Dec 23, 2013

More Christmas

So, it's just about Christmas and that's what had been taking up time and energy around here. Thought I'd just share a few photos from the farm and Christmas pics.
We saw the lights of Bentleyville. Caroled all around our small town. That's a picture of my goat while she had her freedom. Found out she's been head-butting the rabbit cages in her spare time to knock their Bunny Bits on the ground. She broke up two rabbit cages so now she's in solitary. Today's Christmas pics. It's snowing a snow just like the Christmas movies. Big flakes floating softly to the ground. And the last pic is my new waffle iron. Isn't it cool? I can make animal shape with the waffle just like I attempt to do with the pancakes. Have a very blessed Christmas.

Nov 5, 2013

Growing Winter Greens

Another sustainable food source experiment. I've wondered how to keep greens available during the winter months if, for some reason, we were unable to purchase them. We live where -40 is a temperature we see a few times in the winter. Somewhere I read (could have been at Herrick Kimball's site http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/) or I may have picked up some book I have, anyways, way back early homesteaders would dig up turnips, put them in pots and bring them in the house for the winter. The greens would grow and they would harvest them, then they would grow again. I decided to try it with beets.
I only have one, but it's growing quickly and I've been nibbling on it. I suppose if I were serious about it, I would have five or six in the house. Another source of fresh greens are sprouts. Use whole wheat, alfalfa, radish, onion, lentils, etc. Place in a quart jar, soak in the jar for 5-10 hours or so. Rinse, put cheesecloth, held in place by a canning rim, on the top of the jar. Place at a downward angle for drainage. Rinse sprouts 2-4 times a day. Once sprouted, they are full of vitamins. This is a good way to use up extra seed you may have harvested. God Bless.

Oct 26, 2013

It's Time For Pumpkin Pancakes

Fire in the woodstove, critters in the barn, winter is fast approaching.  I'm starting to crave those comfort foods that help me store up my winter layer of insulation. (You know, the lost in a blizzard kind,the good thing I have this extra layer of fat to keep me from freezing to death kind, the I'm going to hibernate and not come out until spring kind.)

  I've made apple squares, apple pies, doughnuts and muffins.  Now it's time for pumpkin pancakes.  I love these pancakes, but for some reason I only make them about once a year.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 egg slightly beaten
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup molasses or maple syrup
3-4 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter
powdered sugar for dusting

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Set aside.  In another bowl beat egg slightly.  Add pumpkin puree, molasses or syrup, milk and melted butter.  Mix until smooth.  Blend in the dry ingredients all at once.  Mix until batter is smooth.  Allow batter to rest for 30 minutes or more.  Add more milk if batter is too stiff.
Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter onto a lightly greased preheated griddle.  Flatten batter to about 1/2 inch thick.  Cook slowly until bubbles appear.  Turn.

I like maple syrup on my pancakes.
Anyways, give these a try and see what you think.

Oct 15, 2013

Banana Cappuccino

Sounds rather gross, eh? 
I have a recipe for vanilla cappuccino mix that is really tasty.  Decided with the cold weather that it was time to mix up a batch.  Grabbed some of the ingredients I needed at the grocery store and came home to put it together.
Vanilla Cappucino

1/3 cup instant coffee
1 cup instant dry milk
1/2 cup powdered coffee creamer
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding

Measure all of the ingredients into a blender.  Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  Store in an airtight container.  3 heaping tablespoons per 10 oz. of hot water.

Things were going great until I went to put in the vanilla pudding and read on the package "Banana Cream".  Because everything was already in the  blender, I threw the pudding in anyways.  Now I have instant banana cappuccino. It's really not as bad as it sounds.  I only have a couple of servings left and then I can refill my jar with the regular stuff.  I wonder what would have happened if it would have been pistachio??

Oct 10, 2013

Saving Seeds

Want to save money on your garden next year?  Saving your own seeds can make a big dent in your seed order.  I've been growing only open-pollinated varieties of produce for about five years now and each year I learn a bit more about saving seeds from these plants.

First are the annuals-seeds from tomatoes, cukes, peppers, lettuce, radishes, corn, squash, pumpkins, melons, broccoli, peas, beans are pretty easy to save.  You do have to watch for cross pollinating with squash and pumpkins.  I've had some pretty crazy creations in the squash bed.  Broccoli is a problem for me as far as saving seeds from it.  It never seems to develop seed heads after it has gone to flower.  There are some good books out there that tell you how to process the seeds before you package them up.  If you have a copy of Carla Emery's "Country Living", she has instructions on how to save most seeds.

Then there are the biennials-cabbage, beets, carrots,parsnips, parsley, rutabagas, kale.  I think that's all of them that I grow. These vegetables make seeds the second year of their growth.  I live in a zone 4 climate and most vegetables won't overwinter here.  I have mulched beets and carrots in an attempt to grow them the second year. The carrots came back up and I was able to get some seeds this year, but the beets never showed up.  Parsnips, parsley, rutabagas and kale will all come back for the second year as long as I mulch them in the fall.
This is radish seed and a seed pod.
Tomato seeds-red tomatoes on the top and yellow on the bottom.  Tomato seeds need to be fermented in water for a few days, poured into a strainer, rinsed thoroughly with water and then spread out to dry on a plate.

