| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Apr 09 2011 : 5:57:13 PM
Ok, I really think I have missed sweating. And being stinky. And the sun. And dirt under my nails and in my hair and on my feet. It's all good. Then taking a nice cool shower and getting all clean and smelling good again. It's so nice to NOT be cold!
I just mowed the yard with our new push mower with a bagger even. I am loving that thing. And so do the pigs and turkeys. They are getting all that good grass when the bag is full. And I really like how the yard looks after. Nice and neat and all the same height. Very nice. And I get lots of good excercise to boot!
I planted some day lillies and iris in a round flower bed. And I dug up 2 little red bud trees from my mom's. I got them planted in the yard this morning. I need to work in the foundation bed now. The chickens like to scratch around and the mulch is all over the place. I wish I could keep them out of it.
And my hubby found a new nest with 8 eggs in it in a raised bed. I left one.
And the garden is tilled and ready to plant. Just gotta get some seeds and plants now. I did plant some broccoli and cabbage in a raised bed. I found alot of potatoes and onions from last year that came up. I will probably get more onions. Oh, I am so excited to get started again! It's plantin' time in Georgia!!!!!!!!!
Oh, it's about 85 today and tomorrow and all next week! That's HOT, y'all!
So what's going on in your neck of the woods?
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Aug 04 2011 : 6:58:13 PM
I think my grandmother did something like that, Patsy. With the beans and potatoes like dumplings. I'll have to see if my mom can remember. I know she cooked lima and butter beans alot that way. And I think this is a great time to start fall planting myself. I need to do all that too. So go for it and get it done. Or at least started. You can do a little at a time.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| craftbug |
Posted - Aug 04 2011 : 2:17:49 PM
Dilly Beans is a recipe I have in an old Ball canning book and we LOVE them, if it's the same thing. It has garlic and cayenne pepper and dill of course.
Got 115 quarts of bush beans and most is in the freezer, canned 28 quarts of the dilly beans and canned 14 quarts regular beans, plus we ate some. ;) so beans are all done.
Tomatoes are slow coming on and green peppers are small, but so are all the plants. Just to hot I think.
Kristin: Loved your idea of cold water for your feet while shelling peas. When I was a girl, mama would take new potatoes and peas (with shells) and cook them together, thicken and sweeten just a little. That brings back good memories.
Got the old bean plants pulled, ground up and put back in the ground and DH tilled it all in the ground, so ready for fall planting. Guess we could put seeds in now, huh? Was looking for cabbage plants, etc the other day. Is it too soon?
Make my words soft and tender, for I may have to eat them. :) |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Aug 03 2011 : 2:11:42 PM
Tammy, I have never had dill beans before. I would like to try some fermented though. Or in a crock with other veggies to dill. I need to find a good old crock to make some in.
I picked 2 bushels of Silver Queen corn and got it all shucked and cut off the cobs and cooked it a few minutes. It's all cooling right now. Then I will put it in freezer bags and into the freezer. I saved 2 ears for dinner though. And I got some pink eye peas from a friend this morning. They are cooking right now. I love shelling peas. That and corn are my favorite summertime crop. I have to go outside under a shade tree to shuck and shell. I put some really cold well water in a big tub and sat with my feet in and shelled the peas. So nice!
I am still getting alot from the garden but it's SO hot. But not as humid so not really too bad. A little breeze blowing too. I need to get some rows plowed for fall stuff.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| tammyknit |
Posted - Aug 01 2011 : 2:48:58 PM
I am harvesting beans and my dad gave me a bunch so made a batch of Dill Beans to see how we like them. We have raspberries and cucumbers to pick and I am making pickles...trying lots of different types. I have a batch of raspberry vinegar steeping, tastes really good so far. My DH said that a couple of farmers he works with have sweet corn, so will be freezing that soon. I keep hoping my tomatoes will ripen soon...taking forever this year! The bell pepper plants are really small this year and don't seem to be growing well. I harvested "surprise" garlic. We planted it last spring and it seemed to die off really early so we forgot about it. This spring my DH was digging up the garden and he noticed this nice straight row and realized it was where we put the garlic last year. Got that dug, some of it is basically a single clove, but at least we have it! Blackberries should also be ripening soon..haven't gotten to check recently (30 miles away at our land).
