Friday, September 27, 2013

Food in Jars

My Pantry with Glass Jars of Food.

 











A cupboard today

 

Glass jars  > plastic.
Why not plastic? Start with petrochemicals, then move on to estrogenic chemicals and endocrine disruptor's, you get the picture, why I choose glass.
Glass has been used for thousands of years with no health concerns while plastic has many concerns affecting our health.







A Pantry from the late 1800's










 


Grains & Granola kept in jars.
 

Glass allows the food colors and textures to show. It no wonder we've progressed from open shelving to cupboards allowing us to hide all that junk food and plastic from view.






Saturday, September 21, 2013

Injun Summer

 
 
  
 
Prints & Injun story by: John McCutcheon
 
This time of year all the homesick Injuns come back to play.
Their spirits do.
You can see them across the fields, in the haze.
Smell their fires & pipes a-going.
Hear them rustling and creeping among the leaves.
 
Love this time of year.
 
Our last major project is complete!
Now we rest and enjoy this time of year.
Start up the bonfire and see off yonder the Injuns marching and dancing.

Before shot of the tunnel ride down the dirt road to the fields.
 
Same shot after the dozer came through
Now the combine can get to the fields.

 
Enjoy relaxing in Injun Summer, smelling their pipes a-go 'in.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Monday, September 16, 2013

Chestnuts


A bowl full of Chestnuts from the spiny burs.
The chestnuts came from our grove down by the river.
The chestnut is the only nut that has vitamin C.


 
We stumbled upon an undiscovered grove of American Chestnut trees down by the river.
This is epic!, because the American Chestnut tree is extremely rare due to a blight that killed this mighty giant of a tree. The loss of the American Chestnut was an environmental disaster since this tree occupied 25% of Eastern Forests.

Chestnuts that are planted today are either Chinese or European.

We are going to cut a twig with leaves and send it off for testing and confirmation to determine if our discovery is the American Chestnut.




Oil painting of Chestnut tree by:
Vincent van Gogh
 
 
The Chestnuts that are found in stores are imported. Hopefully in another 100 years, our Eastern forest floors will again be covered with chestnuts for all to enjoy.




P.S. The American Chestnut Foundation confirmed that our chestnut tree is a Chinese variety.
Of course, isn't mostly everything these days "Chinese". 
We figure the "hippies" that once upon a time ~ 50 years ago homesteaded our land and probably planted the Chinese chestnut trees near their hand dug water well.
The well and the trees remain, but the "hippies" were run off by the locals.
That is another story.







 
 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Pumpkin, a true american vegetable


A Pumpkin pick'n day.
The seed was from  www.superseeds.com 
a variety called: Spookie, a smaller size pumpkin with very good yields per vine.


Took a few pumpkins into the kitchen to turn them into:
making pumpkin pulp
 

Pumpkin seeds and pulp.






Roasted Pepitas  (pumpkin seeds)


Cajun spiced Pepitas

 
Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin Cake with hazelnuts
 

Pickled pumpkin rind.  The recipe did not seem to sound as good as the name,
so I gave all the rind to the chickens.

The cooked pulp became
a bowl full of delicious squash.

Pumpkin squash
with added butter & maple syrup
 

Didn't know these Spookies could taste soo good!

 

Monday, September 2, 2013

Lilies


a Chinese proverb:   if you have 2 loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily


Lilies (not day lily) are a favorite flower, especially as a cut flower for vases. The flower will last for a good week in a vase.
A lily is not the common day lily.  Lilies have 6 petals and grow on one main stem.  Day lilies have 2 layers of petals and grow as a clump.
Lilies flower from May until mid-August; what other flower can do that?


trumpet lily

Black Beauty Lily

Some good sources to get lilies:

www.thelilygarden.com
www.bdlilies.com
www.mzbulb.com
www.johnscheepers.com
Fall is the best time to plant the lily bulbs.




Lilies rule!