Thursday's Livestock and Garden Report~ Week 7

yesterday was a big gardening day, with all hands on deck.

all 3 girls were ready for a busy and muddy day in the garden with properly clad feet. with such cheerful and colorful boots, how could we not have a great day?


G got right to work tilling the remainder of the lower garden.

M and i planted the peppers together. i put them in the dirt and she covered them with milk jugs, since it's still a bit early in zone 5 to have peppers out. even though we've literally been saving milk jugs since January, we were still several dozen short.

we also planted carrots~ many carrots. when we were done, B and i watered them. (and as any experienced gardener knows, the only sure way to be certain that you'll get rain in the next 24 hours is to water whatever you've just planted. works every time. try it yourself!)

these are the 7 rows of potatoes in the lower garden. some are just starting to peek through the soil, but you can't tell from the picture. i tilled between all the rows to keep the weeds down.

rows of onions, beets, onions. i will thin the beets when they get a little bit bigger. unfortunately, i planted these rows too close together, so they will need to be hand weeded, since the tiller cannot fit down through rows this narrow.

here's the lower garden as it looked when we were done last night. at the far bottom is the 7 rows of potatoes (red pontiac, yukon gold and kennebec) then the onions, beets, onions. next is 2 more rows of red pontiac potaoes. then the row of peppers. above that is ½ row of sweet potatoes in the black fabric to help keep the soil warm. (not planted yet). i plan to put the winter squash on either side of the sweet potatoes. then a row of pitiful looking broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. not sure if they will survive, since they are quite spindly and leggy. we started those ourselves, and obviously we don't quite have the knack of seed starting just yet. the carrots are all planted at the far end, filling out the incomplete rows of beets, onions and peppers.

the yukon gold potatoes in the upper garden are mostly up, and after i tilled between the rows, Dave hilled them. the potatoes will all get hilled at least 3 times.

the tomatoes are planted in the high tunnel, and doing nicely. even though we've had a few nights of high 30's, they have done just fine. i got nervous on 2 of the coldest nights, and we covered the tomatoes with another layer of insulation. (just more black fabric carefully laid on top) better safe than sorry!

today Dave decided that the oats and clover are big enough to withstand the chickens foraging, so we moved the meat birds' hoop houses over to the "chicken triangle." while the cornish cross roosters are mostly sedentary, they do enjoy picking at the fresh green grasses. also, their coop will be cleaner, as the hoop houses will be moved every day.

here they are happily settled in~ fresh water, and lots of their special high protein food. BTW, just this morning they started on their eighth 100 pound bag of food. with 5 weeks yet to go until we get to butchering day, I'm thinking that I'll be lucky if i can hold them to 1000 pounds of feed.

even though these chickens are phenomenally stupid (and that's saying something, as chickens in general are not too bright!) they are curious.

the "baby buffs" as we call them are also in the chicken triangle, and they will get the same special treatment as the cornish X. (minus the looming butchering date) they are fully feathered out, and much tamer than i expected them to be.

this poor little guy didn't quite make it to June 17th. the cornish X are such mutant freaks a fragile breed that their legs can easily get broken, or their hearts give out. tomorrow we'll be having fresh chicken for lunch. even with 5 full weeks to go, he weighed in at just over 2 lbs. not too bad, I'd say.

the pigs are settled in nicely, and although they are still quite skittish we do see them more often.

they sure do love those scraps! it's a blessing to have the restaurant garbage to feed them because it really helps cut down on their feed bill. (some weeks i spend more at the feed mill than i do at the grocery store!)

there's another week in review. thanks so much for stopping by- i enjoy your comments and encouragement!

the transformation has begun!

last week Dave decided that The Time Has Now Come To Begin the siding project. we've had boxes of siding, inside and outside corners and J channel sitting in our cellar for many months now. (taking up much room that could be used to store more junk more efficiently)

siding is a relatively easy and quick home improvement project that greatly improves the way the house looks by leaps and bounds. the tedious part is laying out the starter strips, corners and edges. however, once that part is done, the actual siding just flies on.



this is right off the back porch. i plan on having a "kitchen garden" right here, full of cherry and grape tomatoes, as well as basil. (that's' so we can have lots of fresh pesto and tomatoes with noodles. yum!)

so far it's looking great! I'm anxious for this project to be done, and i guess G and I will be learning how to hang siding, as Dave can use all the help he can get!

hands down, the Big Brother Of The Year Award goes to...

a few weeks ago i was browsing through our local Ben Franklin and came across a pattern to make a horse swing. on impulse, i bought it and brought it home to show Dave and G. my next step was a trip to Lowe's to buy all the lumber and materials necessary to complete the swing.

i then gave the pattern to G, and asked him to make the swing for the girls. along with a 6' piece of treated lumber there was a pile of nuts, bolts and washers, a dowel rod or two and a mop head. G was happy to tackle this project for his little sisters, and with a minimum of instruction and involvement from Dave and i he had soon finished the project.

the girls have already had many happy hours swinging together, and i see lots more swinging in our future for the summer! they both know that G made the swing for them, and they were so sweet in their thankfulness, making sure to give him a hug and a cheerful "thank you, G!" when i put B on the horse, she will pat the mane and say "G!"