Tammy |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Aug 01 2011 : 08:35:14 AM
I forgot about the okra. Haven't gotten any yet but they are just FULL of flowers. So any day now. Can't wait for some good fried okra.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Aug 01 2011 : 08:32:31 AM
Well, I am getting Silver Queen corn now and lots of cucumbers. I have been using the big ones in water. SO good. The beans are gone. The tomatoes are being eaten up by marauding chickens and Mockingbirds. The squash and zuc are gone too. I do have some plants down the corn rows that might make some. That corn sure is good. Not huge ears but so good. I have put 7 pints in the freezer so far.
I want to start fall planting soon. We got the big ole camper out of here so the spot where it was parked for 3 years is nice and bare. I have thought about planting collards there. And I want Brussel sprouts too. And more cabbage. And spinach and lettuce and Swiss chard. And maybe some onions. I want to plant garlic too. But it's TOO HOT right now to do anything! SO I will wait a few weeks.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 23 2011 : 12:55:43 PM
Jen, I consider myself pretty frugal. I will make do with what I have to not have to spend money on something else. We have SO much and need to be using what we have. I totally agree with you. My 2 Dds really don't know how to be a "housewife" or for that matter, a mother, in the case of my oldest. I really don't know why. I tried my hardest to teach them both. The youngest is actually a good wife. And she does cook good. They don't have kids yet, but I bet they will both be great parents. They are great aunts and uncles for sure. Anyway, I will ahve to look that book up. Wonder if the library would have it?
Today, I have canned 7 more quarts of toamto sauce, 3 pints of pickled beets, put a quart of red bell peppers in the freezer. And now am making dinner. Meat loaf from my beef and pork. My eggs and peppers. Cole slaw from cabbage and carrots from the farmer's market and home made mayo. Fresk Silver Queen corn right out of the garden, corn bread from corn meal from the farmer's market with my eggs and goat milk. And potatoes from the store. And of course sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. And a cobbler with blueberries and peaches for dessert. I can hardly wait. I am so hungry.
What's for dinner at your house tonight?
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - Jul 23 2011 : 10:37:55 AM
Kris, the coolest book in my collection is the "American Frugal Housewife"-- a reproduction of an 1840s original work by a one Mrs. Childs (no relation to Julia as far as I know) The book is essentially a 19th century handbook for being a housewife with everything from recipes (receipts) instructions to make medicines, methods to clean anything in the home, uses for waste items, moral instruction (in the art of being frugal) money saving tips of the day, advice for raising well behaved and hard working children, instructing your daughters to be wise themselves (so that they would make the choices that would lead to happy lives and marriages)as well as "number crunching" of the day that told women what items and services were more efficient to pay for, and what was better to be made at home.
I dream of a modern day project like that. Young women today have NO idea how to be housewives (or farm girls) because these values and skills were not passed down by their mothers who worked full time. People don't understand much about "saving money" effectively either.
Case in point, I sold a woman 8 pairs of boys shorts and jeans and 6 shirts for only 60$ in good shape (so far so good?) She drove from 70 miles away in a large SUV to pick them up. Saving money was so new to her that she never figured in the cost of picking up the items. (Had I known she was coming all that way I would have talked her out of it, or mailed them to her or something.) If she had, she would have realized she was better off buying new at Kohls.
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 20 2011 : 12:21:52 PM
11 more quarts of tomatoes canned! I should have enough for awhile now.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 19 2011 : 6:58:08 PM
Krystle, yeah, humidty stinks. BUT the garden and grass do love it. I can not believe how things are taking off here now. I mow the grass and have to turn around and mow again in a few days. And pick, pick, pick. Seems that's all I do. I just got another 3/4 bushel of tomatoes tonight. AND my first cucumbers!! I overlooked a few big huge honkin' ones. But got 3 perfect sized ones. But they are under all the tomatoes. So I will be canning tomatoes tomorrow.