When saving bean seeds, I try to let the pods stay out on the plants until they are completely dried out. 
Here I'm attempting to harvest the carrot seeds

Remember to save seeds from mature, unblemished, and good looking vegetables.  These are the products you want your seeds to produce.

I'm definitely not an expert on saving seeds, but I am able to save not only seeds, but a chunk of money each year when I order my seeds.  And...because I can save all of this money, I can now buy more fruit trees and experimental plants!!

Happy fall gardening!!

Oct 4, 2013

Filling the Cellar

Sure feels like fall today.  Wind is blowing, a drizzle coming down and temps in the 50s.  Sends a bit of urgency through me as I try to get the garden done and put to bed.  Today I've gotten the pumpkins and squash in the cellar. 
There are onions and garlic hanging from the rafters, sauerkraut fermenting in the crock, a bushel of apples and some potatoes put down there
The shelves are filling fast with home canned treasures.  My grocery store under the floor!

Beets and rutabagas, kale and cabbage are still in the garden.  Anyone have any advice as to the best way to store beets, rutabagas and cabbage in the cellar?  My cabbages usually dry out to a hollow, dusty ball.  Beets and rutabagas eventually rot, never lasting more than a couple of months. 

Happy harvesting.
.


Sep 25, 2013

Wild Highbush Cranberries

The cranberries are done.  It's a good year for them.  I usually make cranberry jelly because it's my mom's favorite.  This time I'm going to make something called "vispipuuro"-Finnish Air Pudding.  My neighbor told me how she used to make it in the winter and use the snow to cool it.  I think I'll make it inside and just  use icecubes.

Finnish Air Pudding-Vispipuuro
2 cups fresh cranberries
3 cups water
1 cup sugar-more or less to taste
1/3 cup Malt-O-Meal

Put cranberries and water in a saucepan and boil until juice is very red in color.  Strain juice off of berries.  Add 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup Malt-O-Meal and cook over low heat until the mixture has thickened.  Cool to room temp and place pan in a larger pan of cold water and ice.  Beat with mixer until pink and fluffy.  Serve with whipped cream or milk.

I'm juicing the berries right now in my Mehu-Liisa (Finnish Juicer).

I'm learning a lot from my Finnish neighbor.
Here's one more picture.  This one is just thrown in because I thought it was so doggone cute...
This is my daughter's new puppy, a little English Cocker.

Have a pleasant, blessed evening.

Sep 20, 2013

What Will $31 Buy?

Well...I'm not sure if this is a good deal, yet, but I found this on an on-line auction site---
It's in need of handles and I'm not sure what else.  I haven't seen it yet, but I'm going to get it picked up next week, Lord willing. 
I couldn't help myself.  I've wanted one for a long time and the temptation was too great.  The bid was only at $2.00 when I started.  Have you ever gone on those auction sites?  So many treasures.  There's a rabbit cage on the same site that is only at $5.00......Keep me off of there.  My honey is an instigator.  He encourages me in this.  :)

Totally different subject--how to cook a duck.  I have one in the oven right now.  I put it in my roasting pan on a rack with a bit of water, some salt, pepper and garlic powder and bacon wrapped over the breast.  I've never cooked or eaten duck.    So, what do ya think? 

Sep 15, 2013

Happy Harvest

Okay...so this is the third time I've started this post.  My computer is being an idiot, perhaps I'm contributing, I don't know. 
I just wanted to write about harvesting and the Lord's goodness.  So here's hoping I can get it through it without losing it a fourth time.
Fall is the season of preparation.  Firewood, canning, cleaning, winterizing, finishing up those outdoor building projects that were supposed to be done by July.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  Not to mention getting the garden to bed.  But today is a beautiful fall-like day.  Today Pastor said to not be anxious about anything.  So I'm going to take that advice.
I've been taking pictures of things around here--
 This is a scary picture.  Really.  When I get up in the morning and look out my kitchen door , this is what I see.  Turkeys aren't really pretty birds.  It's slightly disconcerting.

My friend and neighbor asked me over to pick wild plums and crabapples.  How blessed am I?  I ended up with 1/2 bushel of plums and a full bushel of crabapples.  I canned plum jam, plum syrup, apple juice and applesauce.  Life is good.
 A few days later, I thought I'd better harvest some of my cabbages because the deer have found them.  I decided to make sauerkraut and needed about 20 pounds of cabbage.  This one weighed in at 11 1/2 lbs.   Only takes two to make a batch.  Wonderful cabbages this year.
 This is Sunday dinner, a pot of harvest stew.  Recipe-just go out to the garden, grab whatever is handy and throw it in a pot with some kind of meat.  I grabbed onions, garlic, rutabaga, potatoes, carrots, beans, kale and zucchini.  Haven't tried it yet.
Kale is a crop that grows very well for me.  Unfortunately, I don't like the taste of it.  I've made some kale chips and those are okay.  I also use it in stir fries, and I'll see if I like it in this soup mentioned above.  I decided to preserve it by drying it and making a kale powder in the blender.  This can be used in soups and in smoothies and...any more ideas??

