The Best Gifts are Handmade

Well here we are, December already. Christmas is near and 2013 is just around the corner.
Lets all Celebrate the ending of a great year, the Birthday of our Lord and the beginning of
hopefully another blessed year. 

So, instead of "misplacing" your Christmas Spirit out in some store or in a long line, grab a glass of wine, light a candle, add some music and get creative.

Since I am on a crazy diet, per doctors order, I had to forgo making Christmas cookies this year, for probably the first time in my life. Well I made up for this glitch by creating confections early.
We all have enough "stuff" and even if the home-made gift looks like it came from a pre-schooler, it will bring Joy.

Handmade antler cross

Anyone interested in homemade compost?  LOL

Happy Holidays             Merry Christmas             Happy New Year        

Giving Thanks to:

The Animals:       for their enjoyment, amusement, manure and foods.

The Harvest:       may  it never cease.

Dew:                     relief during the spell of hot weather. 

Miracles:           bountiful corn harvest during the worst drought in a generation.
                           Burning Bush "burned" for the first time in 7 years.
                           John being able to plant St. John rose bush.
                          I found a lost horse. She is now in our pasture with Buddy.

Wheelbarrow:   after a year of a flat tire, it is back in useful service.



painting by:
Vincent van Gogh
a women needs a wheelbarrow

  























P.S.   This blog is about "The Farm". The many other blessings and grateful gestures are not mentioned,
          but are not forgotten!

It's corn pick'in time

After all the work, the terrible drought and expense, the corn is coming in. It looks good.
We got lucky with the yield. It could of been worse. The bottom land held moisture during the drought.

Corn is Political. Oil prices drive corn prices. So does demand.
The price of a bushel of corn this week is $7.55. Twenty years ago the price was $2.30.
Supply and demand and the cost of oil and ethanol production is raising the price.
They say we don't have inflation, but corn, oil and agriculture land costs go up every year.
Politics aside, Harvest time is a time of great joy.



On the way to the corn crib.



Notice the wind mills.
Farms are blending
new and old ways together.








Lord of the Harvest
place your fire in me.



The Cabin-in-the-woods is connected to the Sun

The Farm has a cabin-in-the-woods used as a place to gather, go hunting & fishing, or just hanging out
around a bon-fire.  It is so remote back-into-the-woods, there is no electric service available.
We've been charging car & truck batteries and hauling them down to the cabin every time we go out there
and light the cabin with RV lights.

We've decided to continue to have fun out in-the-woods, but make the world a better place by not burning a lump of coal everytime we charge all those batteries. We can do this by installing solar panels (photo-voltaic).  These solar panels will provide the cabin even in the short dark days of December, lights and electric to run a TV/DVD player, radio/CD player, computer, fridge and fan (in the summer).
OMG, welcome to luxury in the middle of the woods!





Bursting Sun
2009 by Jaison Cianelli
this abstract oil painting shows the energy of the sun



       

 

To all you Kentuckians:  coal is the alternative energy and Solar is the clean original energy.



Hurrah, we have bright lights.



John on the roof

Installation done by:  www.ElementalEnergy.net   We Thank-you very much!

Another favorite

Besides the Roses and Lilies, another favorite flower is the geraniums.

These guys are the best bloomers spring thru fall.

Most people pick up geraniums at a local garden center, and they are tender annuals in the hot colors.
The geraniums that are scented are also an annual plant.
Both of these are from South Africa and are tropical plants, but are grown here during the summer
for their blooms and scents.

The true geraniums have a totally different look. They aren't the hot colors, instead, they are cooler colors, ie, blues, violets and white. They are hardy and survive the winters to re bloom again in early spring. I find them growing wild in the woods. They like the shade and look fabulous growing under roses.
They bloom early in the Spring and again in late summer and thru the fall.





A true blue hardy geranium
still blooming after a few light frosts






So, if your looking for a hardy bloomer look for the true geraniums with names such as:
Rozanne, Johnson's blue and apple blossom.













The common annual geraniums
add a splash of color
out in the garden
or placed in pots on the porch


These common ones are great
for color all spring thru fall.
They can be held over thru
the winter in the house or garage
and placed outside again in the
Spring for another year of big blooms.
No need to keep buying them
every year. They are also very
easy to propagate, just stick a stem
into moist dirt and keep in the shade
until new roots grow and you've got
another annual geranium to enjoy
year after year. :)

This land was made for you & me.

