How To Know Spring Is Here....

Some people look for the usual signs of Spring... like Tulips coming up, grass greening, trees budding, birds singing, baby chicks hatching, and baby animals being born.

Not me.

Here's how I know if it is Spring....

Is my baby in mud? Check!

And is she lacking pants and shoes? Check!

And there you have it. Now I know Spring is here. Thanks Baby! :)

A Surprise In The Coop...

And a pleasant surprise at that! The Guineas have laid their first eggs! :)

We have 2 females and one male. They have been roaming the farm and roosting in the trees at night, so we weren't really sure where they'd lay them. We were prepared to start scouting out their nest. But today there are two eggs in the coop! So hopefully they are planning on laying their clutch there. That is where we would have moved the females and the eggs and nest had they laid elsewhere. We are hoping some will hatch!

I'm so excited! :)

The ducks have been enjoying the creek and greening grass and bugs during the day. A few weeks ago hubby opened their gate and let them out of their play yard. Now they play in the creek during the day and they go back to the coop at dusk and we lock them in. They are loving it! We have seen a coyote in the pasture eyeing them. So far our black lab has done an excellent job of scaring him off. And the coyote has not managed to make it through the fence around the pasture. Hopefully he won't!

Gorgeous sunny day here today after a weekend of SNOW! It is pretty much melted off now...hopefully Spring is here to stay now! :)

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing....

I got the patio swing cushions and canopy DONE! And I am very pleased with how it all turned out. :) You will have to wait for pictures...I will take some when it warms up a bit and I put them back outside on the swing. Right now they are living behind my couch!

Today I was thinking about organizing my plastic Wal-Mart bags and, since we stopped using paper towels, organizing my "rags" who were living in a plastic Wal-Mart bag in the pantry! So I found this site and made three bags...one for the Wal-Mart bags, one for rags that are to be used and kept, and one for rags that can be used and thrown away. I already had the fabric and ribbon, so it was a quick easy project. She has a lot of neat projects on her site...go check it out and get your sew on! :)

http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/01/grocery-bag-holder.html

My awesome Hubbs is in town right now getting a board and some hooks to hang them on the pantry wall, as well as some other things. Currently there are nails in there to hang things on and things are always falling off the nails or the nails themselves fall out of the wall. It will be nice to have stuff stay put.

I started onion seeds a few weeks back. They are doing ok, but for some reason I don't much care to start them from seed. Go figure because I love starting everything else from seed! I think this year I am going to do an onion experiment...plant some onions from seed, some from local sets, and some from local plants to see what does the best. Maybe I can get out of starting them. I'll have to post again about what is going in the garden this year. I have everything picked out, all seeds in hand, and a schedule made to know when to start them and when to plant them. However, tonight we are supposed to get a couple of inches of SNOW. Bah humbug. Come on Spring...I miss you!

Ok, I am off to cook some supper. :) have you been up to?

The Seed Catalogs Have Started to Arrive!

Yes, I know...we haven't even made it through Christmas OR New Year's yet! Seed catalogs make me smile! Such a wonderful reminder that the cold gloomy Winter won't be here forever. I LOVE LOVE LOVE garden planning! And I so love starting seeds indoors. Weeding? Not so much so.

We have decided to move the garden up to the yard this coming year instead of having it down in the field. Last year we were in way over our heads. WAY OVER. Like we were drowning in weeds, squash bugs, sweat, AND zucchini. Lesson learned. We are going to have a much much smaller garden. This year I would like the focus to be on properly maintaining what we plant and eating fresh through the Summer months. Storage will not be a focus. And I am NOT planting any zucchini! None! Not a one! I know, I'm such a rebel! :) LOL But I am planting Butter Nut squash again! That is some yummy stuff all slathered with butter and brown sugar and baked! ;)

And I am hoping that some things that didn't make it last year...like the green onions, lettuces, broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts...will make it this year. I think they will have a fighting chance if we go for smaller and more manageable. Some things I am not going to even try again...like pop corn or peas or watermelon. Or zucchini. Snicker...snort...bwaaahaaahaaa! :)