So, I guess this post is mostly about harvest time.  This is my favorite time of year, despite the amount that needs to be done.

"Do not be anxious in anything, but in everything, with prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God."  My version, but I think it's close.

Happy Harvest.

Aug 25, 2013

Cooling Off With Chicken Broth

I thought the title might catch someone's attention.  We have a heat advisory here in northern Minnesota.  In the 90s for the next three days-okay only 88 on Tuesday.  Not our typical weather.

My poor Angora bunnies are hot.  I sheared three of them, but the rest still have some pretty heavy duty coats.  I should have put some containers of water in the freezer last night to place in their cages.  I checked the freezer to see what I did have that might cool them off and I found some jars of chicken broth.  So they did get to cool off with chicken broth.


Jul 26, 2013

Houston

It's not the city I'm writing about, it's the puppy.  Houston is a 10 week old puppy of dubious origin.  He has a warm and cuddly personality, and seems to understand what's expected of him, though he's not always up to doing the right thing.  I hope to teach him to get along with our chickens, ducks and turkeys, but so far he can't seem to resist the urge to make them fly.  Anyone have any pointers?
Puppies are so sweet, aren't they? 

Sour Dough-Little House Style

The Little House Cookbook : Frontier Foods From Laura Ingalls WildersI have the Little House Cookbook, which I bought when we were studying the Little House series for homeschool.  I really like this book as it has all of the recipes that are mentioned in the series of books.

Last summer I made the sourdough starter recipe from the book.  This starter is made without yeast, and may be a bit trickier to make.  It's nice to know that I can still make bread even if I don't have any yeast.

You need:
1 1/4 cups of unbleached,  all-purpose flour
1 cup water between 80 and 95 degrees-preferably not city water
1 quart glass jar, rubber band, cheesecloth

Mix flour and water in jar. Cover with cheescloth and rubber band.  Keep in a warm place between 80 to 95 degrees.  I set mine on top of the fridge.  In the winter, I'd probably have to put it in the oven with the light on.
Sourdough likes moisture, and different humidities produce different types of starter.  I guess it's harder to start sourdough in dry climates.  Here in Minnesota we don't have that problem.  :)
If you see bubbles in  the dough and it's rising, this means it's working.  The aroma should be pleasantly sour.  If it smells bad, throw it out.

The starter needs to ripen and be fed.  Mix up more flour and water batter and stir into the live starter.  Leave in a warm place until it's bubbly.  Put half in a jar and give the rest to a friend.
Store the starter in the fridge to ripen, take it out, double it again and use it for biscuits,  bread, or my favorite, pancakes.  Love those sourdough pancakes.

I have a batch of starter on top of my fridge right now.  Let you know how it turns out.


                                                                                                                                                                          

Jul 17, 2013

A Break in the Action

All in all, haying is going a bit better than average.  PTL!  We are almost halfway finished.  We plan on doing second crop on our better fields.

So...time for a break.  My brother is up from Florida and we took a quick trip to Duluth on Saturday.  Had breakfast with the "Breakfast Club".  (Parents, aunts and uncles, cousins)

Then to the Glensheen Mansion, which my brother has wanted to see for the last five years.
This is a picture of the Winter Garden.
Another picture of the gardens.
Lake Superior from the backyard of the mansion.  A storm was brewing.

Today it's back to making hay.  I'm working in the garden, 16 year old son is doing the haying.  :)  The benefits of already putting in your time.
God bless.




Jul 1, 2013

The Fun Begins

Haying season officially started for us on Saturday.  My son has cut a couple of fields and today we'll rake the first one and, Lord willing, get it baled. Haying season always brings it's challenges and makes me cringe.  A lot of prayer going on this time of year.

Sunday John cut one of our best fields.  He says that Dad forgot to tell him about the sink hole.  :)

He sure knows about it now.  God is good and with just one pull from our bigger tractor, this one was out and on the field again.

It's a good year for hay.  It's growing thick and tall.


Jun 8, 2013

Just Farmin'

Hello!  Yep-I'm still here.  I now have use of my honey's work computer and it does do pictures, so I think I'll start this thing again.

We're still struggling to put in the garden.  Today I hope to get the potatoes and corn in.  I have about 2/3 of the garden left to do.  We've had rain and rain and cold.  I haven't checked the tomatoes yet this morning, but we may have had frost last night.

We've had nine calves so far and I think we have one more to go.  We ended up with three open cows this year and shipped a bunch.  I have ducks that are setting and refuse to be moved.  I think the eggs are probably getting pretty old and I'd best remove them.

I purchased five little Red Bourbon turkeys.  I lost one, but the rest are feathered out now and at the cute stage.

I am now the proud owner of a little pot bellied pig.  My Mother's Day present from my son.  Her name is Lily and she is cute in a piggy sort of way.  I'll try to post pics on here later.


So that's the update from the farm.  It's been great to read everyone's blogs and get caught up on the news.


Feb 20, 2013

Computer Died-RIP

It happened to me.  My motherboard died.  I am blessed to still have a computer to use, it's old, it's not mine, but it's available.  I am unable to post from my camera so these will be entirely text entries.  Now is not a good time for us to consider a new computer.  I'm keeping an eye on Freecycle just in case I can find something a bit more modern.

