Achorn Farm

Slow Food

2012-01-21T22:58:00.001-05:00

After years of coping with wood cook-stove envy I am finally happy to say I have my own. My neighbor, Biker Stacy has an BEAUTIFUL cook-stove! I last posted about this last year almost to date when Maine Man was cleaning it up. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d dig deep to find the before pictures of it…. you would be amazed. So THANKFUL for my handy man who fixed it up and for my farmer friend who bartered to get me this great find. Those 2 men are the main reasons why many of my farming/homesteading dreams come true!I’ve only experimented with cooking on top but I will soon experiment with the oven. One thing I quickly figured out is that small pieces of wood are best to burn when attempting to keep the temperature up. County Boy has been chopping up our firewood and keeping me in good supply even without being asked. LOVE that boy!

To date I’ve cooked soup, home fries, breakfast sausage, veggie stir fry, and applesauce. I will post again after I experiment a bit with the baking. In effort to educate myself on the matter I am slowly making my way through a borrowed book, Woodstove Cookery ~At Home On The Range by Jane Cooper (1977). I am headed upstairs to read as soon as I finish this post. After I get bored with that I will delve into a book I bought MM for Christmas, We Took To The Woods by Louise Dickinson . All the while the kids are quietly watching Johnny English for the umpteenth time. Perfect Saturday night in my eyes, my how times change. For the better I’d say!

The Lost Art

2012-01-18T22:24:00.001-05:00

I know the art of sewing isn’t necessarily lost but there are many people of my generation for various reasons that have never picked up a needle and thread.

Shortly after high school (yikes…20 years ago) I bought myself an inexpensive sewing machine. I attempted to sew a few items, became frustrated, and gave up. I then lent it out to my best friend for MANY years. She bought a newer, nicer machine and returned mine. It accumulated dust for several months until Flower Girl & I were inspired. Our inspiration was found at one of our favorite yearly events this past fall, the Common Ground Fair.

Great idea…old t-shirts converted into tote bags. I don’t know about you, but between the kids and I we seem to always be scrounging around for bags to fill with goodies.

The picture below is where we really found ourselves MOST inspired. It was a young woman who recycles clothing by piecing items together to create new garments. She had a lot of really cool clothing for reasonable rates. The piece that was my favorite was an upcycled beige wool sweater that was converted into a wrap-around skirt. Something that would have looked perfect with a pair of leggings under it. Someday I may attempt to make one. On a recent trip to my favorite thrift store I scored a couple wool sweaters in hopes to make FG and I each a pair of wrist warmers. Click here if your interested in other good ways to recycle wool sweaters. You Tube truly is an invaluable resource for teaching yourself new skills!

In December I decided to attempt my first big sewing project, Christmas stockings for the kids. The kids each picked out fabric I had kicking around the house. CB picked out camouflage material (imagine that) and FG picked out a colorful print covered with cats & dogs ice-skating. I followed a 9 minute and 54 second you-tube video and 4 sessions, 10 beers (joking…ok, maybe 2) 6 hours later they were hanging over the fireplace. As I sat and made the stockings I thought on more than one occasion that I could have easily bought them new ones for a couple bucks (straight from China). However, the look on their faces and sweet remarks they made when I gave them their new Christmas stockings was absolutely PRICELESS! Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures and they are neatly packed away in the barn until next Christmas season.

So a week before Christmas I had this bright idea to make them each a blanket. As you can see above I bought a cheater quilt fabric (love that stuff) along with some fleece and made CB a blanket. Needless to say it never made it under the Christmas. Better late then never. I then proceeded to make FG’s blanket out of beautiful purple batik fabric and fleece. I thought I’d be smart and add a wool blanket in the middle to make it warmer…BAD idea for a novice. Let’s just say it looks like a pre-schooler sewed it but it’s pretty from a distance and warm as ever. Always best to look at the positives, right? So much for cleaning out closets and painting this winter. I think I’ve found myself a new hobby to fill my time

Crazy…..but true!

2012-01-14T17:19:00.001-05:00

It’s hard to believe but I picked these carrots, beets, and turnips in our unheated greenhouse last night. Those are the only 3 crops left until Maine Man starts planting in March. I sooooo look forward to fresh greens. The vegetables are no longer growing but in a dormant state. The carrots are as sweet as candy and we will soon see how the beets & turnip taste. Who says you can’t grow vegetables in a Maine winter?

P.S I’ve decided to continue posting here as well Bangor Daily News. It only takes a few extra minutes. I just CAN’T give up blog spot for a few reasons:

1) The connections I’ve made here

2) For easier retrieval purposes (I often find myself going back to find recipes and how-to’s)

3) At the end of each year I make a book of this blog. I make it for my non-technological friends & family to read and I like to have a hard copy for myself. I think my kids really appreciate this when they are older. I am not sure that the other format would work for that.

Conversation overheard at our house

2012-01-09T21:54:00.001-05:00

Flower Girl: Awwwww……your eating the heart?

Country Boy: It’s only fair that I get the heart because I shot the squirrel!

For those of you that don’t know CB, he is an avid squirrel hunter but his mom (me) says you eat what you kill. We’ve had a good share of squirrel as of lately. Believe it or not, I actually like it. Tastes like chicken of course. Actually, if I had to compare what it tastes like I’d dare say it is similar to the flavor of a rabbit. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you would remember this post. CB scored his first game with his newly acquired pellet gun and I cooked it, a porcupine. We are quite adventurous here on the farm

Soap making and a book review

2012-01-06T07:08:00.001-05:00

This is my 3rd or 4th attempt at soap making and by far the most successful. My farmer friend built me two soap molds, this was my first time using them. He made the above mold from maple he sawed on his sawmill, isn’t that cool? The ends are removable which allows for easy removal and quicker drying.
The recipe came from a book titled “The Back to Basics Handbook” by Abigail Gehring. I was asked to do a book review of this book a while back by Skyhorse Publishing. When I received the book in the mail we both had a good chuckle. We already had an older edition of the book that we’ve referenced many times before. Absolutely love this book! It is perfect for the beginner and a good resource to those of us who’ve been dabbling in this homesteading lifestyle for a while. It includes but it is not limited to everything from beekeeping, raising livestock, gardening, to candle making. Would be a lovely present for your loved ones that are interested in learning basic living skills. What I like best about this recipe is it’s simplicity. I cut the recipe in half for fear of screwing it up. I like to minimize my wastes. To my surprise it came out great!

For soap making I have supplies set aside that I use only for this process: old mixer, wooden spoon, glass bowl, 12qt pot, thermometer, rubber gloves, and eye protection. I also use my kitchen scale.

4 ingredients:

3 lbs of beef fat
1 1/4 pints of water
7.5 ounces of lye
1 oz. essential oil (I used mint)

First I cover my table with newspaper. Then I prepare my lye solution. I suggest you read up a bit on lye if this is your first attempt using it. It is very dangerous and improper handling can result in burns.

Pour cold water into an enamel-ware pot. Then add lye slowly while stirring the solution steadily with a wooden spoon. The reaction between the 2 substances combined creates a temperature up to 200 degrees. You can either allow it to cool on it’s own (as I did) or place it on a cool water basin. .
Meanwhile I took my beef fat that I had previously rendered and warmed it lightly until it melted into an liquid form on the stove top.
When both the lye mixture and the fat are at approximately 95-98 degrees I mixed the 2 together.
As you can see in the picture below the mixture begins to thicken. They call that saponification I think. When the consistency is about like sour cream I added the entire bottle of essential oil, stirred a bit more the poured into my mold. (I lathered the mold with vaseline prior to to prevent sticking….it worked perfectly!)

cover with a towel for a couple days
remove from mold and allow to air dry
soap can be used in 1 month

It made for great Christmas presents! The feedback I received from friends & family was much better then any soap I’ve made before. I even kept a bunch for us as well. The whole family likes it. I will definitely make again real soon, maybe this weekend! Next time around I plan to use half pig lard since I have a bunch that needs to be used. I also may use goat milk instead of water. I froze goat milk this past fall in anticipation for soap & cheese making.

If you give soap making a try I’d love to hear the results!

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T13:30:00.001-05:00

Posted over at Bangor Daily News.

Moving Ahead in the New Year

2011-12-29T12:25:00.001-05:00

For the last four years I have maintained a blog about our farm here on blog spot. The feedback that I have received from my peers, family, and on-line community is what has kept it alive. Recently I was asked to join the bloggers at Bangor Daily News. I am excited to say I accepted the offer and will embrace in this change reaching out to more like-minded fellow Mainers. Cheers to a New Year!

I will continue to do a couple posts here linking to my new site but it would be best if you bookmarked this new link:

http://achornfarm.bangordailynews.com

TIMBERRRRR!!!

2011-12-23T17:55:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago the whole gang including Dolly went on a mission to cut a Christmas tree off the back forty.We spotted the perfect one for us!Then our hero, Maine Man cut it down!

Much more fun then going to buy one. The remains will be used as firewood.

Thankful for the land we have and all that it provides for us.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to all!

Making beef stock

2011-12-12T17:19:00.001-05:00

I have been making chicken stock for quite some time. There is no comparison to the store bought watered down stock that you can purchase at the supermarket. Like anything homemade is always best. Since we just butchered out first beef critters I had them save me some bone for soup stock….and I made some. Easy Peasy!

Place bones in a crockpot (soon I hope to be cooking it on my wood cook stove….HINT, HINT Maine Man), fill with water, add a large onion, couple carrots & celery stocks, couple bay leaves, several peppercorns, salt, and dried or fresh herbs. In the summer I use what I have fresh and in the winter I often use an italian blend that my cousin made me.

I let it cook all day or night on low, let it cool, strain with strainer and cheesecloth into a half gallon canning jar, refrigerate. Skim the fat off the top and either use immediately or freeze in gallon size bags. You can also can it as I’ve done before with chicken stock. But, I’m a lazy food preserver and prefer to freeze anything I can.

Makes the BEST soup EVER!

My girl’s thoughts on the animals

2011-12-08T18:39:00.001-05:00

Each week the kids are expected to do a writing prompt. We started out the year following the directions in the book. It assigned the kids a given topic and they wrote about that specific subject in their journals. Then the kids talked me into giving them prompts that I came up with. That worked for a while but know we’ve evolved to something I think works best. The kids make up their own prompts. They write about things they are most interested in sharing at that given moment. Their writings are longer and fueled with more passion. The sweet thing about homeschooling is that as my kids say “you can break the rules” in order to do what you works best.

I couldn’t resist sharing this one. Written verbatim(spelling and all)

What are the animals you have? Why do you enjoy them? And out of all your animals wich five Do you enjoy Best? And what do you Dislike about them?

I have tons of animals. I have Ducks, chickens, Dogs, Pigs, rabbits, cats, a goat, and………..a lizard! I enjoy the ducks Because they swim, they have very cute Ducklings, sometimes they will walk in staright lines, they Don’t eat the garden, and they eat a lot of Bugs. I Dislike the Ducks beause when they have Duckling they really won’t let you get withen 5 or 10 feet of them but if you Do she will chase you like a mad woman.

I enjoy the chickens beause they lay eggs to eat or hach. I Dislike the chickens Beause they eatthe garden, most rosters are mean and ours it pretty mean so when you get near his heans and he is loss you better run!

I like the Dogs beause they will lick you, they will let you pat them, they will scare of a lot of things like racons, skunks, and more that are in your front yard at night, they will run with you, and they will play with you. I Dislike the Dogs or should I say Dog beause 1 of my Dogs will shake nonstop for hours and hours on end when it tunders and lighnings and will keep you up at night.

