IN THE KITCHEN
Mr. Bootsie decided he wanted to make the cowboy candy which is made with jalapeno peppers. I was impressed as he chopped all of the peppers and I did not have to get the gloves on to keep my hands from being on fire. This turned out to be a wonderful project and there are 4 pints of candy on the shelf and a little extra syrup in the fridge. I mixed some of the syrup with pickled peach syrup and glazed pork chops, they were very tasty, not hot just interesting. Yes, I will be doing this again. He was so pleased with himself that he decided he would make the jalapeno jam. Again, he chopped of all the hot peppers and I did the mild ones. When it came time to cook the jelly he manned the station in front of the pot, stirring and watching the pot boil. He really has an interest in learning how to preserve food.
Kefir sour cream, this was a total mistake but so delicious!!! Mr. Bootsie almost always puts the milk in the kefir jar for me. He just wants to help as much as possible. I had a really big grain, which I looked at thinking I should divide this but I will wait until the next batch. When I went to check on the grain there was whey on the bottom of the jar, never have I had this happen. I let the jar set another 24 hours and poured off the whey. This left me with some delicious cream. I have many directions I could go with this, but I decided to make a baked potato dressing. I learned a bit more about working the kefir, I have always said I wanted to learn how to make other foods with the kefir milk and I think the kefir grains were tired of waiting for me to do something new. I am excited and now I know I will be trying other cheeses and creams with the kefir milk. I always have extra grains if any of you would like grains.
ON THE FARM
Every day there are projects to do, Guttering is finished on the pole barn, we were having so much water coming off the roof we needed to do something. Now we are thinking about harvesting the rain water to use on the garden next year. With thoughts of fall and winter coming the woods are being checked to try and remove trees which will be a problem with a snow load. There are a number of tall, thin pines along the road, I hope we can remove more of these and not have to cut our way out if there is snow this winter.
The goats are let out to munch leaves as we know the number of days there will be leaves on the trees is limited. I am trying to save all of the holly and pine saplings for winter. We are continuing to cut saplings for the ladies to have in their lot. I removed some of the goat manure to add to the soil in the cold tunnel. I hope to see good results using their droppings.
IN THE COOP
When the spring peeps starting coming into their own, one starting growing tail feathers, so with my little bit of knowledge about chickens I decided this one was going to be a rooster. This week we had pullet eggs in the coop. There was a difference in the color of the eggs. I now do not think I have a pair of chickens, I have not heard any trying to crow. We still have tail feathers not a lot but some. I totally have no idea as to what type of chickens we have but I know Heathcliff is going to be a difficult name for others to understand. Rooster or hen I want the name to stay Heathcliff, Mr. Bootsie on the other hand is starting to call this bird Henrietta. I would appreciate any information you could give me about my chickens. Is this a confused rooster or is it a hen with pretty tail feather?
IN THE GARDEN
Planted 3 pounds of onions this week. A pound each of white, yellow and red. The first row of garlic was planted. I am having lots of trouble getting my seeds to come up. But I will keep trying. Bed is dug for the walking onions and they will be planted next week. I need to add manure and ashes to the soil. We have been picking a few cucumbers each day but the plants are winding down. Nighttime temperatures are getting a little low for somethings. Pole beans and butter beans are producing. Picking the climbing spinach and freezing 10 ounce packages of it. A few tomatoes are coming in, I do not expect to have any green tomatoes to store this year. The okra which was eaten by the raccoons is trying to bloom. It would be so special have a few pods of okra after all we went through this year. I am not counting on harvesting any okra but I would love to see the plants bloom. The seedling peas are up in the tunnel and greenhouse.
IN CLOSING
I am starting to have a few minutes a day to spend in my flowers and herbs. They have been so ignored after being moved here. I spent all of my time working in the garden and learning how to preserve the rewards of the garden. Then came the chickens and I never made it out to do any weeding or dividing of plants. I just moved chives into the garden. They were planted in the herb garden when I moved in the plants, I now have 2 types of chives in the garden. There are some in the herb garden to be pretty but we use a lot of chives and I want to have enough for Mr. Bootsie to make chive blossom jelly. I am pleased to finally have time to take care of some of the plants I enjoy.
We are preparing for winter, the tunnel cover will be going on after the cucuzzi squash are removed. They have grown all over the tunnel and will be a project to remove. I knew this when I let them go. We have really enjoyed watching them grow and eating them. As we think about the shortening of days I may have time to finish some of my inside projects or I may just find a soft pillow and rest until it is time to order my seeds.
Loving this weather, because I am able to spend a lot of time outside. Thanks for stopping by!!!
When the spring peeps starting coming into their own, one starting growing tail feathers, so with my little bit of knowledge about chickens I decided this one was going to be a rooster. This week we had pullet eggs in the coop. There was a difference in the color of the eggs. I now do not think I have a pair of chickens, I have not heard any trying to crow. We still have tail feathers not a lot but some. I totally have no idea as to what type of chickens we have but I know Heathcliff is going to be a difficult name for others to understand. Rooster or hen I want the name to stay Heathcliff, Mr. Bootsie on the other hand is starting to call this bird Henrietta. I would appreciate any information you could give me about my chickens. Is this a confused rooster or is it a hen with pretty tail feather?IN THE GARDEN
Planted 3 pounds of onions this week. A pound each of white, yellow and red. The first row of garlic was planted. I am having lots of trouble getting my seeds to come up. But I will keep trying. Bed is dug for the walking onions and they will be planted next week. I need to add manure and ashes to the soil. We have been picking a few cucumbers each day but the plants are winding down. Nighttime temperatures are getting a little low for somethings. Pole beans and butter beans are producing. Picking the climbing spinach and freezing 10 ounce packages of it. A few tomatoes are coming in, I do not expect to have any green tomatoes to store this year. The okra which was eaten by the raccoons is trying to bloom. It would be so special have a few pods of okra after all we went through this year. I am not counting on harvesting any okra but I would love to see the plants bloom. The seedling peas are up in the tunnel and greenhouse.
IN CLOSING
I am starting to have a few minutes a day to spend in my flowers and herbs. They have been so ignored after being moved here. I spent all of my time working in the garden and learning how to preserve the rewards of the garden. Then came the chickens and I never made it out to do any weeding or dividing of plants. I just moved chives into the garden. They were planted in the herb garden when I moved in the plants, I now have 2 types of chives in the garden. There are some in the herb garden to be pretty but we use a lot of chives and I want to have enough for Mr. Bootsie to make chive blossom jelly. I am pleased to finally have time to take care of some of the plants I enjoy.
We are preparing for winter, the tunnel cover will be going on after the cucuzzi squash are removed. They have grown all over the tunnel and will be a project to remove. I knew this when I let them go. We have really enjoyed watching them grow and eating them. As we think about the shortening of days I may have time to finish some of my inside projects or I may just find a soft pillow and rest until it is time to order my seeds.
Loving this weather, because I am able to spend a lot of time outside. Thanks for stopping by!!!
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