Jul 28, 2011

Happy Birthday, Beth!

It's hard to believe that you're 20 years old already.  Just 20 years ago I was holding you in the hospital.  You were so little, my miracle baby.  You're still a miracle. You've grown into a beautiful woman of God.  I feel so blessed that God has allowed me to be your mother.  Walk in His ways, seek His will, and love those that He puts in your path.
I love you.

Jul 23, 2011

Fantastic Foraging

This afternoon was spent in the woods.  Jenny(the dog), and I, went in search of a new blueberry patch.  We found a small patch loaded with green berries, but we found a lot more than that.  We found a couple new rasberry patches with a lot of berries.  We pulled some wild ginger root.  We found a patch of wild hops.  And we found a patch of green dewberries.  What a glorious day. Oh, I forgot to mention the hazelnut bushes.  These new treasures are marked in my mind and we'll be going back in a few days to check on the blueberries and dewberries.  I'm thinking that there may still be more treasures on that back forty and once I get my energy back, we'll go and do some more exploring.
Thank you, Lord.
From Glory Farm

A New Record

Our chickens are very prolific.  Every year they hatch out oodles of new chicks. We have a few to sell, a few to butcher and a few replacement hens. This year we have 38 new members in our flock...so far.  We still have two hens setting and a duck.  (Our ducks hatch out the chicken eggs, too.  They want to be moms.)

Two days ago, we had a hen hatch out a total of 16 new chicks.  That's a record for us.  She's just a little bantam cross, so how did she set on all of those eggs???

We've taken 9 of them and put them in the brooder.  She keeps misplacing them.  :)  She still has 7 with her.
I only count six here, but one must be on the other side.

The little chicks are hers.  The bigger ones were abandoned by someone else.  We have a lot of people wanting chickens this year.  Things are working out well.  What a blessing.

Jul 20, 2011

Another Installment of Redneck Living

What do your children do when they have friends over?  Ours went pigeon hunting.  We are over run with pigeons in the barn and they're making a mess.  So...
Stepping outside in the early morning, this is what I encountered...
An offering?  Supper?  I love those kids.

Jul 8, 2011

Plants to Dye For

photo from eHow-sumac

I'm going to try and utilize more of the plants that are growing around here for dying my fiber.  I've tried beets before and onion skins, but I'm going to do some experimenting.  We have a lot of plants that are dye plants.
These are the colors using alum as a mordant and dying wool.

For yellow dyes-
yellow yarrow
goldenrod
tansy
black-eyed susan
sunflowers
dandelion
dock

Blue dye
Woad-I guess it grows wild around here, I'm going to go out foraging and see what I can find.
blueberries

Brown dye
Red Sumac berries
tea

Apricot-Orange dye
jewelweed
carrots

green-
lamb's quarters
carrot tops
spinach
queen anne's lace

There are more, but most fall under the yellow/gold dye catagory.  These are just some of the things that I have in the field, gardens, or woods that can be used as dyestuffs. 
If you want to know if a plant has color, place it on a newspaper, put a piece of muslin over it and pound it with a hammer.  If the juice of the plant leaves color, you can give it a try.  I'm going to try huckleberries.  I'm hoping to get a nice purple hue.  I wonder if you could get a pink from rasberries??

So much to try, so little time.

Jul 4, 2011

Garlic Scapes

My garlic is producing scapes right now, the curly, pointy, stems that contain the seedhead.  These scapes are great for adding garlic to things, but every year I get way too many.  I give some away, use some, but the rest end up in the compost pile.
I use them in stir fries, add to eggs, etc.  I've read that you can cook them like asparagus, but haven't tried that one yet.
This year I'm making garlic scape pickles. I found the link here .  Now if I can find some relatives to try these out on.  :)  I love garlic, I guess it's not an inherited trait.

Jul 1, 2011

Farm Life

Woke up to a thick fog this morning and a cow bellering in the pasture.  Turned out she couldn't find her calf.  He was laying just a few feet from her and wouldn't respond to her cries.  Not a very obedient son.

Wild stawberry season is here and, Lord willing, I'm going to get out there and pick some.  Wild strawberry jam is my honey's favorite.  And then, I hope to weed my garden for the rest of the day-after I make some cheese, yogurt and butter.

 With all of this milk coming it's hard to keep up.  I'm still looking for customers who could use some raw milk or fresh cheese, but I'm not a good salesman.  So my kitchen is always looking like a home dairy.  I still feel totally blessed with this cow and all of this milk.
 
What kinds of things do you do to celebrate the 4th?  We don't really have any traditions in our family.  We may go to a nearby town Sunday night to watch fireworks and then have a picnic at my parents house on Monday.  One thing we have done every year since we were married is to light off some fireworks of our own.  In Minnesota, most fireworks are outlawed, but the ones that sit on the ground and make a lot of noise and smoke are the ones we use.

Also, my bees are going gangbusters.  I get to put another super on today.  They've filled two so far. This is the best year I've had for bees. 

Well, the fog is lifting a bit. Time for milking and chores.  Thanks for visiting.  Hope you have a very blessed Fourth of July.
From Glory Farm

Jul 28, 2011

Happy Birthday, Beth!