A Woody Guthrie song.

This land is your land.
This land is my land
from California to the New York Island
from the red wood forests to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me.



From the Movie Gone with the Wind

Scarlett O'Hara father Gerald said to her:
"Why, Land is the only thing in the world worth workin'for, worth fightn'for, worth dyin'for,
because it's the only thing that lasts."

                                                          Oil painting
                         This painting could be Kentucky or the west or California or even in Europe.


Just wanted to share a few thoughts with you'll about my love of land.

The Last Hurrah

Pears, beets, carrots, pumpkins & my favorite thing to dig & harvest.......potatoes!

This time of year finds me out collecting all the goodies I can find before a hard frost.

My collection will come to be warm & delicious on a cold winter day, which is just a few days away, Yikes!

 

Digging Potatoes on a Fall Day

 

Oil Painting by
Vincent Van Gogh  1890
"Peasants digging up Potatoes"

Peasants, you don't hear this word today.

It is an old French word meaning: one from the countryside.

That's me!

a peasant :)

eating and enjoying

home-grown goodies

P.S. Raising my glass:  Death to the imperialist fast-food company obesity promoting plastic-cheese-eating capitalist American pigs!    (quote by Anthony Bourdain)

What's new on the farm? Hint: "Oink, oink!"

Yes, our newest addition is a PIG, a little black pig ~ 12 weeks old, weaned & castrated.

Our no name pig.

He'll provide us with pork chops, bacon and ham and lots of compost from his stall,
while helping to get rid of leftovers and weeds.

Also new to the farm is our registered Nubian nanny: Raven 1
She is also 12 weeks old and growing not as fast as the pig.
She is also black.

My baby.
I am weaning her from her momma
by keeping her on a chain
like a dog.
She is eating the fall leaves.

Fall'in Flowers

So Sad,
the ending of the season of many bright colors

A Fall'in Sunflower

The flower fades,
but the word of God stands forever...
Isaiah 40:8

to the beginning of the season of fewer colors
Calm colors, cool colors
to rest, rejuvenate
dream and hope
for another bright colorful season.

Even the garden steps rest

Oil painting
by M.Beck

Dirt Dish

BEETS

I bet not too many of you, that read this, have actually bought fresh whole garden beets.

Well, I too have never bought fresh whole garden beets.
A funny thing, cause I love to eat them.
Maybe its because I love to grow them more than I love to eat them.
They are very easy to grow, hardy and lasting all season into the early winter months.
Therefore, beets can make a spring, summer or fall salad.

Beets are a beautiful garden vegetable with their large green leaves and showy red veins and the beet top popping out of the ground.

The whole beet plant
from the green top
down the stalk
to the beet
is edible.



A Beautiful Garden Plant



            
            
                            Here is the recipe for beet salad with vinaigrette and freshly dug carrots and onions.

A fresh dish dug from the dirt.

All ingredients must be freshly dug from the dirt.

Beets, cooked to soften and then sliced

Onions, sliced
Carrots, grated
Vinaigrette dressing to taste

Beets have an "earthy" flavor, lots of folate and betanin coloring, an antioxidant for your health.













Many Happy Returns

Fall Planting hopefully will bring a bounty of blooms next Spring & Summer
and garden food to eat this Fall & Winter & into next year.

The weather here in Kentucky has been perfect to get outside and enjoy time spent in the garden.
A great time of year to play and plant.

The list:  Chard, Garlic bulbs, lettuce, mustard greens, turnips,
                 Lilies and an old rose called St. John for my son (as I write this, Laura, your rose is being
                 propagated)

        
These greens are ready to be picked
after seeding 4 weeks ago, thanks to the ideal
weather and chicken compost.














Plants are also being moved from one location to another. Iris found at an old house are being thinned and moved to my ole iris garden. Young trees that were quickly planted are being moved to a permanent spot.

The stalk of the chard is a great substitute
for celery.  The top greens are wonderful sauteed or chopped into soups.  A bunch of celery, gotten at the store, is usually too much to use up before it goes bad. This chard is convenient to use as a
celery substitute from summer until December.










Happy Fall planting and many happy returns for you.