I enjoy the pigs Beause 1 I caught at my last pig scrable I could every do, they root up places for gardens. they eat leftover food that we Don’t eat, and they are very organised if they are inside (wich only my pig is inside). I Dislike the pigs well I should say the two outside beause they litterly live to be feed and are very sloopy.

I like my rabbits beause they are sooooo cute, they live like…….on there on there own meaning they find there food and water, and they are so fluffy! I Dislike the Bunnys beause they bit, scratch, and they won’t let you pick them up. I like the cats beause there nice, beautiful, And the will catch rodents. Dislike the cats beause they kill flying squils wich are pretty rare in Maine.

I like our goat AKA Dolly beause she will eat anything(littly). she’s furry, and fun to play with. I Dislike Dolly AKA the goat beause she is hard to walk beause sometims she won’t follow you.

And I love our lizard AKA levi beause he is wonderful, nice, will just hang on you, he eats a lot of things, he’s friendly, and……………….theres nothing to Dislike about him!

That is what I think of all the animal but the five I really love are………………………………………………………………………………………………………The cats! The Dogs! The Goat! The Rabbits! And The…………………….LIZARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that’s all!

Farm Happenings

2011-11-29T19:13:00.001-05:00

Winter is near yet we still seem to find ourselves with an endless to-do list. We have almost all the wood in the barn before the cold weather is upon us. We’ve rendered all the lard from our cow. My crockpot ran for 3 days straight but now I have plenty of fat for soap making. I’m attempting to make apple cider vinegar for the first time. It will be months before I know if it was a success. I’ve also located a a temporary boyfriend for Dolly, a Nubian buck. We will be picking him up at the end of the week. You know what that means?….spring babies and a goat back in milk….Yeah!

What I haven’t been doing….dusting, folding laundry.

Maybe in my next life my house will be clean

Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper

2011-11-23T19:40:00.001-05:00

One cool, winter evening last year as I thumbed through an adult education flyer I got this bright idea of taking a bee keeping class. By June I was an official beekeeper…that honestly didn’t have a clue how complex these little creatures really were.

I thought medical terminology was challenging in nursing school but at this point I think bee terminology has it beat. How many lay people have ever heard of bee space, capped brood, propolis, nukes, & varroa mites?

Heck spell check doesn’t even recognize these words.Here’s County Boy, remember the child who wanted NO part of my bees! I’ll never let him live that one down!

Several weeks back he helped me winterize them.

Here’s the deal, when I first started bee keeping I checked them every week as instructed. Despite my frequent checks I was never able to identify the queen. Towards fall I checked them less and less with a span of over of month going by. I remembered I was suppose to treat them for mites but according to the place I get my supplies I was “too late”. Ugggg….so I dusted them with a little powdered sugar for good measures and treated them preventively for Nosema (aka bee diarrhea).

With this being the first year I did not harvest any honey from them. I question if they have enough honey for themselves to make it through a long Maine winter. As pictured above I have given them some sugar water but that won’t be enough. I will have to do a little more research on winter feeding.

Last night I went out by flashlight to put there top cover on and be sure the foam insulation was still in place before the storm. On the way out the door Maine Man called me a “bad beekeeper”, hence the title. He’s right! Beekeeping isn’t really a fly by the seat of your pants project but that unfortunately is how I roll. Hopefully they’ll survive this winter despite the neglect.

Thankful Tree

2011-11-17T21:34:00.001-05:00

Inspired by a friend on FB!

Where’s the beef?

2011-11-15T20:10:00.001-05:00

Recently Maine Man processed Sir Loin & T-Bone….not an easy task after tending them morning & night for the last couple years. Above is a picture of part of a liver in comparison to Country Boy’s hand. What an anatomy lesson for the kids! CB said in school they dissect frogs, we dissect cows, pigs, & chickens… Flower Girl helped process & package part of one of the cows and the rest went to the butchers.

Here is the front quarter of one of the cows in a walk-in cooler that MM just built. We are thinking it will serve with a dual purpose for cool crop storage. We will monitor the temperatures in it closely this winter.

MM and CB also just processed 50 chickens a couple weeks back and CB’s deer. Soon they will process the pigs and some ducks. Nice to have full freezers coming into winter!

Not Impressed…lol!

2011-11-14T20:22:00.001-05:00

Greens into November

2011-11-12T11:54:00.001-05:00

These pictures were taken in the greenhouse a few days after our first snowfall. The tomato plants died off but we left the tomatoes on to ripen. We were eating them up until about 1 week ago. …til the frost made them mush. My Dad ate some tomatoes from the greenhouse from the 3rd week of October. He said “those were the best tomatoes I ‘ve ever eaten in my life” ….and he is no Spring chicken.

Thankful for the power of solar heat and Maine Man, my garden hero!

Scenes from the farm October 30th

2011-11-07T08:48:00.001-05:00

CRAZY, HUH?

I don’t ever remember snowfall this early in the season. I wasn’t quite prepared but Mother Nature didn’t care.

It’s all gone now, the snow only lasted a few days around here. More to follow but that’s ok because I look forward to winter. A time to be lazy, read books, cuddle and watch movies, and cook. Hell ya!

Coming next ….a post on the greenhouse. It was fun to go in and see all the green stuff growing the day it snowed.

Can’t hide my pride!

2011-11-06T19:32:00.001-05:00

Country Boy is living up to his name!

140 lbs, 5 pointer

Oktoberfest Dinner

2011-11-01T18:11:00.001-04:00

A couple of weekends back my SIL brought over a DELICIOUS crockpot to share at our cider party called Oktoberfest Dinner. It is a must try and great idea for a pot luck. Definitely check it out! I have never really liked sauerkraut but I loved it with this recipe. Click on the cider party link if your interested in seeing more pictures. She did a better job taking pictures of the press then I.

Now I want to make sauerkraut. See how one thing leads to another. That is the beauty of being a foodie, homesteader, or whatever you may call us. (CRAZY) The possibilities are endless!

Cider Pressing Party

2011-10-30T21:59:00.001-04:00

I am finally sitting down to write this post after an eventful day to say the least. More about today in a future post. Some days I am sure we could bring some cash in as reality show. Regardless, the house is finally QUIET & clean! Well, for the most part. I have certain criteria that must be met before bed …dishes, counters, floors washed. Notice folding laundry and clean kids rooms are not on this list. LOL

Back to my original story….last weekend we hosted our first annual cider pressing party. The weather was beautiful and it was well attended by friends & family.

Please excuse the shadowing of the pictures. The sun was nice & warm but made picture taking a bit challenging. Kind of entertaining to look back at these pictures from last Sunday because today we received about 6 inches of snow and the conditions were brisk & windy. Kids will be wearing boots and snowsuits out trick or treating tomorrow night. I do not ever remember seeing snow this early in the season. For the last couple years I have pressed apples at my friend’s house just across the river. Here are posts from 2009 and 2010 if you have any desire to look back. Last year my farmer friend attended so he could check out her operation….this year he made me my very own cider press.

Isn’t it a BEAUTY?

This is definitely one of the nicest things I have ever received. I will FOREVER cherish this gift!

Not only did he make this without plans, he sawed the lumber with his mill.

My farmer friend…one AMAZING man!Dolly & my nieceBiker Stacy, Dolly & Country Boy Maine Man’s baby begging for food. It’s about the ONLY time you’ll see her sitting still when she is outside. My SIL’s cool jug full over cider. It’s perfect!Aunt JQuite a crowdFriend of the family …but now I’d dare say she’s becoming more and more like family.Cousins at play…..LOVE these shots

Mission Accomplished!

300 miles in 3 months update

2011-10-27T22:32:00.001-04:00

I am nearing the end of my 4th week and I have fallen a little behind but am currently working on catching up. As of tonight I am 72 miles into this competition (against who I don’t know…lol). By the end of this week technically I should be well into my 100th mile. Sometimes life circumstances come first . Maine Man’s dad recently became very ill and passed away. The blessing of this unfortunate situation is that he is no longer suffering, he is in a place of rest, a better place I’m sure!

I feel better emotionally & physically but I’ve yet to loose an ounce. My big girl jeans are still fitting just as snug when this all started. However, I am hopeful that I will someday squeeze back into my skinny jeans.

Jodi from Living the Road Less Traveled has joined along and her last update is here. She is also one crafty chicky, you should check her out.

Anna from Dragonfly Hill is also doing the challenge although honestly this is something I think she does on a regular basis. She kicks butt and honestly looks fantabulous!

Yart from Grim Wythe Farm also mentioned she was in. I was just pawing through her previous posts to see if there were any 300 miles updates….didn’t see any but a lot of other good information I’m interested in and hope to return to when I have more time. You see when I first started blogging it was just reading them, then it evolved into reading lots of blogs and writing a little, now I find I have very little time to write or read them. Funny how that all worked out!

Will update on this again sometime soon. New joiners WELCOME. Next post will be of our Apple Cider Pressing Party and a book review to follow.

Feel the Love!

2011-10-22T12:17:00.001-04:00

After a long, emotionally taxing day I came home to this yesterday.

Dolly broke out of her pen and made friends with T-Bone!

Made me smile, LOVE IT!!

Time for learning

2011-10-20T10:41:00.001-04:00

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

Tragedy Strikes!

2011-10-11T21:17:00.001-04:00

Country Boy & Flower Girl begged and pleaded with Maine Man for his permission to get a lizard. I didn’t really care either way. It was their money, a science project of sorts, and heck what’s one more animal.

So Saturday the kids and I picked up our class pet “Levi” and the kids settled him into his new home. Sunday CB reviewed the details of his care with FG & I. He and his father were headed up-country to my dad’s house on a hunting adventure.

Monday I awoken to the phone ringing at 6 am. Jumped up, surprise the ER calling for MM to come in….arggggg, let the dogs out, peak over at Levi’s cage to find a lifeless, cold, non-breathing reptile that I am suppose to be in charge of.

At this point I am completely freaking out as I know how devastated CB will be upon his return. So I wrap Levi and a paper towel, pay bills as there is NO possible way I can fall back asleep after this discovery, and wait until the pet store opens.

9 am the pet store opens so I call to discuss my situation. Unsure if it was something we did to kill it. Was it warm enough, was it able to access it’s water in the water bowl, stress of the move, who knows? Levi had a stubbed tail so I even went as far as asking if they had the other one that looked similar. (In hopes that CB would never know he had been replaced). Even asked the lady if she could help out with a discount as I was now the one paying for replacement. She agreed and even asked if I had the body if I’d bring it in so they could try and figure out the cause of death.

Despite the madness of the day ahead we squeezed in some time to head a few towns over to the pet store. As we where about to leave I grabbed Levi wrapped in the paper towel, peaked down as I went to place him in a plastic bag and he blinked at me. I couldn’t believe my eyes! He had in fact became too cold during the night and went into some sort of hibernation state. What a relief on many levels: emotional, financial, and time saving as we had an afternoon appointment to follow. This mad situation also made for some good laughs throughout the day. The best was when I had to call the pet shop owner and explain my mistaken diagnosis. Guess I wouldn’t make the best veterinarian, better stick to nursing…LOL

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2011-10-07T17:48:00.001-04:00

I finally broke down yesterday and colored my grays. Every once and a while I protest and swear I’m going to stop coloring and let the grays come in as mother nature intended. Then….well, I come to my senses. While I sat at the salon I observed a few ladies come in and get a few pink hair extensions. I couldn’t help but inquire. Brilliant! They were for breast cancer awareness month. What a GREAT idea! Never imagined myself sporting a pink streak of hair but I love it….mostly because I love the cause it supports. Guess what?….A whole bunch of my co-workers went straight to the salon to get their own pink hair extensions after work today. We all work in radiology and we see a great deal of cancer patients from diagnosis on so I’m thinking this may become a yearly tradition!

