I know, we were complaining a week ago about the cool damp weather with all the rain we have had. OK I am done with this hot stuff for a while now. It has been in the mid 90's today and pose to be all week with intermittent showers. The humidity is about too much and its just the end of May. I can not imagine how bad it will be in July and August. None the less I did get a few minor things accomplished today in spite of the heat. I went and got the truck load of straw to mulch the strawberries with. I used 1 bale in the brooder house to get it ready for the lil chicks that will be here this week. ALL 50 of em. Yeah I am a lil crazy at times. But the building is all set up waiting their arrival. When they get big enough to let out they will be allowed to free range some. Well most likely until they find my flower beds and then they will get confined to a pen. Anyway still have the straw on my truck. Rodger intends to till the area between the rows of berry plants before I mulch to loosen up the soil. So maybe we can do that tomorrow. He got kinda busy this evening helping Jason set post to build a pen for his puppies that will be here this weekend. My friend Rosie's Great Pyrenees had puppies and Jason is getting 2 of em. My aunt is taking 1 also and we will have all 3 here this weekend. I can only imagine how cute they are. They do make beautiful dogs. I will post pics for ya to see when we get them. Luna is gonna love this. She wont know what to do with 3 lil girls like her. Jason is building a pen for his so Luna don't go visit an dognap the puppies.
I finally got my greenhouse shut down for the spring season. I had a good deal of leftover plants, some I am planting and some giving away. A co-worker of Jason's is taking all the sweet potato plants, and probably most of the other stuff too. I keep hearing threats toward my greenhouse around here. I think I may have went a lil overboard planting this year. But dang by now they should know that's how I do things.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Busy holiday weekend
With this being Memorial Day weekend the guys were off work for a 3 day weekend. So we did manage to get a lot done this weekend. But first off I would like to take a minute to thank all our heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice so we can all go about life as usual. So Thank You from the bottom of my heart.
We were privileged to carry on as usual here as well. Rodger got the corn plowed out on Sunday as it was still a lil too wet on Saturday to do most anything in the garden or field. On Sunday morning we had planned on being in the garden fairly early to beat the heat with forecast in the 90's. Well that didn't happen but we did get there all be it later in the morning. We hoed most of the garden out and finally decided to come to the house and take a break from the mid-day heat. He went back on the tractor a bit later an did plow the corn while I finished hoeing thru the remainder of the garden. It was after sundown before we both finally finished. Oh my goodness the skeeters were hungry and ate well I might add. ON me. Being near the river does have a few drawbacks. Thas is one of em. Rodger said I didn't need to be in the garden this morning and that he would go in there early and run the rototiller. So that he did. The garden looks so nice now that its been plowed out. My dad alas said stuff just grew better when ya plow and work it out. This evening after the sun started going down we started moving the compost and rotted straw from last fall and spreading that around the raspberries. Got those done FINALLY! We had a good bit of rotted straw left and put the rest around the fruit trees in the orchard. The rotted straw stinks and I didn't like the idea of putting that around strawberries where they might come in direct contact with it. Got most of the trees mulched in till we ran out of rotted straw. Tomorrow I am going to pick up a load of straw to mulch the strawberries with and a lil extra for the brooder house. Hopefully I can mulch the strawberries tomorrow evening while Rodger gets the yard mowed, again. I must get the brooder house ready as well for the new babies that will be here end of this week. I ordered a bunch of 50 heavy breed assorted chickens so I can keep some layers and butcher the rest before raising my final batch of Cornish cross this fall. So as you can tell there is never the lack of something to do here on the homestead. I can keep myself occupied 7 days a week here and stay busy. Well except when it gets really hot. Then you most likely will find me in the house. My meds are making me wimpy.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