And I am half way thinking about quitting blogging. I really either need to give it up or get it in gear. On the bright side I am good at rambling and I do so many interesting things! Yet I never manage to get pictures or update. I have a bit of a follow through problem. Let's just say I am a big thinker and I have the best of intentions, yet I seem to lack the focus and follow through. In other words, Half-Arsed describes my madness quite well. I truly think I try to do too many things and put a little effort into a lot of things, instead of putting a lot of effort into a few things and doing them well. I have too many "hobbies". And part of the problem is trying to manage our double life style in general - one aspect being our typical life (kids, school, work, extra curricular, etc) and the other, the wanna-be lifestyle (homesteading-ish). So one of my goals for the new year is to work on doing what I love best and on follow through. Focus my attention. At this point I am not sure if blogging will be a part of that - is it something I am going to set goals and work on? or is it something I am going to let go to focus on something else? Time will tell! :)

So in the meantime, has your ever so wonderful mail person been bringing you Springtime catalog goodies? Are you loving them or are you not quite ready to "GO THERE" just yet?

Canning Jar Quandry.....and Garden and Dirty Diva Duckie Updates

Hello everyone! Today my laundry is being dried by the gracious sun and I am cleaning out the pantry. Ugh. It never ceases to amaze me how easily it gets out of hand. In the process I am taking inventory of my canning jars. I currently have amassed....

18 Quart Jars
29 Pint Jars
3 half-pint jars
A million saved glass jars that are for storage and refrigerator pickles, but not canning

So, how many canning jars does one need? I have no idea. How many do you have? Is it enough? Where is the best (best meaning cheapest) place to buy them? How many do I need? Can you tell me? How and where do you store yours when not in use?

I have been working on some "canning goals" and going through that fabulous Ball Canning book and picking out the recipes that I plan to use. I figure that is a start. Is that a start? Is that a good start?

My camera sucks cow butt so I have no pictures right now. But will soon!!

The garden....is overall doing very well. I do need to weed and plan to do that this evening. We used hay (straw?) mulch around everything. One and a half of those GINORMOUS round bales to be exact. So far so good.

Successes include....

Tomato seedlings
Pepper seedlings
Cucumbers
Popcorn
Sweet Corn
Zucchini
Squash
Radishes
Carrots (have just recently made their appearance! I was so excited!)
Beets
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Strawberries
Green Beans
Peas
Melons - I am leery about the seedlings, so I direct planted some as well.
Stevia is still in pots and doing well
Recently planted Dill in the garden and Rosemary in pots. Will wait a bit longer to plant some Cilantro because last year by the time we needed it it was bolted and spent. I do have a volunteer Cilantro coming up. I let it grow. Just in case we need some sooner.

Iffy Things....

Sweet Potatoes - some of the slips are growing so we'll have some
Onions - the dozen or so I got in the ground early and then waited on the rest because I thought the soil was too wet are actually doing very well. However, ones I planted later are so-so and not a lot are making it. Even the green onions are having issues.
Lettuces - Some are coming up, but I think they needed to be planted earlier and will try a fall crop and use the cold frame
Okra - I was inspired to plant a few (thanks Mrs. S!) but so far they aren't doing so well. I am going to try re-seeding to see if we can't get it going.
Watermelon - Looking puny. Remember I tried seedlings? I went ahead and direct seeded to see if those would do better.

Total Failures...I think due to planting late

Cabbage
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts


The Dirty Diva's got a little rearranging. As I have said and anyone with ducks knows....they are THE messiest little things when it comes to water. Their set up had their food feeder and a 5 gallon waterer inside the duck house, with their pool outside, and we'd let them out in the mornings and they'd put themselves up in the evening and lock them in. Well, they were emptying that whole 5 gallons overnight, and a lot of it (most of it!) was ending up on the floor which is essentially dirt covered with straw. The problem is that it was stinking to high freakin' heaven, to the point that I couldn't even clean it out, hubby had to do it, because I was gagging horribly! It was also becoming a breeding ground for those annoying little gnats.

So we (meaning hubby...I watched!) got the inside scooped out and cleaned up and laid down a nice thick fresh layer of straw. It is now their sleeping quarters only. Their their food got moved outside next to their pool in their play yard. When they go to bed at night, we do not shut the coop door in case they need to eat or drink overnight. Do they eat or drink overnight? I have no clue. But I do know this is working out very well and they are doing just fine. We are thinking of ways to improve the inside of the coop so they can have a waterer in there. But this will do for now. I have contemplated cutting our flock in half. My original plan was 6 or 8, but to get this kind (Khaki Campbells) we had to order a minimum of 15. No way could I eat them, they are too sweet, but I could sell some. Hubby thinks we should just keep them all. We'll probably just keep them, we'll see. Sixteen ducks is A LOT of ducks.

