I've started planting!

Gardening season has officially begun for me now. I have 16 different varieties of tomato seeds planted in seed trays in the basement. Just 2 to go. I'm going to try to finish them tomorrow.

There are a number of veges we'd like to get in the outdoor gardens but they are just still too swampy. Even with going no-till on beds 1 and 2, they're too soggy to walk in.

Hopefully, with a couple days of sunshine and warmer temperatures being predicted for this week, they will dry out enough to get at least a few things planted.

Friday, Danny is planning on moving the "Eggmobile" over by the cows. The plan is for them to follow behind the cows in the rotational grazing. The chickens will help clean up after them and keep pathogens from having time to multiply.

There is never a shortage of things to be done on the farm.

New members of our farm

We now have three really cute additions to our farm. Last week we got three young steers, a black one, a brown one with little horns and a black one with a white face. They are all a Beefmaster/Angus cross. To be sure we don't get too attached and they become pets, my guys have named them all, Sir Loin of Beef, The Duke of Hamburger and The Secretary of Steak (lol).

We have now become cattle farmers, on a very small scale of course. They will be grass-fed using rotational grazing to take advantage of and protect the nutrient cycle of the grasses. Using this method will take longer for them to reach market weight, but they will be much healthier and happy. They will not receive routine antibiotics.

I'm enjoying waking up each morning and watching them out the window. For the time being they are just roaming the field freely and they seem to want to be as close to the house as possible, so they stay very close to the fence most of the time. Yesterday, the one with white face decided he wanted a closer look. Somehow, he wiggled through the fence and it took Danny and Zach quite a while to coax him back where he belonged. Hopefully he will stay where he belongs now.

Next comes pigs, Danny is doing the research and preparing the area.

Planning time is here!

Planning time is upon us! We can't put it off any longer. Our break is over. We've been pouring over seed catalogs and taking stock of our seeds on hand. My brain hurts from trying to decide on what kinds of veges we want to plant this year. Even more difficult is deciding on which varieties of each kind of vegetable we want to try. The choices are overwhelming.

We are very pleased with the ever increasing number of heirloom varieties available. More companies are contacting us with their varieties of heirlooms than ever before.

If you would like to influence our final decisions, please let us know what you are interested in us growing for the market. Were there any varieties you particularly liked that we had last year? Any we didn't have that you were looking for?

Please feel free to leave a comment on here. Or, we have a new way for you to stay in contact with us. We are now on Facebook. Zachary set up the account recently and convinced me that it's the way to reach more of our customers. It's all new to me, but I'll give it a try.

I'm looking forward to hearing your input. We'll be putting in our seed orders over the next couple of weeks.

Winter is here! Join me at the market on Saturday.

The calender may not agree, but winter has arrived. I can't believe how cold it is outside. Danny finally gave in and cleaned out the flue last week so he could start a fire in the wood stove. The house feels so much more comfortable now, there is just such a different feel in the air with the wood heat as compared to electric. We're all wanting to be in the basement to enjoy it. Danny and Zach moved all the plant starting equipment out of the way, and then set up the ping pong table and they've been playing ping pong and board games and watching movies and hanging out as much as possible. They even want to work on their schoolwork near the wood stove.


Out in the gardens, there's isn't much left. What the cold hasn't killed, the chickens have shredded or devoured in most of the gardens. We have quite a number of chickens that are impervious to the electric fence. No matter how often I move the fence, they still escape within just a short while of letting them out of the coop. At least they fertilize while they eat.


Over in the far garden there are still beets and turnips that have survived. We're enjoying them, I put a couple turnips in the Mixed Beans and Peas Soup that I made today. I love having fresh veges in December!


I'm hoping to be able to bring some turnips with me to the market this weekend. I guess it will depend on the weather. It sounds like we're going to get rain and ice maybe even snow this week. I sure hope it warms up a little before Saturday.


This Saturday, December 12th, is the next winter market in Tower Grove. Bear and I are planning to be there and we hope to see as many of you as possible. Remember, I won't be at the market in January, so you'll need to stock up enough to last until the February market.


