New Food!

Frittatta with Spinach, Leeks and Potatoes

Now, I substituted chard for the spinach and threw in a few mushrooms too but you can substitute a variety of things and I think it would be good using this basic recipe. Or cook as it's listed!

1 teaspoon butter
2 cups thinly sliced leeks (about 2 large)
about 10 ounces fresh spinach
1/3 cup milk ( I use 2%)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 large eggs
4 large egg whites
2 cups cooked, peeled red potato

1 1/2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1/2 shredded provolone cheese (sometimes I use Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek; saute 4 minutes. Add spinach; saute 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Place mixture in a colander and press until barely moist.
Combine milk, basil, salt, pepper, eggs and egg whites; stir well wit whisk. Add leek mixture and potato. Pour into and 10 inch round ceramic baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and top with cheese.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until center has set. Broil frittatta for 4 minutes if a browner top is desired.

I serve this with a small salad and garlicky cheese biscuits. Makes a great brunch or even supper.

Heart To Heart

I've always said that I have the best readers of any blog out there and I just wanted to prove it today and say 'thank you' to all ya'll lovelies out there. Apparently I have a number of fine craftspeople that read because ya'll have sent me some of the most beautiful work and you'll never know how much that means to me. I've shown ya'll photos of some of the other gifts (like from Page, a wonderful artist) and these are some recent things I've received. But now, let me stress, all of the wonderful, encouraging emails and comments I get from all ya'll mean just as much. I just thought ya'll might like to see the work of some other people that much deserve the exposure and some readers wanted em to show the little cap I got from Peg on Vancouver Island.
First, the little woven form is from Gin Petty. She exhibits widely around the US and is a well known southern artist. I hope you don't mind me mentioning your name Gin; I looked everywhere for your email to thank you and ask first but I couldn't find anything! Anyway, I love it!! thank you SO much. It will be displayed prominently. Oh, and I wasn't horribly offended by the pink paper. ha!



The beautiful pen is from a reader who says he just does that as a hobby kinda. Nice hobby!! I use it all the time Seth; thank you again. The beautiful glass plate is from Island Rider over at From A Heavenly Land blog. Jack and I had the great pleasure of actually meeting IR and her husband last year when they passed through Birmingham on vacation. This plate is just beautiful! Unfortunately the light in this photo doesn't show all the complexities of the design and glass. Forgive me for waiting so long to show it Cathy.



And here is the little handmade cap from Peg! Isn't it cute!? Oh, disregard the butterfly growing out of my head there...Even though it didn't get real cold this year I wore it anyway like this. It does usually get quite cold here in the winter though and I will wear it for warmth then!



I appreciate all of ya'll kindness, whether in the form of these beautiful items or your great comments and emails. I still maintain that you can have real friends in people even if you have never met them in person. See, aside from my work fellers, I don't have a large number of friends, or even a medium number really, so I really do appreciate and cherish your contact and kind words. I've always been kind of an outsider even among outsiders! so your acceptance means so much. I will always cherish these gifts, whether they are your art, seeds you have sent or simply words to encourage and help me.

Friday Fun

One of the wild cherry trees in bloom that I told ya'll about. The picture doesn't really do it justice. They are very pretty in person.

All the wild hydrangeas are opening up and leafing out. I love the early morning light illuminating their structure. I am fortunate to have tons of these on my property. Free flowers!

More free flowers! Jack and I spent a good part of last Sunday at my Mom's doing yard work for her. After all that was done we went next door to my grandmother's old house and dug flowers and shrubs. Very few of my grandmother's plants still exist (these were planted later by an aunt and such) but it's still nice to have plants here that came from her land.

My blueberries seem to be doing very well so far this year. The bushes have about doubled in size and are loaded with buds. The bees love them.

I can't help but imagine these ferns as stretching and yawning as they slowly wake up from their long winter nap.

Jack got the rest of the garden tilled for planting. I am way behind in putting the potatoes in but at least it's ready now. We are expanding this year so I'll show ya'll that later.

Jack has also been doing a little clearing around the creek bank so it can be seen better when you drive in. I plan on transplanting a number of irises and hydrangeas along here.

The May apples are blooming and I actually caught it this year. They are kind of elusive. Supposedly, they also produce a small fruit or berry but I have never seen that.

The chard is doing well; this is the Bright Lights variety and it is too. Very bright. I have a recipe for a wonderful frittata that uses this. I'll share that with you soon.

The figs are already making! Seems early this year but everything else has been. It took me a while to get fig trees established here but these are doing well now. An old friend of mine always told me you couldn't have good fig trees unless you had chickens. I think he meant chicken poo was good for the trees. The chickens do love to rest under the trees for some reason if given the chance, so maybe he was right.