Comfort Food

2011-10-04T21:18:00.001-04:00

GOOD MOMS HAVE

STICKY FLOORS,

DIRTY OVENS,

AND HAPPY KIDS!

I am currently in the midst of cooking up some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the munchkins. I snuck in some wheat flour….they will never know! I used locally grown wheat flour and I am at awe at the quality compared to store bought whole wheat flour. I will never go back to that! Here is a pumpkin custard recipe I shared here last year. Try it, it is DEVINE!

300 miles in 3 months

2011-10-03T21:28:00.001-04:00

As part of a challenge seen on Facebook I have committed to completing 300 miles (bike, walk, run, elliptical, swim) over the next 3 months. I will intermittently post my progression here to help keep me on track. If anyone would like to join along I ‘d love a little company (competition)

If anyone decides let me know and I will post your progress here or link to your blog when you update. Should be fun, hoping to slip back in my skinny jeans come Christmas. Nothing wrong with dreaming BIG!

Saturday 3 mile walk

Monday 5 mile bike ride….. 17 more miles for the week to meet my goal.

For the Love of Mother Nature

2011-10-02T19:00:00.001-04:00

The kids captured several caterpillars, identified them, made them cozy homes and supplied them with plenty of food. In addition they named every one of them. What happened from there per Country Boy… “They ate for a couple days, they slowed down, they either wrapped themselves up with their leaves or they formed a chrysalis, then in 2-3 weeks they hatch into a butterfly or moth.”

Pictured above was “Rose” the very first Monarch Butterfly to be hatched in our old farmhouse. It was a VERY cool experience to be a part of. As soon she hatched we brought her outside, watched her dry her wings and before long she took flight up above in the maple tree.

A simple everyday encounter that we normally take for granted. Who would have ever thought that witnessing this metamorphosis would touch our souls so deeply.

Bamboo Magazine

2011-09-30T22:39:00.001-04:00

…Conscious Family Living, currently my FAVORITE on-line magazine!

Check it out!

Real Food

2011-09-28T21:41:00.001-04:00

This year Maine Man grew his best ever crop of onions! He feels that it is mostly due to the varieties he choose for our geographical area. He bought Copras & Pattersons from Johnny’s Select Seeds. He planted onions both in the hoop house and outside. The onions in the outside gardens did much better.

The gardens are just about gone by. The only produce left to harvest is edamame beans, corn, and sweet potatoes. However, the hoop house is still filled with lots of luscious produce including: dill, cilantro, basil, beets, beet greens, leeks, spinach, swiss chard, turnip, bok choy, green, jalapeno & banana peppers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mesculin mix, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes.

My mother & I picked approx. 5 gallons of tomatoes today. Most went into the freezer after running it through my saucer. I saved aside 4 quarts in attempt to make ketchup for the very first time in the next couple days.

This melon came from the farmer’s market. BEST watermelon you’ve EVER tasted! I kept to my promise this summer and we made it to the market nearly every week. I must admit my biggest inspiration to be more faithful at buying local was a book I read called “Bringing Food Home: The Maine Example”.

Within the next couple weeks I will be posting a review on that book which I cannot say enough good about. That will be followed by a review of “The Back to Basics Handbook” which I just started reading. I also have a GIVE AWAY of an entirely different item coming soon, so stay tuned!

My Aunt J brought these apples to us a couple weeks back. They came from my grandfather's old apple tree that sustained significant damage from Hurricane Irene. Despite the warm weather we’ve had here in Maine this fall, the apples have kept well in the shed. They truly are the best apples we’ve had so far this season. Flower Girl has made some applesauce with them once so far with plans to make another batch for our farmer friend. I hope to make some crisp with them and maybe even try dehydrating a few this weekend.

Question for my readers: Has anyone ever saved a seed from an apple and successfully grown an apple tree from it? I’ve heard it is possible. Would love to, with my sentimental nature and all. My grandfather holds a special place in my heart and I’d love to see something that was once his grow on.

Making Fire Starters

2011-09-25T22:54:00.001-04:00

♥ ♥ I must say….tis my favorite time of night!! House is REALLY QUIET, it’s almost clean., with a frosty cold beverage in hand. Would have been clean had my ADD not kicked in Facebook, pictures, my blog, are just WAY too distracting (fun)!

A couple weeks back we stopped at a local market to grab a bite to eat. At the check out I noticed 8 “fire starters” for $7.95. My first thought was, “that’s a rip off” followed by “I can do that".”So a couple days ago I dug out all the old candles I’ve been saving over the last 10 years or so. Shhhhhh, don’t tell Maine Man. He hates my pack rat tendencies. When the kids woke up they began poking, prodding, melting…....Playing with fire!!! I’ve always been a believer that if you let your children play with fire, meaning light candles, camp fires, etc. in front of you they won’t have a burning desire to do so when your not around. Hope my kids prove that theory right.

When the author was just a young tike she had a little bear candle. When her Momma was out mowing the lawn one sun shiny day she decided to light up that cute little brown & white wax bear all by herself. It was all good until it tipped over onto her bed and caught the linen on fire. Let me tell you Momma weren’t happy when that little lad ran out to get her! Probably one of my oldest childhood memories. Why is is you always seem to remember the bad stuff? lol

Moving on….next ingredient: SAW DUST

Melt the candles in an old crock pot or a double boilerAdd a good amount of shavings to wax and mix it QUICKLY!

*Note to self & others

Do it outside, in the garage, or use LOTS of newspaper!

Learn from my experiences (screw ups)

The acronym that comes to mind…

L.I.F.E.

Learn- It –From –Experience

Someone gave me a bunch of disposable muffin tins. They were PERFECT for this messy project! Cover with shavings, let cool in the fridge or freeze. Pop out of cups.

Works perfect! Fun, easy, cheap…..will definitely do again. Wrap with brown paper or scrap booking paper, tie w/ raffia, or just as is. What a great Upcycled Christmas present!

Here is to another year

2011-09-23T21:37:00.001-04:00

Age 36 was not my best year but just a simple look around reminds me things really could have been so much worse. From each encounter I faced I walked away with a valuable lesson learned. Although I had a procedure on my neck, reduction of a certain body part I swore I would NEVER alter, a vehicle crash, and a significant occupational exposure I am still here, surrounded by loved ones and honestly doing GREAT!

A few things I’ve taken from these experiences:

“You are your own best doctor” ~ one of the doctors I work with said this to me and it is so true. This same doctor is the one that figured out my neck pain was not coming from the benign tumor in my neck but yet the size of my chest… I am forever grateful for that! Who would have thought? Not me or any of the other doctors I saw!
Empathize with those who live with chronic pain.
Never say never!
Get MANY opinions, Listen to your gut! THANKFUL I did that or I would be a now 37 year old woman status post 20 radiation treatments to my neck. There is NO doubt I would have had life long health problems from that.
4 wheel drive is not a security blanket
If someone makes you feel uncomfortable look beyond it. Take your time, don’t be rushed and perform your duties as you would for anyone else.

There were a lot more lessons learned along the way that I am sure I will think of over the the next couple days. But, tonight I hastily type after a long, wonderful day spent at the Common Ground Fair followed by a superfantabulous birthday dinner of lobster & clams cooked up by Maine Man & the kids. When really what I can’t wait to do is jump in my comfy bed in the arms of my love!

On an ending note as of lately my luck has seemed to change. my girl caught a pig at a local country fair, I won a good chunk of cash on a photo contest as noted in the last post, and most recently I was contacted by the Bangor Daily News ( a local newspaper) and asked if they could add my blog to their web-site. I was flattered to say the least. Guess I will have no choice but to step it up a notch.

Here’s to another year! Much love to all my faithful followers!

Grand Prize

2011-09-17T18:02:00.001-04:00

One hot evening in July we headed out in the boat to cool off. My neighbor, Biker Stacy came along with us….I took pictures of course. A friend of BS encouraged me to enter this photo in a contest Activity Maine Magazine was hosting. So about 11pm the night before the deadline I submitted a couple photos including this one of BS & the kids. To my surprise we took Grand Prize bringing in $250! Woooooo Hoooooo….little excited. The cash will come in real handy.

Creative Kids

2011-09-16T20:00:00.001-04:00

Country Boy’s newest creation. One for his Momma and another for his Aunt Mary. Pretty cool, huh? I love it….hoping he makes some more items like this. I think he could sell them roadside. Good way to make a little extra cash!

2011-09-06T19:46:00.001-04:00

The key to loving how you live is in knowing what you truly love!

Everything is a once in a lifetime experience

2011-09-04T19:59:00.001-04:00

Warning these pictures don’t really go along with post… They are from this mornings walk with Dolly, the coolest goat EVA!

Last school year Flower Girl asked us to homeschool her. We thought about it, talked it over, and agreed. It was a subject that I’ve always been interested in but Maine Man never entertained the thought…until now.

(Wild Grapes – tons of them around the farm!)

Throughout the summer I researched on-line, met with a few homeschool moms, ordered a curriculum, and plotted out how it may all work out.

FG’s curriculum arrived, she started working on it a little each day.

(Country Boy & the neighbors most recent creation)

Early one morning about two weeks before school started CB asked if it was too late for him to homeschool. He said he had a dream and he almost woke me up at 1 am for fear that he’d forget his dream. (glad he didn’t, wake me that is)

(Below- view looking up from where CB was laying. Impressive!)

A week later his curriculum arrived. It has been interesting to say the least. This past week was their first full week. MM guides them 3 days and I do so on my 2 days off. It has not been without moments of frustration (on both sides) but overall I think it has went well. I doubt there will be any regrets from this choice, but time will tell. Many think we are crazy but that is ok, everyone in entitled a opinion. Some days I might agree.

After their school work was complete this week they ran a roadside stand selling pumpkins, tomatoes, and some lawn sale goodies. They brought in over $100. CB also built an awesome table out of trees. The first one he gave to me. The circumstances surrounding that were very sweet. He plans to build more to sell. I’ll post some pictures soon!

I’ve actually enjoyed learning right a long side them. SO much I’ve forgotten, maybe my grammar may even improve….you all may benefit from that !

Tomatoes, Beans, Corn, Oh My…..

2011-09-01T21:17:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of the summer I swore off preserving of any sort. I think my exact words were “I’m burnt out” and “we were going to eat seasonally and give the rest away.”

Yeah right…..Maine Man planted green beans at three different times. You know what that means….beans galore, three different batches. Ate a TON, froze a bunch, and made some WICKED good dilly beans!

P.S. Flower Girl & I like green beans best baked with olive oil & sea salt!

Tomatoes….well I have a quick fix for them. LOVE, LOVE my saucer! That is what tomatoes that are left after the PESKY HORNWORMS had their way with them. Sweet revenge …the kids had a blast plucking the hornworms off the plants and feeding them out to the chickens and County Boy’s quail like them as well.

Nice thing about a farm….we might not eat you but we will find someone that will!

3 batches of sauce in the freezer thus far. Will make for some tasty soups & sauces come Winter!

Note to self & others : NEVER walk away from the blender when your making butter when it is transitioning from heavy cream to butter! Oops, my bad !

I will end this note with my FAVORITE way to put up corn….. CREAM STYLE CORN . Click on that link and it will bring you to a how-to I posted last year on it. Glad I recorded it because I’ll be referring to it this weekend.

Why cry when you can laugh

2011-08-30T17:31:00.001-04:00

It is moments like these that make you laugh out loud. The kids caught a field mouse out under a hay bail. They claimed him as pet for a few days then sent him free as mother nature intended. The not so laughing part was when they caught his buddy and he got loose in MY HOUSE…down the vent and into the basement he went. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE my kids

Passed out on the couch with kitty…..Kid, couldn’t you have washed your feet first? LOL. Gotta love em’!