Not having a good computer has freed up so much more of my time that I'm considering a part time job.  You think I jest-but no.  I spent way too much time on here before the death of my computer.  I've had more time to spin, sew, braid rugs, do paperwork, even clean!!!

I'm thinking on getting a couple of little hogs to raise.  I'd like to order more chicks and I'm waiting on my cows to drop a few calves soon. I'll be having my rabbits bred in a couple of weeks. Babies in the spring.  Don't ya love it?

Jan 23, 2013

Growing Fodder

With the temps hovering at a balmy -5 today and a promise of almost -35 tonight, I thought I'd feed extra to our critters.  I grabbed the sugar beets out of the cellar and sliced them up for treats.  I've never fed out sugar beets before, I knew that horses usually love them, but didn't know how everyone else would react.
Well...the donkeys love them, the goats love them, the rabbits love them, I ran out before I got to the chicken coop, but from what I've read, the chickens should love them, too.
I grow extra pumpkins and corn every summer to help out with our feed costs in the winter.  Nettles and comfrey are dried and fed out to the chickens and the goats, too.  I've now decided that sugar beets or mangels will be grown to help out.  I think I'll go with the mangels as they get larger. 
  (picture from wolftree farms)

I found a great site that talks about growing your own fodder on your homestead.  http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Growing-Poultry-Feeds-1.html
This site looks to have a lot of information for anyone thinking about cutting feeding costs.
I don't know if I'll be able to grow enough to keep our herd of beef cattle through the winter, but I'm excited to try growing this new crop.

Jan 19, 2013

Recycle Your Own Paper

Papermaking was more popular a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it.  It's been at least seven years since I took out my tools and supplies, but I thought I'd give it a try again.
What you need:
paper-copy paper, paper bags, colored napkins-not glossy paper or newspaper
water
Elmer's glue (if you'd like to add it, not necessary)
glitter
plant leaves
dried flowers or other things to add to your paper

Tools and supplies:
buckets
blender
kitty litter box or dishpan
mold and deckle (look this up, can be made at home with picture frames)
felts (or other material for couching the paper)
newspaper
2 boards (12"x12")
C-clamps
sponge
straight edge (for taking water out of paper)
clothesline
iron

Begin by taking your used paper and tearing it into bits.  I put mine by color into different buckets.  Six pieces of paper make about 3 pieces of new paper.
I have pieces of paper bag in the pink bucket.  Most of my paper comes from the recycle box in the local school copy room.
Add enough water to each bucket to cover the paper plus two inches.  Let this set for a few hours.
Now put a couple of handfuls of this paper into the blender.  Add 2/3 s again as much water as paper scraps.  Blend on high until it forms a slurry.
Pour the slurry into the dish pan.  Blend up a  couple more batches and add to the pan.

This is what the white pulp looks like. Add water to this until it's about2 1/2"-3" deep.
The mold and deckle.  Place mold on top of the flat side of the deckle.  Lower into one side of the dishpan and pull towards you.  Shake back and forth to get an even layer of pulp on the deckle.
Take out and drain it a bit.  Take the mold off and flip this down onto the couching pad that you've made.  Oops!  Here's how to make the couching pad.  Layer newspapers on top of each other to soak up the water that will drain off of the paper and lay a felt  or couching paper on top of it.
Here's my couching pad.
Here's the first sheet on top of the pad.
The screen is facing you.  Now take your sponge and absorb all of the excess water you can.
Now use the straight edge and push the rest of the water into the sponge.
Gently pull the screen off of the paper and there's your first sheet.
This one is a combination of white and paper bag.  I really like the way it looks. Take the felt and paper off of the newspaper pile and place a fresh felt down for your next piece of paper.
I took some leaves off of the Boston Fern and will press these into the paper to emboss them.
For a smoother finish I place a hard plastic film on top to be pressed into the paper.
Here's some made with the green pulp with the film on top.
Not a great photo.
After you've made all of your sheets of paper, stack them evenly, with the couching felts, one on top of the other.  Place extra felts on top and bottom.  Put one of your boards on the bottom and one on top and use the C-clamps to compress the pile as much as possible.
Leave this overnight.  There are other ways to press your paper, weights, etc. , but I like the C-clamps.
Take the stack apart and hang your damp paper, on or off of the felts on a clothesline to dry.  I placed this batch on the basement floor because when I tried to hang it, it wanted to come off of the felts.
Once it's dry, carefully remove from the felts. 
Now, place a piece of paper under the new paper and one on top.  Turn your iron to a low setting and iron the paper to help it stay flatter.
Here are how some of the pieces came out-
This is the one with the paper bag in it.  I'm going to  use this to print up  labels for my soaps.

This piece was a lot brighter when it was wet.  The colors didn't show up as well as I'd hoped.

This isn't a good picture, but you can see the different colored spots in this piece.  This one I'll use for a baby shower card.

There, that's it.  There's so much you can do with this.  You can make paper out of fruits, vegies, straw, etc.  You can put dried flowers or herbs into it.  Use a doily to emboss it.  So many options, so little time.