We were privileged to carry on as usual here as well. Rodger got the corn plowed out on Sunday as it was still a lil too wet on Saturday to do most anything in the garden or field. On Sunday morning we had planned on being in the garden fairly early to beat the heat with forecast in the 90's. Well that didn't happen but we did get there all be it later in the morning. We hoed most of the garden out and finally decided to come to the house and take a break from the mid-day heat. He went back on the tractor a bit later an did plow the corn while I finished hoeing thru the remainder of the garden. It was after sundown before we both finally finished. Oh my goodness the skeeters were hungry and ate well I might add. ON me. Being near the river does have a few drawbacks. Thas is one of em. Rodger said I didn't need to be in the garden this morning and that he would go in there early and run the rototiller. So that he did. The garden looks so nice now that its been plowed out. My dad alas said stuff just grew better when ya plow and work it out. This evening after the sun started going down we started moving the compost and rotted straw from last fall and spreading that around the raspberries. Got those done FINALLY! We had a good bit of rotted straw left and put the rest around the fruit trees in the orchard. The rotted straw stinks and I didn't like the idea of putting that around strawberries where they might come in direct contact with it. Got most of the trees mulched in till we ran out of rotted straw. Tomorrow I am going to pick up a load of straw to mulch the strawberries with and a lil extra for the brooder house. Hopefully I can mulch the strawberries tomorrow evening while Rodger gets the yard mowed, again. I must get the brooder house ready as well for the new babies that will be here end of this week. I ordered a bunch of 50 heavy breed assorted chickens so I can keep some layers and butcher the rest before raising my final batch of Cornish cross this fall. So as you can tell there is never the lack of something to do here on the homestead. I can keep myself occupied 7 days a week here and stay busy. Well except when it gets really hot. Then you most likely will find me in the house. My meds are making me wimpy.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Trying to see the pretty things
Dang with all this rain and storms we have had since I don't remember when, I guess I am blessed to have anything left to bloom and look pretty. We have had several pretty good rain showers today and after it stopped I got out and took a few pics here around the house. The big plus with the pretty stuff is I can see it and think of the wonderful friends who have shared seeds and plants with me.
This is the beautiful hollyhocks that Rosie gave me the seed for and they were planted last year. They are just starting to bloom. In the foreground is fever few that she also shared with me. Later on in summer it has beautiful white daisy like lil flowers on it.
The flower border at the back of the house is filled in with plants from my friend Madeline. The old porch rocker is one I sat in as a lil child on the porch of the old home place. It is more for sentimental value than sitting as it is about rotted down. Maybe a few more years left in its life.
The grapevines are loaded with lil grape clusters again this year. They got pruned heavily this spring and are still sprawling.
The border to the left is Lariope (monkey grass) that my aunt Ann had given me last spring. It will thrive almost anywhere and makes a nice edging for drives and such. The herb bed has a lil fence around it now to keep some animals from walking thru it. The new herbs in there are starting to take off now and grow. Still have more young ones to plant in there too.
This is the new bed extension in back of the house. It is planted with leeks and the new strawberry plants from my friends Gretchen and Carl. I am still short 1 bag of mulch to even this one out and eliminate the bare dirt spot.
This is the banana pup that my friend Deb sent me from Mississippi last week. This is the musa basjoo variety. This banana tree is grown for fiber and not the fruit. It has gotten 2 new leaves on it just since I got it. I think they are capable of growing up to 2 ft per week in the warmer summer months. It will also flower when it has 35 leaves or reaches 10 ft tall. I am thinking in a few years it can be moved to a place where I can put a hammock chair under it and have shade.
Anyway not much going on here today will the rain. All I have succeeded in doing is getting my hair cut and just stayed inside. The cool rainy weather does a number on my joints.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
This is the beautiful hollyhocks that Rosie gave me the seed for and they were planted last year. They are just starting to bloom. In the foreground is fever few that she also shared with me. Later on in summer it has beautiful white daisy like lil flowers on it.
The flower border at the back of the house is filled in with plants from my friend Madeline. The old porch rocker is one I sat in as a lil child on the porch of the old home place. It is more for sentimental value than sitting as it is about rotted down. Maybe a few more years left in its life.