Although the sequence of events for me in 2011 has been one unfortunate event after another those who sometimes drive me absolutely insane at the same time are my SANITY! Maine Man helps to keep me grounded as well. Someday I may share with you all my latest dilemma. But, for now I will deal and be thankful for all I have and try and figure out what lessons I’m suppose get out of my most recent health issue.

In light of this year I plan to end it on a good note. Starting Oct 1st I will complete 300 miles (biking, hiking, swimming etc) in 3 months. I hope to post my progress here and would challenge any other willing beings to join along. Should be fun and nice to take time out for ME!

Guess Again

2011-08-21T22:25:00.001-04:00

I’ll post a few more pictures after you figure out what he’s been up to next… SPOILED ROTTEN I am!

Update…you are ALL CORRECT. It is a CIDER PRESS! We have done 2 test runs. First time we encountered problems with the grinder and second time around we experienced issues with the press. After all the bugs will be worked out and we will bring it up to the farm. For now we’ve been using a burlap bag but I’d love to hear from anyone else that may use something different. I have found some nylon bags on line that I am very interested in.

For my local friends & family we will host a couple cider pressing parties for those that want to bring some apples and make some fresh goodness. WICKED EXCITED! The last two years I went to my friend's farm to make cider. I posted about 2009 here and 2010’s adventure here if you are interested in taking a peek back in time. I am sure before the season’s out I’ll have a few more pictures to post.

Just For Fun…

2011-08-20T23:07:00.001-04:00

You have to try and guess what this is. That will be the theme of the next couple posts ….. guess what the object is or what we may be doing. COME ON, IT WILL BE FUN!!!!! I PROMISE! I have taken TONS of pictures of some of our on-going adventures here on the farm this summer but have yet to post many pictures. Be a sport

Update….It’s a butter mold. Another goodie my farmer friend made me this summer. Makes a 1 lb block. Next time I make some I will try and take some pictures so you can see exactly how it works!

Pig Roast 2011

2011-08-19T21:38:00.001-04:00

A couple weekends ago we had a pig roast at our farm in celebration of Maine Man’s 40th birthday, in addition to 2 of his friends that also turned the big 4-0 this year. We fed quite a crowd and from the feedback I’ve received I think all had a nice time.

Pictured above is my bff and her s/o. Blessed to have her in my life!

One of the birthday boys and his daughter. He did a great job cooking up the pig and it was right on time! Thanks French!

Kids had a blast playing volleyball and later in the night they played “man hunt . They all had a blast!

Left – one of my BF’s from high school. She was a HUGE help and I would like to take a moment to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Right – My neighbor…lucky to have her just a stone throw away. We have lots of fun together!

Left – Another birthday boy. Later that night he was rather entertaining by the camp fire with guitar in hand.

Right – His step-dad…long time friend

To the left is my farmer friend and the right is my Dad & Step-Mom

My parents live up country so this was the first time they met.

So glad because that was on my farmer friend’s bucket list!

Left my brother who was also a HUGE help getting this GIG together. THANKS YOU SOOOO MUCH!

Thanks goes out to the girls as well that helped with set up & clean up, picking wild flowers and decorating!

MM hung this swing up between our two maple trees. Country Boy bought it a couple years back at a lawn sale. It is now our FAVORITE spot to sit…when we sit!

One good thing about having a big gathering is that you get projects completed that may have taken you MUCH longer. In our case the swing, my wood cook stove is painted and in the house, barn doors were painted, the outhouse, the list goes on and on. Even did some Spring cleaning that I’d been neglecting since last Spring..lol

Left- friend, one of the birthday boy’s wives. THANK YOU as well for all your help ….much appreciated!

Right – my other neighbor. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE my neighbors? Lucky to be surrounded by a bunch of good peeps. Has been a blessing for my children as well. GRATEFUL!

Cousin’s girl headed for a swim. Thankfully we were blessed with a sunny day. The next morning we woke up to rain.

My girl painting up a flower on one of my buddies. Another friend I love and cherish!

Someone locked there keys in their car and guess who came to the rescue…the one and only MM. Everybody needs a MM. I am just THANKFUL he’s mine!

Love her dreads! This weekend the party is at her house. Looking forward to that….just a stroll through the rock trail and I’m there. Will post pictures of our little creation in the future.

Me and my cousin…P.S. Thanks for the pot holders love them & use them almost every day!

Dinner for a whole lot of people. I didn’t keep count but I’d dare guess some where’s up by 100. Just about serving time I had a brief twinge of chest pain while looking at the crowd.

Friends since high school. We have lots of good stories to share but I’ll refrain as this is public and a must behave.

Love Love my parents…Grateful for the time I spend with them.

MM to the right w/ his brother (left)

Friends…they look like there up to NO GOOD!

My two pals!!! THANKFUL for our friendship!

Goat Milking brought in quite a crowd. We usually milk outside but MM moved Dolly’s stand in the barn. We think we are normal at times I think we are a side show…lol

What I LOVE most about Biker Stacy’s daughter is that she’ll TRY ANYTHING!

Not in a million years…..

2011-08-10T18:25:00.001-04:00

……Did I ever imagine I’d have an outhouse in my back yard. Let alone one that we’d use on a daily basis. LOL, my oh my how times change. Back when I was a teen my Dad bought a place up north and as they renovated from a camp into a home the outhouse was their only means of a bathroom. I must admit it was one of my least favorite parts of going up there for visits. Thankfully there was a campground just up the road that we could shower at for $1.00.

Here is how it happened …. I was chatting with my farmer friend about the upcoming pig roast we were planning. I casually mentioned that I was planning on renting a port-a-potty. He inquired about the cost, I gave a guess of what I thought it may be and he sharply replied “I’ll build you an outhouse.” My initial thought was “I don’t want an outhouse in my back yard” but amazingly I kept my mouth shut and did not share my thoughts with him.

The next time I visited he was sawing wood with his saw mill and within a month or so I had a permanent port-a-potty at the cost of a couple hinges and a lock and lots of labor from my farmer friend. Maine Man brought it home & he and the girls (Flower Girl & our Fresh Air Child) stained it. (and themselves..lol)

It was a hit at the party and saved my septic system BIG time! Funny thing is we use it daily. With the gardens, pool , and animals we all tend to spend a good amount of time outside. Crazy, who would of thought I’d have a outhouse and LOVE IT?

Summer Time

2011-08-07T14:44:00.001-04:00

It is hard to believe summer time will soon be coming to an end. It seems as though it just started a couple weeks back. The last few weeks has been insanely busy. With the everyday need to’s of the farm, having company for two weeks in addition to the pig roast we had yesterday for Maine Man & 2 of his friends 40th.

Phew….Today it is a rainy lazy day and I LOVE it!

One of the activities we had was rock painting. It was a BIG HIT and we scored some really COOL rocks out of the deal. We gave them a little spray of clear coat after the rocks had dried and this week we will place them in the path between our home and Biker Stacy’s . (If you click on the photos it will enlarge them so you can see greater detail)

The Pig Roast was a success….fun had by all. Photos to come!

Naughty, Naughty

2011-07-26T18:27:00.001-04:00

I’ve been a bad blogger and will continue to be for a couple more weeks because……the goat needs milking, the gardens need tending, the windows need washing and the pool could use a little cleaning. Just CAN’T seem to keep up with all the demands of summer. See why I truly ENJOY winter! Outside chores done by 4:30 and inside chores done by 6:00. Beats the hours we tend to keep this time of year. I’m not complaining just overwhelmed at times.

Thursday night our fresh air child arrives from inner city New York for a 2 week visit. This is her second year coming to the farm. We are all very excited for her return. In addition to that we will be hosting a pig roast for Maine Man & 2 of his friend’s 40th birthday in the next couple weeks. I’m sure I’ll have some good pictures to post of that event.

Additionally I’m still reading Bringing Food Home ~ The Maine Example by Merry Stetson. I’m loving that book and I’ve highlighted lots. Yesterday I received Flower Girl’s home school curriculum in the mail….paid for it with rolled change but we managed. Now that I’ve looked through it the fear factor has set in. I also received a book that was sent to me so that I would read and do a book review, “The Back to Basics Handbook”. I think it may be fall before that happens.

P.S Tonight the kids cooked me up some crayfish from the pond and served it w/ melted butter. I must admit it was not bad, tasted like lobster just much smaller. Love those country kids!

Creamy Cucumber Salad

2011-07-18T11:31:00.001-04:00

Is this the smallest critter you’ve ever seen? CB found a bunch of them out by the ponds a couple weeks ago. He says it’s a toad.

This is one of three quail that CB bought recently. I believe this little guy is Blake. He has another named Peter & Piper. Blake was the sole survivor of a cat attack that claimed the lives of 2 of CB’s original quail (Lily & Alex…RIP). That was a devastating day but CB survived. He has been taking good care of them and they are well protected from those rascally cats now.

On a final note a YUMMY recipe I made last night for us then again for my farmer friend. Will definitely make again real soon…maybe tonight!

6 T. olive oil
3 tsp. vinegar
4 T. mayonnaise
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lg onion
handful of fresh dill (1-2 tsp of dried dill would probably work as well)
6 cukes sliced

Refrigerate x 1 hour and serve. The WHOLE family enjoyed this!

Now off to harvest the garlic and do a little planting in the greenhouse.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2011-07-16T23:58:00.001-04:00

1 can of artichoke hearts chopped
1 16oz. frozen package of chopped spinach
1 cup mayo
1cup of parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic minced

Mix & cook @ 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Simply divine!

Garden Tour & Green Bean recipe

2011-07-15T17:39:00.001-04:00

If you double click on the photos with writing on them it will enlarge and you will be able to read it better. I apologize, this is a new feature I have just FINALLY figured out.

Yesterday when I was at a doctors appointment with my farmer friend I came upon the recipe in a magazine….jotted it down….and cooked it last night. It was simple and delicious therefore I’ll share with you and have in my archives for future retrieval. The recipe was shared by Tracy Smith, an organic farmer in NH. Traciesfarm.com is her web page if you’d like to peek around at any of her recipes, I plan too!

Green Bean Salad

1 lb fresh green beans
2 T. olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 T. minced fresh parsley
2 T. lemon juice
1 teas. kosher or sea salt
1/2 teas. freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 teas. freshly ground black pepper

Cook green beans, combine the remaining ingredients, mix & serve!

Maine Man loved it. His love & appreciation for the food I cook makes experimenting with new recipes and foods a whole lot more fun!

Keep Growing

2011-07-14T13:20:00.001-04:00

One of the best parts of having a garden is in the midst of preparing lunch you can run and grab something to add to your meal. This morning before heading out the door I ran out and picked a dozen raspberries to add to my yogurt. Gardening is just plain old good for your mind, body, and soul!....Just saying ♥

Who feels it knows it

2011-07-13T22:14:00.001-04:00

Summer is busy for everyone but especially so for gardeners & farmers alike. At times when I feel overwhelmed with the tasks at hand….milking, watering, weeding, feeding, picking, cleaning, cooking, and finding time for fun stuff I take a look at my children and I am reminded that all we do is worth every bit of effort we put forth.

Thankful for the life we live!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T08:36:00.001-04:00

We will Never know all the good a Simple Smile can do!

2011-07-06T21:14:00.001-04:00

When I saw this quote I immediately thought of Flower Girl….my smiley kid!

Sweet as ever…. Often found gathering strawberries for company, picking flowers for her school teacher, giving the neighbors a dozen eggs, filing bags with garden fresh vegetables and herbs for unexpected visitors.