Dec 23, 2013

More Christmas

So, it's just about Christmas and that's what had been taking up time and energy around here. Thought I'd just share a few photos from the farm and Christmas pics.
We saw the lights of Bentleyville. Caroled all around our small town. That's a picture of my goat while she had her freedom. Found out she's been head-butting the rabbit cages in her spare time to knock their Bunny Bits on the ground. She broke up two rabbit cages so now she's in solitary. Today's Christmas pics. It's snowing a snow just like the Christmas movies. Big flakes floating softly to the ground. And the last pic is my new waffle iron. Isn't it cool? I can make animal shape with the waffle just like I attempt to do with the pancakes. Have a very blessed Christmas.

Nov 5, 2013

Growing Winter Greens

Another sustainable food source experiment. I've wondered how to keep greens available during the winter months if, for some reason, we were unable to purchase them. We live where -40 is a temperature we see a few times in the winter. Somewhere I read (could have been at Herrick Kimball's site http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/) or I may have picked up some book I have, anyways, way back early homesteaders would dig up turnips, put them in pots and bring them in the house for the winter. The greens would grow and they would harvest them, then they would grow again. I decided to try it with beets.
I only have one, but it's growing quickly and I've been nibbling on it. I suppose if I were serious about it, I would have five or six in the house. Another source of fresh greens are sprouts. Use whole wheat, alfalfa, radish, onion, lentils, etc. Place in a quart jar, soak in the jar for 5-10 hours or so. Rinse, put cheesecloth, held in place by a canning rim, on the top of the jar. Place at a downward angle for drainage. Rinse sprouts 2-4 times a day. Once sprouted, they are full of vitamins. This is a good way to use up extra seed you may have harvested. God Bless.

Oct 26, 2013

It's Time For Pumpkin Pancakes

Fire in the woodstove, critters in the barn, winter is fast approaching.  I'm starting to crave those comfort foods that help me store up my winter layer of insulation. (You know, the lost in a blizzard kind,the good thing I have this extra layer of fat to keep me from freezing to death kind, the I'm going to hibernate and not come out until spring kind.)

  I've made apple squares, apple pies, doughnuts and muffins.  Now it's time for pumpkin pancakes.  I love these pancakes, but for some reason I only make them about once a year.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 egg slightly beaten
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup molasses or maple syrup
3-4 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter
powdered sugar for dusting

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Set aside.  In another bowl beat egg slightly.  Add pumpkin puree, molasses or syrup, milk and melted butter.  Mix until smooth.  Blend in the dry ingredients all at once.  Mix until batter is smooth.  Allow batter to rest for 30 minutes or more.  Add more milk if batter is too stiff.
Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter onto a lightly greased preheated griddle.  Flatten batter to about 1/2 inch thick.  Cook slowly until bubbles appear.  Turn.

I like maple syrup on my pancakes.
Anyways, give these a try and see what you think.

Oct 15, 2013

Banana Cappuccino

Sounds rather gross, eh? 
I have a recipe for vanilla cappuccino mix that is really tasty.  Decided with the cold weather that it was time to mix up a batch.  Grabbed some of the ingredients I needed at the grocery store and came home to put it together.
Vanilla Cappucino

1/3 cup instant coffee
1 cup instant dry milk
1/2 cup powdered coffee creamer
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding

Measure all of the ingredients into a blender.  Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  Store in an airtight container.  3 heaping tablespoons per 10 oz. of hot water.

Things were going great until I went to put in the vanilla pudding and read on the package "Banana Cream".  Because everything was already in the  blender, I threw the pudding in anyways.  Now I have instant banana cappuccino. It's really not as bad as it sounds.  I only have a couple of servings left and then I can refill my jar with the regular stuff.  I wonder what would have happened if it would have been pistachio??

Oct 10, 2013

Saving Seeds

Want to save money on your garden next year?  Saving your own seeds can make a big dent in your seed order.  I've been growing only open-pollinated varieties of produce for about five years now and each year I learn a bit more about saving seeds from these plants.

First are the annuals-seeds from tomatoes, cukes, peppers, lettuce, radishes, corn, squash, pumpkins, melons, broccoli, peas, beans are pretty easy to save.  You do have to watch for cross pollinating with squash and pumpkins.  I've had some pretty crazy creations in the squash bed.  Broccoli is a problem for me as far as saving seeds from it.  It never seems to develop seed heads after it has gone to flower.  There are some good books out there that tell you how to process the seeds before you package them up.  If you have a copy of Carla Emery's "Country Living", she has instructions on how to save most seeds.

Then there are the biennials-cabbage, beets, carrots,parsnips, parsley, rutabagas, kale.  I think that's all of them that I grow. These vegetables make seeds the second year of their growth.  I live in a zone 4 climate and most vegetables won't overwinter here.  I have mulched beets and carrots in an attempt to grow them the second year. The carrots came back up and I was able to get some seeds this year, but the beets never showed up.  Parsnips, parsley, rutabagas and kale will all come back for the second year as long as I mulch them in the fall.
This is radish seed and a seed pod.
Tomato seeds-red tomatoes on the top and yellow on the bottom.  Tomato seeds need to be fermented in water for a few days, poured into a strainer, rinsed thoroughly with water and then spread out to dry on a plate.