I'm proud of G. he built the swing, and he built it well. but more importantly, he loves his sisters and shows them every day how special they are to him.

that is one of the greatest gifts that he can give these two little girls who love and admire their big brother.

and it's a wonderful gift for his mother, too. it warms my heart whenever i see him being tender and thoughtful to his baby sisters. it shows what a kind heart he has. and that makes me even prouder!

remember when i told you that happy pigs make sweet pork?

it seems like yesterday when they were sweet little babies. Pig and Spot were content to just root around, hunting for roots and grubs. they were happy whenever i came to visit, and thrilled with whatever i gave them.

but then as they got bigger, they were more demanding, requiring more and more of my time and attention.

before long, they were all grown up, eating us out of house and home.





so i took care of that, and showed them just who really was the boss around here. i guess i fixed them!




i couldn't decide what to make for dinner, so we had ham steak AND bacon.

home made honey wheat bread and freshly laid eggs. a simple country meal fit for a king. (Spot the pork was delicious!)

Happy Mother's Day!

we had a relaxing day today, and i was glad to spend some time with my family. M is home from college now, and we're sure glad to see her again. G is away in Georgia until tuesday. i will be glad to have the family back together soon.

baby B presented me with a sprig of lilacs. she handed them to me with a smile and said "happy mother's day, mama"

i hope that your day was lovely, surrounded by the poeple you love, doing things that you enjoy!

Mary Poppins would be proud!

right outside our kitchen window we have several bird feeders. we can easily see the them in the morning while we're eating breakfast and drinking our coffee. watching the birds is a nice slow start to the day, which seems to be just what i need as I'm getting older!

some of the feeders are your traditional hanging variety, but we also scatter some of the feed on some of our *abundant* rocks. we even have a rock "bowl" that seems especially attractive to the cardinals and blue jays. mostly we just feed our birds black oil sunflower seeds, as that seems to be what they really like. there is also a little suet hanger, regular bird seed, corn still on the cob, and the high protein turkey feed that we are giving to the meat chickens. (any guesses as to who spread that around out there?)


A and B both enjoy standing at the window and looking at the birds. A can identify a handful of birds, and since she's not yet 3 years old, i think that's pretty impressive!

here is a list of what we've seen so far this spring:

*white breasted nuthatch
*starling
*cardinal
*gold finch
*purple finch
*mourning dove
*cow bird
*tufted titmouse
*blue jay
*squirrel
*chipmunk
*chickadee
*common flicker
*downy (hairy?) woodpecker
*lots of little brown birds that we haven't identified yet

i know that's not a list that would make the heart of an ornithologist go pitter-pat, but it surely is colorful! a few weeks ago, we had flocks of finches eating at the big rock. many times there were more than 40 gold and purple finches gathered to eat. all the birds like the mulberry tree, and will retreat to the safety of its branches whenever they are startled.

i love living here in the country, and i like that i can enjoy something so simple with my family at mealtimes. it seems that the simple things of life are what we enjoy and treasure most.

Simplicity and Joy

~contentment in a little blue bottle

an easy bread recipe for you to try!

our family enjoys home made buns. especially when i serve them with strawberry freezer jam! yummy~ it doesn't get much better than that.

i have a bread recipe given to me by a friend. we call it our "official bread recipe" because it was given to her by her mother-in-law. who just so happens to be Polish. and their Polish last name, when translated into English, means "bread".

so, like i said, it's the "official bread recipe". (you can't really get more official than that, can you?) first, proof your yeast in the milk and sugar.

now, i was just kidding about the mandatory Kitchen Aid Mixer. "my" mixer is really M's (who is away at college) but she is generous in letting me use it while she's gone. it is really super easy to make this bread when you have a nice mixer like this to do it in, though.

then add half of the flour, and mix well with the bread hook.


it will be pretty soupy, but don't worry. we're only half-way done.



then add the melted butter (yes, real butter!) and 2 beaten eggs, along with the rest of the flour.




mix well. you may need to add a tiny bit more flour. the dough ball should not be sticky at all, and will come away from the sides of the bowl. mix for several minutes.




i put my buns to rise on the top of the stove, which I've turned on to 200. cover it with a clean towel, and let rise until doubled.






then put the bowl back on the mixer and mix for several minutes. i always have to add a bit more flour, as it's sticky on the bottom of the bowl.




turn out onto a lightly floured counter.





i cut my dough into eighths, and then each eighth into thirds. this gives me 24 buns. ( you can make regular shaped bread, if you'd like. i just almost always make buns to go with our dinner)





next, i put the three pans into the oven, which is still turned on at 200 degrees. i let the buns rise for 25 minutes...

... until they're nice and puffy. then i turn the oven up to 350, and cook them for 23 minutes. ( i have a gas stove, so you may need to adjust the times according to how your oven cooks.)

while they're still warm, rub the tops of all the buns with a stick of butter. (yes, real butter again!) now, these particular buns could have cooked just a tiny bit longer, but we were getting company imminently, and i didn't want them to get burned if i was distracted.

that's it! super easy, and only about 1 ½ hours from start to finish.





The Official Bread Recipe

2 cups warmed milk

2 T yeast

2 T sugar

1 stick melted butter

2 eggs

6 cups flour

that's it! go ahead make some buns or bread for your family- you'll be suprised at how easy it is! i'd love to hear how they turned out for you.

i may not be astute, but i'm eclectic!

I've had these 3 old wooden chairs for over 10 years now, and we've gotten lots of use out of them. they were getting a little tired looking, so i decided to give them some new life, and a new job.

last week i painted all three to match, and put them in my kitchen.

i love how they turned out- matching, but not perfectly. eclectic is definitely the way to go in my opinion!