Ready for the 4th

It's hard for me to believe but June is almost gone and the 4th of July is right around the corner.   Before we know it we will be saying goodbye to summer and waiting for the leaves to turn yellow and red.   Oh, come on.   I'm not trying to give summer the bum's rush, really I'm not.  But the older I get the more time seems to speed along.  Haven't you found that to be so, too?

Well, maybe not.  I did find myself getting in the patriotic spirit of things a day ago as I pulled out some red, white and blue fabrics from the shelves in my studio and started playing around with them.  And here is what I made:

 I had just enough of the blue fabric with stars on it to eek out 2 "mug rugs".   Yup, that's the current term for a simple, 'ole drink coaster.  It was kinda fun to sew some up to give my table a little festive lift.  And my computer desk stays a lot drier now since I put the mug rug under my icy cold glass of water.  We will have no drips near the new computer, thank you.

 The mug rug was so much fun that I decided to make a patriotic pillow for out on the rocking chair porch.   The back of the pillow is simply done "envelope style" so the pillow insert can be removed and another cover put on once all the summer patriotic holidays are behind us.   That got me to thinking.......why not make a different pillow cover for the different seasons?    If I use the same pillow insert, then I can simply store the out of season pillow covers flat.....now that will take up a lot less space, right?   And here in our itty bitty farmhouse I am careful to avoid taking up precious storage space for frivolities.

So, now I am working on a fall, winter and spring cover for the same rectangular pillow form.   Geesh!   You'd think I have nothing better to do with my time than to invent new projects.....giggle.   But this was just so much fun and I love that making the pillow and mug rug provided some much needed instant gratification.   Ah, yes, I am so easily entertained.

Hey, give me a break here.   After all the massive projects Joel and I tackled this past 2 months it was fun to create something out of nothing and have an actual finished project in under an hour instead of weeks of working to achieve one goal.   Now you have a view into the life of someone with a short attention span.  Ha!

Now what I really should be doing is working in my garden.   Ah-hem.   Yes, there are a lot of weeds to be pulled and the strawberry bed is overflowing with runners.   But, it's too hot to work outside, isn't it?   And I miss sewing......   But I digress.    What you are looking at here is something to behold.   Just over 2 years ago after arriving on our farm, we planted several thornless varieties of blackberry bushes.   They didn't produce much last year and I was ever hopeful we might get some berries this season.

Well, let me tell you, they have gone crazy this year.   And today Joel and I went into the garden and picked our first berries and ate them on the spot.   Oh, yum!   This is how big some of them are.....I mean, seriously, this thing is gigantic.   It's a whole mouthful!   Tomorrow morning I plan on going out there at first light before the sun gets up off the horizon and starts heating up the day.  

Yup, gonna pick me some berries.
Debbie

Guess What's New?

Baby chicks, that's what is new.   On Saturday when Joel went down to put the chickens to bed for the night, he heard a little "cheep, cheep, cheep" coming from just outside of a nest where a hen has been faithfully sitting on some eggs for a couple of weeks.   It was a baby chick!   He/she jumped out of the nest and couldn't get back in and mama was still sitting on some eggs.  

Well, actually, there were three little chicks.   He scooped them up and brought them into the house since it was an especially chilly, damp night and he was afraid they would die of hypothermia overnight since mama didn't appear to be budging from her perch.   We quickly put together a little pen for them with straw in the bottom and some water for them to drink.  And of course we managed to clean up the heat lamp for them to keep them warm for the next couple of days while we determined if we could put them back into the coop with all the other chickens.  

Well, by the time we went down to the coop on Sunday morning, we had another and then another baby.  All yellow and fluffy and cheeping as they tried to wander around on the straw on unsteady legs.   Joel had to run into town quick Sunday morning to buy chick food for the wee-ones since they need a special diet when they are first born.

Doesn't she just ooze cuteness?   Well, this morning(Tuesday) we took the makeshift pen down to the coop and reintroduced the babies to their mama.   You see, she hatched more chicks over the last day and a half and now there are 8.   And since she is done sitting on her eggs, we decided that it was safe to have all her babies in one place.....where they belong....with their mama.    Joel has gone down to the coop several times to check on how the chicks are doing and he said mama is proudly strutting around the inside of the coop with little chicks flopping and tumbling around behind her.   Just.  Too.  Precious.  