Rite Of Spring

Well, I guess I'm getting back into the swing of working at home. Doesn't take me long! I am horribly behind on many things though, due to being out of town so much these past 6 months. Last weekend I did manage to plant early spring crops. I planted yellow onions (Texas Sweet I think), purple onions (not sure what type), broccoli (Packman), cabbage (Flat Dutch and Savoy), cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Oh, I also received my new strawberry starts that are supposed to be for the south. I ordered Chandler and Eversweet. I put these in the raised bed and transferred my old strawberries to the beds that contain the blueberries and raspberries. I know there is somewhat of a difference in soil requirements there but I had so many old plants I thought, what the heck! I still have a ton so I'll probably end up offering them to a friend or so.


Grendal's had the spring fever too! So much so that she put aside her fear of Chigger and came out to the garden with me. She really enjoyed the sun. Here she is inspecting my planting technique. I did something a little different this year. I dug a trench to which I added composted chicken poo at the bottom. I then planted my starts in the row. Maybe it will work well.


Jack finished the asparagus bed just in time and I planted Jersey Knight. My order was not quite enough to fill up the bed though so I need to place another order! I can see little tiny asparagus spears inching their way up now. It's going to be SO hard not to cut nay of it this year. To the left of this bed we planted 2 bush type cherries. I might order a standard size cherry tree too; I don't know. We have lots of wild cherry trees here and they are very pretty but don't produce a fruit large enough to do anything with. The birds like them though.


The things in the cold frame are doing really well. Except that, this mole has decided he has quite a taste for spinach (Popeye the mole?) and is doing his best to eat all mine. Most of the time they never bother my crops but this one is a little crap. I need to dump something really stinky down his tunnel. That usually works well. The Swiss chard is going bonkers. We need to eat more of it.



Everything is blooming here. It's like life just popped out overnight. It just seems like this is the fastest I have ever seen things grow. I'm behind on starting my tomatoes and peppers and such but I'll try to get to that tomorrow or such. I'm still wary of planting too much now like that. With Alabama weather it could snow next week! Generally, Good Friday is our traditional date for setting out the hot weather crops so I'll wait until then, or so.

Well, all day yesterday was spent in Birmingham taking care of various business but I had all day today to start my pottery again. It looks promising. Seems there are just not enough hours in the day for all I need to do though. I've been enjoying sleeping in a little since being home but that may have to change! I need to be up at first light.
I am also going to try to reinstate my recipe a week posting. I never have shown ya'll my new stove and such, have I? It's so great to have a full size oven and eyes to cook with. Now to just finish the rest of the kitchen around it!

Those Were The Days

I know I'm not supposed to show pictures from work but screw it.....I don't work for them anymore. And by them I mean, the company that bought us and imposed this asinine rule, not my old company.
At any rate, this is from my last safety meeting with the guys. I know I should be happy to be able to retire from this business and pursue a career that means more to me personally but I still can't help but feel a great sadness today. Sadness to see a once really great company that prided itself on true craftsmanship and quality, now faded to just a handful of guys that even remember those days. Sadness to see these men now struggle with overflow of bureaucratic bullshit that has all but washed away any joy or satisfaction of a job being built and completed. But that's a long story and not really what I'm writing about tonight.
Mostly it's a sadness for lost love. Bear with me on this and let me explain....At this point in my life most of my natural family has passed away or otherwise gone. I have one brother and one sister with their small families and my Mom. I rarely see any of them though, except my Mom. Through actual death or the death of common interests I've lost most of my birth family and now I'm losing my adopted family, my friends, my sweethearts. Now, some people may scoff at such an idea. How could these rough ol' men, who are not supposed to accept a female in their trade, be any kind of family to me? How is it that we can go a couple of years at times without even seeing each other and then to step onto a new job together and it be like you were never apart? And worse still I reckon is what does it say about me; a woman that can get along far better with a bunch of raggedy ass, hard livin' and generally misunderstood men, more than anybody else in this world? To tell you the truth, I never have really figured that one out. I never have known why they so completely accepted me. I've seen a few other women come and go with our company and I guess that may be part of it; they never stayed. Mostly because they weren't worth killin', as they guys would say. Now before anybody has a stroke, that just means they didn't think the women could work very well. They didn't try.
I do know that I always tried my best to do my job without asking for help every time I turned around but I never tried to be a man. I understood they had me on sheer strength. I also know that most of those guys are not the mules that most of society thinks they are and that even an old carpenter sometimes just needs somebody to talk to. I guess the two things brought us together. They respected my efforts and I respected them. Did we fuss and argue? Oh hell yes. We've cussed each other 'til we were red in the face. We've kicked and stomped and slung many a hardhat. We've finished more than one job swearing that was the last. But then, a few hours or maybe a day or two to cool off and we'd sidle back up next to each other. We couldn't stay mad for long.
I've been through a number of rough patches in my life. Some of my own doing, some not. Through it all the people that I could most depend on, whether for a shoulder to cry on or a helping hand up, was these guys. They know me pretty good and they helped me know myself. They have been my cheering section and have done their darnedest to establish my legend. Even on my last day they couldn't help but recount some of the stories again that they get such a kick out of. Like the time I shamed a boy into quitting because I took a sledgehammer away from him and showed him how to really use it; that's their favorite I think. I'll never live that one down. And for the record, I think they embellish it a little. The boy didn't quit until the next day.
I am Miss Annie, Sweet Pea, Anna (to my Hispanic boys), Fruitcake, Sweet Thang, Susie Q or just Ma'am. They are my Sweeties, Honey, Sir, my Men and I will miss them so.