When saving bean seeds, I try to let the pods stay out on the plants until they are completely dried out. 
Here I'm attempting to harvest the carrot seeds

Remember to save seeds from mature, unblemished, and good looking vegetables.  These are the products you want your seeds to produce.

I'm definitely not an expert on saving seeds, but I am able to save not only seeds, but a chunk of money each year when I order my seeds.  And...because I can save all of this money, I can now buy more fruit trees and experimental plants!!

Happy fall gardening!!

Oct 4, 2013

Filling the Cellar

Sure feels like fall today.  Wind is blowing, a drizzle coming down and temps in the 50s.  Sends a bit of urgency through me as I try to get the garden done and put to bed.  Today I've gotten the pumpkins and squash in the cellar. 
There are onions and garlic hanging from the rafters, sauerkraut fermenting in the crock, a bushel of apples and some potatoes put down there
The shelves are filling fast with home canned treasures.  My grocery store under the floor!

Beets and rutabagas, kale and cabbage are still in the garden.  Anyone have any advice as to the best way to store beets, rutabagas and cabbage in the cellar?  My cabbages usually dry out to a hollow, dusty ball.  Beets and rutabagas eventually rot, never lasting more than a couple of months. 

Happy harvesting.
.


Sep 25, 2013

Wild Highbush Cranberries

The cranberries are done.  It's a good year for them.  I usually make cranberry jelly because it's my mom's favorite.  This time I'm going to make something called "vispipuuro"-Finnish Air Pudding.  My neighbor told me how she used to make it in the winter and use the snow to cool it.  I think I'll make it inside and just  use icecubes.

Finnish Air Pudding-Vispipuuro
2 cups fresh cranberries
3 cups water
1 cup sugar-more or less to taste
1/3 cup Malt-O-Meal

Put cranberries and water in a saucepan and boil until juice is very red in color.  Strain juice off of berries.  Add 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup Malt-O-Meal and cook over low heat until the mixture has thickened.  Cool to room temp and place pan in a larger pan of cold water and ice.  Beat with mixer until pink and fluffy.  Serve with whipped cream or milk.

I'm juicing the berries right now in my Mehu-Liisa (Finnish Juicer).

I'm learning a lot from my Finnish neighbor.
Here's one more picture.  This one is just thrown in because I thought it was so doggone cute...
This is my daughter's new puppy, a little English Cocker.

Have a pleasant, blessed evening.

Sep 20, 2013

What Will $31 Buy?

Well...I'm not sure if this is a good deal, yet, but I found this on an on-line auction site---
It's in need of handles and I'm not sure what else.  I haven't seen it yet, but I'm going to get it picked up next week, Lord willing. 
I couldn't help myself.  I've wanted one for a long time and the temptation was too great.  The bid was only at $2.00 when I started.  Have you ever gone on those auction sites?  So many treasures.  There's a rabbit cage on the same site that is only at $5.00......Keep me off of there.  My honey is an instigator.  He encourages me in this.  :)

Totally different subject--how to cook a duck.  I have one in the oven right now.  I put it in my roasting pan on a rack with a bit of water, some salt, pepper and garlic powder and bacon wrapped over the breast.  I've never cooked or eaten duck.    So, what do ya think? 

Sep 15, 2013

Happy Harvest

Okay...so this is the third time I've started this post.  My computer is being an idiot, perhaps I'm contributing, I don't know. 
I just wanted to write about harvesting and the Lord's goodness.  So here's hoping I can get it through it without losing it a fourth time.
Fall is the season of preparation.  Firewood, canning, cleaning, winterizing, finishing up those outdoor building projects that were supposed to be done by July.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  Not to mention getting the garden to bed.  But today is a beautiful fall-like day.  Today Pastor said to not be anxious about anything.  So I'm going to take that advice.
I've been taking pictures of things around here--
 This is a scary picture.  Really.  When I get up in the morning and look out my kitchen door , this is what I see.  Turkeys aren't really pretty birds.  It's slightly disconcerting.

My friend and neighbor asked me over to pick wild plums and crabapples.  How blessed am I?  I ended up with 1/2 bushel of plums and a full bushel of crabapples.  I canned plum jam, plum syrup, apple juice and applesauce.  Life is good.
 A few days later, I thought I'd better harvest some of my cabbages because the deer have found them.  I decided to make sauerkraut and needed about 20 pounds of cabbage.  This one weighed in at 11 1/2 lbs.   Only takes two to make a batch.  Wonderful cabbages this year.
 This is Sunday dinner, a pot of harvest stew.  Recipe-just go out to the garden, grab whatever is handy and throw it in a pot with some kind of meat.  I grabbed onions, garlic, rutabaga, potatoes, carrots, beans, kale and zucchini.  Haven't tried it yet.
Kale is a crop that grows very well for me.  Unfortunately, I don't like the taste of it.  I've made some kale chips and those are okay.  I also use it in stir fries, and I'll see if I like it in this soup mentioned above.  I decided to preserve it by drying it and making a kale powder in the blender.  This can be used in soups and in smoothies and...any more ideas??

