Our old neighbor's chain link fence( behind this one) encroaches on our property line.  There is a marker there, but just in case...  Hopefully the new neighbors will see fit to remove their fence that's tangled and over grown.  Our fence is a little high, but it covers their ugly fence so that works for now.  If they move their fence, I may lower ours.  We'll see.

I love this time of year.  Things get pretty dreary starting around November.  The garden is asleep.  We don't get a snow covering; although we did get a snow shower this year.  The hens stop laying.  The days are short.  We don't use supplemental light in the hen house between Nov and end of Jan.   It just gives them a break.  There just isn't much fun to do.  But I did start some seeds.  Cool weather seeds. 

Now.....things are changing.  The days are starting to get longer, we've had some warm days too.  Those days are ones you will find me outside coming up with something to do.  We've again introduced supplemental light into the hen house to encourage laying.  As a result we're up to getting about 8-10 eggs a day.  There is something about the hens laying again that helps me breathe a sigh of relief.  I'm happy to say our frozen eggs and what few we would get from the hens, did manage to get us thru the bare egg season.  We had to use sparingly, but we made it through without having to buy any.  That was a plus.  I'm trying to plant, produce as much as possible.  Things being what they are at the store, anything I don't have to buy is a blessing.  

  We're a week away form what they call Meteorological spring.  That's when nature starts treating things like it's spring.  That's when the transition starts and we start to get a few nicer days.  Still get cold snaps, but still....I'll take the pretty days. 

 I've just come in from the garden.  I've planted Kale, Spinach, Lettuce, Cabbages and Broccoli in the garden.  These are all under floating row cover for now.  There's parsley in the green house and 3 experimental yellow squash plants as well.  I'm experimenting with them to see if they can survive in there and produce.  I'm hopeful by planting them early I can head off squash bugs.  We'll see.  I will say it's 52 degrees outside and 88 degrees in the green house (with the door open!).  I can only experiment with these three plants because we had such a bumper crop last season.  We have plenty of yellow squash canned or dried to use if these three plants die.  I do still have three other plants still in the house, along with 2 zucchini plants.  The parsley should be fine.  It's actually a semi-perennial.  It can survive from year to year as long as it doesn't get crazy cold.  

As you can see I have the plants surrounded by black jugs of water.  They will also be covered with two layers of floating row cover in the green house.  Hopefully that combined with the green house....well we'll just see won't we!

Anyway, as I was working in the garden I started to realize the plants are starting to grow, Blueberry plants are starting to swell with buds, strawberry plants are starting to green up.  It won't be long until we'll have lots of activity in the garden.  Can't wait!  

Do you have any signs of spring where you live?  What excites you this time of year on your homestead?  

Been doin' stuff!

 Good morning all!  

Sorry it's been a while since last we spoke, but I've been making up for the 2 weeks I lost being vaccinated by God for Covid!  That was a long road to hoe, but not near as long as some who've gone thru the process.  I'm not complaining at all!  I'm glad it's over and done with though.  I still don't have my sense of taste and smell back.  It is coming back a little at a time.  The other night I had chicken on the stove cooking.  We have a large open area that is a combination of the kitchen and the Den (aka the gym/man cave).  I was sitting in a chair in the Man cave with DH, when all of the sudden I smelled something that smelled so good!  It was the chicken!  I hadn't smelled anything for 2 weeks!  It was awesome.  Other things haven't come back yet, but that did; so I know I'm on the right track.  

Once I was over the Fever, the Covid, and the migraine that had nothing to do with Covid, but decided that would be the time to harrang me; I started doing things a little at a time.  I started with processing the huge amount of Bell and Jalapeno peppers from the end of the summer garden.  

The larger ones I just blanched and froze for use as Jalapeno poppers and for stuffed bell peppers.  The rest were made into  Cowboy Candy aka Candied Jalapenos  These are a very sweet hot condiment used to top cream cheese and crackers, or Hamburgers, sandwiches, Bar B Q.  All this was slow going and it was about all I could do that day.  

I've cut out things to sew, and begun the process of reclaiming the house again.  I've baked some bread.  I need to do that again.  I've made a batch of Cookies.  Probably should do that soon.  The thing that has given me the most pleasure, and strength is being outside again!  It's time to get things set up for fall and winter.  I swear something happens every fall that sets me back where I can't get it all done, but I've made lots of progress.  I've been clearing out beds, thinning strawberry beds, replanting and giving away strawberry plants, preparing perennials for colder temps, basic yard clean up and raking up leaves both for our yard, my garden beds, and our chickens.  I/We have a lot to still do.  We have 7 roosters to start processing for the freezer.  That's on the docket for this weekend.  It's no where near a years worth of chicken for the freezer, but it's something, and we'll take it.  

Yesterday was a rainy, cold day; so no playing outside.  Instead I opted to do something I've been meaning to do: Can dried beans for convenience.  It takes a while to do it, mainly processing time in the canner.  In order to maximize efficiency, I opted to do this in conjunction  with making last nights dinner: Ham and Navy Bean Soup.  So I got out my Big water bath canner and filled it with 6 lbs of navy beans.  I let them cook til almost soft.  I measured out 6 cups of beans for dinner and put that in a Dutch oven  with the rest of the ingredients to finish cooking.  I then proceeded to can up the rest in my pressure canner into exactly 7 quarts of navy beans.   

Our dinner last night was the soup paired with Garlic Parmesan Bread Sticks.  This morning I'm canning up last nights leftover soup to go on the shelf : 4 pints, plus 2 pints of left over chili.  

Yea, I could freeze it, but this way it doesn't take up freezer space, and I don't have to thaw it to serve it.  I'm feeling like this practice is going to become common place here.  It's more work on the front end, canning all this up, but the pay off of having the convenience of just opening a jar for dinner sounds very appealing.  Not to mention something shelf stable allows me to free up freezer space for other things, or to eventually get to the point where I no longer need a second freezer!  Dare I dream?  That would be a nice energy savings at a time when energy prices are climbing.  

I won't be canning up any dried beans over the next 2 weeks.  The canner is slated to be canning up the chickens we process( possibly), a turkey I bought yesterday (definitely), the bone broth from both, and some potatoes that need to have something done with them.  

Use your Skill Sets

 Skill sets!  What skill sets?  