We'll keep checking on them to make sure none of the other chickens pick on the babies.   But, so far it appears all is well in Chicken Land.   Ahhhhhh......

We've had a lot of rain this Spring......it seems like almost every day we've had drizzly, foggy, or rainy conditions.   When we got a break in the weather yesterday, we loaded our caffeine up in our mugs and jumped in the Polaris to do some work in the orchard.   We had planted quite a few trees last Spring only 2 months after arriving here on the farm.  Unfortunately, six of them didn't make it thru the harsh weather this winter.    We've pulled them up and now it was time to do some orchard maintenance.

This is our crabapple tree in full bloom.   And the blooms smell incredible.   We put new tree rings around the base of all the trees in hopes of making our job of mowing around each and every one a little easier.   Then I trimmed up a few of the branches and we took stock of what new trees we would like to acquire in the next few weeks to round out our selection of fruit.

 

Our McIntosh apple tree has blooms popping out all over its branches.   I sure hope we don't have a freeze this year after the blossoms drop so we will have a harvest.  Last year, it snowed on April 15th and it cut our harvest down to almost nothing.   And since the fruit comes on the tree where the blossoms are now, it's important to  not have a freeze from now on this spring.   Keeping my fingers crossed.

I also decided to put some of my own personality on the outer edges of the front yard.  We have an old stump that is slowing decaying.....not especially a pretty sight.   Until now, that is.   I picked up some flowers at the store and used potting soil to create little pockets of posies on the sides and top of the stump.   A few larger blue-eyed daisies and red geraniums around the base completed the picture.   After dumping a bag of mulch around the perimeter and watering, now all I have to do is wait for the petunias to drape down the sides of the trunk and the eyesore is now something fun to look at.   I think I'm going to paint a sign that says something like, "Just plain rotten" and stick it in the dirt around the trunk.   Ha!   That should get the locals talking.

Anyway, lest you think everything on the farm is clean and pristine, think again.    This is what the front seat of the Polaris looks like on any given day.   Plastic coated wire, bug spray, eggs and work gloves....all these items are part of our daily work outside.  We may not be a big farm, but we're doing our best to be a "real" farm.

Wouldn't you know it, this morning as I was all set to take Molly outside for her walk, I spotted this big turkey strutting around the back of the potager garden.  Do you see it?   It's the dark grey object with it's head down eating bugs behind the garden off on the right side of the pic.   Well, as soon as we went outside the turkey high tailed it out toward the back of our property and the tree line.

And so that is how I started my day today.   A little bit of light fog, some drizzles, and lots of birds singing to one another from tree to tree.   And then as I looked up I saw the light clouds skimming the far away top of the mountain again.   You can see the grey mountain looming up behind the tree line.   Ah, yes, it's good to be here, even in the fog and drizzle.

Grateful for our first live births on our farm,
Debbie

The "End" of Fall

Yes, Fall is almost over for us.  So many of the trees have already lost their leaves and the colors are not quite as vibrant as they were even a week ago.   It's been such a joy for me to be able to chronicle this first Fall of ours here at Whispering Oaks and I have been taking pictures to capture the season.   (Big surprise there!  right?)  Joel just shakes his head whenever we go outside for any of our projects and I run back into the house to grab the Nikon.   Seriously?   He knows I have to take pics of everything we do here.

By the back porch screen door we have one last light pink variety of mum?daisy?flower thing that bloomed in the past week.   Talk about a late bloomer....bah-ha-ha-ha!

The leaves look like a chrysanthemum so I cut it way back in July, getting it ready to set buds for Fall, and then it bloomed like this!    Anyone out there know what kind of plant this is?   Anyway, it's pretty and the bees have enjoyed the final blooms of Fall.

Here we have the last of the onions drying out before I store them in the house along with some huge and some not so huge carrot-shaped sweet potatoes from the garden.   I have discovered root veggies do better if you let them dry for up to 2 weeks before storing them.  Live and learn....there's always a lesson to be learned here on the farm.