So, I guess this post is mostly about harvest time.  This is my favorite time of year, despite the amount that needs to be done.

"Do not be anxious in anything, but in everything, with prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God."  My version, but I think it's close.

Happy Harvest.

Aug 25, 2013

Cooling Off With Chicken Broth

I thought the title might catch someone's attention.  We have a heat advisory here in northern Minnesota.  In the 90s for the next three days-okay only 88 on Tuesday.  Not our typical weather.

My poor Angora bunnies are hot.  I sheared three of them, but the rest still have some pretty heavy duty coats.  I should have put some containers of water in the freezer last night to place in their cages.  I checked the freezer to see what I did have that might cool them off and I found some jars of chicken broth.  So they did get to cool off with chicken broth.


Jul 26, 2013

Houston

It's not the city I'm writing about, it's the puppy.  Houston is a 10 week old puppy of dubious origin.  He has a warm and cuddly personality, and seems to understand what's expected of him, though he's not always up to doing the right thing.  I hope to teach him to get along with our chickens, ducks and turkeys, but so far he can't seem to resist the urge to make them fly.  Anyone have any pointers?
Puppies are so sweet, aren't they? 

Sour Dough-Little House Style

The Little House Cookbook : Frontier Foods From Laura Ingalls WildersI have the Little House Cookbook, which I bought when we were studying the Little House series for homeschool.  I really like this book as it has all of the recipes that are mentioned in the series of books.

Last summer I made the sourdough starter recipe from the book.  This starter is made without yeast, and may be a bit trickier to make.  It's nice to know that I can still make bread even if I don't have any yeast.

You need:
1 1/4 cups of unbleached,  all-purpose flour
1 cup water between 80 and 95 degrees-preferably not city water
1 quart glass jar, rubber band, cheesecloth

Mix flour and water in jar. Cover with cheescloth and rubber band.  Keep in a warm place between 80 to 95 degrees.  I set mine on top of the fridge.  In the winter, I'd probably have to put it in the oven with the light on.
Sourdough likes moisture, and different humidities produce different types of starter.  I guess it's harder to start sourdough in dry climates.  Here in Minnesota we don't have that problem.  :)
If you see bubbles in  the dough and it's rising, this means it's working.  The aroma should be pleasantly sour.  If it smells bad, throw it out.

The starter needs to ripen and be fed.  Mix up more flour and water batter and stir into the live starter.  Leave in a warm place until it's bubbly.  Put half in a jar and give the rest to a friend.
Store the starter in the fridge to ripen, take it out, double it again and use it for biscuits,  bread, or my favorite, pancakes.  Love those sourdough pancakes.

I have a batch of starter on top of my fridge right now.  Let you know how it turns out.


                                                                                                                                                                          

Jul 17, 2013

A Break in the Action

All in all, haying is going a bit better than average.  PTL!  We are almost halfway finished.  We plan on doing second crop on our better fields.

So...time for a break.  My brother is up from Florida and we took a quick trip to Duluth on Saturday.  Had breakfast with the "Breakfast Club".  (Parents, aunts and uncles, cousins)

Then to the Glensheen Mansion, which my brother has wanted to see for the last five years.
This is a picture of the Winter Garden.
Another picture of the gardens.
Lake Superior from the backyard of the mansion.  A storm was brewing.

Today it's back to making hay.  I'm working in the garden, 16 year old son is doing the haying.  :)  The benefits of already putting in your time.
God bless.




Jul 1, 2013

The Fun Begins

Haying season officially started for us on Saturday.  My son has cut a couple of fields and today we'll rake the first one and, Lord willing, get it baled. Haying season always brings it's challenges and makes me cringe.  A lot of prayer going on this time of year.

Sunday John cut one of our best fields.  He says that Dad forgot to tell him about the sink hole.  :)

He sure knows about it now.  God is good and with just one pull from our bigger tractor, this one was out and on the field again.

It's a good year for hay.  It's growing thick and tall.


Jun 8, 2013

Just Farmin'

Hello!  Yep-I'm still here.  I now have use of my honey's work computer and it does do pictures, so I think I'll start this thing again.

We're still struggling to put in the garden.  Today I hope to get the potatoes and corn in.  I have about 2/3 of the garden left to do.  We've had rain and rain and cold.  I haven't checked the tomatoes yet this morning, but we may have had frost last night.

We've had nine calves so far and I think we have one more to go.  We ended up with three open cows this year and shipped a bunch.  I have ducks that are setting and refuse to be moved.  I think the eggs are probably getting pretty old and I'd best remove them.

I purchased five little Red Bourbon turkeys.  I lost one, but the rest are feathered out now and at the cute stage.

I am now the proud owner of a little pot bellied pig.  My Mother's Day present from my son.  Her name is Lily and she is cute in a piggy sort of way.  I'll try to post pics on here later.


So that's the update from the farm.  It's been great to read everyone's blogs and get caught up on the news.


Feb 20, 2013

Computer Died-RIP

It happened to me.  My motherboard died.  I am blessed to still have a computer to use, it's old, it's not mine, but it's available.  I am unable to post from my camera so these will be entirely text entries.  Now is not a good time for us to consider a new computer.  I'm keeping an eye on Freecycle just in case I can find something a bit more modern.