Look, you don't have to have acres of land to put up things for a rainy day.  When you're watching sales and stocking up on the good buys, don't over look things like meat and fresh vegetables on sale.  

But I don't have a second freezer!  You don't have to have a second freezer?  Packaged  well, you can store quite a bit in a refrigerator freezer.  

Option #1- Store ground meats in quart size freezer bags.  Press flat, freeze and stack.

Option #2- Cook the ground meat first, then package, and freeze  

Option #3- Cook whole chickens, and turkeys, debone, package, press flat, freeze and stack

Option #4- Milk can be frozen, did you know?  If you have the space to store gallons of milk, great, but if you have limited space, you can always do like the ground meat and pour it into freezer bags,  freeze flat and stack

I know, it doesn't take a great amount of skill to put something in a bag, but what skills come in handy when you are out of space in your freezer and need to store something?

Enter Canning!  

If you have the ability to can, you aren't limited to just what would come out of your garden.  You can buy vegetables in season and can them up for winter.  

Now you need to figure if it's going to be more cost effective to can them yourself or just buy them canned ( buying them on sale of course).  This past year I've canned up store bought fresh carrots and applesauce from fresh apples.  My calculations told me this was the most cost effective way.  Both items were in season, on a great sale, and once I did the calculations; a money saver.

I will say something I've discovered is canned tomato sauce, paste, diced tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes are actually a good buy; especially if you can find a good sale.  When you factor in the pounds of tomatoes it takes to make these, unless you grow them yourself, just buy them canned.  I've never seen a sale on fresh tomatoes, so good as to be less expensive than just buying the items canned at the store.  Even growing my own is a mild competitor.  I lose a lot to pests, both buggy and animal.  I do love a fresh tomato though.  Another thing to consider is, unless you're getting in season fresh tomatoes from a local farmer, the store bought canned ones might be your better choice.  Instead of picking them under ripe to ship fresh, canned tomatoes are picked ripe and canned immediately.  

Water Bath Canning-  All you need is canning jars, lids, rings, and a deep stock pot.  Jams and jellies, tomatoes, and pickles can all be made in this boiling water method.  

Pressure Canning-  Needs a bit more, but it isn't scary I promise!  You just need to pay attention to the gauge.  I use my grandmother's pressure canner that was made in 1946!  My dad was 7.  

Pressure canners are an investment unless you inherit one like I did, but you can can pretty much anything in it, so worth more than a passing thought.

But, Frugal maven, I've filled my small freezer, I don't have the ability to can, and don't have a lot of space!

Answer: Invest in a dehydrator!  

We bought ours back in March and I have used it!  It was about $40 and well worth the price.  I've dried herbs, tomatoes, kale, spinach, onions, squash, etc on this thing.  It's taken large amounts of produce and shrunk them down to fit in a mason jar!  4 gallon size bags of kale down to 1 quart jar.  That works!   Best of all, it doesn't take a large amount of skill to slice things and lay them in a single layer on a tray.  You would be amazed at how much you can store with these tings.  To rehydrate it for eating you simply pour boiling water over it and wait 15 minutes.  

Don't want to buy a dehydrator?  You can do the same thing by taking your items and placing them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and leaving them in there with only the oven light on (Or pilot light if you have a gas stove).  It will take longer, but still works.  Eh not sure I would make jerky this way, but maybe?  Someone whose made jerky this way before, chime in !  Let me know!  I have no experience making jerky. 

Skill sets that are more wide spread would be cooking and baking.  As I've mentioned before, buying sugar and flour when they go on sale will go much further than buying boxes of cake or cookie mixes.  The same can be said for meals.  FYI, canned soup is not a good buy.  I don't care what the sale.  You would do better to make your own, even when buying the ingredients when they are NOT on sale.  If you like the convenience of premade mixes, Make your own!  The internet is filled with recipes for making up mixes.  I actually found a book on mixes at a thrift store.  For us, the only mixes I use are seasoning mixes like taco seasoning, spaghetti sauce mix, and season salt.  Mix them up, store them and enjoy.  Just get your ingredients on sale.

These are just a few of the skill sets you can use, but my main goal is to show you that there are ways around growing a garden or raising chickens to help you save money and store up good food.  My point also is to think outside the box when it comes to what you buy, how you buy, and how you use it.  

If a garden is possible, then by all means go for it.  Especially if you can save seeds or grow perennials that come back every year.  But, like I said, not everyone can.  This post is for them!

Nothing goes to waste! Mock Apple Pie; I smell a recipe!

 Good Morning!  Well you may be reading this in the afternoon or evening, but it's morning somewhere!  Anyway, as I write this my "experiment" is still in the process stage.  I'm hopeful though, so I'm writing in anticipation of it's success.  

How many here are familiar with the "Little House" books?  Raise your hand.  

I love the "Little House" books.  Carolyn Ingles was very innovative.  I think folks had to be then if their families provision relied on pretty much what they could grow.  Set backs had to be handled in such a way as to preserve as much as they could, regardless of circumstance.  The best example, I think, for this type of innovation is found in the Little House book "The Long Winter".  The whole book is an example, if you ask me.  I remember reading this with my daughter when she was a child.  In the beginning of the book ( for those few of you not familiar), there is an early freeze coming and so the family has to pick anything left in the garden.  Unfortunately this means the end of their garden for the year.  Carolyn, "Ma", picks everything, and I do mean everything; including some green pumpkins.  She then uses the green pumpkins for that nights dessert as a surprise for Pa.  She cuts up the green pumpkins and makes a mock apple pie, using the diced green pumpkins in place of apples.  

My daughter recently found a volunteer pumpkin plant  growing around the apartment complex she lives in.  Someone had thrown out a Halloween pumpkin last year and it had reseeded.  She picked one green, not knowing it was a pumpkin.  She thought it was another type of squash.  She picked it because it was huge!  Once we determined it was a pumpkin, I reminded her of that Little House story.  She took it to heart and made 3 mock apple pies.  They were a hit at her house.  Pretty sweet to be able to replace the most expensive ingredient in apple pie with something free.  It's also great that it was replaced with a vegetable!  Way to go dear daughter!