And we harvested 7 varying sized pumpkins, too.   Those babies will get canned this weekend and then pumpkin pies will be a breeze during the holidays using our very own pumpkin.   I can hardly wait to taste them.

These are the last of our pears from the granddaddy pear tree.    The harvest was so small this year compared to last year, but when the blossoms freeze during a freak snowstorm in Spring, that practically eliminates a Fall harvest.

And even though our black walnut trees yielded a fraction of what they did last year, friends of ours had an abundance and let me pick all I wanted from their trees.   We have learned that walnut trees have one year of a bumper crop and then 2 or more years of lesser crops.   I'll be sure to take advantage of those years when the harvest is great, trust me!   Over the next few weeks I'll be busy cracking these little beauties in preparation for Christmas cookie baking.

Isn't this pumpkin just so pretty?    It tickled me to place pumpkins around the porch as an autumn decoration.    Yes, I really do love Fall.

Especially the gorgeous leaves on our trees.   It took a long time for our maples to turn, but this last week they suddenly blushed bright red.   Simply lovely.

Is it just me or do you find this to be glorious, too?

 Wow, in just 5 days we went from this, our maple towering over one of the grape arbors filled with bright red and yellow leaves........

......to this.   Yes, almost all the leaves have dropped in just 5 days!

While taking a walk thru the herbs in the potager garden, I decided to take one final cutting of them  before our first frost and then they were put in the dehydrator.   Now we should have enough herbs for cooking until we can grow more next year.   Mmmmmmmm.......it smells so good in here.

I love strolling out onto the rocking chair porch early each morning as I take Molly out for her walk.   The first thing I do is scan the barn and our buildings and then look out into the valley to see what the new day will bring weather-wise.   I'm never disappointed.   Yes, I'm in love....in love with this land.

So, say goodbye to Fall and hello to early Winter,
Deb

Last Harvest

Several days ago, our temps were predicted to drop down near the 30's so I took a break from all our other activities and went out to the garden one last time to pull the remaining tomatoes off the vine.  Even though a lot of them were green, they are ripening nicely on the windowsills in the laundry room & kitchen.  

 I drove the Polaris around the farm and picked whatever produce I could find.   At the bottom of the bushel basket are some pears from our granddaddy pear tree.   Then there were quite a few tomatoes still left on the vines, most of them green ones.   I also found more onions and pulled them from the ground.  And on top are the leeks that remained in one row of the garden.  

I decided to dig up a few more potatoes and make a batch of leek-potato soup.   Oh.  My.  Goodness.   It was so yummy!  Leeks have such a gentle flavor, not as strong as onions, and make the soup taste so delicate.   I added some of the tarragon that I grew this summer and dehydrated to finish it off.   Nothing like homemade soup and a sandwich to warm you on a cool autumn day.

Cooking in my new kitchen is such a pleasure....it just warms my heart to spend a few hours puttering around in my new digs and putting homemade food on the table for my guys to enjoy.   It just doesn't get much better for this country girl.

Happy Days,
Debbie

"Done"

Yes, I have actually finished one project!   We have been so busy putting in infrastructure that it seems none of our projects are Done.  Completed.   Finished.   We get almost done with something and then another part of the farm requires our attention and the first project gets put on hold.   Well, that works just fine for the two procrastinating men in my life, but for me......well, let's just say that's enough to drive me around the bend.   And as Joel likes to say, "That's a short ride.".    Harumph.

Ever since we installed the bird feeder last Spring, I've had an idea in my head about how to create a small flower bed around it.   A few weeks ago we had a pallet of local stone delivered so I could start working on some smaller projects over the next year.   The bed around the bird feeder was going to be my first experiment working with stone.   Ha ha....how hard can it be?

Um, yeah, that's a lot of stone.   Well, I figured I may as well just jump in and get started.   At least this was one project I could do pretty much on my own.   I used my tractor and the green trailer to haul the stones I choose over to the project.   I just love my little tractor!