She even helps her Momma in the garden picking garlic scrapes. Creative little bugger even made a scape holder with a scape….Clever! Last year I made and posted about Garlic Scape Pesto if you want to check that post out.

Recently she tried on the bee suit on for size and took a peak at the bees. Last night I was stung for the very first time from one of my bees. I was unsuited by the hive checking on their feed and as I went to walk away I was stung on the elbow. OUCH!

FG gets credits for the picture of the Lunar Moth…not bad! The picture just above here is her preparing to capture it’s simple beauty. She’s starting to take an interest in photography. She inherited my old Kodak point & click. GIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART!

Making Salad Dressing

2011-06-28T19:01:00.002-04:00

I have made salad dressings a few times but it is not something I do on a regular basis. My inspiration? A couple things…..first I went on a field trip with by boy a few weeks back before school was out. It was at Old Fort Western. I think I enjoyed it more then the kids. Here the staff talked and demonstrated how life was back in the 1700’s. One of the stations a woman made up some goodies from the kitchen garden. She made a simple dressing for the salad which consisted only of cider vinegar, water, and sugar and to my surprise it tasted pretty dang good. Easy & tasty…..caught my interest for sure!

Then about a week ago I was going back reading Food In Jar’s blog and I saw her post on how to make Chive Blossom Vinegar. Perfect timing because my chives were in full bloom! So I popped the flowers off the tops, rinsed them, filled a canning jar then added vinegar (white distilled vinegar). It sat on my counter looking real pretty for about a week. I strained it and what I had left was some cool looking pink vinegar that smelled divine (like onions).

I refrigerated the remains although I am not sure that was necessary and made a simple vinaigrette based out of a recipe I clipped out of a magazine (Cooking Light 2010) and revised to my own likings.

This recipe is approximately 4 servings

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

4 tablespoons of “Chive Blossom Vinegar” (doesn’t that sound fancy?)

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

12 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

Place all the ingredients in a canning jar, cover, shake it all about and serve immediately

SIMPLE, EASY & CHEAP!! That’s how I roll. Would love to hear what you make for dressings. If you have a link to share from a previous post of your own creations I love to read and I’m sure others would too!

Three Stooges

2011-06-27T08:29:00.001-04:00

Moe, Larry, & Curly arrived about a week ago. One for the freezer, one for a pig roast for Maine Man’s 40th birthday, and one of the piggies is my friends. It took them a few days to get the electric fence theory but I think they have finally got it. I won’t even begin to tell you the scene my friend and I created in attempts to apply sun block to these poor lads. If I only had a flip cam…lol.

Our last pig was processed back in March so are meat supplies are starting to dwindle. It was a nice break from tending hogs but I did miss filling the slop bucket with anything that was ready for discard….the chickens are a bit more finicky then pigs. Plus with garden season in full force they also do a real good job eating up whatever remains, plants & all.

Time to do chores…. ~Happy Week all!

Pictures to Prove it!

2011-06-25T14:19:00.002-04:00

Do you remember that kid that wanted NO part of having bees on his 100 acre playground?

Well that is him in the bee suit just below….Imagine that! He cried and fussed and carried on. I was initially suppose to pick the bees up on his birthday. I delayed that until the following week to keep peace in the family. In effort to get me to change my mind about raising bee’s he even said “Did you know that bees kill more people then any other animal?” Smarty pants….he was reaching for my weak spot….safety. LOL. I guess he has outgrown his fear in the last couple weeks because yesterday when I went out to do my weekly check he wanted to participate.

He has always watched from a distance and he’s real good at getting my smoker fired up. It was fun to watch his expressions, first time around the bees is a little scary.

I still have not been able to locate the queen but I’ll continue looking for her until I find her. The bees have drawn out most the comb on the frames so within the next day or two I will be adding another super (box).

The cells filled with the white are the larvae….cool to see their cycle of life.

If I could have bet money on it Flower Girl would have been in this suit long before Country Boy!

She’s A Keeper

2011-06-24T19:43:00.002-04:00

Have I mentioned lately how much we love our milking goat Dolly?

She’s been a lot of fun and she is productive as all get out. Her return is definitely much greater then what we are feeding out.

Plus she forages a lot of her food and she eats whatever garden goods we feed her. Unlike the last goats we had she will eat just about anything. She LOVES broccoli (not just the head but the whole plant). Everyone that has tried her milk says it tastes no different from cow milk…even my neighbor Biker Stacy and she’s a tad bit fussy. Soon I will post on the milking process. Not sure why everyone doesn’t have a goat!

Sneak Peek of the Gardens

2011-06-14T22:22:00.002-04:00

What I like most about these gorgeous chives is that they came up from last years garden.

Lots of beet greens with pink chunks of plump goodness growing below.

Hard neck & Soft neck garlic that Maine Man planted last fall.

Harvest will be in July

Flower Girl passing off a pea to one of her buddies.

Below is MM’s little princess Callie

Above is the strawberry beds that MM threatens to till in every year so I now maintain them. I think this year will be our most abundant harvest.

The greenhouse is thriving. MM has spent endless hours tending the gardens. We’ve been eating fresh goodness since the end of April starting with lettuce (several kinds) followed by beet greens, spinach, bok choy, swiss chard, broccoli and turnip.

The picture below is of a Kiwi bush. It has yet to bear fruit. Any other fellow Mainers ever grown these before? If so I’d love to hear if it will survive and/or thrive in this climate….it looks good so far! We planted them last Spring.

One of the smaller gardens. Each year MM tills up a little more ground.

Pictured below is turnip grown in the greenhouse. I have several more stored in the shed refrigerator. We usually serve it mashed or roasted. We would love to hear how other’s best like to eat or serve turnip….must have recipes anyone?

I’ve been beesy

2011-06-13T21:47:00.001-04:00

Last week I picked up our bees, approximately 50,000 in the back of my Jetta wagon. That would have been a scene had I been in an accident. They’ve settled in good so far. On my next day off I will set some time aside to check them out for the second time since their relocation. I will even attempt to find the queen…wish me luck on that. Country Boy was a little distraught at the thought of having bees but he too has adjusted well. God forbid something get in the way of his 100 acre playground. The same reason he dislikes the cows, the couple acres they reside in just happen to be his “favorite” play area.

There are always flowers for those that want to see them

2011-06-12T11:00:00.002-04:00

Friday night’s Facebook status…..

I've traded my "skinny jeans", bad girl boots, and all nighters with friends for a pair of shorts, a tank, bog boots spending most my time home with the kids. It is truly the simple things that remind you of all you have! ♥ Great 4 wheeler ride out back tonight through fields of buttercups & wild irises with lots of dragonflies flying about. You know what.....I WOULDN'T want to change a thing! ♥

The pursuit is the reward

2011-06-10T22:37:00.002-04:00

Second post on Windows Live Writer and so far I’m liking it. I can adjust my photo sizes easier then on blogger, change the FONT, and I was able to place a watermark on my photo. All things I’ve been wanting to do for a LONG while. THANK you Jodi @ Living the Road Less Traveled! I have SO much to say and SO many photos to share. However, I’m spent and my plans are to cuddle up with a good book followed by some shut eye. As with everyone else this time of year is very busy . Maine Man and I have had our moments of being very OVERWHELMED. THANKFULLY we take turns and remind one another that we can only do what we can do. Will have some garden photos soon. ….night all!

Making Goats Milk Cheese

2011-06-08T16:25:00.003-04:00

This is my first attempt posting using Windows Live Writer so bear with me, blogger has has some issues lately so I figured I’d try something different. This past winter I gave one of my neighbors a Muscovy (not live, the ready for the oven kind). In trade she said she’d give me some goat milk come Spring when her does were freshened. She did just that! With that milk I made goat cheese and Maine Man absolutely loved it. He has recently figured out he has issues with milk products yet this cheese I’d created did not bother his gut. Long story short……we purchased a goat. Another one of those things I’d said I would never do again…LOL. Her name is Dolly. We are not quite sure what breed she is, maybe an Alpine/Nubian mix. Regardless she is a big girl and she is sweet as ever and we’ve really enjoyed having her around. She is producing between 1 – 1 1/2 quarts twice a day. EXCITING….scratch another item off my grocery list ….MILK. Besides using it for cooking & drinking I’ve only used it to make this cheese. It is a FAVORITE with MM & Flower Girl and I like it too. It’s also Wicked EASY to make so that helps.

Slowly heat milk to 185 degrees
Add 1/4 cup of vinegar
Keep temp @ 185 stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes. Soft curds will form.
Line strainer with cheesecloth then pour curds/liquid into strainer (remove liquid)
Sprinkle cheese with salt (I use a coarse sea salt)
Tie corners of cheesecloth together and hang allowing it to drip for a few hours.
Add seasonings (dill, pepper, and/or garlic) if desired
Break up with fork & refrigerate

Happy Birthday Country Boy!

2011-06-02T00:06:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe my first born is 11!

Where have the years gone?

You've become such an amazing young man!

We are SO proud to call you OUR boy!

AWESOME ball player you've become....

...Snapping turtle wrestler

....Snake Whisperer

.... Amazing Big Brother

....Fish catching

....Bird saving, cabin building, deer slaying, guitar playing, farm helper. You truly have NO problems living up to your name Country Boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bud, We LOVE YOU!!

Local Food Finds

2011-05-27T21:43:00.008-04:00

For Mother's Day Maine Man and the kids gave me a book titled

Bringing Food Home ~The Maine Example

by Merry Stetson Hall

I meet the author of that book a few years back at a conference about local food co-ops. I overheard her speak of this book she was writing and I thought to myself...sounds like something I'd like to read. Funny thing is MM never knew anything about me meeting her or the book she was writing. So almost every night before the lights go out I read a few pages. I LOVE IT more then I ever thought I would. Someday I may even share some tid bits from the book here. It has inspired me to be a faithful supporter of our local farmers markets regularly despite the fact that we produce a good deal of foods right here. In effort to encourage others to "know there farmer" and make more of a conscious effort to buy local I will share my weekly local food finds here throughout the summer along with a random photo or two. (Boy that was a long sentence....hopefully my grammar teacher is not one of my followers...lol)

This weeks finds:

1 lb of asparagus ( I picked a 1 pound from our gardens but I needed another to make that that tasty soup I keep talking about for my farmer friend)

bay leave plant

dill seedlings ( I neglected to start any yet and it is by far one of my favorite herbs)

2 lbs of haddock

P.S I apoligize for the abnormal spacing in this post and some of the other posts. Not sure what is going on with blogger lately. Anyone else having issues?

Green Goodness

2011-05-25T19:49:00.003-04:00

Our first pickings of Asparagus EVER!
I must say fresh asparagus has moved right up to one of my favorites.

We haven't had large quantities but enough for a side dish.

Besides the asparagus soup I made and wrote about a few posts back we have mostly enjoyed it baked lightly. Drizzle with olive oil, a dash of sea salt, sprinkled with cheese baked for several minutes.
Simply Amazing!

Other garden goods we are eating so far this season....bok choy, spinach, beet greens, chives, lots of lettuce, and rhubarb.

Kennebec Organics Soil review

2011-05-23T22:50:00.007-04:00

Recently Kennebec Organics supplied me with a sample of their NEW potting soil/seed starter for an Achorn Farm review. It was amazingly light and fluffy with a rich mahogany color. It looked good enough to eat. Not really but you get the picture.

For years I've used the commercially available over the counter Pro Mix. I figured if it was good enough for the professional gardener it should certainly should work for us.

With this in mind I set out on a head to head comparison between the big box stores and a new local business.