This morning I arose to peel a watermelon rind ( from our garden) to make watermelon rind pickles,  Yes this is a thing.  They're sweet like Gherkins or Bread and Butter pickles.  As I started to peel the rind I had an idea for something better than pickles.  Inspired by that Little House story, and my daughters success, I set out to try a mock apple pie with the watermelon rind!  After peeling just one half of the watermelon, I had 12 cups of chopped rind.  If the pie is successful, my plan is to use the rest of the watermelons in the garden (uh once we eat them) to make batches of mock apple pie filling that will be either frozen in quart bags, or canned if I can figure out the process time.  More than likely it will be frozen for use during the coming year.  

UPDATE:  Fast forward about 12 hours and I can say the pie was great!  Thanks Carolyn Ingles, and Dear Daughter!!  

Another part of the watermelon I plan to use is the seeds.  Yes you can eat watermelon seeds.  It won't grow another plant in your stomach.  Lol.  Apparently you can roast any type of squash/melon seeds.  They're supposed to be good for you.  So I've been gathering seeds all summer long, drying them and freezing them until I can do a large batch of roasted seeds.  These seeds will be stored and used in Granola or just for snacking.

So here is the recipe for the pie!

Mock Apple pie

12 cups watermelon rind peeled, diced, and with all residual watermelon fruit removed

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 TBS Lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter

Crust for Double crust pie

Cook watermelon in 1 quart of water for 10 min on medium heat.  Don't boil.  Remove from heat and drain.  Pour drained watermelon into a mixing bowl.  Add the Lemon Juice and mix well.  Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then pour over the watermelon.  Toss watermelon to coat well.  Pour into a crust lined deep dish pie pan.  Dot with butter.  Top with second crust.  Seal edges.  Brush crust with milk and sprinkle sugar over the top.  Cover the pie edges with foil.  Bake in a 375 oven for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake 350 for another 25 minutes.  Then VOILA!

Well she did it! Kinda

 Our crazed Mama hen has finally managed to hatch out 2 chicks that lived, and from what I understand, three that didn't.  We have removed the rest of the eggs and began the process of incubating them.  I think to is about all she can handle right now.  We're still waiting to see who else, if any, hatch.  I've heard that the instinct to brood (sit on eggs) has been bred out of chicks bought at the store, and that the hens have to try and fail a few times before they finally get it.  I'm not sure how true that is, but there was definitely a learning curve with this one. First off she couldn't figure out which box to lay in, and, we think, she probably took breaks more than she should have.  She seems to be caring for these two.  I had to clean out the nesting box( gross) and put in fresh bedding.  I also dipped the chicks beak in the water just in case she hasn't shown them how to drink.  She gave it a valiant effort.    

On the other hand, we have two broody mama's in the Bantum coop.  Bantums brood very easily, and these were hatched the old fashioned way and not bought from a store.  Big Mama is our normal Broody Mama, but it looks like one of her daughters has joined her.  We don't need any more bantum chicks.  We have 5 right now; 4 hens and a rooster.  Chicks mean more hens and roosters.  Bantum roosters are really too small for the freezer, so we would need to find them homes.  So we have been taking the bantum eggs out from under her and replacing them with full size chicken eggs.  Only 6 full size eggs between the two of them.  Bantum hens don't care. They will sit on eggs, any eggs, and they will mother whoever hatches, even when they are her same size!  This is Big Mama with her babies from last year.  She hatched out 4 full size chicks and 2 bantum chicks.  Those black ones are full size.  

This is Taz.  This is the Bantum chick we hatched in an incubator last year after big mama left the nest.  We actually hatched out this one and a full size black chick named Gonzo.  We named them Taz and Gonzo because we thought they were both roosters.  Oops.  Turns out they were both hens.  Turns out they were best buds too.  

In other homestead news, it looks like we will be getting cattle panels after all.  Only this time, I'm pressed for time to get it in, and really don't have a good time to do it.  Looks like we have a 39 degree temp in our future.  39 won't kill my tomatoes, but it will lessen pollen production and kill any fruit on them.  Yes, my tomatoes are flowering and have fruit in some cases.  I've tried to cover them, but it's hard to keep them covered if it gets windy.  An actual wind tunnel can fix that and operate as a temporary green house in a pinch.  The problem I'm running into is the size of our truck.  It can carry maybe 2.  I need at least 6-8.  This means multiple trips to the store, or hope someone can deliver it all, sooner rather than later.  It's an investment, but something I hope pays off long term.  My hope is extending the growing season on both ends by being able to use this as a makeshift unheated greenhouse.  My main goal, though, is to cut down on tomato losses from blight.  

On a cautionary high note, I actually have a little corn and yellow wax beans coming in.  I just threw some seeds into the ground to see if they would be viable.  These were either seeds I've saved or older seeds.  So far, those are the ones breaking thru.  I still have 8 beds to do something with!  I also have some tomato volunteers.  Not sure if they are Roma or Cherry, so can't decide weather to keep them or not.  They're little, not flowering or anything.  If I do keep them, I'll move them to a new area.  

So how's your garden coming along?  Any experiments being tried? Anyone have experience using the cattle panels this way?  I would love the feed back.  

Milk...It does a Broccoli Good!

 Well Whoooo knew!  I do now.  

We've had a lot of rain lately.  I mean a lot.  Like "I think I see Noah's ark floating down my street" type rain.  That ended a week or so ago with winters last gasp.  Due to winter's heavy breathing and my need to plant 10 tomato plants early, the night time low of 30-32 was a problem.  I spent three days in wet, covering my tomato plants to hopefully protect them.  I can say I was about 50% successful.  5 out of 10 ain't bad.   Doesn't it look so cozy?  I used these lighted boxes my dad made years ago for seed starting.  I have used these things for seeds, plants, a brooder, and soon to be an incubator.  Talk about versatile!  It's a simple wooden box with light bulbs on a dimmer switch on either end.  The bottom is metal that warms up for use in seed starting, but with 100 watt bulbs, these boxes generated enough heat to protect my plants.

The focus on tomato plants, took my focus off the cabbages and broccoli.  As I was removing the tomato coverings, I noticed all of my cabbage family plants were looking less than stellar.   That seemed weird to me.  I never thought they would have a problem.  They're cold weather crops.  They should have been fine!  Upon closer inspection, I noticed white spots on the leaves.  I looked up the problem and it seems in cold damp weather, cabbage plants are susceptible to White Spot.  It's a fungus, and if left untreated, will kill the plant.  Throwing my desire to a totally organic garden out the window, I hurried to order a fungicide to fight this before It wiped out all my cabbage plants.  My order won't be here til the 15th of April, so I continued to research something to fight it now and at least give them a chance until the fungicide arrived.  