We are thinking about moving the majority of the garden up to the yard next year in the spot where his grandparents always had their garden. Hubby brought home a gigantic roll of thick black felt that they use under bridges. If we do, I think we are going to lay it down to (hopefully) kill off the grass over the summer and then we will remove the felt and till in some leaves to compost over the winter. But then again we may just stick to what we have been doing and keep the garden on the edge of the soybean field. We go back and forth. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

I also did another totally cool re-purpose! The kids have a swimming pool, you know those easy set pools with the blow up top ring and soft sides? 12 X 3 I think. They love it. Anyway, last year the black lab dog chewed up the chlorine floater thing. I looked at them at the store a week or so ago and they were a whopping $10! Saving money tends to get the wheels in my head going. So I decided to make my own. I used an empty 2 liter soda bottle with lid and a small sour cream container with lid. I tied a string tightly around the neck of the soda bottle. Then poked a bunch of holes in the sour cream container and tied the string in holes on each side. I wish my camera worked, I'd show you! I'm really proud of it. :) The chlorine tablets go in the sour cream container, lid goes on, and in the pool it goes. The sour cream container fills up with water and sinks, dissolving the tablets, and the pop bottle stays afloat to keep it floating around. I'm a freakin' genius! :) No, not really.....just a momma motivated to pinch pennies and squeeze George til he screams and who saves way too many empty containers. :) LOL Or maybe that makes me a Redneck? :)

Oh, I have been knitting too. More of those Knitted Babes. I knitted a newborn one for my daughter to go with her big girl, hope to get a picture up soon. And I knitted a big one for my niece's birthday and am going to knit her TWO newborns since her mom is pregnant with twins.

Well, I think I hear the pantry calling so off I go. I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Queen For A Day....

I have to say I am blessed to be a mother and wife and to have the husband and children that I do! They are always good to me, but yesterday they treated me like a queen. It started with breakfast...my oldest daughter made me french toast with sliced strawberries around it in the shape of a heart, and two eggs. While I was eating they each gave me the cards they made and my oldest wrote me they sweetest letter that brought tears to my eyes. They helped a round the house. They entertained each other while I worked in the garden planting the rest of the seeds. Hubby helped me in the garden. They told me Happy Mother's Day at least 100 times through out the day. I got a zillion hugs and kisses. Happy Mother's Day!

I talked to my mom and wished her Happy Mother's Day. We'll get together soon, I have a gift for her. I was reminiscing and remembered the time we went to the gas station and she accidentally pulled away without paying. The attendant ran out hollering and smacked the back of the car and mom stopped and very apologetically, very embarrassed, paid. I can so see myself doing something like that. The older I get and the busier life with three kids gets, everything about my own parents make more sense. :) I love you Mom!

The entire garden is planted! I do have plans to succession plant a few things, so I will make out a schedule for that. I got sunburned doing all that gardening. It is clear that I wore flip flops and my feet look silly now. Seems like we always get a good burn around here before we remember to drag out the sunscreen again. I did put on a bright orange hunting hat after I realized my face had been lobsterfied. Which was funny for two reasons, beside hat hair and looking dorky...one I was planting pumpkin seeds and hubby asked me if I was hunting for pumpkins. I was like 'Uh, no, why?'. Duh. Took me a minute to get that one! Second I was sitting on the deck wearing the hat and the humming birds kept flying up to it to see if it was food. That was hilarious and so neat!

Today is back to normal...kids off to school and housework and laundry to be done. Life is good. :) Happy Monday!

Mr. Tough Guy.....