My initial expectation was that I would find a 10- 20% measurable difference between the two soils. However, to my surprise the results were far greater then I expected. The Kennebec Organic soil on the LEFT grew twice the size of the Promix which is on the right. I will be interested to see if this equates to twice the yield at harvest time. But more important than the numbers, healthy vigorous plants produce more nutritionally dense food which is one of the main reasons we garden.

These bell peppers were grown side by side using the same seed tray, water, and light exposure. I know which seed starter we will be using from now on.
Remember... plant SMARTER not HARDER with Kennebec Organics!

Currently this product is available at Visions on KMD in Oakland, ME (465-8200)

~Maine Man

A Farmgirl Home

2011-05-19T20:24:00.000-04:00

Home is where my rocker sits,

Home is where my needles knits,

Home is where my heart gives,

Home is where my true loves lives,

Home is where I rake leaves,

Home is where I clean the eaves,

Home is where I make pies and cakes,

Home is where my squash bakes,

Home is laundry on the line,

Home is a pretty clock keeping time,

Home is where and old, wooden box

Hides feathers and cards and special rocks,

Home is where I hang my coat and tack,

Home always says, "Welcome Back,"

Home is "Matilda" in the barn,

Home is a kitten playing with yarn,

Home is where the pantry stores,

Pickles and jam and so much more,

Home is daisies, lettuce, and beets

Home is a freezer filled with meat,

Home watches over my many loves,

Photos, heirlooms, and a wooden dove,

Home is where I close my eyes,

And pray for rain or sunny skies,

Home is where my chickens scratch,

Home is where their babies hatch,

Home looks over stacks of hay,

Harvested now, 'twas grass in May,

Home is where stars shine down,

upon my house and me in my gown,

Home is where I keep myself,

Until I leave this earthy shelf.

Home is Heaven will better be,

But for now, my home here is a haven for me.

This came from this months issue of "Mary Jane Farm" magazine written by Sherry Jespersen

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED it and had to share it! Maine Man, the kids, and I are EXTREME homebodies so I could relate to that poem on many levels. There is truly is NO place like home!

Pure Insanity!

2011-05-17T09:37:00.004-04:00

Well...at least that is what I was thinking when I showed up at my last Bee Keeping class.

In the doom and gloom of winter I thought it would be interesting to learn more about these brilliant little creatures so I signed up for a class through adult education. GLAD I did because I had absolutely NO idea how COMPLEX honey bees were. There was 4 classroom lectures and 2 days you could attend work in the field.

When I got out of my car I had not yet dressed in the proper bee keeping attire so I had to walk by this madness. I contemplated loading back up and heading home but I came to my senses.

See that big BEE she is the Queen....without her your in BIG trouble. I was amazed at how easily our instructor could find her in the hive.

He had just received a shipment from Georgia hence all the madness pictured above.

If my hive is built by June (my farmer friend is building it for me...spoiled I know) I will pick up my first Nuke (mini hive w/ a queen) next month. I have everything else I need except a smoker and the hive tool I think.

Pictured above is "Jen the local" who follows and sometimes comments here on my blog. She spoke up at the last class when she saw me grabbing my camera. SO glad she did! It was SO nice to meet someone that reads about our wacky life!

In my simplistic terminology this picture shows a baby bee being born. In bee keepers terms
which is a language of its own, this is a brood or worker bee emerging from cell in the brood chamber. Having ABSOLUTELY NO experience with bees the glossary of my book became my best friend in this class. The other bees help them hatch....isn't that COOL?

I was fully suited, some were not. Just a hood, yikes! One guy had a rope from the front of his hood down between his legs attached to his belt hoop on the back. I SO wanted to take a picture but I did not want to be a menace...LOL! I felt great comfort wearing FULL a suit with out entrances. At this point I was wondering if there were bees on my back like his? Better not knowing I think.

Great Class!

Now we will see if I can put some of what I learned into practice.

Big decisions....what color to paint the hive?

I think Pink! ;)

Bad to the Bone!

2011-05-15T18:52:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, Mother's Day Bob FINALLY met his maker. He was the farm bully and everyone feared him except Maine Man. Bob didn't mess with MM very often, only tangled with him on rare occasions. His near death experiences reminded him to stay clear of MM. However he picked on everyone else and I was his #1 target, he made me cry on more than one occassion. So basically if you planned on being within 8 feet of him you'd best have a weapon although that did not always stop him. Really... he has attacked me with a pitch fork in hand. He's picked on the kids, both my parents knocking my mom to the ground and he once left a spur in my already injured father's leg. We gave him away once with fair warning and by the end of the summer he returned. As of lately he had become more aggressive running rapidly from afar unexpectedly and I had ENOUGH! That morning I awoken to Flower Girl screaming "Boooooooob". She was out picking fresh eggs to cook me breakfast in bed. Country Boy came up to my room and I said "kill him". With no resistance CB went out and did the deed. They skinned him and he & all the fixings were in the crock pot by 9 am. After all day simmering he was tough as heck. I feed out what meat I could pull off the bones to the dogs. I'm sure our Boxer, Rona took great pleasure in eating Bob because she often fell victim of his violent attacks. The broth I saved for soup stock. Tonight I cooked up a DELICIOUS Asparagus Bisque and the rest I froze. The recipe came from this Bed & Breakfast web site for anybody that is interested. (under lunch then soups). Some of the asparagus came from our garden (first time ever!!) and since I did not have enough some was store bought :)
It has taken a little getting use to not being guarded in the farm yard but it has been a pleasure!

Foraging for Food

2011-05-13T20:59:00.001-04:00

The last weekend of April the kids and I headed out for our 2nd annual fiddlehead picking adventure. I was the only excited one, they protested a bit but being the "mean" mom I am I made them come along. For anyone that is interested in learning more about identifying them click here and read my post from last year. Some fiddleheads had already passed by and some were not up yet but I was able to gather approximately 5 lbs. Within minutes of arriving to our destination the kids had stripped down to their swim suits and were up stream hooting and hollering. Rough life they have.... with a wicked "mean mom" you see;)

I picked and they played.

They even had time to make a little habitat for "froggy junior".

On the way back out of the woods the kids did help picking a bit.

Either way I was content just being out there in the warm air.

Sometimes it is the little things we do that we often take for granted.

FYI: Anyone who left comments for FG's birthday post they were removed because blogger was having some issues.

Happy Birthday

2011-05-12T06:00:00.002-04:00

I mentioned I wouldn't be posting this week but then I remembered my baby girl had a birthday and I couldn't miss out on my traditional birthday post. Thanks to technology I was able to schedule this ahead. Wishing Flower Girl a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. We LOVE you more than words can express but I'll try...

BECAUSE you are....

F un

L oving

O utgoing

W ity

E xciteable

R elentless

G iving

I maginative

R eliable

L ovely

This years song is My Girl by Tim McGraw

WE LOVE YOU MUFFIN!!!

So much to say....

2011-05-08T20:39:00.001-04:00

.....So little time. I have been taking lots of pictures and have several posts I've been scheming in my busy little mind. Planting Christmas trees, fiddle heading, a soil review by Maine Man, the demise of our mean a$$ rooster, super easy goat milk cheese I've made not once but twice, a cook book I'm currently obsessed with, my last bee class, asparagus and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately it will have to wait a bit. I hope to be posting by next weekend. We will see how my recovery goes with what I hope to be a final procedure to cure my ailing neck. Send some good vibes my way...HAPPY WEEK to All!

Scenes from the Green House

2011-05-01T09:19:00.007-04:00

All Maine Man's hard work is paying off.

These pictures were taken over a week ago.

This week we ate our first greens of the season, 2 weeks later then last year.

The kids and I only planted 2 flats and MM has done the rest.

He's the green thumb in this family! You grow it and I'll cook it is my motto ;)
SO thankful for all the fresh greens. All winter I have been buying them at the local natural food store and it is not cheap.....something like $9.99 a pound....yikes!
Bok Choy is one of MM's favorite. The best way I like it is in an Asian Salad but we do eat it often is toss salads.
Would love to hear your favorite way of eating it!

Peas

Garlic....notice the chicken is on the outside of the fence. They've been free ranging since last fall but they are soon to be cooped up. They are VERY destructive to the gardens. MM has a a small garden started so far but he has it fenced in.

The Little Things in Life are the Big Things

2011-04-29T08:58:00.001-04:00

I know......I've been a BAD blogger, nearly 2 weeks from my last post. It is nice to feel missed as evidence by an e-mail I received last night from my cousin.

One of our Muscovies hatched out 10 ducklings a couple days ago. Aren't they just the cutest animal EVER? CB's incubator is full of duck eggs so we have more on the way.
Life has been busy but.....I will be posting again real soon.

GOOD DAY EVERYONE!

Liquid Gold

2011-04-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

As asked by a few readers to share the entire process of collecting sap and making syrup here goes...I first posted back in March when we tapped our Maple trees. There are a couple ways to boil down sap which we've experimented with in previous years, gas and/or wood. The method we currently use seems to be the most cost effective and least labor intensive. To boil down exclusively by gas is very expensive and cooking over an open fire is a lot of work! This year we only tapped 3 trees. 2 taps in the two big trees and 1 in the small one so we had 5 buckets to empty every day.

In the old summer kitchen in our farmhouse we have an ancient Ashley wood stove. We simply remove the cover and boil down the sap in a shallow pan directly atop the wood stove. We add to the sap as it boils down throughout the day and towards night we stop adding to it. Most every evening we would boil down the remains of the pan inside on our gas range. It was just easier to tend without fear of turning it into sugar. Instead I boiled it over a few times and made a HORRENDOUS mess :/

After boiling for a few hours I tested the syrup by placing a spoonful in a cool dish to check for consistency and color. If it is to my liking I would pour into hot canning jars while filtering with cheesecloth. Cap it and turn the jars upside down for the caps to seal.

Viola....Liquid Gold!

Over 5 gallons of it. Do the math and that is approximately 200 gallons of sap.

It is currently going for $50/gallon in this area.

We've enjoyed it on homemade waffles, maple syrup shakes, over ice cream, blueberry-maple muffins and this week I hope to to make some granola with it.

Every Picture Tells a Story

2011-04-12T22:14:00.002-04:00

Last weeks we started hearing squeaks coming from Country Boy's incubator.

Within a few hours they were busting out of their shells. We helped the above chicken break out a bit because he was really struggling and one of the last to hatch. We've never had good luck with "helping out" but amazingly this little guy survived.

Not a great incubation rate this time around. Only 10 out of 40 eggs hatched. Better luck next time around. The key is to keep a moist environment which we lacked on a little towards the end. Our bad!

CB sold them within a couple days. Now he has his incubator filled with Muscovy eggs. We also have a Momma Muscovy sitting on a nest of eggs. Hers will hatch out way before the batch in the incubator. Remember last year when one of our hens hatched out and tended 26 ducklings? Now that is just crazy!

What's Not to Love?

2011-04-10T14:32:00.004-04:00

Can't help but to post this picture again because I absolutely LOVE it and well I LOVE them!

That being said I think it deserved it's very own post.

When Maine Man and I went up to bed the other night our door was peppered with sticky notes of "I love yous & your the best". Then to find a note above our bed of 6 sticky notes stuck together.

It read ....You both make my wonderful life and you make me the person I really am! I love you both so very much! I hope your days are fantastic! I love you both with all my heart! Hope you enjoy all the letters I wrote! Love you xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

With lots & lots of love

Your loving little girl

Flower Girl!!!

To Mom & Dad

I thought that was a pretty sweet thing to write. Figured I'd better preserve to look back on when she's sixteen. ;)

Name That Picture

2011-04-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Thankfully she is a dog that will never know I posted this embarrassing photo ;)

What's all the Buzz About?