Changes

So, I turned in my notice at work last Friday. I'll work until this Friday and then I retire for good from construction. I'm not entirely sure if anyone believes I'm actually quitting but I guess they'll believe it when I don't show up the following Monday.

I'm having a real problem posting here for some reason. I mean, feeling like I want to post, not a problem with Blogger or my computer. I guess I'm not feeling like anyone is listening right now. Or that I have much to say. I'm not sure why...

I think I've just had a real anti-social twinge going lately. This is a really crappy, rambling post and I'm not even drunk. ha!

And Now For Something Really Good....

Okay, somebody tell me if some of ya'll are having trouble commenting or is it just nobody has anything to say? I suspect the latter but ever since I took the word verification thingy off I have been having trouble with Blogger and getting tons of spam. One comment on an old post seemed to indicate something wrong? or maybe it's just more spam? If something is wrong somebody email me, please.

Wishin' And Hopin'

Ol' Chigger is always wishin' I'd quit playing with this dirt and hopin' that I'd come out and play with her. I try to make an effort to toss her frisbee several times a day and go for at least 2 walks. Seems like it's never enough though.

I know how she feels. I'm sitting here 100 miles from home wishin' I was there and hopin' I will be soon, for good. I know ya'll get sick of me whining about work; I'm sorry. Things have gotten a bit easier the past couple of days though. Of course, it about had to. Any harder and I think I would be dead. So, not really any news to tell ya'll about. I've got lots of stuff waiting for me at home to plant, fire, make, grow, etc.

Sorry it took me so long to get rid of that word verification thing. Maybe it will make commenting easier. I had switched over to the new Blogger interface, which sucks btw, and nowhere on it could I find the option for word verification. I looked and looked and looked. Finally it occurred to me that I might have to switch back to the old because I knew I had seen it there. And that's what I did. I hope Blogger gets these issues they've been having straightened out soon. They are becoming a pain in the butt and I've already got several of those.

Sal, I'm glad you got your mugs and that you really like them! Sorry it took me so long to reply; I've been more scatterbrained than normal lately.

So, I'll try to have something of interest next time I post. I do have several things to show at home. I'm adding to the garden and landscaping quite a bit. Well, I should say Jack is. He's actually been doing most of the hard work while I'm away. He helps me so much in so many ways. It's kind of a funny thing for me to be the one to put on the hardhat and boots and go away for work but he has adapted to the 'househusband'** role just fine. He always has the house spruced up when I come home and clean sheets on the bed. Even if they are on sideways. lol! It still sleeps fine!

**Edit: In case anyone is wondering, Jack took early retirement after getting laid off about 1 1/2 years ago from his job when the jobs of many were going down the crapper. He had worked in television for many, many years and had tired of the extreme stress and continual travel required of that job. So, no, he is not sluffing off on me, I'm not supporting a deadbeat that won't work and we are not actually married at this point. Jack has put much hard labor and his own money into this land and relationship. As Lilith said once on Frasier, "he has been a dutiful suitor and I am convinced, within an acceptable margin or error, that he loves me."

5 Star Chicken

I am very, very, very tired tonight but I wanted to put up a little something of what's been going on around the house.  I loaded these pics last night but just didn't have the energy to finish.
I can honestly say my construction career is drawing to a close.  After a 10 hour day of welding I-beams, crammed up on scaffolding with only 3 feet of clearance to the slab above, I am beat.  I feel like I have been beat.  I should be beaten for coming back to this.

My attempt at starting some cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc.  I'm not sure why they got so leggy.  Ended up finding a bunch of starts at the local co-op and bough them.  If any of these turn out okay I'll plant them too.