After digging out a shallow trench I laid a row of stones even with the top of the grass in the shape of an oval.   Mowing around this oval is much easier than mowing around a 4" post....and it looks prettier, too!  Now I can use that first level row of stone to run the tires of my tractor on when I mow and get up nice and close to the bed without having to use the weed eater.   Hey, I'm all about creating low maintenance beds here.

The second and third rows of stones were fun to lay....it was like figuring out a jigsaw puzzle.   And because the land is sloped where this particular bed lays, one end has only 2 rows of thin stones while the other end has many more.   Well, I tried to keep the top of the wall level.   This adorable bird bath was a purchase I made very early in the summer.   One problem with it was that it needed to be elevated above ground level so the birds would use it.   Ta-da!  Problem solved.   Jeremy pulled a huge tree trunk from a pile in the woods and now the bath is raised up to the perfect height for bathing.

The three plants in the front are sedum and they come back year after year, so I won't have to replant this bed.   They will fill out nicely by next year and each fall the flower heads turn a beautiful red.   The plant hiding behind the tree stump is a clump of daisies that will also come back each year.   I tried to put plants in the bed that won't get too high or too bushy so that the birds feel safe coming to the bird feeder.   Birds don't like it when they think their enemy can hide in bushes near their food source....gotta think like a bird to keep them coming back.

In order to get to the bird feeder I put down 2 large stone-topped cement stepping stones.    And I had Jeremy help me pour out the bags of river rock to cover up the landscape cloth and fill in the area between the walls.   Done!    What a feeling of accomplishment that at least now one more project was completely finished.

  And the birds seem to be happy with their new digs.   Gold finches and blue birds and doves have been visiting the bird feeder and bath ever since the area was completed.   I just love watching the birds swooping in from the large oak trees overhead and listening to them chatter to each other as they tell their family it's safe to come and eat.

Not bad, not too bad at all, even if I do say so myself.

Hmmmm, I wonder what kind of trouble I can get myself into today?
Deb

One More Thing

Um, yeah.  I just had to show you the prettiest items in the garden right now.  Here are one of the Amish Pumpkins I started from heirloom seed.   She has several sisters growing nearby, too.   These pumpkins are supposed to be really good when cooked and turned into pies.  Can you say, "Thanksgiving"?

This little beauty is an acorn squash.   I love them split in half and baked with a little butter and brown sugar sprinkled over them.   And they're so good for you, too.....loaded with lots of beta-carotene.  

And my next favorite squash is the butternut.   After these guys get peeled and cut into 1" chunks, I usually marry them with chunks of potato, sweet potato and carrots.   If I'm really lucky and have some fennel I add that into the mix as well.   Put all the veggies on a baking sheet and toss them with olive oil and sea salt and pepper.    Roast in the oven at 425 degrees for 35-45 minutes until they are caramelized.   Oh.  My.   Goodness.   Veggies have never tasted as good as they do when roasted in the oven.

And here is the star of the late summer garden.    I wasn't sure if these would even grow here, but I took a chance and planted some heirloom seeds and darned if they didn't go crazy!   As a matter of fact, these plants took over a good section of the garden.   If you haven't guessed already, I'll tell you what it is.   A watermelon.   A watermelon named Stars and Moon.  Do you see the larger yellow spot?    That's the moon, and it's surrounded by little stars.   Cool, isn't it?   We're eating one today for our Labor Day picnic.

And last but not least are our concord grapes.   I've talked about the arbors even since we purchased the farm last fall.   Here is one of the many bunches of grapes draping down from the arbor.   Aren't they gorgeous?   I love the color....so deep and rich.   The skins are a little sour and make your mouth pucker, but if you squeeze the grape and suck out the pulp into your mouth, you discard the skin and spit out the seeds.   Yeah, real lady-like, but that's how the farmer showed us to eat them.   And it works.  

Pretty soon I'll be putting the garden to bed.  I know I could be planting a fall garden, but I'm done.   Yes, I know.  It's hard to believe, but even I know when to cry "uncle".   And now is the time.   Between the canning and the impending delivery of the kitchen, I am officially on overwhelm.  