2011-04-09T10:24:00.001-04:00

10 years ago if you told me I'd be taking a Bee Keeping class I would have laughed and probably made a few sarcastic remarks.

Amazing how much one changes in a decade!

These pictures were taken at Montshire Museum of Science when we visited Vermont.

I am taking a bee keeping class locally through Adult Ed. We have 1 more class to go and two days in the field come May. Should be interesting! I will definitely take my camera along on one of those field trips. I am not sure if I will start a hive this summer or next. We have had our share of financial setbacks this year and it is not cheap to get up and going. The only supplies I have so far are gloves, my farmer friend plans to build me a hive soon. I'd be willing to do this project with a friend and share the expenses & honey come fall but I've yet to find someone crazy enough to join me in this venture...lol. I never imagined how much is involved in the bee keeping process. They are AMAZING little creatures! I am hoping to incorporate them into Flower Girl's homeschooling adventure next year. This surely will be one heck of a Science lesson!

Do What You Like. Like What You Do!

2011-04-05T19:21:00.000-04:00

Cruel April Fools Joke!

2011-04-02T14:36:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we had yet another snowfall, up near 10 inches in our region.

How cruel! The night before we were playing a game of baseball in the back field.

Today we are shoveling and making our way through knee deep snow to collect sap to boil down more syrup. One thing I can say for sure, it has been one hell of a maple syrup season! I will do one more post on that topic for those that requested seeing the whole process. We only do a small operation, just enough for us. The way we do it requires very little effort so we never tire of the process. Many hours of Maine Man shedding lots of blood, sweat, and tears. :)

Appreciate ALL his hard work!

My first accident which happened on my way home from work yesterday afternoon. Not the first I've been in, but a first when I was driving. Humbling EVENT to say the least!

I walked away with a broken pride, sore nose & neck from the air bag and a couple facial abrasions. Glad there was no cars coming from the other way. Instead it was me vs. guardrail, I am ok with that.

My farmer friend was at the scene within minutes and stayed with me until they towed my vehicle back to my house. SO THANKFUL to have him in my life! At moments like these the support of loved ones is what you need most.

Instead of dwelling on the series of unfortunate events I've had so far this year I will look at the positive. I now have dodged two bullets this year. I am just thankful to have woken up this morning in my own bed. Then cooked these little monkeys WHATEVER they wanted for breakfast and had the ability to pick up their little mess here and there. And no I didn't even complain!

Growing Mushrooms in Maine

2011-03-28T13:54:00.005-04:00

I have been wanting to grow mushrooms for a couple years now since seeing Shitake mushrooms at the Common Ground Fair. A vendor had logs displayed and a never ending line-up of people paying good money for fried Shitake mushrooms.

Looking back in my archives I even have a picture of them on a post I did in Oct 09'.If your a fellow Mainer you may find that post useful as it displays local mushrooms and where they are found. The last picture on that post is of the Shitake's growing on the logs.

I bought the above plugs at a local market for $30 for 200 they came from Oyster Creek Mushroom Company. We planted approximated 3/4 of them and gave the rest away to a friend.

We made it a family event... melted down some paraffin wax. You are suppose to use a double boiler, but who follows directions...really?

Maine Man gathered Oak logs approx 4 ft long and directions said 4- 8 inches in diameter, 1 tree was sacrificed in the making of this project. Drilled the holes w/ a 5/16th bit every 8" evenly spaced around the log. Then the we all took turns pounding the inoculated dowels in the holes, making them flush with the log. Lasly we sealed the plugs with some melted wax. Easy & Fun project to do with the kids! They stayed up an hour past their bedtime helping out. Now the logs will be stacked in a shady area in a square rick or log cabin formation. We should be able to harvest twice a year, Spring & Fall. I will be sure to update our progress on growing mushrooms in the future.

Country Boy Can Survive

2011-03-26T10:49:00.000-04:00

I have NO doubt this boy could survive out in the wilderness! On the other hand, I would never make it out alive unless of course I had Maine Man or County Boy there to bail me out. A few weeks back CB was getting a little stir crazy (aka driving his mother crazy) so MM bought him a pellet gun. CB will spend part of this Spring into Summer working around the farm to pay it off. He offered to give us some cash after he sells some chickens he is hatching out but we declined. I think working for things you want provides for a valuable lesson. Almost every day after school he ventures out on to the back forty with MM. He goes his own way as MM cuts wood. A porcupine was his first kill with his new gun.
After the kids were ever so persistent their dear old dad, MM reluctantly cut it up and believe it or not I cooked it up. I baked it in a baking bag and it came out pretty darn good. MM and I had a few bites and the kids ate the rest. Actually they all but sucked on the bones. I really can't get over how much of a carnivore Flower Girl is. In a survival situation I could easily eat it but after seeing it dead, smelling it, and the cooking it I found it a little challenging to consume knowing I had an assortment of other foods to eat. We also saved some of the quills for future projects.

Sappin' Time

2011-03-15T14:28:00.002-04:00

If you look closely you can see the sap running down the bark.
CB helping his Dad drill some holes in the maple trees.

Couldn't help but take a picture of this. CB's friend got his outdoor gear wet so we supplied him with a stylin' attire. Camo overalls and my flowered bog boots. LOL.
I have been sworn to secrecy so I will never tell which friend it was!

Last night was cool and today was a beautiful day filled
with sunshine.

I'm sure the buckets are filling right up.

Tonight we will begin the boiling down process on top of the wood stove. This weekend we may boil some down over an open fire. The wood stove is our preferred lazy-man method. But, there truly is nothing like the taste of maple syrup boiled down over a fire.

Random Rambling

2011-03-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

(Almost) Always willing to do a project....Flower Girl was cutting up old towels into rags.

She cut them a little smaller then planned. So instead of using them as rags I've been keeping a basket of them in the kitchen and we've been using them as we would use paper towels. Since we spend a good amount of time in the kitchen we seem to use lots of them. Maine Man thinks I'm insane. I like to keep it that way ;) Keeps life interesting!

Me fooling around when we went to New Hampshire for my procedure. The morning of the vertebroplasty we took the kids to a REALLY cool place called Montshire Musuem of Science. It is actually in Vermont, about a 10 minute drive from where we were staying in NH. When I returned home my best friend said "only you would make a something like this into a field trip for your kids". We both had a good laugh! There were moments of the trip I laid there wondering whatever possessed me to take them along. Like after the 350th time they asked to go to the pool or when they jumped on the bed the night I had the procedure..... Yikes! But overall I was glad they were with me, especially the day of the procedure. If they had not been there to support me I would have been very emotional. Don't let me kid you, the night before I did do a little bargaining with God. However, I was very calm and at peace with the choices I had made when it came to that day. It helps that I really trusted & respected the doctor that was about to screw a large needle through my shoulder into by neck and fill the vertebrae with cement right next to my spinal cord. The procedure went very well and it was a good experience for the kids to be involved in.

Unfortunately, my medical dilemma continues with quite an interesting twist. I will share the story when I get some more definite answers. I feel that if one person can benefit from my story it will make sharing it worth while.

I am out of work for one more week. Next week is already filled with 3 physical therapy appointments and yet another trip to the doctors. I am fortunate in that we have FINALLY figured out where the true source of my pain is coming from. I am able to get relief although the situation is not always ideal. Both mentally & physically I am in a MUCH better place but I still have some things to work through. Little vague, sorry...I will tell more when I know more.

Full Freezers

2011-03-07T07:59:00.003-05:00

We picked up the remains of our pig last week. Love the look of these sweetly wrapped morsels of goodness.
We run three freezers and they are completely full. Actually I did not have enough room for all the pig fat. If any of you locals are interested in some to make lard with and/or for bird treats come on over.

With the price of gas steadily rising I have heard that the price of food will double in price.

I cannot even imagine as there are so many in this country that are going without.

Maybe it will eventually be less expensive to raise your own and more people will go back to it?

That would be nice!

P.S. The picture on my header is a dish I made after getting the idea from a fellow blogger, Amaranthian. Love her blog, lots of great culinary ideas! Besides being tasty it only required one pan. Cook up the bacon, set aside, cook up grated potatoes in the grease, then cook your eggs atop. Note to others: don't take a shower while your taters are cooking :)

Making Treats for our Feathered Friends

2011-03-02T10:11:00.003-05:00

Last year for the first time I made some tasty treats for the birds. I posted recipes here.

The other night my girl & I made some without following a recipe.

*We cooked up some pig fat in the oven in my cast iron kettle, the remaining was liquid fat and crackles, I believe that is what they are called. (little pieces of fat)

*Threw the crackles in the processor.*Dug deep into my fridge to find the bacon grease and such I had been saving for the last year or so, against Maine Man's will. Melted it down. He's a bit of a throw away kinda guy and I am a save it kinda gal. I just know I will find a use for it someday! Hence why I do the recycling, as painful as it can be.

*Threw in some bird seed, a bit of cracked corn, a few tablespoons of peanut butter. Mixed it all together and dished it out into pans and plastic containers of all sizes.

I was wishing I had saved a bunch of those plastic containers you get when you buy suet blocks in the store. I only had 1 and it was perfect for this project. Maybe I will put something on Facebook and see if my bird feeding friends will save some for me.

*Set the containers in the barn overnight

*Perfectly hardened! Popped the suet blocks out of the containers. Placed one outside for the birds and the rest in the freezer.

Little Messy but FUN!

I spy with my little eye...

2011-02-27T18:57:00.000-05:00

....Something green in February~ONIONS~

Nice to see seedlings sprouting upon the window sills!

Last night was the first meal I cooked since my procedure.
I am not 100% but definitely better then I was pre-procedure.
Today was the first time in a while I did not have to lay down and did not take ANY meds.
Wooo hooo!
Nice to be back in the kitchen!
Many (not all) of the meals we cook come from the farm.
When we first started raising our own food each homegrown meal created a stir of excitement.
Now we often take it for granted.

We had pork chops from H1 who went to the butcher shop last week.
MM has processed some of our pigs in the past but with everything going on as of recently it was best to pay someone else to do it.

I also cooked up some mashed potatoes from the root cellar, we have enough left to bring us into summer I think.

For a vegetable I cooked up some Butternut squash. That stored nicely in cool storage...(Country Boy's closet) He was real impressed with me :/
Buttercup is my favorite but it was the worst for storage. Had I paid better attention and in the future I will Always eat those up first. Acorn squash & Spaghetti squash stored quite well but the Hubbard & Butternut by far stored the BEST! I am certain we will have enough until next years crop.

Home Sweet Home

2011-02-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

I had to laugh when I saw this and grab my camera of course. FG was hugging Rona but her head was behind her.

We returned home yesterday after our looooong road trip. THANKS for all the well wishes! The procedure went very well now just waiting to see if it worked, time will tell!

So happy to be home!

I can see the light.....

2011-02-20T10:28:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time coming! After getting a few opinions on what to do about my neck I have finally decided to have a procedure called a vertebroplasy. Basically the doctor will place a needle in my vertebrae and fill it will cement . I am praying this will relieve my symptoms! I am SO ready to get off this roller-coaster ride and have things back to normal again. Oh...the things we take for granted! This will be my final post before we go on a long road trip at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. I have yet to be nervous about the procedure just hopeful that all goes as planned. The kids are just plain old excited to be staying at a hotel that has not only a pool but a hot tub....lol. They too will be happy to have their Momma back....not the one that has to lay down every couple hours to relieve the pain because every medication out there seems to make her sick.

I will end this part of my post with a quote I read last night in Oprah's magazine. I thought it was perfect for my circumstance.