Not having a good computer has freed up so much more of my time that I'm considering a part time job.  You think I jest-but no.  I spent way too much time on here before the death of my computer.  I've had more time to spin, sew, braid rugs, do paperwork, even clean!!!

I'm thinking on getting a couple of little hogs to raise.  I'd like to order more chicks and I'm waiting on my cows to drop a few calves soon. I'll be having my rabbits bred in a couple of weeks. Babies in the spring.  Don't ya love it?

Jan 23, 2013

Growing Fodder

With the temps hovering at a balmy -5 today and a promise of almost -35 tonight, I thought I'd feed extra to our critters.  I grabbed the sugar beets out of the cellar and sliced them up for treats.  I've never fed out sugar beets before, I knew that horses usually love them, but didn't know how everyone else would react.
Well...the donkeys love them, the goats love them, the rabbits love them, I ran out before I got to the chicken coop, but from what I've read, the chickens should love them, too.
I grow extra pumpkins and corn every summer to help out with our feed costs in the winter.  Nettles and comfrey are dried and fed out to the chickens and the goats, too.  I've now decided that sugar beets or mangels will be grown to help out.  I think I'll go with the mangels as they get larger. 
  (picture from wolftree farms)

I found a great site that talks about growing your own fodder on your homestead.  http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Growing-Poultry-Feeds-1.html
This site looks to have a lot of information for anyone thinking about cutting feeding costs.
I don't know if I'll be able to grow enough to keep our herd of beef cattle through the winter, but I'm excited to try growing this new crop.

Jan 19, 2013

Recycle Your Own Paper

Papermaking was more popular a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it.  It's been at least seven years since I took out my tools and supplies, but I thought I'd give it a try again.
What you need:
paper-copy paper, paper bags, colored napkins-not glossy paper or newspaper
water
Elmer's glue (if you'd like to add it, not necessary)
glitter
plant leaves
dried flowers or other things to add to your paper

Tools and supplies:
buckets
blender
kitty litter box or dishpan
mold and deckle (look this up, can be made at home with picture frames)
felts (or other material for couching the paper)
newspaper
2 boards (12"x12")
C-clamps
sponge
straight edge (for taking water out of paper)
clothesline
iron

Begin by taking your used paper and tearing it into bits.  I put mine by color into different buckets.  Six pieces of paper make about 3 pieces of new paper.
I have pieces of paper bag in the pink bucket.  Most of my paper comes from the recycle box in the local school copy room.
Add enough water to each bucket to cover the paper plus two inches.  Let this set for a few hours.
Now put a couple of handfuls of this paper into the blender.  Add 2/3 s again as much water as paper scraps.  Blend on high until it forms a slurry.
Pour the slurry into the dish pan.  Blend up a  couple more batches and add to the pan.

This is what the white pulp looks like. Add water to this until it's about2 1/2"-3" deep.
The mold and deckle.  Place mold on top of the flat side of the deckle.  Lower into one side of the dishpan and pull towards you.  Shake back and forth to get an even layer of pulp on the deckle.
Take out and drain it a bit.  Take the mold off and flip this down onto the couching pad that you've made.  Oops!  Here's how to make the couching pad.  Layer newspapers on top of each other to soak up the water that will drain off of the paper and lay a felt  or couching paper on top of it.
Here's my couching pad.
Here's the first sheet on top of the pad.
The screen is facing you.  Now take your sponge and absorb all of the excess water you can.
Now use the straight edge and push the rest of the water into the sponge.
Gently pull the screen off of the paper and there's your first sheet.
This one is a combination of white and paper bag.  I really like the way it looks. Take the felt and paper off of the newspaper pile and place a fresh felt down for your next piece of paper.
I took some leaves off of the Boston Fern and will press these into the paper to emboss them.
For a smoother finish I place a hard plastic film on top to be pressed into the paper.
Here's some made with the green pulp with the film on top.
Not a great photo.
After you've made all of your sheets of paper, stack them evenly, with the couching felts, one on top of the other.  Place extra felts on top and bottom.  Put one of your boards on the bottom and one on top and use the C-clamps to compress the pile as much as possible.
Leave this overnight.  There are other ways to press your paper, weights, etc. , but I like the C-clamps.
Take the stack apart and hang your damp paper, on or off of the felts on a clothesline to dry.  I placed this batch on the basement floor because when I tried to hang it, it wanted to come off of the felts.
Once it's dry, carefully remove from the felts. 
Now, place a piece of paper under the new paper and one on top.  Turn your iron to a low setting and iron the paper to help it stay flatter.
Here are how some of the pieces came out-
This is the one with the paper bag in it.  I'm going to  use this to print up  labels for my soaps.

This piece was a lot brighter when it was wet.  The colors didn't show up as well as I'd hoped.

This isn't a good picture, but you can see the different colored spots in this piece.  This one I'll use for a baby shower card.

There, that's it.  There's so much you can do with this.  You can make paper out of fruits, vegies, straw, etc.  You can put dried flowers or herbs into it.  Use a doily to emboss it.  So many options, so little time.