My son is getting ready to turn 12! Officially a pre-teen....where does the time go? But he isn't afraid to sport an Eric Carl 'Hungry Little Caterpillar' tattoo - not as long as he is flexing his muscles anyway. :)

It has been a busy week! With school getting close to letting out for the summer, there is a lot going on. It has also been gorgeous out, with the exception of yesterday when we had a tornado warning. Luckily all is well and the worst of the storm passed to the north of us. Before the storm I did get some potatoes planted, again. I would say about half of what I planted the first go round came up and the rest rotted in the ground. I suspect we may have planted some a bit too deep. We also got the rest of the onion plants in the ground. I was disappointed to find that my white onion plants had all dried out the nothing. Darn it. The red ones were still good, so in they went. My sweet potato slips came yesterday too, so I got them planted. I also learned that I CAN GROW MY OWN SLIPS!!! Did you know you could do that? I had no clue!! Next year I will definitely do that. And my own onion plants. And my own seed potatoes (God willing!)

The beautiful pink azaleas I planted last year are officially dead. My parents came over earlier this week for a school program and mom brought me some of her extra daylillies, so I will replace them with those. My older two kids were both in the school program playing their instruments and my oldest daughter was in a small production of Grease and did awesome! They did two Grease songs and choreographed dance moves. She had a bit of a solo for the end of Summer Nights and she sang beautifully! She said she wasn't even nervous like she used to be before preforming...good for her!! :)

Youngest D was home from school today after climbing in bed with us at 1:30 in the morning with a slight fever. I couldn't get her to take any fever medicine, so I sponged her with a wash cloth. That drove her out of our bed and back into hers, she did not like being sponged! LOL :) She is doing better today. I hate to see her not feeling well, but it is about the only time she slows down enough to be a complete snuggle bunny.

I planted Zinnia, marigold, and mammoth sun flower seeds yesterday too. My tomato plants have blooms! And are still not in the ground. I was hoping to get them in yesterday but by the time hubby got home from work and disced, the storm came and we were off to the basement. We had 3o minutes notice before the storm hit, so we were able to baton down the hatches. I do look forward to having the raised beds next year - one of the big advantages is that they will be smaller and more manageable that the garden plot. Plus I will be able to cover for moisture control to get early spring stuff in when it needs to be. And less weeding. The list of positives goes on and on.

The Dirty Divas are still doing awesome!

And my camera is throwing a fit and only letting me have 7 pictures on it at a time. I am not sure what the problem is with the memory card. So I haven't been taking many pictures. I wish I was because this is the BEST time of year if you ask me! So much going on and everything is beautiful!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Signs From Above....

Well, first the Weeping Willow got plowed over by the bull. And really, I had been thinking of moving it or something anyway because of our eventual plan to build raised beds in that area of the yard. Then yesterday evening hubby was mowing and FIL had just got done with his mowing and came and helped hubby finish up so he could take the kids fishing sooner. However, FIL did not realize that the foot tall twig sticking up in the yard was a Lilac bush to be that my mom gave me last year from her Lilacs. So he mowed it over. Darn it.

But no, I shall not let it get me down! I will just take it as a sign that we are destined to build raised beds for the vegetables. It would have had to have been moved too.

In other news, it is finally not been raining! Things are drying out and hopefully I will get some stuff planted. I did plant flower seeds in pots yesterday evening. I made a vow that I would not spend any money on flowers, so that means I used seed saved from last year. Zinnias and Marigolds to be specific. Today I plan to seed the rest of my flower beds. I also hope to get my seedlings planted over the next few days if the rain stays away. We have a slight chance each day after today.

The ducks are getting huge and they are definitely in an ugly duckling stage! They are getting feathers all over and are pretty awkward looking, but soon they will be beautiful. Their voices are also changing! No real quacks yet, but I am sure that will happen soon. They remind me of pre-teens. They are so fun to watch. I don't know what it is about them, but they are so relaxing and entertaining.

We hit a few garage sales Saturday morning. Since we are pinching pennies and squeezing George til he screams (I just really love saying that!) I am going to try get as much of the kid's school clothes for this fall as possible from garage sales/consignment shops. So far I have found a few really nice things. I also found some canning jars for cheap.

Oh, and the potatoes have sprouted!!!!!! Since this is my first time planting them, I was completely thrilled! And one of my tomato seedlings, a Sweet Million cherry tomato, is starting to get blooms. They'll be so happy to get in the ground.

The kids did catch a few fish yesterday evening so we had a yummy fish snack. They were so proud of themselves. I am very proud of them too. :)

I'm sure there is more to ramble about, but it is Monday morning and my brain hasn't fully clicked on yet. I'll get pictures of ducks and stuff up soon. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and have a Happy Monday!