Tomorrow I start filling bags for the market, so if there is anything in particular you would like me to bring for you, please let me know asap. Special orders get priority. Larger quantities are available if you e-mail me in advance.

I just updated the list of available products and prices. Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, one more thing, the chickens are in full egg-production now. I will have plenty of fresh, free-range eggs on Saturday as well.

I've been told it's time for an undate.....

So much has happened since my last post. The summer market is over, the Harvest Festival on October 24th was a success. Our whole family went to the market that day. The boys kept me very busy the day before making muffins. Nate had a ball selling them. It took him all day, but by the end he didn't have a single muffin left. Now he can hardly wait for the opening day of the market in the spring, he wants to do it all over again.

We were happy that we had fresh, ripe produce for the market right to the end. As each thing ended, Danny had something new starting to produce. The last day we still had swiss chard, kale, bok choy, Michihili chinese cabbage, green and purple beans, tomatoes, potatoes and more.

If the chickens leave the gardens alone, we will even have fresh greens for the first winter market next Saturday, Novemeber 14th.

We had enough of a frost a couple weeks ago to put an end to most of the summer veges, but the winter veges love the cooler weather. The excess of rain in October made it impossible to harvest the last of the beans, they could only pick the one outside row. Bonnie said every time they tried to step in any of the rows they sunk. Danny tried putting boards down to walk on, but they sunk, too. We had such a productive fall harvest of beans that we didn't feel too bad about it.

Since the end of the market season, the boys and I have been concentrating on schoolwork. I'm still playing catch-up on grading and logging their schoolwork and trying to organize everything.

Danny finally has time to do some projects around here and work with the boys on school projects.

Were all happy to have a break from the gardens for a while...before we know it the gardens will dry out and it will be time to clean them up and put them to bed for the winter.

Hope everyone's enjoying the beautiful fall weather this week!

The bounty continues!

Do you like the pictures? They give you just a little glimpse of what the gardens are like this year.

Right now, everywhere you look there seems to be something that needs to be picked. The okra is growing like crazy. It's well over our heads. Mom & Bonnie picked it again this evening & they said they had to reach way up to get it. I'll be bringing lots of it to the market this weekend.

The cucumbers are all finished now. Danny pulled up the last of the vines this evening & took down the trellis & t-posts. He tilled up the whole area around it & started hilling up new rows to get ready to plant more lettuce & spinach.

The tomatoes are still producing quite well, although certain varieties seem to be about finished for the year. We have a new variety that started producing this week. It's a yellow cherry tomato that came up on it's own in the front flower bed. They're delicious, I'm hoping to be able to bring some to the market Saturday. (If I can keep the kids from eating them all.) That makes our 18th variety of heirloom tomatoes for this year.

Are you hungry for zucchini? The new row of plants started producing last week. There are several varieties & they look really pretty together. I'll bring extra of my Zucchini Muffin Mix this weekend to go along with it. (I ran out last weekend, sorry if you missed out.)

The cantaloupes & honeydews are gone now, but the watermelons are going strong. They were all so delicious this year. Mom was telling us this evening that she just heard you have to have really good soil to get a good tasting melon. Since this is the first time we've planted in that particular garden plot, we feel very appreciative that it was so rich & provided us & so many others with such wonderful melons. We thought our favorite variety of watermelon was the White Wonder, but tonight Bonnie talked us into trying a Sugar Baby. It's a red variety & every bit as delicious.

The amaranth is beginning to flower. It's not as tall as we expected, but I guess that will make it easier to harvest. We have to wait until after the first frost.

Our second biggest producer right now is the beans. The Fortex green beans and the Chinese Long Red Noodle Beans are way up over the 8ft trellis & are covered in beans as well as blooms. The new rows of bush beans are all covered with blooms & should begin producing any day now.

All the flowers in the front flower beds and in the garden are covered in bright, beautiful flowers. The zinnias are a rainbow of color & the cosmos is a whole variety of pastel pinks & purples, now that the onslaught of Japanese Beetles is over. The lack of beetles has also allowed the Marigolds in the gardens to break out in blooms. They are a bright splash of color among all the shades of green in the gardens.

Fall is in the air now, I'll keep you posted as things continue to change.