Enter...Milk.

Yes...Milk.

Apparently diluted milk has a protein which, combined with sunlight, makes an inhospitable environment for this fungus.  FYI, this also works on Squash plants with Powdery Mildew.  I sprayed my plants for a couple of days, and they perked right up!  

The after:

The spots have started to disappear.  There was a break from spraying since the weather was still sunny and dry.  They seemed to  be recovering well.  It rained yesterday.  With the sun's arrival today I was out reapplying the diluted milk.  

While getting some pics, I had to include my prettiest Apple tree (shh!  Don't let the other trees know).  This poor tree has been pulled out of the ground and replanted twice; once from hurricane Irma, and once from Kudzu!  But look at it!  It has come thru with flying colors!  Beauty despite adversity.  There's a lesson in there somewhere!

Just call me Stu...

 True confession time.  Like Stu of Toy Story fame, I don't take care of my toys ( sigh, hanging my head).  Not that I take glee in blowing them up or feeding them to the dog; it's more a matter of being busy and getting distracted.  Things are always "I need to get to( insert task to procrastinate here)".  Oh!  I guess I need to clarify about the "toys" per sea.  My gardening tools.  For example, my wheeled cultivator.  It actually isn't that effective in a clay soil garden like we have here in Georgia, but in my raised beds, has done okay.  I really just like the thought and look of it.  As you can see it needs some love.  This is just one of the many tools needing some attention in my toy box.

Okay, now that we have that clear and out of the way.  I am happy to announce you can teach a somewhat old (ahem) dog new tricks.  Better late than never right!  

So yesterday I gathered all of my wooden handled garden tools to give them some love and attention.  I gathered them all, sanded all the handles and cleaned them off and then proceeded to coat each of them with boiled linseed oil.  FYI, as long as your linseed oil has no additives, it is safe to use in a garden.  

This Boiled linseed oil soaks into the wooden handles, protecting them from the elements.  It's been on my "to do" list for a while, but something else always takes precedence.  Now all of my wooden handled tools are ready to go; including, now my wheeled cultivator.  What cha think? 

 

Two of my tools, and really very important tools, were broken.  I have a 4 tong cultivator and a hoe//cultivator that were broken.  This morning I re-glued the handle of the cultivator.  I still need to fix the head of it so it will go back on.  That has to wait until the glue dries.  I was able to fix the hoe/cultivator.  It was never really made very well to begin with, but I fought with it until the head came off.  Once it was off I could at least fix it.  I sawed off the tip of it that had rotted ( I know cause it wasn't protected).  I had to reshape the handle to take the metal collar that sits just below the head.  That required shaving it down and sanding it well.  I then glued the collar back on before addressing the actual head.  In order to fix the problem that was there from the get go( in other words, not my fault), I had to saw off the pin that held the head to the peg that, in turn, slides into the handle.  It was loose and wouldn't keep the head straight.  Once I took that pin off, I removed the old pin/peg, and, instead, reattached the head to the handle with a washer and a rather large eye hook.  My thought process was that now I can easily hang this up when not in use!  As you can see, I've been using it.  

Pretty proud of the finished project.  I think my dad would be torn between pride in my ingenuity, and eye rolling because I should care for my tools better.   So frugal tip of the day, and one I should have been paying better attention to, care for your tools; all your tools(toys), so they can stand the test of time!  

Any other procrastinators out there?  You can tell me tomorrow!

Homestead happenings! Kinda Lengthy, you may need two cups of coffee.

 Hello all!  I haven't forgotten you.  It's just the time of year.  Things are picking up on our tiny homestead.  

The chickens are giving us about 8-12 eggs PER DAY.  We've actually already sold some, frozen some, and given some to family.  Not sure, yet, what we're going to do if one of the hens decides to go broody and sit on eggs.  We don't really need new chickens at the moment.

Finally!  We have Beets, Red Kale, Snow peas(yay), Spinach, and Turnips coming up in the garden.  I didn't think those seeds were ever going to sprout!  Still waiting on Lettuce.  A friend shared some of her cilantro plants (Thank you K!).  4 cilantro plants, and they are doing well after being moved.  

We've had crazy amounts of rain, but recently have had some dry spring like days and so I've been out in the yard playing!  Playing as in cleaning out beds, cleaning up the yard( if gets kind of a mess over the winter), and putting in the structures for the garden i.e. trellises, fencing, cages, etc.  One of the things I've put up is a wind tunnel.  I'm trying something different with my tomatoes.  From what I'm told, tomatoes don't like to get watered from the top.  I've dealt with blight for the past few years, so I'm thinking this might help.  It will protect the plants from the rain, but still allow them sunshine.  We'll see.  It does mean I will need to water them by hand.

As for my seedlings, I have broccoli, red cabbage, green cabbage, parsley, chamomile, lavender, and tomatoes coming up.  I started some of these, especially the tomatoes the last week of  DECEMBER!  Again, this is to, hopefully, help with a large harvest of tomatoes.  I'm hopeful having older tomatoes plants set out will enable them to produce a crop before heat, bugs, or blight can get them.  I would love to have enough tomatoes to can ALL of our tomato products for the year.  These are just a sampling of a few.

So my canning/ preserving wish list goes

1 Tomatoes:  you name it!

2 Red cabbage: Spiced red cabbage ( so good!)

3 Green cabbage- Sauerkraut,  Hubby loves Brats or sausage with kraut

4 Lavender- Essential oil

5 Parsley spice

6 Chamomile- Tea

7 Broccoli- freeze

8 Spinach- canning in small jars to add to soups, quiches, etc.

9 Beets- Beet Jelly (tastes like a fruit jelly)

10 Turnips- roasting

11 Snow peas-  Freeze what I don't eat standing in the garden lol

I also intend to plant:  Hot and mild peppers, Zucchini, Butternut, green beans, black beans, lima beans, black eye peas, corn.  I have strawberries, blueberries, and black berries that are perennial and I hope will produce well.  Well see.  My goal is to use every canning jar I own for putting the garden away.  While I would love to be able to grow everything we eat, that's just not possible where we live, but, as much as I can;  If we use it, I would like to produce it.  The more I grow the less I have to spend on Groceries at the store, the fresher it is, and the less it costs over all.  