Jen, write a book! I would be willing to bet it would be a good one. I hope your duck will recover. My dog attacked one of my ducks once years ago. His back was exposed. I took aloe gel and termeric and slathered it all over his back and he was fine in a few days.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - Jul 18 2011 : 3:41:40 PM
Thanks Kris! I've always enjoyed writing, its just nice to finally have something to write about. Erma Bombeck is my inspiration, and I hope to be as funny as she was someday :)
I'll work on a new one soon. One of my ducks was hurt and I spent so much time investing in her comfort I'm playing catch up on housework today.
I think I have come to accept that I will have no beans this year, and that my one heirloom tomato is a bust. At least the melons, squash and peas are turning out.
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
| countrymommy85 |
Posted - Jul 18 2011 : 1:40:39 PM
Oh goodness Kristin up here in WI we get a little humidity but it's been so humid you can actually see it! Makes me wonder if that is a taste of what it is like down in the south? The humidity has been doing wonderful things to the garden! I ate my first bean AND peas today! In a few days I will be able to harvest them! The sweet corn is starting to ear and starting to see the tassles and my coosa squash is almost big enough to pick! I don't mind this humidity one bit, makes me thankful I'm not sitting inside looking at a winter storm ;) I will take whatever weather this summer brings us!
Elaine: I have a recipe for Mock-Apple pie from my Mother in law, it is amazing and no one can tell it's made from zucchini instead of apples!!!! Plus its a nice way to use up those extra zucchini every one always has :) If you would like it I can email it/post it for you!
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 17 2011 : 7:42:54 PM
Jen, I just noticed you have a blog. I went and it is so cute. And you are quite funny. Great story teller. You had me on the first line.
Candy, we had a great day here today. It was actually COOL! No humdity. I went ahead and mowed, against my better judgement. But the week looks pretty busy and the way the grass is growing, it would be a jungle for sure by the time I got a chance to mow again. SO I did it. And I was a bit sweaty. But it is the middle of july. I did mow the yards Thursday but they already needed it again. ANd the garden was really high. So that's done again for a few days. I have never seen grass grow so fast before.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| Candy C. |
Posted - Jul 17 2011 : 12:31:20 PM
Jen, supposedly the way to tell if melons are ready to pick is when they come off the vine with very little effort. If you have to "pull" it off it probably isn't ready yet.
I am so jealous of all the produce you ladies are getting from your gardens already! We have been SOOO hot here that everything is kinda struggling. I have been getting summer squash but that is about it. I posted a garden update on my blog today with some pictures! Hope you can stop by for a look! :)
http://lazyjbarcfarm.blogspot.com/2011/07/garden-update.html
Candy C.
Farmgirl Sister #977
http://lazyjbarcfarm.blogspot.com/
www.calicocandy.etsy.com
http://stores.countrycents.com/StoreFront.bok?affiliate_no=6
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 17 2011 : 07:31:19 AM
Canning stuff is getting higher and higher. I just bought a bunch of lids I hope to last till I am done canning. I have enough jars. Look at yard sales for canning things. I bought my little black hot water bath canner for just $5. Well worth it. And lots of times people have jars for sale too.
I just picked about 3/4 of a bushel of tomatoes. They are not totally ripe yet but I went ahead and picked them because I see some pecks already on some of them. I guess the bad chickens have been in there. Or birds maybe. I do see lots of Mockingbirds around. But I do have 8 hens free ranging. 2 are Buffs that did not go back in the coop. The other 6 are the game hens. I was just saying I was going to let the rest of the chickens out when the tomatoes are all done. I hate penning them up but I would have NO tomatoes at all if they were out.
I will can these tomatoes then start selling the rest. I will have plenty of sauce now. And beans too. I have plenty for this next year so will sell the rest too.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - Jul 15 2011 : 11:52:46 AM
I need canning stuff bad :( at least I knopw what to ask for for Christmas this year.
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 15 2011 : 10:40:16 AM
I just picked about 5 gallons of beans. And a half bushel of tomatoes. And some squash. My cantaloupe vines are looking good and the few watermelon plants are too. The cucumber plants are finally growing too. Maybe I'll get some in about a week. But we have had rain so much. We got a LOT of rain last night. I was thinking about 7 last night that I should go ahead and milk the goats but then thought I needed to wait til at least 8. About then it just started pouring. For over an hour. It poured hard. So then I had to do chores and feed and milk in the rain. I;ll know next time. So now I need to can beans and tomatoes. Also bought a half bushel of really good peaches that I need to put up. I made 5 half pints of peach-blueberry freezer jam yesterday. And we have been eating them alot. They are good. Also made 14 half pints of blackberry jelly too yesterday.