Looky!!!  Goober has starting laying!!  She even made her own little nest in the garden under the fig tree.  I never thought about providing her a nesting box because I didn't know if she would ever lay due to her breed.  She lays a nice size egg and seems quite pleased with herself. Jack started giving her a little laying ration and I think that combined with walking around on dirt has strengthened her legs.  She still has some trouble and sits a lot but is walking better.

Well enough, in fact, to jump her big butt up in my cold frame and start chowing down!  Good thing I saw her when she did it or I wouldn't have a scrap of anything left in there.  We had to build her a little corral in a corner of the garden because she became too aware of all the good food around her and too mobile!  She has a good size space for roaming still though.

Quiet Times

Hey Everybody!  well, I'm still hanging in but for some reason, I just have had no idea or information to post about.  I've rolled things over in my head for some time and am just not really sure why I've been so quiet lately.  I have felt much better this past week and went back to work but that in itself is an act of pure frustration.  The job has become depressing and futile.  The only nice thing is that I get to see my fellers some, and that only at lunch.  I think I mentioned that my old company was bought out and then the company that bought us was bought by a company from California.  Well, I suppose as a sign o' the times, we now have to sign our life away to work for these people, so I can no longer blog about work, the people I work with, what we do at work or how I feel about work.  Even if done anonymously, as I always have done.  So, that takes out subject matter for a number of posts.  And general how-to info that a lot of people could probably use.  Going back to my old job has certainly made me think about a lot of things lately and most of it ain't good.  I feel so badly for a lot of the guys I work with that bought into that consumer lifestyle and are now indebted to these corporations with no end in sight.  They say peonism was outlawed years ago but I believe it is still alive and well, flourishing even.  The only difference now, is that instead of false arrest, they use shiny new vehicles and $300 cell phones to lure people into servitude.  I thank God every day that something showed me long ago not to enslave myself like that. 

I guess I've also been fairly frustrated at some of the trends I see in social media.  Namely, if you are a even slightly conservative or religious person you can expect to be insulted, criticized, stereotyped unfairly and have numerous hateful comments hurled your way.  I guess because I am an artist a lot of people just assume that I would be wholly liberal and without any religious convictions and so at times have been flooded with all types of hateful, bigoted crap on Facebook and other areas, designed solely to discredit Christians or any other conservative person, all the while spouting how open-minded and wonderfully non-judgmental they are.  I've even seen writers for a few public forum type homesteading blogs spew such crap.  You know, on your own blog, you can write whatever you want, but if you are a guest writer for a homesteading blog, the fact you were offended because some person had the gall to name a pet after a Christian term has no place in the public post you are writing.  But that's the thing, the sport du jour these days is to insult or criticize as many Christian people as you can.  And yes, I realize there are plenty of hypocrites in this world; I build churches fer cryin' out loud.  But I know a good many conservative, religious people that just don't deserve that kind of counter hypocrisy and hatred.  So, while I have a good rant brewing in my head, I've been trying not to explode all over the place.  Turn the other cheek and all that and ya'll long time readers know, that's a real hard one for me. 

I also feel that I just haven't given ya'll much decent information over the past few months.  And yes I know many of ya'll have commented that you don't read this blog for info, you just like to see how I'm getting along and such.  While I sincerely appreciate the sentiment, that's kinda depressing too, if you'll excuse me.  I want my readers to get something they can use out of this blog.  Something that might help your life be a little easier or a project go better or a way of doing things you hadn't thought of.  I don't want to post yet another picture of my daffodils blooming or the chickens running around the yard.
So, I guess I'm just a little discouraged by my own ineptness and things I see out in the 'real' world.  I don't know.  I'll snap out of it.  I'm getting my spring plantings in the garden and I'll show ya'll some of that.  It's definitely looking like spring around here now and I know that will brighten my mood.  So, how are ya'll getting along??

Love Sick

Hey Everybody, just a little update to let ya'll know I haven't been run over by a trackhoe or anything.  I went back to work last Tuesday and it has been a total pain in the ass.  By the time I got home Friday evening I was feeling rather bad and have been very ill with my semi-annual sinus infection ever since.  Today is the first day that I have got off the couch or out of bed much.
On a good note though, I get a much better connection online where I'm staying at work this time than before.  I'll try to be back soon with some kind of a decent post.
Happy Valentine's Day to everybody also.  If you're single, go treat yourself to a little something nice just because.  You are all sweethearts to me!

A Tail Of Two Chickens

With the addition of 5 new hens our egg production is starting to ramp up.  I say 'starting to' because they are just now beginning to lay even though they are supposed to be a year old.  I know they laid for the guy we got them from but had stopped completely come winter, where ours kept on laying.