First Day of Fall

The September Equinox or Ember day is today, the 22nd.

Ember day in Latin means: "four seasons of the year"
This season, the start of Autumn, is when the sun shines directly on the equator and the
length of day and night is equal--12 hours each

Today is also a Christian Holy Day, set aside for fasting and prayer.

Fall, a perfect time of year to go for  ride!

painted by: Elin Pendleton, a KY artist.

A day set aside for a fall ride, praying to stay on the horse and fasting while sipping
on fall spirits.

A Treasure Found

Once upon a morning walk, I noticed a log, that was placed upright to be a log table, had fallen over on its side during the rains. I bent down to grab hold of the log to move it, as it had fallen on some perennials.
The buzzing sound alarmed me to get back. I got back and saw the bees swarming. I felt a sting and ran for the house. While I was telling my Uncle what had happened, he was swatting bees away from him.
Those bees followed me into the house.
We both had been stung.


I was excited to have found a bee hive/nest right in the front yard!
Bees are pollinators.
Without them we all would not have the crops we harvest.
All my flower planting has payed off!
Those bees love my flowers and built themselves a nest
and hopefully will stay put around here to help me with my gardens and harvest.

A women and her bee hives and flowers.

MY TREASURE

Food in Jars

                                                           What to DO with All this Food?



I'd say the chicken compost worked wonders!



        preservation -   putting food by -  canning  -  drying  - fermenting - salting - pickling - freezing
                            - confit  -


These terms mean the same thing:  saving food you don't use now, to be enjoyed later, especially
the enjoyment found in fermenting grapes into wine.

Gardeners preserve their own food, so as not to waste it.
Other reasons to put food by are: the taste of home-produced food, control over the ingredients, no additives, personal satisfaction, economy, gift giving, tradition or a special variety not found in stores.

My list includes: bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, hot peppers, green beans, sauerkraut, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, tomato juice, squash pickles, cornichons, stuffed and frozen cabbage rolls and green peppers, frozen veggies, apples for pie, frozen fruit, applesauce, jams and last but certainly not least is the wine from grapes.

The End of the Dog Days

Well, can you believe it, the whole of summer is quickly coming to a halt.
The end of the dog days has arrived, August 11th.  School is back in session. The sweet corn has been eaten. The big brandywine tomatoes are done growing and only the little cherry tomatoes are left.
The sunflowers are hanging their heavy seeded heads. The bright Dog Star, Sirius returns to the night sky, leaving behind the hottest days of summer.



oriental lily Rubrum has a lovely perfume




The last of the lilies are blooming. The Fabulous Orientals! They give us their grand finale with their large fragrant heavenly blooms in August.





The many blooms of lily species Rubrum.



Cooler weather is now only weeks away. 

Sweet Corn

The sweet corn planted this year was NK199.
The name sounds like an experimental variety, certainly not the delicious summer vegetable
that we all can't live without with names like: sugar baby, peaches and cream, Kandy Korn or Bodacious.
NK stands for the breeder, Northrup King, and why the name 199 stuck is unknown to me.
NK199 was choosen because I've grown many other hybrids that have not met my standard
for vigor.
NK199 has been around since the 1950's. It's an old time standard corn that was developed for
Green Giant for processing into canned corn.
It grows very tall to over 8 foot, which makes it easier to pick since the ears are higher up on the stalk.
It did good this year during the June drought. It will also out yield other hybrids.
It is bright yellow with lots of big kernels on a large cob. All NK199 needs is butter and salt.



NK199 is as tall as the 9-10 foot sunflowers.










Supper tonight
4 big just picked ears on a plate
Thats a summer delight :)
and all I ate.

Perennial Vegetables

After a long winter, fruits and nuts and herbs come back to grow again,
but the vegetables need to be replanted every Spring.
Wouldn't a garden be a paradise if all veggies were perennial.
No need to sow every year. Just watch'em come up and grow.
We all would have a home garden.
Well, lucky for us there are just a few vegetables, depending on what zone you garden in, that
are perennial.

Here in Kentucky, in my garden, I have a few, that come up year after year.

Rhubarb: one the the hardiest & easiest vegetables to grow
It is also the first veggie to eat in Spring.

Another is asparagus, which I have not planted. Maybe next Spring, I'll get the chance to.

Quite a sight for an awesome vegetable.

