Getting the good stuff!

This is the lettuce I picked yesterday.  And spinach on the bottom right.  The hole-ly leaves were fed to Pig and Marty, who loved them!  Also, we have had 3 ripe strawberries so far, but the first 2 were half eaten by slugs, so again, Pig and Marty benefitted and were very thankful, I'm sure.

This was the third ripe strawberry from the patch this year, without slug bites out of it!  YAY!  We split it 3 ways, as it was Mom, Raymond and myself at home, and I can't tell you how sweet, juicy and delicious it was!  Can't wait for more now.

This is the patch Rob rototilled for corn, beans, squash, and mangels.  So far, only all the mangels have come up along with 2, yes only 2, starts of corn.  No beans whatsoever or squash.  Poop.  I know the chickens have been here, perhaps rearranging some of the seeds, as the mangels are no longer in straight rows, and I know I am perfect enough to plant them that way.  hahahahahaha.  The far end I finished yesterday with more mangels and 2 rows of acorn squash.  We might be putting a fence around this, if only to keep out the chickens.

On the chicken front, we have been getting 6 eggs a day with an occasional double yolker, still not sure which chicken lays it, but thank you very much!  We do have one chicken that has become broody, so is sitting on 11 eggs currently.  We should be watching them start to hatch around the 29th of this month.  I am so excited.  We can definitely use more layers as we seem to be going through the 6 eggs a day pretty easily.  If there are roosters in the new hatching ones, they will be raised as broilers and harvested.

We have sold all but the red buck.  He is being weaned and is a little noisy to say the least.  He hangs out with Gus now, but likes to go rest next to the fence next to Phoebe, his mama.

Pig is going to be harvested the end of this month.  He is looking fabulous, can't wait for the ham, chops, and bacon, and we are going to be using the back fat for rendering lard, also.

Planted all the free trees we got at the Mother Earth News Fair.  Quaking Aspen, Vine Maple and Alaskan Yellow Cedar.  Put them right inside the fence of the garden and then will transplant for sure when we decide where we would like them.

Going out to sit by the fire now on the front porch and drink some blackberry wine mom got!

Later!

Spring Cleaning and the MENF!

Okay, so mom and I obviously had lots of energy yesterday and since it still is spring, we did some "spring cleaning"....... emptied the back fridge and freezer, cleaned it all out and organized it as we loaded it back in, making a list of all items and then can check them off as used or moved to the front fridge.  Once the back one was done, we started on the one in the kitchen, emptied, cleaned and refilled, as we organized.  I have to say, I honestly don't remember storing either of the dogs in the fridge or freezer, but there certainly was enough of their hair in each to support that theory.  :)  Unbelievable how much hair they produce.  They sure are cute though, don't you think?

Here is mom typing the list with all the fridge items on the table and in the freezer bags as we cleaned the back fridge and freezer.

 Here is the organized freezer once refilled.

Then the front fridge before.

and after.  The quart jars have the crock pot yogurt and our raw goat milk from the "friends" Rachel and Monica.

Also, the egg cartons contain the Delaware chickens eggs that roam the yard and like to hang out on the front deck on the new bench/railing that Rob built.  And the turkey in the ziplock bag is from the Tom we harvested.  I am going to be putting that in the food processor and make lunch meat with mayo and homemade relish.  We decided to put fresh fruit in the top drawer on the bottom and then cut vegetables in the bottom drawer.  I have had a fruit bowl on the counter in the past, but have found that apples go mealy too quickly and I like them better when they are cold anyway.

We will be tackling the pantry next, to clean, reorganize and label what goes where so it is much easier to find.

On another note, Mom, Aylia, Kara and Madison (Kara's friend from school) and I went to the Mother Earth News Fair (MENF according to Erica from NW Edibles) on Saturday.  We have a great time.  I took in the mini info classes on Heritage Turkeys and why to raise them, Beekeeping 101 on learning how and why to keep bees, how to make No Knead Bread, checked out the red wattle hogs, red poll cattle, Romney sheep (and watched the class on them), got free trees, checked out the bookstore and got a couple of books, and one highlight I have to say was listening to Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms.  He is a very dynamic speaker and "right on" about so many things in today's world of food politics, policies and the policing going on by the USDA and FDA.  And he has managed to make a multigenerational pastured poultry, cattle, and pigs, family farm business work.  If you haven't read any of his books, they are fabulous, and he has a new one coming out in October of this year!