Knitted Babe, Tree Frog, Pickle Jars, Sun Tea, (and a Picture of Me!)...

This is the first tree frog I have seen this year! And he was hanging out on our picture window which made for an interesting picture...can you see him? If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.

I saw sun tea jars at the store the other day. I was tempted to buy a couple because we LOVE making sun tea! But really, we are pinching pennies and squeezing George til he screams (don't we sound mean? LOL) and on top of that, I have never had good luck with them because the spicket part always ends up leaking. And they do require more cleaning to keep the spicket and lid crevices clean. So I thought I'd come up with something at home and "make do". Let me tell you, it was fun to be creative and the pride for my accomplishment was much more satisfying! Not to mention money saved. I remembered I had saved these giant pickle jars, which turned out to be the perfect size for sun tea jars. The only problem was that I haven't found an effective way to get the lids to stop smelling like pickles, so using them was out. I didn't want to use plastic wrap because of the chemicals and waste. So I thought 'reusable' and sewed the edges of two small squares out of left over material scraps. I tied them up with some cotton yarn to keep them in place while outside and ta da! They work wonderfully! They are easy to pour from and are easy to clean. And they are pretty to look at sitting on the deck too - bright, cheap, and cheery.

I got my first knitted babe done and my daughter loves her! She named her Cassi after one of her sister's friends. I have three more to make at least...one for my other daughter and for two of my nieces for their b-days. I will probably make a couple for Christmas gifts too, I know a couple of more girls who would love them. I sewed her a little pair of undies and a quick dress out of fabric scraps. I still want to add more hair underneath the hair that is there, but my little one was anxious to love on her so she is good enough for now. And she drags her EVERYWHERE! And she buckles her in when she goes in the van with us. I just realized something so I have edited this to add that if you click on the picture of the doll sitting on the shelf, to her left is a picture of me with my husband! Since I have never posted a picture of myself, I thought that might get you all excited. ;) LOL The picture frame says "It's not the destination, it's the journey." I love that frame.

The Dirty Divas are doing great! The are growing fast and are loving their new home and yard. Herding ducks is not an easy task but it is funny....it took three of us forever to get them to go up their ramp! They are so neat because they move as a flock - so they'd go back and forth past the ramp then under it, and repeat. A time or two we have just give up and caught them and put them in...it was easier that way! Last night we went out late to put them to bed and they were already inside on their own. The nights we herded them it was earlier in the evening and we wanted to get them put up. I think we'll just let them put themselves to bed and then go close them in. We have been getting a lot of rain and they enjoy it. I am ready for things to dry out so I can get in the garden. And I am ready for some sunshine! These grey rainy days make me tired.

The Duck House is Done and The Dirty Diva's Have Moved In! (lots of pics)

This is the duck house and the junk out front on the left is the stuff I cleaned out of the two rooms we are using for now.





















This is my little helper dragging the hoe for me so that I could dig a little trench by the water pump to put rocks in to hopefully minimize a huge water mess.

This is the water pump. Thank goodness it is there! It would be a major pain to water the ducks if it wasn't! I didn't take a picture of the finished room, but I dug the hole, put the rock in, and laid straw over the rest of the floor. It looks great!

Uhhh...where did my helper go? Oh! There she is!



Can you see her now?




How about now?

We all love that creek.


Ok, so while she played, I worked. This is the cement pad in the area where the duck yard will be. I was thrilled it was there, it is a great place to put the swimming water to help keep down the mess they will make.





And the finished product. This is the yard area from a distance. BEFORE....

And AFTER....

Didn't my totally awesome and talented husband do a fantastic job? Thank you honey!! I love you!

We decided to fence and then electric fence around the fence. Can't be too safe with dogs, cats and coyotes around. The fencing and electric fence were all things that were already around so we didn't have to spend any money. Hooray for that because we have none to spend! :) LOL

The Dirty Diva's enjoying their new yard....

If you look very very close you will see that they are getting their tail feathers!!
And their new ramp to go in and out....

Wait a second...something is just not quite right about this duck....

(That there is farm fasion at its finest! :) LOL)

And here they are enjoying their swimming water. We'll probably give them an old kiddie pool that we have stashed when they get bigger. For now they are happy with these.