As for spending less at the store, all the craziness going on these days, has strengthened my desire to support local small businesses.  Like with my garden, I can't get all of my groceries at small businesses, but I can get some.  With some creative thinking I can get more.  

We have a local farmers market/grow house about a mile and a half up from our home.  I've bought seedlings there in the past and they are convenient to grab a forgotten item, but they weren't as cheap as the big box stores.  I was in there the other day to grab a pound of carrots and had the idea.  I asked an employee if it was possible to buy more of an item and get a discount.  He said I could buy a case of carrots; 48lbs for $31.  That made the per pound price .65 which is actually good.  Now we do use a lot of carrots; with roasting and all, but 48 lbs.!  I pulled the trigger and ordered a case.  I took 26 lbs. and promptly put them in the fridge.  We used 3 lbs. that night with dinner, and I canned the last 19 lbs. for the second part of my experiment; would canning store bought fresh carrots save me over store bought canned carrots.  

From the 19 lbs. of carrots I got 26 pints of canned carrots.  Each pint holds 8 oz. of carrots.  FYI one 15 oz. can at the store holds 7oz of carrots.   The canned carrots at Aldi cost .55 a can I believe.  I looked at Kroger and Walmart and it's way more.  These that I canned cost me .48 a jar.  Had I needed to count the price of the lid, it would have been .60.  In this case I didn't have to count the cost of the lid. Had I needed to count the cost of the lid, I think I still would consider this for these reasons:

1.  Less trash.  Because everything is in reusable jars, means fewer trash bags.  

2.  Better quality product.

3.  More volume of food in each jar compared to the store bought canned

4.  One thing I did notice during the pandemic buying earlier last year was that canned food was in limited supply, while fresh wasn't and seemed to be priced well.  Part of that was and still is a tin/aluminum shortage, in addition to the panic end of the world "I used to tease people who stocked up until I needed to stock up" buying.  By knowing I can buy fresh and can it myself at a price comparable to canned, I need not compete with others buying canned food.  

5.  I don't or won't need a can opener, or deal with a pop top.

I'm sure there are other reasons.  As I picked up my 48 lb. case of carrots, I asked the owner if it's possible to do this with other items as well like potatoes, onions, etc.  He said it should be possible on just about everything they sell.  Now I can't can carrots every time I need to replenish my fresh carrots supply, but I had the idea to go in with some friends of mine, to buy in bulk from a local business and each pay the per pound price for just what they want/need.  That way we each can help a small business during this time, stay in budget, and get what we need.  So Guuuuuuuurls!  What do you think?  

Rethinking how I do things

Hello Everyone!

We're hunkered down here in the homestead; just like everyone else I suppose.  We're living thru a historical moment with this Covid-19 virus.  In all honesty, it still feels surreal to me.  Surreal , but serious.  Please, please please, take this serious.  This is not the flu.  This is way different.

My family doesn't leave the house except to go to work.  I have three men in this house still working.  I'm very thankful for that, but nervous a well.  When they get home from work it is in the shower for them and in the laundry for their clothes.  Because they're working and coming home, I'm reluctant to go anywhere or have anyone come by; for others protection as well as our own.

I say that, but old habits die hard.  My first thought is "oh I'll just run down to (fill in the blank)".  Grocery stores, Walmart, Lowes, all these places are still open.  We can go thru a drive thru for dinner as well.  But here is what I'm learning, and believing.  Just because someplace is open, doesn't mean I have to go there.  *** And can I say, if you do have to go there, please don't wait in long lines for the store to open.  Go somewhere that's already open, or wait til your favorite store is open.  If you're standing in line with 10 other people, then you're in a gathering greater than 10!  You're at risk!***

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm trying to do my part to help the small businesses in my area, but I have to do so in a way that protects them and my family.  For that reason I'm re-thinking how I do things.

For example:

This is the time of year we put in our garden.  I've planted seeds and they're doing very well.  But there were things I needed; mulch for the walkways between raised beds, pine straw for on the beds, and I also needed potting soil.  I didn't want to go into a store.  Plus I wanted to shop locally.  I tried a local hardware store that has a well known name, but is independently owned, and was told they aren't doing deliveries.  Okay.  Then I'll look elsewhere, and I did.  I ended up ordering from a small family owned feed and seed store near by.  Their prices were much better anyway, and he delivered what I ordered to my house.  I was able to stay far away from him as he unloaded everything I purchased.  I supported a small local business, and was able to get what I needed and stay on track with the garden.

Another item that needed our attention was the housing for our small bantam chickens.  With the arrival of spring their egg laying has increased.  Problem was they were in the Rooster run and it was never designed for hens.  It needed to be re-designed so we had access to the eggs.  My first thought was I would just have to run to Lowes and grab some stuff.  But then I stopped myself and asked myself did I have items here I could use, and not make the trip to town.  Well, we did.  Now granted, when you make do on something, you don't have plans or measurements to follow....ehh it can kinda look like the villains lair in the old Batman series, but, hey, it's functional, and it will do until we can make a trip to town.  Point is.  We thought things thru and ended up not going.

As for provisions,  I was fortunate that I had already done the monthly grocery shopping the Friday before things went south( no I did not buy toilet paper.  We already had some).  So we are pretty well set.  Plus I keep a pantry.  It wasn't my normal pantry as I had kinda slacked off in recent months, but we're okay for a bit.  I've been tempted to go to the store to pick up a few things, but have decided against it.  This has forced me to really push myself into A) using anything and everything I have in my pantry/freezer, and B) Learning what all I can make on my own.  As it stands now, I will never by Mayonnaise, ketchup/ BBQ sauce, flour tortillas, or peanut butter granola bars at the store.  I already don't buy Bread, English Muffins, Bagels, Dog treats, choc syrup, jams/jellies, Season Salt, Taco Seasoning, Granola/Cereal.  It's become a challenge to me now to see how far I can make this stuff go.  Technically I get more grocery money in 2 weeks when Hubby gets paid, but there is no guarantee I'll be able to shop like I normally do; by the month and stock up when an item is on sale. We have a local farmers market that has ingeniously adapted to where you can call them ahead of time and give them your order.  You let them know when you'll be by, and they will bring your order out to your car; wearing gloves and the whole bit.  They're a mile from my house.  Since they're a farmers market, I'll utilize them when I need some fresh items.