"I know for sure that in every challenging experience there's an opportunity to grow, enhance your life, or learn something invaluable about yourself. Every challenge can make you stronger if you allow it."~Oprah

Flower Girl was home sick all week with a fever. By Friday she was a little antsy so I taught her to sew by hand. It took her about 5 minutes and she was sewing better then I. It kept her busy for a while and she loved it. I have a few more projects lined up for her. Since I did not pay much attention to Home Ec I'd like to learn really sew again right along with her. I may ask my neighbor's sister to give us some mini lessons after I pull out my dusty old sewing machine. She has been mentoring me through crocheting. That has been an entertaining experience. I am on my second dishcloth, my first came out the shape of a triangle...lol. If all works out with my circumstance I have even considered homeschooling in the future. It is something I have always been interested in and FG recently asked if she could do it next year. Country Boy says he wants no part of it....lol. I am sure it would not take long before he changed his mind but maybe not. I believe it is important for the child to want to do it rather than be forced into it. I have time to reconsider but for now I am educating myself of the possibilities. A few questions for the homeschooling folks that follow my blog.... do you follow a curriculum, if so what one do you use? I am interested in a nature based curriculum, potentially one you could correspond with sending in papers to be graded and such. Any thoughts on this? Hoping to go to a conference in the next month or two before committing to this crazy endeavor.

Who Needs Toys...

2011-02-17T11:00:00.001-05:00

...when you have fire?

....maple syrup

....and snow!

On one of the many snow days the kids had this winter I found them making maple candy "just like the pioneers did". They made it with both store bought syrup and maple syrup we had put up last year. I was the sampler and voted for the homemade. Homemade is ALWAYS best no matter what it is. LOVE that my kids have such great imaginations! Tapping season is just around the corner......can't wait!

The fire picture at the top of this post was from a recent ice fishing trip when our heater broke. Maine Man & the kids started a fire for warmth & cooking. MM was pretty proud of his quadruple hot dog roasting stick.

Honestly, I have nothing against TV, video games, and toys when used in moderation. My kids have a Wii they bought with their own hard earned cash. I actually love playing Just Dance when I'm able body ...not as of lately ;) On the other hand I am against video games that encourage violence. I think they desensitizes children.

I am even ok with the kids watching TV although if it was not for MM & the kids I would so NOT have cable TV. I do not watch much TV. Although I will admit this season I am watching Survivor as there is a local Mainer in the game. We also have a Survivor pool going at work and I potentially could win $180. I was assigned Stephanie, the chick that had the heels on last night, WTH? I hadn't watched Survivor since Flower Girl was in the womb, 8+ years ago. She was actually named after one of the contestants...lol. I do not agree with some of the shows that are broad casted but there is also many shows that can be educational. Country boy loves watching Myth Busters & Man vs. Wild. I'm often amazed by what he learns from the shows.

As for toys, early on I learned not to waste a whole lot of money on them because in all reality my kids just didn't play with them and they often end up in the bottom of a landfill or Goodwill.

Good Ole' Mother Nature is the best toy box of all!

Almost That Time of the Year!

2011-02-09T20:07:00.002-05:00

Maine Man ordered broilers (Cornish Rocks) and a new flock of RI Reds. For any of you locals we may have some laying hens to sell and we will definitely have some broilers. We will keep about 25 each for ourselves. I am just waiting to hear back from one friend before I can promise out any of the layers. We will have more later in the season because Country Boy will be getting his incubator going in the next month or so. Let me know if your interested.

Winter Wonderland

2011-02-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

It has been a long winter but the end is near....at least I'd like to think so. Yesterday planting season began. Maine Man started onions.
This is the first winter since living here that our heat source was 100% wood.
The last couple years we ran our furnace a bit. Not much, about 100 gallons in 09' and last year we probably used about 75 gallons of oil. It is a lot of work but well worth it! I am thankful for MM who endlessly works to keep us well stocked with firewood.

It will be nice to see the kids swimming in the pool once again.

My farmer friend made this well house for me last fall. Something I will forever cherish!

Trail out to the back forty. MM takes the kids out on the sled behind the snowmobile and this is the path he takes to gather firewood. I usually go out too but this winter I have been limited to what I can do until things get straightened around with my neck. Hoping that will be soon.

Really missing hanging clothes on the line. I have a few inside racks but they do not seem to hold a lot of laundry like this line.

MM will be putting a wood stove in this soon. Planting will follow.

For now we will dream of what Spring brings and hurry to get inside projects complete.

So we can enjoy our days more outdoors then in.

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.

~Edith Sitwell

Just Ducky

2011-02-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

Warning: this picture has nothing to do with the post.

I like making some of my own cleaners mostly for financial reasons but I also feel that it allows for a little less plastic consumption. Nothing fancy, just quick & easy. In the past I have bought the plastic squirt bottles at the dollar store or from a local department store. Most recently I bought one at Sally's Beauty Supply. It did cost a more but the sprayer seems much more durable. The cleaners I like to have on hand: ammonia & water for as a window cleaner. Bleach & water for my counters and cutting board. A mixture of half rubbing alcohol/half H20/splash of vinegar, and a dash of essential oil (eucalyptus is my favorite) as an all-purpose cleaner. For quite some time I made my own laundry detergent. I have been lazy lately using store bought. I do however have supplies on hand and could easily throw a batch together if I run out so I don't have to make a special trip to the store. Would love to hear if you make your cleaners and how? I am interested in making my own wood floor cleaner, anyone have experience with this?

Too funny!

2011-02-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

Since I have been at a loss for words lately I will share a funny post Nita at Trapper Creek posted. It is a letter her husband found in the wall of their old farmhouse. Nita's blog is one of the first blogs I followed when I started blogging 3 years ago. She is a hardcore homesteader with many passions, I have learned SO much from her!

Baker in the Making

2011-01-31T20:26:00.002-05:00

Last week Flower Girl baked the best Ginger Snap's Ever! She got the recipe from All Recipes.com , Mom's Ginger Snaps. Love that site, great resource! She made the first batch with a little help from me. Then the following night she made a double batch all by herself. Half for her class and the rest my workplace X-Rated Dining Divas luncheon. The third night when I got home from work she had made another batch independently once again. Not to shabby for an 8 year old. Last night she made peanutbutter cookies. Now I just need to train her to do the dishes after ;) Hoping her love for cooking continues!

Moments That Make It All Worthwhile

2011-01-26T10:00:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE age 8?

Last night when I was helping Flower Girl cook some goodies for her school lunch she said ...."Mom you know what I love? I love cooking with you and I love spending time with you."

A few hours before that she gave me a story she wrote at school.

By Flower Girl

Moms & Dads

deadectated to my mom and dad

Moms and dads are the best thing every. they're the only person I love and will always love for every. They take care of you feed you buy you thing you need or want. They're everything to a kid and a kids dream of having because they can't live with out partents because the can't live by them self they need parents and I swear they are the best thing in the world. I love my parentes so much I wish I could spend every momnet I have with them. I love you so much mom and dad I really do.

Do I have the sweetest kids or what? Hoping to reflect on this letter when she is 16 ;) The picture above was taken just before the Father/Daughter dance.

Change in Plans

2011-01-23T19:31:00.001-05:00

Not a whole lot to say this week but I sure did do a lot of thinking!

This week I made a trip to the cancer center. It was not to fill in as the imaging department nurse which I have done in the past. It was not to accompany my old farmer for his chemotherapy treatments which I've done a good many times. This past Wednesday I made my first trip there as a patient.

To date in 36 years of life I truly think this week was the most difficult. Right up there with the week I lost my grandfather. I went for my consultation & simulation at the cancer center. The consultation left me stunned and speechless. Sadly, I proceeded on to the simulation. (can only imagine what I am going to get for a bill for that) Talk about a humbling experience, almost surreal. That evening and upon awakening the following morning the tears never stopped flowing. Can't really explain but my gut feeling was that this treatment was not the right choice in my circumstance. I know it has been done previously to treat this condition but the long term effects of radiation just seemed too risky and there were too many unknowns. If I am to go through with this treatment I need a second and/or third opinion that agrees. The following day when I went into work and immediately called the cancer center and to put my treatments on hold and confided in the the doctors I work with. Long story short they contacted a few specialists and sent my records to doctors at Dartmouth-Hicthcock Hospital in NH and John Hopkins in MD. You might be a little unique if they say they are going to present your case at an upcoming conference. I am feeling truly blessed! In a much better place now. Looking forward to proceeding with this process and getting things taken care of even if it does put me in the poor house ;) or on a plane. (I've never flown) Next step, bone scan. Should know more in the next couple weeks. Will be talking Farming soon... I promise! It is almost time to get planting for the greenhouse. Happy days ahead!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Horsing Around

2011-01-19T19:36:00.003-05:00

3 Clues ~ day 17

2011-01-17T19:45:00.003-05:00

Maine Man is restoring something really special

Given to me by my farmer friend. Manufactured in 1933.

Can you guess what I am getting?

Birds of a Feather Flock Together ~ day 16

2011-01-16T19:35:00.002-05:00

Maine Man has his Ducks in a Row! ;)

Ha.....the morning after MM processed all the drakes but 1 he found this sight in the barn.

All the Muscovies were high up on a beam out of reach from MM.

They wanted NO part of the Merry-Go-Round aka Chicken Plucker.

Couple FUN facts about MM's Chicken Plucker Post

It is the #1 visited post of this blog
Yesterday out of 339 visitors to this site 75 of them were checking out that post
Since he posted that in Jun 09' it has been viewed 9,409 times

Impressive, huh? I give him the spotlight just twice and he steals the show.....lol. His other post that is quite popular is a how to skin a pig.

Stolen picture from a friend that I gave a duck too, too pretty not to post. MM processed 11 ducks, we gave 2 away and we've eaten 1 so far. We all enjoyed, I think it tastes similar to roast beef. Not something you'd eat every week but good for a change.

The Real Deal ~day 15

2011-01-15T14:27:00.000-05:00

Initially I was not sure that I would even post this information but seeing how I have nothing to hide and would like to set the record straight for those who have been misinformed. And out of respect for my friends & family that have yet to hear what is going on the information will be most accurate coming directly from the source.

Rumor has it I have cancer, I guess no one is to blame after hearing the words tumor & radiation in the same sentence. What I do have is a cervical hemiangioma (a benign vascular tumor in my neck). I have probably had it my entire life however it has progressed throughout the years. Hemiangiomas of the spine are very common however they are usually found in the lower vertebrae (lumbar and/or thoracic region) and they do not usually encompass the entire vertebral body as mine does. The orthopedic neurosurgeon I saw said I am only the second case he has actually see in his many years of practice.

Long story a little shorter.....I have had neck pain since my 20's which has progressed. I was seen a few times with no real findings and just resumed to living with intermittent pain. Last February I was asked to be a test patient for a neck MRI and the hemangioma was an incidental finding. Fast forward 9 months later.... the frequency and severity of my pain was worsening. I consulted with a couple other doctors and after very little convincing from Maine Man I went to see my PCP and then was sent to an Orthopedic Neurosurgeon who then consulted with some of his colleagues due to the rarity of my case.

The worst case scenarios with this cervical hemiangioma is a compression fracture potentially leading to paralysis and/or uncontrollable bleeding if I were to emergently require surgery.

The plan.... I will be receiving radiation therapy starting in approximately 2 - 3 weeks. I will receive 20 treatments total, 5 days a week for 1 month. I will be watched closely throughout and thereafter in hopes that the bone will grow back and/or scar tissue will replace the tumor. I am hopeful that this treatment will work but if it does not I will have to have neck surgery to fuse my vertebrae.

With this new adventure the commitment to post here on my blog everyday in 2011 will not happen but I will still try to post frequently. My plan is to sneak my camera into the cancer center and share some bits & pieces of my journey.