Triple Creek Farm, July 6, 2013

We are so far out in the country there is not many ways I can use the internet.  Weather conditions control if I can get on line and what speed I will have.  Someone sent me an e-mail the other day and I spend over 3 hours trying to respond.  I have not been able to get on line to do the blog, but I keep trying.  As old as I am getting slow sounds good to me.  If my mind could accept what my body is saying, things would work out.  But my mind will say if you try one more time it will work and here I sit for another hour or so and I really do not accomplish anything.  I  am so pleased to have so many of you visit with me on the farm,  I welcome you comments and I will always try to answer them.  May not be quite as quick as you would like but I will try.  Thank you friends and neighbors, for all of you have become my friends and neighbors.  I am going to fix a nice glass of tea as it is really warm today, go sit on the porch and tell you about my week.

IN THE KITCHEN

Green Beans, Green Beans, Green Beans, when you start picking they seem to just keep coming in.  We have been picking every other day sharing some, cooking some, eating them fresh from the garden,  pickling and canning.  This week I made Cajun-style pickled green beans and carrots.  I canned string beans with potatoes and onions, this is one of my fast foods, add some ham or bake some pork chops and you have a wonderful meal.

Another vegetable which will overwhelm you is zucchini, I am always trying to find a new way to use them.  One of our facebook friends came up with a recipe for zucchini crisp which is delicious.  This crisp tastes like an apple crisp.  I made half of the recipe and baked it in a smaller dish but Mr. Bootsie is eating it loaded with ice cream and saying I would not have believed this was squash if I had not seen you make this.  If the zucchini is filling the veggie drawer of the fridge, pull some out and give this great recipe a try.  Be sure to tell our friends over at Crocked Acres Farmstead Bootisie is still raving about this recipe.   I love finding a new recipe which is tried and tested by others.  Please remember I am always looking for something new and delicious to make in my kitchen!!!

ON THE FARM

The ladies have eaten just about everything in sight.  There is new grass coming up in the pasture but it is not what they are wanting to eat.  I think it is far to tender.  Mr. Bootsie is busy cutting down trees and moving them to the goat lot.  There is quite a lot of clean up to be completed around here and he is busy every morning working away.  Progress is starting to show.  I am starting to prune the dogwoods we wish to keep hoping they will bloom.  Blackberry lilies are blooming everywhere.  They are a wildflower, I planted them when we moved here and there are clumps of them everywhere.  I have seen Mr. B cutting around them, said he is starting to love them as much as the ferns.  We have wild ferns and he is trying to save all he can as he clears out the undergrowth.

IN THE COOP

Aurora has settled in on the eggs and I am sure there will be little peeps.  Much to my amazement Smokey Lonesome has decided I want to be in one of the brooder boxes.  So Sunday morning we gave her 2 eggs which she truly did not like, then Mr. Bootsie took one from the nest she had been setting on and we put that egg in the brooder, she pulled it in and is now down for the count of 21 days for baby peeps.  So I have 2 of my girls setting, I have really been surprised and now I just hope from all of the eggs we are setting this year we can hatch a gentle rooster.  That way we will have our own eggs we could hatch.

Our first hatching is growing, Saturday morning as I was working around the coop, I heard a new voice, not the peep, peep peeps but someone trying to sound like a big chick.  This is so exciting, I would like to have the little peeps out of the brooder before the new hatching is ready to go in.  We already have 1 week down for Aurora and 2 more to go.

IN THE GARDEN

The garden is pleasing me, I dehydrated cabbage this week which I will be adding to soups during the winter.  Fall cabbages and broccoli seeds have broken through the soil Saturday morning.  Corn is starting to tassel, climbing beans are starting to make the journey up the fences and poles.  Bush butter beans are blooming and I can see the tiny little bean pods.  Now, if I can keep them watered enough we may get some butter beans, that would be a first for here.  Found my first pickling cucumber Saturday morning.  Find of the day on Saturday was baby squash bugs, I took care of them quickly.  Most of the onions have been harvested.  The walking onions are still in the ground, I should start removing them next week.  All of the elephant garlic is pulled and cleaned.  Starting to see some redding of the blackberries.

Friday morning harvest from the garden

IN CLOSING

I think we have had another wonderful week here on the farm.  We have been gathering plenty of veggies from the garden.  The Girls have been laying lots of eggs. Everything seems to be as it should be.  We are slowly moving forward, little baby steps.  Except for the green beans they seem to want to be picked everyday and fill up our baskets, this is my count on veggie, I always plan for lots of green beans, I really am not complaining, I am pleased one more time they did exactly what I wanted them to do.  Have a wonderful week!!!