The garden is starting to produce a little spinach and lettuce.

Plus the hens are really laying now.  We're getting 8-10 eggs a day.  And I just found out you can FREEZE raw eggs!  How awesome is that!  This is one of those times where gardening and raising chickens is more than a hobby.  It's also one of those times where I say to myself I will do this as long as I can.

More than likely you are cooped up like we are.  I have a friend who took this time to learn to make her first bread.  It turned out beautifully.  Don't you think?

Now is a good time to do all the things you've been meaning to at home but just didn't have the time. Sure it's not a vacation you would choose, but now that you have it, make the most of it.  You never know what you can accomplish!  See what happens!

Rooster Run 200

Introducing the "Rooster Run 200". This little gem is currently housing the 4 roosters from our latest batch of eggs hatched. They are destined for the freezer, but until then they will get some mighty fine food, green grass, bugs (well they like'em), fresh air, and sunshine. This is made light enough for me to be able to move it to fresh grass daily. Originally, due to it's mobile nature and the final destination for the birds, I was going to name it "Road trip". A friend who shall remain nameless, thought I should name it "the green mile". Fitting since the netting is green, but I ended up referring to it as "the rooster run" out of habit and, well, it stuck. This is my design. No plans, just pictured it in my head and went with it. My mom tells me that was a talent my dad had and so I feel very happy that it's something I can do as well. It cost me about $30 in supplies because I re-purposed items I already had on hand. The used dog house was $10 of the $30.

Measures 5 ft in length and 3 ft in width.  The PVC continues inside the dog house to give the birds something on which to roost.  If you think those white lines in the center look like they're going thru the dog house, you would be right.  They go all the way thru to the other side.  This allows the dog house to be elevated to make them feel safe, and to keep them dry in wet weather.

You can barely see the little darlings under the house.  They like to hang out there during the heat of the day.  Having the house elevated allows them to use every bit of space in this run.

That's a hinged door on the top there to allow us access to the water.  They don't have a feeder because we throw their food down to encourage them to scratch.  Trust me, they eat well.  They are moved to fresh grass every day before I throw down their food.

You can also see a pole that comes from the house to the end of the run. That is an outside roosting area. Again, I am trying to give them the use of as much space as possible. The waterer is attached to the hinged door so that when lifted out the string holding the water comes up to be removed.

Updates from the Homestead

Hello!  Kind of a rainy on and off day today with thunderstorms headed our way come Sunday.  As I speak chaos has ensued outside as the chickens are letting the world know someone has laid an egg.  It's quite the spectacle!

Speaking of eggs (they've simmered down ...well maybe not), I am 99.9% sure we have a little banty hen brooding on 6 banty eggs.  That is so exciting for us!  We got a Little Banty rooster for our three hens about a month ago.  His name is Eli and we got him from a chicken rescue for free.  We just put the word out in our area and someone contacted us.  He fit right in with the hens.  No fights or anything which is great.  We aren't really raising these chickens for eggs or meat.  The chickens are so small there really isn't much use for the meat, and it takes 4 eggs to equal 2 large eggs.  I usually reserve the banty eggs for baking.  The little guys are fun though, provide manure, and eat bugs too; so still worth it.  We've had a few offers on chicks when they hatch, primarily for any that are lavender colored as we have a lavender hen.  Now if we can just get the full size hens to sit on some eggs, that would be great!  We do have three chicks we recently incubated.  It produced, I know for sure, one rooster, and one hen.  The third is still a toss up, but I'm leaning toward rooster.  Little disappointing if that's the case.  Roosters mean meat for the freezer, but not something we look forward to.  It is something we accepted though when we chose to raise chickens.  If we can't get a hen to sit, we plan to incubate again in about 14 weeks.  We prefer a hen do it, but we will incubate if need be.

On the garden front, I have 90 tomato plants currently being planted on this off and on rainy day.  They have gotten so big, I need to either plant them or re-pot them.  I don't think I have enough pots.  So in between rain showers I'm planting tomato plants.  I have 29 left to plant.  Any tomato volunteers in the garden are getting the ax.  I know they are cherry tomato plants, and I don't need them.  Out they go.  I only have room for the tomato plants I am planting.  Well those and the 46 pepper plants I also have to find a home for.  Yea, I am not playing this year.  I need tomatoes, peppers, and beans.  I have plans for tomato sauce, salsa, ketchup, tomato soup, chili, BBQ sauce, etc all put up for winter.  I'll also freeze a large amount of peppers to cook with.  The beans are starting to poke their heads out.  I have 12 speckled Lima beans (a good substitute for pinto beans) coming up from last year.  They get to stay.

In addition to all this, I am harvesting spinach, asparagus, and a few beets in the garden.  I have garlic growing like crazy, as well as a parsley plant held over from last year (they are a semi perennial).

Blooms are on my strawberries!  Yay!  I've even seen a few baby strawberries, and my blueberry bushes are covered in baby blueberries!  I can't wait!  I also have apple blossoms on my apple trees!  Now if the deer will just leave them alone.  No peaches I guess.  They bloomed too early and a late freeze got them.

On the home repair front, we now have a new deck on the front of the house as well!  I can't stain it yet.  I have to wait about 6 weeks.  If it ever dries out long enough, I can go ahead and stain the back deck.  It's new too from this past October.

I guess you could say I like blueberries!

Good morning all!  The sun is shining today and I'll take it even though the temps are veeeery chilly.  I have to chuckle because of the fact that not only did the ground hogs get it wrong, but so did the meterologist when it came to weather in the U.S these past couple of months.  If you will remember, the ground hog up north (don't ask me to spell his first name), Phil, said the north would have an early spring.  Then down here in Ga, our own ground hog, General Lee (see we do things so much simpler down here.) told us we would have 6 more weeks of winter.  So January and February gave the north some record breaking ice and snow, and gave us more of a spring like feel (along with massive amounts of rain).  I think that was a bit of a disappointment for both yankee and southerner alike.  Up north wanted to see warmer temps, and we down south always want to see snow!  We love the beauty, and, let's face it, we love the DRAMA; will it snow, will school be out, will we lose power, we need bread and milk (I have no idea why that is), etc.