The grapevines are loaded with lil grape clusters again this year. They got pruned heavily this spring and are still sprawling.
The border to the left is Lariope (monkey grass) that my aunt Ann had given me last spring. It will thrive almost anywhere and makes a nice edging for drives and such. The herb bed has a lil fence around it now to keep some animals from walking thru it. The new herbs in there are starting to take off now and grow. Still have more young ones to plant in there too.
This is the new bed extension in back of the house. It is planted with leeks and the new strawberry plants from my friends Gretchen and Carl. I am still short 1 bag of mulch to even this one out and eliminate the bare dirt spot.
This is the banana pup that my friend Deb sent me from Mississippi last week. This is the musa basjoo variety. This banana tree is grown for fiber and not the fruit. It has gotten 2 new leaves on it just since I got it. I think they are capable of growing up to 2 ft per week in the warmer summer months. It will also flower when it has 35 leaves or reaches 10 ft tall. I am thinking in a few years it can be moved to a place where I can put a hammock chair under it and have shade.
Anyway not much going on here today will the rain. All I have succeeded in doing is getting my hair cut and just stayed inside. The cool rainy weather does a number on my joints.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
A little at a time
A little at a time we are getting the rest of the garden planted. We didn't have rain today and this evening after supper Rodger ran the disc and Jason and I planted the melons, watermelons, cantaloupes, punkins and cushaws. They are raising nine kinds of hell because I want to go ahead an plant the rest of the tomatoes and sweet potatoes that are in the greenhouse. Its plant them and let em make what they will or just toss em out to empty the greenhouse and shut it down. Seems to me the common sense thing would be to plant them and not spend too much time working in them, its sure better than the waste of tossin em out. Any way I guess later I can say I told ya so.
I went today to visit a friend of mine who has greenhouses and sells plants for local gardeners and their gardens. She has had a terrible season this year with all the wet weather. No one has gardens out. It has just been too wet. She still has seed potatoes that she has not sold. She has 3 huge greenhouses full of beautiful tomatoes and peppers, cabbage and lots of flowers and no one buying. This season has hurt all the farms and gardens here locally. I just hope we can have a decent garden and get enough to stock up our cellar.
I did pick up some rosemary plants while I was there and a few flowers just for pretty. I usually don't sow flower seeds as I mostly try to grow edibles in our green house.
We are forecast for more storms tonight so that should water my melon seeds in and get them started sprouting and hopefully off to a good start. The okra, eggplant and cukes I had planted are up and look great. The peas are blooming, beets are doing good. I guess the next dry spell we get it will be time to plow the garden and start the hoe work. But that is all part of it.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
I went today to visit a friend of mine who has greenhouses and sells plants for local gardeners and their gardens. She has had a terrible season this year with all the wet weather. No one has gardens out. It has just been too wet. She still has seed potatoes that she has not sold. She has 3 huge greenhouses full of beautiful tomatoes and peppers, cabbage and lots of flowers and no one buying. This season has hurt all the farms and gardens here locally. I just hope we can have a decent garden and get enough to stock up our cellar.
I did pick up some rosemary plants while I was there and a few flowers just for pretty. I usually don't sow flower seeds as I mostly try to grow edibles in our green house.