For a few winters, the leeks have come back growing without replanting.

I'll consider them a perennial vegetable.

                                               Mine are the thinner leeks, like a big scallion.

So, I've got 3 perennial vegetables.  That leaves me to replant only 22.

New Trials in the Garden

I like to trial a few new seeds for the gardens every year.
A new vegetable or a different variety are chosen and grown and evaluated with the goal of vigor
without any need to fuzz over. Time is valuable and no need to waste any when there is hoeing
that always seems to be needed.

1st to trial are: Purple podded pole beans.
The name alone grabbed me and said "try me this year".

so far, lots of green
and a few
purple podded beans,
(a few weeks after this photo, the plants produced a bushel of a crop with many brown beans)

2nd trial:  Fennel.

It is a perennial herb and an annual Italian vegetable.

These were chosen because I love that sweet anise flavor and smell. The fennel fills the air in the garden with that wonderful aroma. Also the fennel seeds are great in bread and Italian dishes and sausage.

Both the annual Italian veggie and the perennial herb were trialed with great success.
Fennel is drought and heat tolerate.

The annual Italian vegetable Fennel
stays small



The Perennial Herb Fennel
grows over 6 foot
placed in the back of the garden



3rd Trial was a seed packet of mixed cabbage seeds.

The variety of different cabbages was appealing.  Again, more success, as cabbage is hardy and

an easy vegetable to grow.

                                              Purple

Green

Savoy

This fall we'll trial a few varieties of Garlic.

Great Performers

Here are some Great Performers during the record setting drought and heat this summer,
and weekends spent away from the garden.
Wow, aren't we asking alot from these pretty flowers, to bloom either during or after the triple digit heat
and lack of rain. I didn't ask them, and with no extra care at all, they bloomed and thrived.

The performers listed here are flowers only. No veggies, trees, shrubs or herbs, as they are naturally tough.

Lily Scheherazade
a hybrid miracle
hardy, healthy,
tall and pretty.



Lily Black Beauty
a super garden plant





Canna
love all the foliage



Rudbeckia, also called Black-eyed Susan

Not so great performers where the roses and hosta's. The roses put out a few blooms

and the hosta leaves turned brown. Hopefully, next summer, they will get another

chance to perform.

Zinnia's love the heat and drought!

Real Tomato Sauce

We all know about the decline of the poor store tomato.
How it is picked not ripe, gassed, transported many miles and sits on the grocery bin, priced high
for a lousy taste or no taste at all. The "vine-ripened" tomato being sold, isn't any better, its just
priced higher.
This unfresh taste-less flavor is also true for the store bought tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and/or
marinara sauce.
Real tomato sauce is a competely different "animal" than what is sold in stores.
Trust me, you'll never serve that store stuff to your best friends ever again.

Everyone should experience making a good tomato sauce using fresh just-picked
sun-ripened tomatoes.

Tomato Sauce

Olive oil
onion, diced
garlic, diced
cucumber (peeled and deseeded) and/or carrot, diced or grated
6 tomatoes, peeled
fresh herbs, oregano and basil, chopped fine



Wash and peel tomatoes and slice into sauce pan. (I use a crock pot) (no sauce sticking and you don't have to pay any attention to the sauce while it cooks)     Add all ingredients to pot.
Simmer for about an hour or until the sauce begins to thicken and the vegetables are soft.
The sauce can be pureed with a food mill, if a smooth texture is preferred.
Taste and correct seasoning with salt or pepper or a pinch of sugar.

This sauce taste nothing like the store bought variety, just as the home-grown tomato,
honestly ripened on the vine by the heat of the summer sun, will probably never be
like the variety sold in stores.


Fresh Tomato Sauce
on ravioli

Brandywine tomatoes
are the best

  

Live Life Outside

Bringing the right ingredients to the table.

Growing food outside.
Shopping for food at markets outside.
Grilling food outside.
Eating food outside.


Doesn't food taste better outside?



Walking down paradise lane.






A walk does a body wonders.

Like I don't spend enough time outside,
I am going to put up a rope swing
on the oak tree
in the front yard.

Four days in One

In the morning the air is cool
and the ground in full of dew

During the day the sun is high
bright and maybe hot

The evening light is long
the days colors fill the clouds

Stars are out tonight
shining their formations
and falling