Lest you think we only rely on Rodents with rank, the "Powers that be " weather folks concurred!  So here we are down south eagerly anticipating a "greater chance of snow and colder temps".  February was supposed to be The Month.  Instead, we were warmer and wetter.  I guess they got the wetter part right, but no fun stuff.  Just rain, and more rain, and more rain.

Due to the warmer and wetter weather, my blueberries (and peach tree, but nothing to do about that) bloomed out.  I mean bloomed out!  They are loaded with blooms, and I do mean loaded.

And now we are due, after many weeks of above freezing temps, for the bottom to drop out tonight.  Our low for tonight is forcasted to be 23 degrees.  Not the coldest it's been here in Ga, but cold enough to kill all blooms everywhere that temp can be found.  Anything below 29 degrees causes damage, and the lower the temp the more damage.  At 23 degrees I could lose all of my blueberries.

There isn't anything I can do about my fully blooming peach tree.  It's a loss again this year (grrrr), but I can try to save my blueberries.  Enter copious amounts of heavy white plastic, tomato cages, fencing, clothes pins, tape, twine, and anything else I could lay my hands on the save these berries.  My berries are planted against my house and get full sun.  I have tomato cages made from field fencing, as well as some field fencing.  I used those to make a framework around the blueberries.  Anywhere the plastic touches the blooms, will freeze.  The cages will help hold the plastic away from the actual bushes.

A peek under you can see what I'm talking about with the blooms.  Some haven't opened quite yet, and some are fully open

As I'm wrapping these buggers up, the wind is breezy at 14 mph.  So as you would expect, just about the time I would get something in place, the wind would move it....a lot.  Then I would finally get it together and the wind would open a place.  Usually in the most inconvenient place.  As I'm working I'm saying to myself "it's a good thing I like blueberries".  This mantra then became "not so sure I really like blueberries".  But now that I have it taken care of, I think I do still like blueberries.  I'm caustiously optimistic that I have them secure and we may be able to ride this out thru the next 2 days.

The flip side of this coin is that these cold days will help set my blackberries, so there is a silver lining.

The weather prognosticators are saying this is winters last hurrah.  Yea.  I'll believe it when I see it.
As an aside, I'll worry more about what the powers that be in weather say will happen with "Climate change" in 10 years, when they can accuately predict a 5 day forcast.  Just sayin.

Also along the gardening front; tomatoe, pepper and squash seeds have all been started.  Now we wait.

So hows your weather?  Have you started any seeds?

Garden fails and what I learned from them

After the brutal temps over the past couple of weeks, today Dh and I were out and about in the back yard beginning the garden prep for this coming spring (in 65 degree weather I might add). 

Usually I learn my gardening mistakes, or I should say take note of them, in the fall while cleaning the garden up for winter.  I didn't get to do that this fall.  I didn't have a chance, and was under doctors orders to not exert.  Then the holidays came and my little Etsy store was going so fast I could barely keep up (thank you very much!). 

So the holiday season is behind us, Etsy is somewhat caught up, and the weather is glorious right now!  Enjoy it while I can!  In addition, our absentee land owner next door is finally clearing out the fence line adjacent to our property.  This means we can clear ours out now.  We have a landscaper coming by to do the bulk of the work.  The job is just too big for a weekend foray.  I say all of this to say, spring is in the air and now I am getting a chance to clean up, and evaluate last years success and failures; mostly failures.

Failure #1-  Wood chips.  I don't think wood chips make a great mulch.  Don't get me wrong, they are great for in between rows of raised beds.  I know that NOW.  They aren't great directly on the bed.  It doesn't matter if they're aged or not.  My plants suffered last year, and I believe the main reason was wood chips.  Now if you compost the wood chips into the nice crumble compost, that is another story.  So From now on, wood chips will keep their place in between the raised beds.

Failure #2- My rabbit proof "Fence".  Ha!  I put this PVC netting around my garden in the hopes of keeping the cute little buggers away.  Didn't work.  I buried it and everything, but they still got in.  It slowed them down a bit getting out, but they still got in.  Another draw back is it made it harder to have access to opposite sides of certain raised beds.  This allowed weeds to take over and made it difficult to get to the produce.  The weeds took over up to the edge of the netting on the outside of the garden and made it hard to get them out.  The roots, stems, etc wrapped their self through the netting, and it was a mess.  Well that is all down now.  I'm not planning on growing anything the rabbits will be interested in this spring; carrots, broccoli, cabbage, etc.  If I do, I'll put a hoop house over it to protect from varmints. 

Failure #3- Corn!  I planted my corn too close and too much.  I affected my yield big time.  Plus I had all of my tall plants at one end of the garden, which made it like the amazon trying to get thru to pick or do other garden maintenance.  I'm not planting corn this year anyway, but when I do, the beds will be staggered.

Failure #4- Seed catalogs!-  These got the best of us as we went nuts buying seeds galore.  We were going to try this, and this, and this.  What happened was I didn't have room in my garden for all this wonderfulness, and ended up without enough of what I really needed in order to preserve for winter use.

Failure #5 Wooden seed starter boxes!- UGH!  Got this brilliant idea from a Youtube video I was watching.  It goes without saying that if wood ships will steal nitrogen from the soil, then logic would say, so would wooden seed boxes?  I mean that sounds right. Well it sounds right today, but back then I was all on board with trying it.  Yea, Back to Terra Cotta pots or seed pots.

Gardening is a series of successes and failures.  If you try something and it fails, well you know not to try it that way again.  Let me tell you though; if you have something that works well, don't try anything else.  Use what works for you.  If you're struggling with something, by all means try what you can, but don't mess with perfection.

I Love Yellow Wax Beans!

This is the first year I've planted yellow wax beans in the garden.  It was purely by accident.  I went to the feed store to get green beans, and, well; one should always have their glasses on when shopping.  That's all I'm sayin.  By the time I realized my mistake, they were sprouting.  So I let them go.  I have yet to can any.  Not because we aren't getting them coming in, but because we have discovered roasted beans.   The clouds parted and the angels were singing!  It takes a lot of beans to roast, and you will eat every one I promise.  Just toss them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Preheat your oven to  450.  Spread them out even on a cookie sheet.  Bake in the 450 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Toss once about half way through the time.  Enjoy!