Another highlight was meeting Erica of NW Edibles above and speaking with her.  She was great to talk with and her blog is awesome for all the new things I have learned!  Am definitely going to be trying rendering lard when we butcher Pig.  And such a bonus, she mentioned mom and myself (and linked my blog!) in her post about her time at the MENF!  That was so cool.  Thanks Erica!  She was very down-to-earth and very knowledgable on many subjects in self-sustainability, gardening and such.  Check her blog out!

So that was yesterday and then today it was work, work, work, as work came in today to be done, which was actually fine, as it rained most of the day.  It is nice now, though.  And, bonus, I don't have to go water anything as it rained.  So there is a silver lining in those clouds the come and go out there.  hahaha

Have a good one!

Really???!!!

Okay so picture this.  It is a little chilly in the house after I have been up working for a while.  I even bake a loaf of bread and still it is chilly in the house.  Outside it is breezy and raining.  Finally, I decide to start a fire in the woodstove to take the chill off the house.  Oh, did I forget to mention it is JUNE 1ST!?  Really Mother Nature?  Could we not have some sun and warmth, please.  It is June not February or March.

Ok, I'm done.

Here are the delicious banana donut holes I made the other day along with the recipe I made them from if anyone is interested.  I fried them in half coconut oil and half extra light olive oil.  They disappeared pretty quickly!

Not too much else new here, have more lettuce and spinach ready to pick and all the beans have sprouted, including the edamame, so am excited about that.  Have quite a few berries on the strawberry and raspberry plants, but need the sun to make them ripe, so won't hold my breath.

The yogurt in the crock pot turned out very well.  The sour cream did not get very thick, so it got fed to Pig.  (Will have to try it again or perhaps a different recipe.)  He has also been getting fed the extra goat milk from Rachel and Monica (now that their kids are sold), and Meeah and Jake even have goat milk in their food in the morning, which they love!!!

Liam has a tournament (baseball) that starts this Friday and school for both kids is wrapping up.  Can't believe Kara was just beginning high school and now she will be a sophomore.  Where does the time go?

Later!

Garden Growing!

Happy Sunday!  Been up since 6 a.m.  Had a cup (well two, but really, who's counting) of coffee, homemade yogurt with homemade granola for breakfast.  Then outside to weed the garden and plant more onions, leeks, and lettuce.  Above is the first batch of spinach from the garden.  Got another batch today.  And I sauteed some chicken with our spinach and topped with a little sour cream.  It was fabulous!

This is the lettuce I picked today, butterhead and Forellenschluss which is an heirloom leaf lettuce.  We had tuna salad and our lettuce today for lunch along with hard boiled eggs and avocados.  It was very yummy.

So on to the weeding.  Below are some of the beds I weeded and planted more onions, leeks and more lettuce.  The tomatoes are looking good.  Not to sure about the peppers, but hopefully they will pull through.

This is the asparagus we are supposed to let fern this year and cut back and then spring we should be able to harvest some spears!!!  Those are potatoes that I thought I had gotten out of the planter, but obviously not.  haha

These are the climbing peas in the back, then two rows of carrots and a row of parsnips and then another row of carrots.

And these are all different kinds of lettuce in the three rows on the left, and then two rows of beets, two different kinds and then lettuce in the back on the right and in the front I planted leeks today.

 This was a recipe I found where you make the whole cookie dough in the cast iron skillet and then bake it.  It turned out wonderful, as you can see below and lasted about a day and a half.  (Yes, we definitely have a sweet tooth at our house lol).

So we sold Monica's two boys and are down to Phoebe's all red buck and the doe and then Rachel's oldest.  This is where they hung out yesterday, all chewing their respective cuds.