We are forecast for more storms tonight so that should water my melon seeds in and get them started sprouting and hopefully off to a good start. The okra, eggplant and cukes I had planted are up and look great. The peas are blooming, beets are doing good. I guess the next dry spell we get it will be time to plow the garden and start the hoe work. But that is all part of it.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Sunday, May 22, 2011
A true statement
If there ever was a true statement this is it, if ya don't like Kentucky weather, jus hang around it will change in a lil bit. We got all the things done yesterday that we thought needed doin while the weather was nice. Well because we had more rain in the forecast for today. So kinda had my mind set on just hangin out here at the house knowing couldnt get anything done outside with rain. Well as life would have it, got up this morning and no rain. A nice sunny day, not too hot, just right for doing a few things outside. So out I go. Got my jars of chicken stock and canned chicken all washed off and ready to go to the cellar. Set those aside, an you know how scatterbrained I can be. I wondered off and decided it might be a good time to get the raspberries worked out and the rotted straw and compost put around them. I ran into Rodger on his way back from the orchard. He mowed the orchard yesterday and went to weed whack around all the trees this morning. All's well, cept he told me he chewed up one of my apricot trees. I knew it, he don't like apricots. But I know it was an accident. IF it don't make it I can get another one. So he says he will go help me with the berries. So hoes in hand we go to the field. He hoed out the raspberries while I picked the ripe strawberries off the new plants. And we hoed those out as well. On the drive back to the house I tole him to let me out so I could walk thru the garden to see if my beans I had to replant had popped up yet. They haven't yet and I'm a lil disappointed. But I do have some of em up which is better than none. Everything looks surprisingly good in the garden in spite of all the torrents of rain we have had this spring and summer. The tomatoes look good and healthy but I saw some of the Colorado potato beetles on them, I decided to go back to the end of the rows and start mashing bugs. Yeas I have come to the conclusion that is the best way to control them. Gosh I mashed a bunch of em and clusters of eggs too. Rodger suggested we do another walk thru the taters to see if the bugs were still bothering them. Yes they are but not bad. So down on m knees again mashin bugs. I really need a hobby. Here is a few things I have learned about the bugs. If you find just one bug on a plant, look for the egg clusters. That means they have already mated and one is still living to lay eggs. And 99% of the time there will be one bug already dead under the plant. Then if you find 2 bugs mating on a plant, you will not find an egg cluster. Just this lil bit of info helps speed the search along. This makes I think the 3rd time we have went thru the taters mashin bugs. AND this is the first time in years the plants have gotten this big without being stripped of their leaves. NONE of the medicine I have sprayed with in the past has worked. So as long as we can stand it I think this will be our best bet for tater bug control, mash em. So far, so good. Well after all this crap and now I can walk right cause my feet and hands keep getting tingly and feel funny. Not sure if its my blood pressure meds, sugar, just dunno. But we came to the house to get something to drink. We had planned on going back to the garden with the wagon and taking the rotted straw and compost for the raspberries. To beat all I was ordered to stay the heck in the house. Who do he think he is anyway? We got a snack and something to drink and were getting ready to head out to get the compost and straw and it started to rain. Just big drops at first, then heavy rain. Then slowed to only showers and I went to the summer kitchen to wash the strawberries and tote my chicken stock and chicken to the cellar. Then came the downpours of rain. We both were in the summer kitchen and ya would think someone had tossed a hand full of marbles on the tin roof. Made a bad racket for a while. We got HAIL! Not often we get hail for some reason, but today we did. Some of it small pea size and some the size of a good size marble. Not one of those quick lil bit of hails and over with. This went on for about 10 minutes or so. We were blessed it didn't destroy the greenhouse or hurt any plants here at the house. I doubt it hurt the garden either as the plants there are small enough to not be huge targets. So now we are walking on a sponge again. I guess the rain lasted an hour at most but it did soak everything. I finally got my canned stuff put away in the cellar and came in to fix supper.