A view in their kitchen/living room/bedroom inside the house....

In other news, we have been having severe thunderstorms. Right now we are in a tornado watch. Since it was time for the seedlings to be out of the greenhouse, we moved them to boxes and put them on the deck so we could keep them outside until we plant, but that would also make it easy for us to bring them in when it storms. We put the greenhouse under the carport to keep it from getting torn up. It'll get stored until we need it again. Here are the seedlings earlier this evening.....

And as I was typing this the wind kicked up something fierce so they are in for the night. They'll be pleanty of time for them to get pounded by storms once they arein the garden. ;)

Ok, I have got to get some sleep! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

The Greenhouse....

I have been hardening off the seedlings from the house to the greenhouse. The Captain added some shelves - he is da bomb you know. ;) The only thing better than this greenhouse would be a BIGGER one! :) LOL Oh dear, we have actually talked about turning the old hog barn into a greenhouse...it would be HUGE!!!! Anyway, I plan to leave them in there until it is time to harden them to outdoors. I keep the door propped open to vent. So far it is working out really well. I would like to eventually add some type of a small light to leave on at night to provide some warmth...it has been cold enough at night that I was afraid to risk it. But it is supposed to be in the 40's for the overnight lows, so I think they'll be just fine now. I also plan to go ahead and start a few more things in the greenhouse. I hope it all works! The trial and error part is exciting to an extent....I really don't want to kill my plants! :) Oh, also, when they are in the house I have been putting a fan on them on oscillate in hopes that it is toughening them up.

And a funny... Hubby had forgot to close the wood stove door all the way (it was vented to get the fire going) and it got really hot in that room. The Moon Flower got hot and started wilting! I moved it to another room and watered it well. I came to check on it and it was all perked up again so I was talking to the plant. I commented to hubby that plants like it when you talk to them. He tells me it is because they like the carbon dioxide in my breath. Why does he have to be so darn technical all the time and burst my love bubble? I thought they liked the sweet nothings and encouragement I whispered into their little leaf ears. Humph. (Honey, since I know you read this, I wouldn't change your technical thinking one bit. I have learned a lot from you! Ok, so maybe they like the carbon dioxide too, but I am convinced that they also like the sound of my voice and the sweet nothings and encouraging words the most! LOL :)

What do you have started and how is it doing? Any greenhouse wisdom to share?

The Ducklings Are Here!!!

We got the call this morning from the post office....come pick up your box of peeps! :)

Andy puppy was excited to eat....I mean MEET them....

And just like any newborn when they get tired, they pass out! I thought we killed them because they would just kind of drop! Nope, they are ok. Just tired babies. Now I will be doing middle of the night "breathing checks" on 16 tiny ducklings....

And like other newborns, they love food! They caught right on to eating and drinking. And they LOVE water!

My youngest daughter has already named three of them. I have no clue how she will ever tell them apart....

But one thing is for sure....it is DEFINITELY love.....

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! STEVIA SPROUTED!!!

Oh my gosh, I am so excited! This morning hubby and I were talking and he asked me how long it takes the Stevia to sprout. I told him I was not really sure and then I went to check on it. THERE ARE TEENY TINY SPROUTS!!! Too small for my crappy camera to capture, but man, are they cuties! That means so far my Stevia set up is a success! Hooray!!! And today is Monday...I just planted them Saturday afternoon....that was fast!

How I did it so far, if you are wanting to try it....

Soaked the seed starting mix really good with water. Laid seeds on top, did not cover them with mix at all. Did not water from top at all after seeds were laid, only from bottom. Sat container on heat pad. Covered container with plastic (actually press n seal because I was out of saran wrap). Used a small lamp with a CFL bulb to provide light non-stop, 24 hours a day.

That is it so far. I am just thrilled it worked! My packet was only 10 seeds and I sprinkled them all in this one container. I will wait and see how many sprout and when they are bigger move to other containers. I think I will also pick up another packet to start. Stevia can be grown as a house plant, so I want some to keep indoors too. For now I plan on leaving the cover and heat on for a couple more days, but I will monitor them and play it by ear. I'll post pictures when they get a little bigger.