So now we will be milking both Rachel and Monica morning and night.  The pig will love us even more than he already does.  haha.  Kasara says it is also good for the dogs, so might be giving them some also.

Other than that, all is going well.  Liam has a double header tomorrow, baseball, and then a tournament this next weekend with the first game against Lake Stevens.  We are going to the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup at the fairgrounds Saturday.  Am very excited to see what all is there.  Have a fabulous weekend!

And we're back!

 So had a great week last week.  Liam had a wonderful baseball game, hit a walk off home run and then followed that with a game winning grand slam!!!!  Notice Big Sister Kara in the background, who was obviously very proud of Liam!

And the sun was out for a few days anyway.  Got the lawn mowed and a little bit of a tan.  Kara took advantage of the sun also and reclined on the front porch and got a little bit a tan, too.  She and her friends went to Lake Goodwin on Friday after school.  She said she had fun, but it was cold.  And yep, the weather changed back to clouds again and now this morning it is wet outside again.

Rob and I are going to be planting pepper plants today and perhaps the mangels to feed the chickens and pigs, more corn, and some more beans and pumpkins, so we have the "three sisters" going, corn, beans and squash.  He had tilled a spot of the front lawn down by the fruit trees, but then it kept raining and was way to soggy to do anything with, but because it was nice this last week, perhaps now we can get it planted.

Might even harvest a little spinach this morning, too, as some of the leaves are large enough for salad.  The strawberry plants have lots of flowers/berry starts on them, so can't wait to actually get some.  Need to get some netting so the birds don't get them first.  haha

The beets and more lettuce have come up also, yay!  The broccoli and cauliflower are doing well and the tomato plants are holding their own so far.  The cherry trees had lots of blossoms on them as did the apple trees, pear tree and Asian pear tree.  So I've got my fingers crossed we get some fruit from all of them this summer.  I haven't seen much action from the new peach tree, but I really think it just needs to be sunny more, but hey, it's gotten enough water to keep it going, right?!

Rob just came in and said the coffee is ready, and it smells sooooooo good!  Off to have coffee, homemade yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast!  yummy, yum yum!  Later.

And more rain!

Okay, so it's been a while, again.  Obviously I don't have as much time as I think I do or would like to.  LOL.

Let's see, where did I leave off last time?  Okay, so the garden is growing little by little, I am sure due to the sun being MIA all the time, though if the Weather Channel app on the iPhone is correct this week starting Tuesday is supposed to be sunny for about 5 days in a row.  I won't hold my breath though.

Okay, so I was the last one in the family to get a Build-A-Bear.  Kara and Liam got me gift certificates last Christmas or Birthday, and I used them this Mother's Day!  Her name is Twinkle Toes and she is a bunny.  That is Robert's Build-A-Bear fireman next to her.  lol

The last sunny day we had, Raymond was busy weeding the front planter around the deck and Nik was mowing the front lawn (and flexing, because you really can't steer the mower like that hahaha).  Mom even made lunch and we ate on the front deck.  But as you all know, it is now back to the rain, again.  :(

 This is Gus and R2 being king of the hill.

 This is little P2, the only girl of the bunch!  She has curly hair just like Phoebe!

 Here are the four youngest kids.  M1, P2, P1, and M2 bringing up the rear!  They are all growing and doing great!

This is R2 with Gus in a close up.  He is so cute.  He lost his voice a little as we weaned him from Rachel, but is doing great and just hangs with dad Gus.  We are milking Rachel morning and night and using her milk to feed to Pig, who is growing and growing.

 Pig and Marty, yes Pig is bigger now, but Marty is still head pig!!!  lol

Hopefully, we will get lots of bacon and a few hams and pork chops and such!!!  We will probably be butchering him around the end of August or so.

 Here is the lettuce, spinach and onions, growing, growing!!

 Broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes in the back.