I always knew about roasted potatoes.  Who doesn't.  Then I learned about roasted carrots.  Now roasted beans.  I'm thinking this roasting thing is going to be my new go to.  I still need to can beans for winter, but I think I'm gonna keep them whole and try roasting them from the jar.  It's an experiment in the making.

The squash is covering me up.  I have grated Zucchini, and sauteed Zucchini and put them in the freezer.  I've made Zucchini relish.  I've also sauteed yellow squash for the freezer.  We've had it for dinner multiple times as well.  In fact I will cook some for just myself some lunches.  I still have it coming in.

So far I have about 4.5 lbs of blueberries which is more than I thought I would get.  The blackberries are coming in as well.  All in all, I'm very pleased with the results.

I have to say I like the "Back to Eden" garden.  I know it isn't at it's full potential this year, but it has seriously cut down on the amount of maintenance needed for my garden.  I can't wait to get all I want covered in wood chips done.

So do you have a garden this year?  How's it going?  Share your stories or pics!  I would love to see them!

Uppin My Game

My latest book read is "Folks this ain't Normal" by Joel Salatin; owner of Polyface farms in Virginia.  Highly recommend this book.  He's a big proponent of not just local eating, but scratch cooking, old skills, hard work etc.  Anyway, he got me to thinking and so I started looking around for local sources as well as organic, free range, pastured sources for food.  Here is what I know.  I can't do it all.  So if I am going to be able to buy truly local and organic foods I will need to grow most of it.  Next on my list is raising pastured  chicken cause that is out of my range too, but I digress.

As a result of my new found determination to grow as much of my produce as I can, My garden is slated to be in over drive for the season.  I'm fortunate that we have a long growing season.  Our first frost usually isn't until Oct 21st and we normally don't get brutally cold (teens and twenties) until Jan.  This give me extra time for cold weather crops to come in.  Currently there is no more room in my garden for anything else, but as things play out and are pulled out, I will be replacing them with something else.

Squash- The first to go.  I currently have 9 squash plants growing.  These were all planted a few weeks behind each other.  The first set of three is about done.  They will be pulled out and some volunteer lima beans will take their place.  The volunteers are currently growing next to my decks bottom step.  Green beans( bush) will more than likely replace the other squash plants.

Cucumbers-  These are only the first 3 sets planted.  I have four more that haven't started producing yet.  Okra will go there

Corn-  The corn is going gang busters!  Once these beds are done, I'll plant more green beans.  Corn is a heavy feeder and so before I plant the beans, my plan is to mix in more compost and let the beds sit a few weeks.  I will plant these beans about August 1st.  Beans take nitrogen out of the air and put it into the ground through their roots.  It will continue to replenish the soil.

Yellow Wax, and Lima Beans- These are currently growing and beginning to set pods.  As these finish, I will begin planting my cool weather crops: Beets, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflowers, spinach, and lettuce,

Cherry tomatoes_ despite my no volunteer pledge, I finally got to the point where I had to let some stay.  The are relegated to one main branch,  however.  As these die back, the plants will be pulled out and maybe snow peas will be added.  The cherry tomatoes will be dehydrated (I hope).

Roma tomatoes-  Once they die back they're done.  I'm not gonna try to let them keep going.  I'll replace them with snow peas if possible.

When my slicing tomatoes die back, they will be allow to stay.  When it cools off, they will come back and make the prettiest tomatoes.  These I will pick green and can fried green tomatoes for the pantry.

How cool will it be to have a garden last until Dec or Jan?  AWESOME!

Garden Update

The Garden is in full swing now.  Things are starting to bloom and I'm finally getting some squash.

Not sure if the "romance" worked or if my problem was one of a pest causing the squash to not produce.  I went to an area farmers market and, while there, talked to a very nice farmer who recommended I remove all of the babies and spray with an organic spray.  Desperate to try anything, I went home and did just that.  Well I did almost that.  I removed all of the affected babies; those that were no longer viable.  So not sure if the assisted romance worked or if his idea worked, but something did and for that I am thankful.  You want something good to eat?  Melt a little butter and chop up a yellow squash and some onion.  Saute it all in the butter with a little salt and pepper until the onions are kinda caramelized and the squash is soft.  Oh YUM!

This is one of my favorite beds.  I have no idea why I took this picture without putting that flat cinder block back in place, but it is what it is so just disregard that and feast your eyes on the pretty plants!  Tomatoes are all along the back.  Then from left to right we have Parsley, Marigolds, Basil, Bell Peppers, More Marigolds, More Basil, More Bell Pepper, and last but not least, More parsley.  By the Way, far left you see something growing out of the cinder block.  That isn't a weed.  It's Marigolds.  I let them stay where they landed and they are thriving.  Go figure.

The corn has sent up it's tassels and is currently taller than me.  It's over 6 ft at this point.  At least this bed is.  This is my first batch of corn.  There are 3 more beds behind this one in development.  Ironically all of the seeds were planted in the bed you see before you.  The subsequent beds of corn were transplanted in place to thin this area.  Once you transplant a plant, it sets it back a bit because the plants has to re-establish itself.  That takes time so the regular growth is interrupted for a bit.  This is a great way to succession plant without having to pull out the seeds each time.  I planted them all at once, then moved what I needed to.  You can go to my "How to" page to see a tutorial on transplanting successfully.  Here's the link to the page :

Click Here

So here is the organic garden spray recipe I use:

1 onion, chopped
4 gloves garlic (you can use garlic powder)
2 cups fresh mint leaves
2 TBS cayenne pepper
1 TBS dish soap
Enough water to make a gallon.

I start with putting everything but the water and soap in a 2 quart jar and adding just enough warm water cover it all.  Then Pulse it in my blender.  I let it sit over night "steeping".  In the morning I strain out the "stuff", leaving the liquid.  Add the rest of the water to make a gallon and the TBS of soap.  Put in a spray bottle and go.  Spray either early in the morning or in the evening.  Try not to spray in the heat of the day.

This has served me well so far and is so inexpensive I don't mind having to reapply if needed after a rain storm.

Hope this serves you well as well.  Have a great day!  BTW aren't my free wood chips so pretty!