Happy Monday! :)

I'll Be Drooling in My Sleep.....

because I have both crock pots going and my house is going to smell so nummy! One crockpot has quartered potatoes and onions topped with cooked breakfast sausage for the kids for breakfast in the morning. Yummy! The other has a big pork roast in it to make pulled BBQ pork for dinner tomorrow night. I made four loaves of homemade bread today, but I am thinking I will make some homemade onion rolls tomorrow afternoon to eat it on.

Oh man, I will surely have sweet dreams! :) And a wet pillow from the drool! haha

We had homemade cheesy potato bacon soup for dinner tonight. Not my favorite only because it is so rich flavored, but the family absolutely loves it.

It was a rainy cold day today. We are supposed to have a hard freeze tonight and tomorrow night. I was reading online to figure out if I need to cover anything up. I came across an article that says if you have rain before the freeze that is a GOOD thing because a freeze pulls water from the plants and damages them. It said if you haven't had rain then to water before the freeze and it will protect the plants. For siome reason that seems so counter-intuitive. We had rain all day, so if all that is true then I think we'll be ok. The only things I am worried about are the strawberry plants and the raspberries. I may run out and cover the raspberries. Maybe the strawberries too, just in case. Ok, honestly I won't run out there, I'll ask my hubby to do it. :) He gets the crappy jobs...like running out in the rain to cover plants, de-skunking the dog.....you get the idea...but he LIKES those jobs! And thank God for that! He called me today while he was cutting fire wood and said "If you want a good manly picture of me, come down here because the splitter isn't working so I am splitting wood by hand." :) LOL

Laundry and housework are all caught up for the week, which is why I LOVE Sunday nights....I feel so on top of things.

Have a goodnight!

Seedling Update and Stevia Starting....

Seedlingville....has spread to several rooms now because I am running out of window space. We were going to get the greenhouse put where we want it and move things in today, but we are in for a hard freeze over the next few days, so they will be living inside a while longer. And let me ask you this, because hardening off really scares me! I am thinking that they will need to be hardened to even get use to the greenhouse. What do you think? A few hours a day in the greenhouse and build up to fulltime until planting? Or would they be ok to just leave in there fulltime straight from the house and then hardened off from the greenhouse? Do they even have to be hardened from the greenhouse? Help! I have no clue!

Tomatoes and onions...


More Tomatoes and Peppers...

Another of Tomatoes and Peppers....Plus the tall things with sticks are Moon Flowers - they are vining up the sticks already!

The cut off milk jugs each have 4 plants in them.

I started the Stevia seeds today. And this is my set up...

They seem to be a pain to start - packet said keep them warm, moist and watered from the bottom, covered, and under light for 24 hours a day until they sprout! Once they sprout the cover can come off, the heat pad can go bye-bye, and the light can be reduced to 14 hours per day.

What do you think? Will it work? Stay tuned......

My Onion Plan and A Quick Update...

This is what I am thinking for my onions. If you have any thoughts or suggestions or experiences, please chime in! I have never grown onions before and I can use all the help I can get! :)

This year I ordered onion plants and onion seed. I hope for the plants to make it to storage size to store for this winter, the seeds to make my own sets or plants (haven't decided yet - maybe both) for next year, and also to let some onions go to seed to collect the seeds for future sets & plants. In my head, this works out well but we'll have to see how it does in real life! I also have seeds for green onions to plant this year - if the rest of the onions go well and I have enough seed, I will probably use regular onion seed for green onion size onions in the future. Worst case scenario, I have to buy more seeds/plants next year. But I really hope to get into seed saving and buy as little as possible.

We have had a lot of rain and it has been crazy windy out! The cold frame is outside and did just fine with the rain and the wind. The green house is still in the shed, which I wish we had set it out and staked it down to see how it would have held up. This would have been a great dry run! (dry run...LOL!)

We haven't caught anymore mice. My youngest has made it her job to check the traps several times a day and she gets irritated if anyone else checks them. She also learned how to blow a bubble with bubble gum yesterday and spent 3 hours straight following me around wanting me to "LOOK MOM!!" at every attempt she made. :) I have pictures of her I will post. We did some celebrating for 3rd quarter grades...all three of my kids are doing excellent in school! They wish we'd pay them $25 per A...but we would be broke if we did that every quarter! My son is 11 and in 6th grade and he scored a 13+ on his reading level...that means he is reading beyond that of an average 12th grader at the end of the school year. Wow! His teacher also told me what they have been telling me since he was in 1st grade....he is the class clown. :) In a good way though...he doesn't get in trouble with his antics. He's funny at home too and always has been. I am very proud of all three of them for their hard work!!