Here are 2, well actually 3, of the new hens waiting for a nesting box to open up.  If you look carefully behind them in a nesting box, there is a 3rd hen standing over one of our old hens in the same box!  I guess they got anxious or thought they couldn't hold it or something!  I don't know.  Just in case Jack built 3 more boxes on the wall opposite these.  They say 1 box for every 5 hens should be enough but we've noticed a pile up a couple of times so thought maybe a couple more boxes wouldn't hurt.

As I was saying though, you can see these new hens are a little scruffy looking.  Most of their tail feathers are missing and their other feathers are kinda gapped up and well, they just looked scrawny.  I picked one of them up one day and it was scrawny!  Poor little things, I don't think they got fed a whole lot where they were.

Now, this one that I've named Bobbi, for obvious reasons, looks okay.  Smooth, shiny feathers and fairly plump looking.  Just absolutely no sign of any tail feathers.  I don't know what has caused this.

 Our original bunch looks quite healthy I think and they should, considering how spoiled they are!  I have discovered a lot of rural people just don't feed their chicks much or supplement their scratch any.  Now, we don't want to spend a fortune of feed but we do want them to be healthy and happy.  Oh yeah, ol' Runt feels he has to put on the "proud rooster" pose any time I come around with the camera.

We give all our chickens free choice 3-way scratch and the hens get a layer mash if they want it.  Of course, they get to range the yard for bugs and greens.  We also cook a little rice or oatmeal for them on occasion and they get leftover fruits and veggies if we have them.  Jack also goes to the discount bread store for $.50 loaves and they get a handful of bread as a treat now and again.  About twice a week they get a vitamin supplement in their water and a little apple cider vinegar in there too.  Any hen that is molting gets a few bites of cat food to help through this process.  They say the protein helps them get their feathers back sooner.  I don't give them much though.  Just a few bites.  They may occasionally get yogurt or some cottage cheese too.

Since the meat birds don't get out we try to supplement their regular grains with as much greens as I can find.  We went to my mom's the other day and brought back two big sacks of turnip greens for them.  They loved them!  They had already gobbled most of them in this picture. 

They also get the vitamin water, vinegar and cooked rice or oats.

I have to leave tomorrow for work so I don't know when I'll get to post again.  Hopefully it won't be too long.  Those of you who ordered stuff; I fired last night, so barring any catastrophes I haven't seen yet, Jack will be mailing your orders off in the next day or two.  Thanks for being patient! 

And Peg, I received my little hat!!!  I love it!!  thanks so much!  It does get cold here, although you couldn't tell it from this winter, so I'll be wearing it often.

Not The Best Of Times

Hey Everybody.  I'm still here; things just haven't been going as well as I would like lately and therefore I haven't been much in a writing mood.  That's the way it goes though.  Things aren't always sunshine and roses.  Or tomatoes may be a better analogy.
My old company called a few weeks ago and want me to go back to the out of town job to complete that welding.  They finally have all the steel in.  I knew this was probably coming and I did get a month more off than what I thought I would.  I really hate to go out now that it's getting close to planting season but I did get seeds started already and some early lettuces etc. seeded directly in the garden.  I guess I've been a little agitated knowing that I must go back to that work.
I've been a little under the weather the past couple of days too.  A cold or something and been feeling poorly.  The frequent rain is killing me with the arthritis in my foot.
We've also had a longtime issue with a neighbor's son that finally resulted in the police being involved this week.  The neighbors themselves are very nice and well, neighborly, and I hate to have things pushed this far.  I sincerely hope things are settled now and we no longer have a problem.
There's been a few other things that haven't gone well but I think ya'll get the picture!  There has been some beautiful days also.  I'll try to post again before I leave to go back to work.  Hopefully I will be able to work 4-10's and have a 3 day weekend.

Everyone's A Critic

 I stopped by our relatively small, local library the other day and was slightly surprised to see this book on the shelves, so I promptly snatched it up.  I had been wanting to read it for some time and was delighted to see they had the book.  Actually, our library, though small, has a pretty darn good variety and selection of books, especially on gardening, homesteading and such.  So.  What did I think of the book?  If you are at all interested in gardening, homesteading, permaculture and/ or our environment I would highly recommend the book.  It's a delight to read and even though the facts presented are quite sobering you don't get the feeling you're being flogged about the head and shoulders.  The parts about the turkeys alone are hysterical but it also provides a generous amount of meat to chew on for days (pun only slightly intended).  For instance, one passage states:  "If every U.S. citizen ate one meal per week from local, organic food, we would save 1.1 million BARRELS of oil every week."  Now, that just floored me.  One meal a week.  1.1 barrels a week!  Now, I realize that for what seems like the majority of people, they couldn't give a shit about saving any oil.  They want cheap food now and really do not care one whit about where it comes from.  I've had 'em tell me to my face and be proud of it.  But, for those of us who do care and who are concerned about our food and environment and actually see the connection, that is an astounding revelation, or it was to me anyway.  I mean, I understood that growing your own food would save oil, etc but 1.1 barrels a week? and just for one meal.  I also understand there would be a lot of skeptics out there who would say, how can they prove that statistic?  Well, they actually do give some hard figures and when you realize that petroleum is used to not only run farm equipment, ship food and all but to make fertilizers, pesticides, etc etc. it starts to make sense.