What have y'all been up to in your gardens this week? Any canning going on? I think Connie is moving this weekend so I am sure she's busy.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 13 2011 : 10:08:08 AM
Now that looks like some zuc bread zuc to me. I can't get mine to grow. They are too shaded I think. I have gotten a few but they aren't doing too well. I have more growing in the sun so I hope they will get big like that one. I love zuc bread.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| CMac |
Posted - Jul 13 2011 : 05:29:50 AM
I have to smile about that picture. Reminds me of a proud parent! As you should be too! This year has been such a hard garden year I think we all are thrilled for each other when we have a success.
Here's to many more!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
| embchicken |
Posted - Jul 13 2011 : 04:05:43 AM
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Success! First zuchini. (of many I am sure)
~ Elaine
Farmgirl sister #2822
"Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things." ~Saki
http://embchicken.blogspot.com
http://gusandtrudy.blogspot.com |
| CMac |
Posted - Jul 12 2011 : 8:10:21 PM
Square? I haven't seen that. Sure would make them easier to slice and store!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - Jul 12 2011 : 6:46:50 PM
I love watermelon rind pickles! They are so good and crunchy. I'll have to find a good recipe. Have y'all seen the square watermelons? I can't remember where I saw them but that is the coolest thing I have ever seen so far. I guess you could make anything square now. I have the biggest tomato on my Mortgage Lifter plant out there right now I bet weighs 5 or more pounds. I am babying that thing. I have the plastic netting around that plant just in case. So far it's nearly perfect. And so pretty. I have never had such a big tomato. And I have been letting my chickens out.
Kansas had a ball today. She's tired but won'y admit it. I'll take her back Friday and I'll have another day all to myself because I won't have to go to Mrs. T's. Her daughter is here visiting. So 2 whole days without a kid. But then that evening I have to get the other 2 grands and then the hubby will probably be home for the weekend too. Yippee!
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| CMac |
Posted - Jul 12 2011 : 5:23:39 PM
Jen, Folks around here make pickled watermelon rind. I never have made it but I have eaten it. It is very sweet and tart. I'd bet you could find a recipe on line. Only thing that would get wasted would be the seeds unless you saved them for next years garden then there would be no waste! LOL
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - Jul 12 2011 : 3:44:46 PM
I pulled my first watermelon today, hopefully it's done! It'd be a shame to waste it if it wasn't ready just yet :( I also harvested all the peas I could find in the patch, and there's more zucchini out there just mocking me. My prolific tomato has slowed way down and may be spent. It's taken on a distinct yellow tinge compared to the younger plants nearby (same amount of water)I don't know what I'll get out of my peppers if anything, but hey, my eggplant is exploding with developing fruit and responding extremely well to the heat. I've got a dozen developing watermelons bigger than baseballs right this second, and a honeydew that it approx half as large as it should be. I'm not seeing cantaloups setting up just yet, but theres a ton of blossoms.
I have learned SO much this year and am bursting at the seams to get next years garden started. I'm thinking that when the weather cools in late september I'll get the new beds turned and my strawberry patch started if I can find any crowns.
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
| CMac |
Posted - Jul 12 2011 : 11:28:21 AM
Kris, My boys went to the YMCA summer camp too. They loved it and I sure enjoyed the break! I'm glad Kansas had that opportunity this summer. You are a good Grandma. They need to socialize at that age and it will help her take her mind off her troubles. Sure wish I was swimming today. It is awful here. 98 degrees, 79% humidity =118 heat index! Jeeze! I'm wet within minutes of going outside. Air feels like you could swim in it.
I hope I'm right behind you on the number of canning jars of beans. I'll can all we grow and hope it is enough. I have grown kids that want some too. My rule is the more they help the more they can have! My new DIL says she wants to help can. I'm looking forward to that. Snapping those beans alone takes forever.
I just remembered that I was snapping beans when we landed on the moon! We were all on the back porch and ran in to watch. Is that a farmgirl memory or what?!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