Oh, and I learned how to purl over the weekend. So I can now cast on, knit, purl, and cast/bind off. I think I am getting close to trying a real knitting pattern!

That is it for now. Hope you have a great night!

Are the Cats on Strike or Something?

We have had a first around here...mice in the house! I thought it was just one, because there was very little evidence. But so far we have caught four! Ewwwwwwwwwwww! With as many cats as we have around here, I am very surprised! I do wonder if cleaning out the flower beds around the house had stirred them up. Either that or the cats have gone on strike...napping in the spring sunshine.

Yesterday we planted two apple trees, a Winesap and a Mcintosh. They are fabulous! We also planted two raspberry bushes. The raspberries are three years old, so I think we'll have a few berries this year. Of course, it will be several years before the apple trees produce, but my parents have an apple tree that put out a bumper crop last season so we'll have pleanty in the meantime.

I also planted some Jewel Weed seeds yesterday. I have never dealt with a seed that had to be kept in the fridge before. Jewel Weed grows wild, but I have never found any. It makes a wonderful poison ivy treatment. I bought a bar of Jewel Weed soap that I swear by, and would love to get some growing and make some of our own. I have read that it can easily take over an area. And that it can be hard to get started. It seems it is one of those feast or famine things...either too much or not enough. Hopefully it will be a success.

The cold frame is done. The greenhouse will be done later today. I'll post pictures soon! I am waiting on my onion plants and potato sets to be delivered. Darn it. I think I have already said it, but I am not going to order from catalogues again unless I absolutely cannot get it local. Makes for a bit of frustration when the dirt is ready and your stuff isn't here yet! I know, there is pleanty of time. I just keep thinking back to last spring when we ended up getting a ton of rain and the soil stayed saturated.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Seedlings and Cold Frame and Green House Building Update....

The tomatoes and peppers are doing great! I think I need to transfer them to individual pots soon.

These are experimental...Morning Glory vines and Moon Flower vines. This is the first year I have grown either, so I wanted to try starting some indoors. They are doing really well. I hope they continue to!

Ok, remember this picture of the canopy frame from an old wagon that I found here on the farm and planned to re-purpose as a little green house?

My AWESOME husband has transformed it into this so far....

This weekend he will attach the door and plastic and it will be done!!!! I think it is fantastic! he's a talented man, for sure. :) I have never had or used a greenhouse before, but I am going to learn!

And this is the Captain, my hubby, with the almost finished cold frame, propped open. The lid is hinged. Doesn't it look wonderful? All that is left to do to it is to attach the plastic to the lid. We had wanted to use plexiglass, but he priced it and it is just not in the budget right now. I think the plastic will be fine for now. Rain may be an issue if it pools on the plastic, so we'll have to keep an eye on it. I am just thrilled! :) I will post pictures of them as soon as they are finished.

There is a Farmer's Market meeting tomorrow night that I am going to attend. I have never been a vendor, and I don't have anything specific to sell there (yet) but I think it may be in our future so I am going to go and see what it is all about. I think it will be fun!

Ducklings - I just checked the calander and it is approximately 26 days until their arrival!

Have a great night! :)

Bounce, Bounce, Bounce. Whoops! Make that Spring, Spring, Spring!

It is a gorgeous day today! In the 70's and sunny with a nice breeze. I took a break to share these...

My Cute Little Seed Starting helper...

Cold Frame is being built as I type this...Thank you Honey!!

Composting....bottoms cut out so they sit directly on the ground and holes drilled in the sides for air flow...

My knitting....I am getting better! The pink one is my first one, then second inthe middle, then third. I am having fun with it. :)

This is what happens when the kids fail to pick up toys and the black lab gets bored....

I got the strawberry bed de-mulched and hoed. It wore me out! Spring is definitely going to whip me into shape!

And here are some strawberry plants coming up....Look closely...

And just incase you aren't fully convinced that spring is almost here.....check out what I found around the yard!

Have a great afternoon!