It's hard to believe that you're 20 years old already.  Just 20 years ago I was holding you in the hospital.  You were so little, my miracle baby.  You're still a miracle. You've grown into a beautiful woman of God.  I feel so blessed that God has allowed me to be your mother.  Walk in His ways, seek His will, and love those that He puts in your path.
I love you.

Jul 23, 2011

Fantastic Foraging

This afternoon was spent in the woods.  Jenny(the dog), and I, went in search of a new blueberry patch.  We found a small patch loaded with green berries, but we found a lot more than that.  We found a couple new rasberry patches with a lot of berries.  We pulled some wild ginger root.  We found a patch of wild hops.  And we found a patch of green dewberries.  What a glorious day. Oh, I forgot to mention the hazelnut bushes.  These new treasures are marked in my mind and we'll be going back in a few days to check on the blueberries and dewberries.  I'm thinking that there may still be more treasures on that back forty and once I get my energy back, we'll go and do some more exploring.
Thank you, Lord.
From Glory Farm

A New Record

Our chickens are very prolific.  Every year they hatch out oodles of new chicks. We have a few to sell, a few to butcher and a few replacement hens. This year we have 38 new members in our flock...so far.  We still have two hens setting and a duck.  (Our ducks hatch out the chicken eggs, too.  They want to be moms.)

Two days ago, we had a hen hatch out a total of 16 new chicks.  That's a record for us.  She's just a little bantam cross, so how did she set on all of those eggs???

We've taken 9 of them and put them in the brooder.  She keeps misplacing them.  :)  She still has 7 with her.
I only count six here, but one must be on the other side.

The little chicks are hers.  The bigger ones were abandoned by someone else.  We have a lot of people wanting chickens this year.  Things are working out well.  What a blessing.

Jul 20, 2011

Another Installment of Redneck Living

What do your children do when they have friends over?  Ours went pigeon hunting.  We are over run with pigeons in the barn and they're making a mess.  So...
Stepping outside in the early morning, this is what I encountered...
An offering?  Supper?  I love those kids.

Jul 8, 2011

Plants to Dye For

photo from eHow-sumac

I'm going to try and utilize more of the plants that are growing around here for dying my fiber.  I've tried beets before and onion skins, but I'm going to do some experimenting.  We have a lot of plants that are dye plants.
These are the colors using alum as a mordant and dying wool.

For yellow dyes-
yellow yarrow
goldenrod
tansy
black-eyed susan
sunflowers
dandelion
dock

Blue dye
Woad-I guess it grows wild around here, I'm going to go out foraging and see what I can find.
blueberries

Brown dye
Red Sumac berries
tea

Apricot-Orange dye
jewelweed
carrots

green-
lamb's quarters
carrot tops
spinach
queen anne's lace

There are more, but most fall under the yellow/gold dye catagory.  These are just some of the things that I have in the field, gardens, or woods that can be used as dyestuffs. 
If you want to know if a plant has color, place it on a newspaper, put a piece of muslin over it and pound it with a hammer.  If the juice of the plant leaves color, you can give it a try.  I'm going to try huckleberries.  I'm hoping to get a nice purple hue.  I wonder if you could get a pink from rasberries??

So much to try, so little time.

Jul 4, 2011

Garlic Scapes

My garlic is producing scapes right now, the curly, pointy, stems that contain the seedhead.  These scapes are great for adding garlic to things, but every year I get way too many.  I give some away, use some, but the rest end up in the compost pile.
I use them in stir fries, add to eggs, etc.  I've read that you can cook them like asparagus, but haven't tried that one yet.
This year I'm making garlic scape pickles. I found the link here .  Now if I can find some relatives to try these out on.  :)  I love garlic, I guess it's not an inherited trait.

Jul 1, 2011

Farm Life

Woke up to a thick fog this morning and a cow bellering in the pasture.  Turned out she couldn't find her calf.  He was laying just a few feet from her and wouldn't respond to her cries.  Not a very obedient son.

Wild stawberry season is here and, Lord willing, I'm going to get out there and pick some.  Wild strawberry jam is my honey's favorite.  And then, I hope to weed my garden for the rest of the day-after I make some cheese, yogurt and butter.

 With all of this milk coming it's hard to keep up.  I'm still looking for customers who could use some raw milk or fresh cheese, but I'm not a good salesman.  So my kitchen is always looking like a home dairy.  I still feel totally blessed with this cow and all of this milk.
 
What kinds of things do you do to celebrate the 4th?  We don't really have any traditions in our family.  We may go to a nearby town Sunday night to watch fireworks and then have a picnic at my parents house on Monday.  One thing we have done every year since we were married is to light off some fireworks of our own.  In Minnesota, most fireworks are outlawed, but the ones that sit on the ground and make a lot of noise and smoke are the ones we use.

Also, my bees are going gangbusters.  I get to put another super on today.  They've filled two so far. This is the best year I've had for bees. 

Well, the fog is lifting a bit. Time for milking and chores.  Thanks for visiting.  Hope you have a very blessed Fourth of July.
From Glory Farm