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.