I had soaked some shuck beans this morning and put those on to cook. It was just the 2 of us eatin, Jason is out somewhere. We had shuck beans with potatoes, fried cornbread, an hard boiled eggs for supper. So now am stuffed and am thinking serious about a nap.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
I had soaked some shuck beans this morning and put those on to cook. It was just the 2 of us eatin, Jason is out somewhere. We had shuck beans with potatoes, fried cornbread, an hard boiled eggs for supper. So now am stuffed and am thinking serious about a nap.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Saturday, May 21, 2011
I hate chicken and I need a nap
I bet ya never thought you would hear me say that. Well I don't really hate chicken I jus don't like chicken much right now. I have been at it since about 9 am first butchering chickens and now am sitting here in the summer kitchen cooking the bony pieces down for stock in the pressure canner. Then it all has to be strained and put in jars and processed. I have a bowl in the fridge that has the boneless thighs in it. Those will get raw packed in jars, covered with the strained stock and processed as well. Not hard to do at all , just boring time consuming stuff. The weather here has been really nice today. High in upper 80's, kinda hot when ya have to stand still and cut up chickens. Jason had to work today and that left Rodger and I to do all the butchering. If Jason had been here he would have had the task of cutting the chickens up. Ended up with 18 total in the freezer. I sure could think of better things to do than sit here and listen to the pressure canner. Things such as take a nap, mulch strawberries and raspberries, ya know, stuff like that. But it is all in a days work I guess. This means we will have lots of stock and canned chicken for different things this summer. I will be ordering more chickens this coming week to raise for butchering later. I think I am gonna order a batch of the frying pan specials, heavy meat birds, from Marti Poultry farms and that way I can keep what ever pullets I want out of the bunch and butcher the rest. I have convinced myself that mixed breed hens just lay better than pure bred stock. The laying flock I have now will be butchered off this fall when I have some replacements ready to take their place. But thats another day. Oh, if the world doesn't end this evening. Ok I was tryin to make a funny.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
Friday, May 20, 2011
Fried green tomatoes
As I write this I am eating a plate of fried green tomatoes. But no they did not come out of the garden this summer already. I was digging around in the freezer today and stumbled on a bag that I had chopped an frozen last summer. I was happy as a pig in slop. So I decided to fry them up for a snack tonight after I got in from outside stuff. And boy howdy are they good. Good Lord willing this summer I am gonna put more baggies of chopped green maters in there. I like em when they just have a slight blush to em but not red ripe. Well if I cant have a fresh one from garden right now this will suffice. Here's how I do my fried green tomatoes.
About 2 cups of chopped green tomatoes with just a lil blush of color, sprinkle with about 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper and mix up really well. It will be a crumbly mix. Heat fat, preferably lard in a skillet till very hot but not smoking. Add the coated tomatoes and fry till they are brown. I stir mine so they end up for the most part in pieces. Plate em up and enjoy.
Hope this whets your appetite for fresh garden veggies. Now I am waiting on fresh ripe maters.
Not much happening here right now, still a lil wet for now. We didn't have rain today and the temps were nice. Suppose to be in the low 80's tomorrow so good weather to get some things done. Rodger and Jason got the yards mowed this evening and all the trimming done. So that is one job out of the way and the yard looks so much better. Tomorrow is chicken killing day so we will be rather busy. I have my table set up and all my implements ready to do the job and make stock. Rodger wont be tied up with the chicken killing project long but I will probably be out there most all day and half the night. It does take a long time to make stock and then can it and some of the meat. But this will be the first canning project of the new season. But tomorrow night I know my joints will hurt like the dickens. They alas do when I over use em. But I keep plugging along.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
About 2 cups of chopped green tomatoes with just a lil blush of color, sprinkle with about 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper and mix up really well. It will be a crumbly mix. Heat fat, preferably lard in a skillet till very hot but not smoking. Add the coated tomatoes and fry till they are brown. I stir mine so they end up for the most part in pieces. Plate em up and enjoy.
Hope this whets your appetite for fresh garden veggies. Now I am waiting on fresh ripe maters.
Not much happening here right now, still a lil wet for now. We didn't have rain today and the temps were nice. Suppose to be in the low 80's tomorrow so good weather to get some things done. Rodger and Jason got the yards mowed this evening and all the trimming done. So that is one job out of the way and the yard looks so much better. Tomorrow is chicken killing day so we will be rather busy. I have my table set up and all my implements ready to do the job and make stock. Rodger wont be tied up with the chicken killing project long but I will probably be out there most all day and half the night. It does take a long time to make stock and then can it and some of the meat. But this will be the first canning project of the new season. But tomorrow night I know my joints will hurt like the dickens. They alas do when I over use em. But I keep plugging along.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
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