"Nuf" said,
Debbie

Canning

Wow!   Where has the time gone?  It's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted.   I can tell you what I've been doing.......canning.    And more canning.   And working on plans for our soon-to-be-installed kitchen.   That's a lot to do at the same time.

We seem to be swimming in tomatoes these days, but I'm excited to see how many jars of tomato sauce and tomato paste I've been able to can recently.

Notice the crock sitting on the floor in front of the A/C register.  That's our sauerkraut fermenting in the cool breeze.   Pretty soon it will be time to can the sauerkraut, too.  

This is the handiest gadget ever.   Tomatoes get fed in the funnel on the right while I hand crank the workings.   And the seeds and skins automatically come out in the green dish while the good pulp and juice travels down the chute into the white bowl.   Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Well, you get the idea.  All the pulp in the white bowl is dumped into a pot to simmer for hours on the stove and turn into sauce.  And in a separate pot, the plum and paste tomatoes become paste.  Yummy!

Today I picked 64 lbs. of tomatoes and then got caught in a downpour so I had to stop.   There are still ripe tomatoes out in the garden but they will have to wait till the morning.   It's so rewarding to cook out the watery part of the tomato and end up with nice, rich tomato sauce.  I know we will really enjoy consuming all these tomato products in the dead of winter when we crave fresh flavors from the garden.

And then there is this delicious plate......Linguini with Summer Sauce, a favorite recipe of Joel's from cousin Linda's recipe box.   To do this dish proud, you need to make it in the summertime when the tomatoes are at their peak.   It's simply chopped tomatoes simmered on the stovetop with garlic.   After the linguini is cooked, butter is melted in the pan and dried basil is added and then the pasta is tossed in the golden herb mixture.   Throw the tomatoes on top and shave some Parmegiano Regiano cheese over the whole glorious mess.   Yummy, yummy!

Since it won't be summer for another 10 months, it finally dawned on me that I could can up some Summer Sauce and we would be able to enjoy it year round.   Oh, my, Joel will be overjoyed!

Um, yeah, we've been going through a few canning jars lately.  

But I have been doing other things besides canning.   I've made some new acquaintances lately at a new quilt guild that I joined.   Two of the ladies in particular have taken me under their wing and we took a quilt field trip last Wednesday.   This pic is of Becky's Barn in Clark Range, TN.   Her hubby renovated this barn that used to house critters and hay and now it's an awesome quilt shop/retreat for ladies who travel in from all over the country to stay in one of the 4 bedrooms and quilt as long as they want to without interruption.   Some quilters only stay for a couple days, others stay for a week!

There's a fully equipped kitchen in the back of the barn where the ladies prepare their own meals.   Each has their own bed with a lovely quilt gracing it and the bedrooms come complete with a full bathroom.   What a great idea!    Last year they even added a covered porch with a picnic table, chairs for relaxing and overhead fans to help keep a cool breeze blowing.   Becky even has a wonderful quilt store inside where you can purchase fabric, books and patterns galore.   Sounds like a fun way to spend some time with friends, doing what we love best.....making quilts.

After hitting another quilt store, we retreated back to Crossville to have lunch.   Valerie on the left is the applique teacher extraordinaire and Kathi in the center creates the most beautiful art quilts.   It's so nice to have met 2 women who are kindred spirits and I think we may get into a lot of mischief, er, um, I mean, I think we will have lots of fun together in the future.

But back to the farm, during a break in the rain this afternoon I went out to the blueberry bush to pick some of the last berries off the bush.   I will miss these little beauties until next summer.   It's been such a pleasure to walk outside and stand at the bush and pop the warm, sweet berries right in my mouth.

While I was standing there I looked off into our woods and spotted the first tree with red leaves on it.....yes, Fall is right around the corner.   And I can hardly wait.   This year will be the first time in 35 years that I will experience all the nuances of Fall from start to finish.   I plan on cutting down our cornstalks and using them to decorate our porch, along with the pumpkins we've been growing in the garden.   I just love Fall and the change to crisp, cool days.....perfect blue jean weather.

But it's not quite time for all of that yet.  For now, this is my life.....rummaging through the garden in my pink Real-Tree camo boots, picking all the harvest I can reach.  

What a blessing,
Debbie