So, it got me to thinking....what activity can we, as concerned people, do that makes the most difference to the health of our world and ourselves?  Now of course, you want to participate in more than one but I hear people going on all the time about if you really want to save the earth we must all be on solar power, electric cars and yada, yada, yada.  I know a number of people who live off-grid, non-consumer based lives but yet, don't grow a large percentage of their food.  This gives me pause.  I'm not saying they are buying all their stuff from California or Mexico but it has really made me think lately.  Especially down here in the south where we have such a long growing season.  Now, I hope to one day be off grid or at least produce some of my own power and this is a fine goal.  But it costs a lot of money at first.  I know a lot of people that drive electric cars or hybrids but they still must use power generated by conventional means.  Most of the off grid people I know are not the ones with the electric cars.  Both can be pricey so I guess you sometimes have to choose.  Anyway.  I know tons of people, places that recycle, reuse and all that and that's wonderful.  But what is the number one action we can take that makes the most difference per person?  I think it's to grow or source locally, a very high percentage of your own food.  We must eat and often several times a day.  If everything you put in your mouth (food that is) has been shipped hundreds of miles, what does that all add up to?  It's freakin' crazy to me when I finally started thinking about it.
Now,  I realize not everyone has the amount of land I have or even lives in a house.  Millions live in apartments and such but for those of us who do have the room it seems a no-brainer to me and it's something that will have a major impact for relatively little start up costs, as opposed to say, going off grid.  And yes, of course, nobody can produce everything they need and I'm not saying we should.  I have no problem with importing a few things.  Humans have traded spices and foods since the beginning.  Make a little money for you, I get a treat I can't make myself...But for us to grow tomatoes down the road and ship them to Wisconsin while we turn around and import ours from California??  Wha???
Since reading this book I decided to challenge myself to find local products to supply what I can't grow or make myself and I have been pleasantly surprised by what I've found.  Alabama makes a lot of stuff!!  I actually found an organic diary!  Well, two actually.  One is in south Alabama and too far to drive but they sell their products in Birmingham ,where I go frequently.  And yes, it is shipped in but 150 miles is a helluva lot better than 600.  And I know their milk is from their cows and their cows only, not cows from Texas and Canada and God only knows where else.  The other diary is much closer, well within driving distance for me, but it has actually been easier to get this other milk for now, as I was already in Birmingham.  It is a bit more expensive but with all the money I save growing my own food, and not buying junk, I have plenty of money to buy the milk.  Plus, I can take a gallon and make my own yogurt and maybe even some cheese as I don't keep a lot of milk for just drinking.  The photo above shows just a few things I already had that is produced locally or in our state.  We make lots of honey and various syrups.  Of course we produce cornmeal and grits!  And only the white cornmeal; southerners know better than to use that yellow crap.  My sister knows a man that grows wheat and corn for grinding on a commercial scale and our state even grows rice!  Not a tremendous amount but some.  I am very fortunate to live in a county that produces tons of fruit.  Apples, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, melons, pecans (yeah, that's a nut), blackberries and much, much more.  Yes, I hope to grow much of this myself one day but for now I can get it within just a few miles.  As I mentioned in the beginning, we want to go solar soon too but until then, I think I'm going to put much more effort into producing my own food or sourcing it locally.  I was meaning to anyway, but this gives me a lot more motivation.  Oh yeah!!  and to this end...I'm going to start growing my own tea!  Annie's Tea Plantation!  Lots of people say, what???  the tea plant is Camillia Sinesis; it's in the camellia family!  Our state flower!! lol! DUH on me!  I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!
So what do ya'll think?  What do you think is one activity that really makes the most difference to us and our environment?