 And because we had so many potato starts, Mom and I started them in bags with dirt, potting soil and compost.  Then as they grow, we will cover with straw or any kind of mulch to keep the potatoes out of the sun and then harvest.  This is the first time I have done potatoes this way, so we will see how it goes.  I used leftover feed bags from the chicken and turkey food.

I finally transplanted the largest tomato plants I had from inside.  These are Roma Paste tomatoes.  I doubled up on the cover so they stay about 8 degrees warmer inside than outside, and they look like they are doing fine.  Will try to transplant some peppers next and cover the same way to keep them warmer until summer finally arrives, who knows when that will be.

Made the best granola the other day and have been eating it nonstop with yogurt and without!  It has rolled oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds, oil, maple syrup, a little bit of salt and craisins.  Yummy, yummy!

Also, made the best macaroni and cheese the other day from a recipe on Allrecipes.com.  It was so yummy and good and had bacon and onions too!!

Rob is off to work today, doing a 9-hour overtime shift, Kara and Liam are off to school, and I am here at home as usual.  Kara is all done with softball this year.  She is so bored now as there is nothing after school for her now.  Liam is still playing baseball.  Rob has decided there are to be no more Saturday games, as the only two games we have lost we played on Saturdays.  haha  I can't believe there is only one month left of school for them.  They just started, it can't be done yet.  How time flies, huh!?

We are going to the Green Festival in Seattle this weekend.  Should be fun to see all the different things offered and ideas to learn for being green.

Later!

What a Drag!

Being sick is really no fun.  I had so many things planned yesterday that I wanted to get done and well, let's just say they didn't.  I pretty much laid on the couch all day and evening and then went to bed.  However, on the bright side I did lose 3 pounds.  So you know, at least I got something out of it, I guess.

Mom, Raymond and I finally got around to harvesting the humongous rhubarb plants.  I mean, since April they had just taken off and even had a flower head on it.  Mom ended up drying some in the dehydrator, which she said she wouldn't do again, cuz it was like chewing fibers, but now we know not to do that again.  We finished this morning cutting up and putting 2 cups in each freezer bag for use in the future.  Mom is also making a rhubarb custard pie only without the crust, so just the custard part.  That will be desert this evening.  We also have a couple of recipes for rhubarb vanilla jam, rhubarb syrup for making your own soda or topping pancakes and such, and if anyone has a recipe for desert breads with rhubarb and doesn't mind passing it on, that would be fabulous!

These are the dried rhubarb pieces.

And this is the rhubarb custard, looks very yummy!

Finally got out and weeded the garden.  Put up a piece of fencing also to let the peas climb on to make easier to pick.

These are the lettuce, spinach and onions and leeks that I rescued after Pig decided to "help" one day in the garden.  Not all made it, but quite a few did so I am very pleased!!

These are squash in the front and the climbing peas on the piece of fence that we zip-tied to the hoop.

And these are the first shoots of asparagus!!!!!  Yay, I am so excited!  I believe this year we let it grown and turn into a fern, then cut it back so the roots really get established well and then next year we can harvest it.

And here is our small strawberry patch, which next year will be much larger hopefully!

Going to try to get leeks, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, sugar pumpkins, bush and pole beans, and beans for drying planted this week also.  Just gotta dash out in between the rain showers.  haha

And we did sell the very first born goat from Rachel, R1, the other day.  The rest are for sale also, but no others have sold yet.

Rob has been busy putting up an electric fence to separate the pigs from Gus and R2 (Rachel's second born as he is being weaned).  The goats have all been pretty noisy as R2 is missing his momma, but after about 4 to 5 days it should calm down.  Rob has also been milking Rachel and using her milk to feed to Pig.  We went and visited with one of Rob's coworkers the other day who raises pigs to butcher and they only had them fenced in with two strands of electric wire about as tall as their knees and nose and they stayed in.   Rob did put up a wire top and bottom of the fence we have now so that Marty and Pig would not push on the fence, which has worked very well.  Both have gotten shocked and decided to stay back from the fence now.

Off to the Mother's Day Lunch at the middle school with Liam today.  Should be fun!!