All Good Books

Over the few years that I have lived on my little homestead here, I have collected a few books that have really come in handy and I thought some of ya'll might find them interesting if you don't already know about them.  Especially if you are geared towards the gardening, homesteading kinda movement.  I think a couple of them are pretty standard to most people who garden seriously but there was one or two that might not be that popular.  I can't really say that I use anyone more than the others; they all get referenced regularly.  And I have several more good ones on the same subjects.  I just thought these 4 were kinda the best overall.
I think everybody is familiar with Rodale's organic gardening books and for good reason.  I use this book a lot!  Great info on all kinds of stuff, even if you've been gardening for a while.  It has good illustrations and diagrams too. 
I think there are several variations of John Seymour's book on self-sufficiency but I like this one a lot.  My only complaint would be that it contains so much information on so many subjects that it sometimes leaves a bit to be desired in depth of information.  For instance, the section on making pottery just kinda glosses over the process.  Not really enough info for someone new to the craft.  I do really like his gardening strategies for each season and that is outlined well and how to best use the land you have, whether it's 1 or 20 acres.  I consult the gardening sections a lot.  It also gives you a lot of ideas for truly being self-sufficient; producing energy, reducing wastes, raising food etc.
Story's Guide to Raising Chickens is great too.  It gives really good overall info on everything from hatching chicks to cooking the chickens.  Good diagrams and illustrations too.  I also supplement this book with The Chicken Health Handbook, which is a bit more technical but full of good info.  I've never had any problem with my chooks that I couldn't figure out using one of these books.  Not that we have much problems with them but anyway..
Last, but not least by any means, is the Reader's Digest book, Homemade.  This is not a book I've seen espoused much but I love it.  There are recipes for everything in this book!  food, cosmetics, animal treats, cleaning supplies, art supplies and on and on and all of them designed to save you money and go easy on the planet.  It also has a huge section on home health remedies and gardening tips and products.  I have used and/ or made much of the stuff in the book and it's always worked, been luscious, effective or what have you.  I highly recommend this one whether you live on 200 acres or in a ultra urban apartment.  Even if you are not into "green" that much, the recipes etc. are not so out there that you don't want to fool with making them.  They might require having some dried herbs etc. on hand but everything is really easy to make and usually pretty quick.  And relatively cheap!  It has a to-die-for rice pudding recipe in it that I am going to post soon.  I really, really like this book.  And no, they didn't pay me to say that!

Do any of you have a similar book that you would recommend?

Swwweeeeeeet!

 Alright!!  The maple syrup experiment was a success!  In my opinion anyway.  Our season ended quicker than I wanted, due to this unusual warm spell, that has now lasted for a couple of weeks.  So, I went ahead and took the 2 gallons of sap that I had collected and processed it.  Now, to people that do this regularly, 2 gallons isn't squat.  It's hardly even worth fooling with but for me it was something to try.  Just enough to see if it would actually work and taste decent.
So, Jack hooked up the big propane burner that we use for boiling water for chicken scalding and I got my pots and stuff.  Now, all this is done outside because it puts off an enormous amount of moisture.  I used a large stainless steel pot and it was just big enough for the 2 gallons.  So, basically you just get it up to a rolling boil and check on it every once it a while.

 

After several hours it had boiled down considerable and had begun to get this foam around the edge.  I scooped that off occasionally.  Don't know if it matters or not.  At first the sap is basically like water but as it boils down it starts to take on a golden hue and you can smell the sweetness.  At this point it was starting to get pretty low in the pot and I didn't want it to burn so I knew I would have to transfer it to a smaller pot.  I had calculated about how much finished syrup I would get out of this batch (about 3/4 cup) so I knew when it was getting close.  When it did get around a cup and a half or so I took it inside, which is okay because most of the water is gone, and poured it into a smaller pot on the stove.  It's very important to have a candy thermometer to work with.  I had also calculated the boiling point of water for my area because the syrup must reach 7.1 degrees above that boiling point. (It varies according to your elevation above sea level.)

So, I continued to boil all the while monitoring with the thermometer.  At this point the syrup formed a lot of foam as it boiled but that's okay.  When it reached temperature, for me 217.1 degrees F., I took it off the stove and poured it through clean fabric to filter it.  You have to do this while it's still good and hot.  The fabric I had wasn't too fine so I poured it through an unbleached coffee filter next and it cleared it up really nice.  Some people recommend using a hydrometer to test the syrup and that's probably a good idea, and I actually have one, but this was such a small amount and I knew it would be kept it the fridge anyway so I didn't bother.

And here is the final product!!  We had pancakes this morning with it and it is really good.  It is not very thick as many people would expect syrup to be and it doesn't have that really strong maple flavor but I thought it was quite tasty and sweet.  My maples are Red Maples by the way, not the Sugar Maples but you can use any type maple and they say even Sycamore and some other trees.
I know if I had a large batch of sap, say 30-40 gallons, this would be a much more time consuming and labor intensive thing but for what I did it was pretty easy.  Just get set up and get the stuff boiling and check it every so often.  Now, when it gets close to being boiled down all the way you have to monitor it closely but it was pretty simple and not a lot of trouble.  I think spending a weekend to do this for a gallon or so of syrup would be well worth it.

Things I Have Seen Lately

Jack and I have taken a couple of day trips lately, just to get out a little and have some fun while the homestead is kinda slow.

These were solid silver, made completely by hand.  There were probably 20 animals in the exhibit.  The details were exquisite.

We were also scoping out a few new galleries where I might could possibly exhibit my work.  It's funny; these days I often find myself inspecting the structure of the building more than the art.  Especially if it's old, board-formed concrete like was in this place.  No luck here however.  They specialize in "outsider" or folk art.  Outsider means no university degree, so that leaves me out.

This was an example of folk art that just blew me away.  Normally, that genre is not really my thing but this lady had a gift.  Outstanding design and composition.

Thought this was kinda neat and it was rather large.  I have always been partial to "junk" or found object sculpture.  I hope to get back to doing some of my own soon.

Little Bit Of This And That

 This is one of the meat chickens we butchered the other day.  They came out quite tasty if I do say so myself!  I stuffed this one with onions and sage, seasoned the outside and roasted it in my new oven.  It was very juicy and plump.  I think the taste was very similar to the good, organic roasters you get in the stores.  Perhaps a little more texture?  Not tough by any means but just not mushy?  The crispy skin was very flavorful too.  I took half of these (5) and froze them whole and then took the other half and cut up for frying, braising etc.  I froze them according to section; legs, wings etc.  Then, I took the backs and ribs that were left of these and boiled them to make stock.  And it made a beautiful, golden rich broth.  Now, these birds had a significant amount of meat on their backs, so I'll pull the meat off and freeze it for fajitas, pot pies etc.  The skin goes in Chigger food and the bones get thrown in the wood stove.  I read about this as a way to make your own bone ash.  Of course, they are mixed in with wood ash but you can just sprinkle that on parts of your garden that need both. 
These chickens also make several meals as it weighed in at 5 lbs.  Overall I am pleased with these meat birds but I do know several things we will do different next time to differ some of the feeding costs.  Despite a few of them having leg problems they were very active and acted really, well, chicken like.  Not just like blobs of meat laying around.  I have some ideas also to try next time for their leg issues, if we get these again.  I also did some close inspection on the innards as we butchered them to check for health problems.  Some had mentioned the possibility of Marek's in relation to their legs etc. so I really wanted to see what was going on inside, as Marek's has several internal symptoms.  Well, everything looked fine.  Clean, smooth livers and lungs.  I won't go into gory details but everything inside looked healthy.

We also decided to purchase a few more hens to replace those we have lost recently.  Jack found a guy not far from here who had some extra Rhode Island Reds so we got 5.  I checked these out and they have been vaccinated for Marek's and one other thing that slips my mind at the moment.  They are getting used to their new digs slowly.  They guy that had them kept them up in a big coop all the time so I don't know if they ever got to go out on grass and such.  They are a little scrawny looking right now, and mostly missing their tail feathers, but we think they'll fill out fine after they adjust to life here.

The garlic is poking it's first tendrils up due to this unseasonably warm weather.  I bought 2 different types this past fall from and organic supplier, Southern Exposure.  I have been very pleased with their seeds and such so far.  They are always very robust and healthy.  I would highly recommend them if you live in the southern regions.  These are "Inchelium Red" and "Red Toch" and are softneck types.  I am very anxious to see how they do.  I amended their beds well with chicken poo, compost and bone meal before planting.

And last but not least, here is Goober, aka Basement Chicken.  Goober gets to go out everyday, if it's not raining, and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.  I was putting him in a chicken tractor but decided the best place might be the garden.  Now, Goober can stand up and walk, and even run at times, but his legs are kinda weak so he sits a lot.  He has recently discovered the catnip plant and I often find him face down in it.  He really likes it and he can sit right next to his meat brothers (or sisters) and chat with them.  Even though we have cut the horde down to 8 I'm still kinda hesitant to put Goober back in with them.  I'm afraid they might trample him.  As I said, they are very active.  Jack and I often joked that it would be a horrible thing if one of us had ever tripped and fallen down in their run.  It would be like fluffy, white piranha.  Anyway, since naming Goober and such I think he might be the resident pet chicken but he does have a job.  Due to his infirmity, he doesn't scratch like most chickens and therefore doesn't tear my plants up.  So, he gets to forage the garden and pick weeds and poop.  He also is very quick to snatch up any bugs if they are unfortunate enough to wander too near him.  I'm thinking he may be my squash bug secret weapon.  Just set him down next to the plant and wham!!  They won't know what hit 'em!
Jack has made the first efforts to put in an asparagus bed also.   I really want to get that going this spring along with many new fruit trees.  First though, I've got to finish this kitchen!  My range hood came in the other day so I've got to get busy on that.  So much stuff to do!!