Summer's harvest is keeping us very busy!

I suppose you've noticed the lack of recent posts. The gardens have been in full production and it's taking all my time to keep up with the bounty of the harvest. Bonnie and her helper, Katie, come twice a week to pick. My mom and Danny and the boys pick too.

My friend Sally has been coming on two other days to help me with the processing. My Grandma helps out as well when she's able. Today, another friend came and picked tomatoes and okra for me. (It's hayfever season for me now, so I don't venture into the gardens very often.)

The okra is finally producing, it seemed to take forever. Up until last week we were only getting about a handful at a time (off of two 70 foot long rows.) Now, it's needing to be picked every couple of days. I should have a nice basketful again this weekend at the market.

You would be surprised to see how much all of the chicks have grown. The ones that hatched in May are almost as big as the adults. It's getting hard to tell them apart. Of course their coloring is different. We love seeing all the variety of colors as they walk around the yard. My mom commented on how much she enjoys them when she was here this afternoon.

The second batch of chicks have grown a lot, too. Except for two of them, they are still tiny little things by comparison. One of them is dark brown and black, the other one is mostly white with little dark spots. The white one is our newest pet. It loves to be held. It comes up to your feet and just waits to be noticed and picked up. It wants to be petted and carried around. Nate carries it all over the place. Last week he brought it in the garden with us while we were weeding the squash. It just walked around eating bugs and enjoying being near us. But, when Nate walked away to get rid of some weeds, it tried to follow him and started peeping loudly when it couldn't keep up. We named it Peeper. It is so cute!

The gardens have changed a lot since the last pictures. The cucumbers and beans are over the top of the 8 foot trellises. The tomatoes are almost all to the top of their trellises as well. The okra is almost taller than Bonnie. And the new variety of sunflowers Danny planted are taller than all of us, even Zach . I think one of them must be close to 15 feet tall!

We got the first of our watermelons last Friday. We've been getting cantaloupes and honeydews for the past few weeks. They are so delicious! I remember now why we planted all heirloom varieties. I've even discovered that I love honeydews. I had a man at the market complain that everyone brings them before they're ripe, that they need to split open before you pick them. Well, I came home and tried one that was split open...it was the best tasting melon I had eaten in a long time. He was right. I suppose other people knew that secret as well, because I brought a split one with me this past weekend and it was the first one to sell.

All the potatoes have been dug now. Danny and Bonnie and all the kids, even little Phillip, dug the last of them Monday. This time they got some really big ones. I'm pleased because the final ones they dug were from the starter potatoes I saved from last years harvest.

This past month Danny started tilling the areas where the potatoes and a few other veges were and began planting the fall crops. We have a new crop of beans and zucchini and yellow squash and a lettuce mix that are off to a good start. Tomorrow, he's planning on pulling up the last of one row of cucumbers and planting peas. I'm looking forward to the fall peas because the spring ones didn't do well at all. We did get a few to eat as we worked, but not enough for a meal. I'm hoping to be able to get some in the freezer for winter.

Well, there's so much more to tell ... but this will have to do for now. I've got to go finish up for today. There are still tomatillos and cucumbers and okra and eggs waiting to get put away before I can go to bed.

Great day at the market!

What a wonderful day for the market! The temperature was perfect, there was a slight breeze and there was a wonderful turnout of shoppers.

I hope everyone enjoyed all the fresh produce. This was our first week with a good selection of fresh produce. We dug our first two rows of potatoes, Yukon Gold and a great red variety that I can't remember the name of. We had some of the Yukon Gold for dinner tonight, they taste amazing. I think Bear ate four of them. I'll have more of them at the market next week.

We also had lots of colorful Rainbow Swiss Chard. We had that for dinner as well.

I brought the first toteful of peppers, large bells, poblanos, jalapeno, anchos and more.

I brought lots of cucumbers, they're really busy producing now. We got a little basketful of tomatoes this week too, but they disappeared very quickly. We had a cucumber and tomato salad. We've all been waiting impatiently for them to ripen. It looks like there should be enough ripe next week to be able to take some with me to the market. Of course, the cool weather being predicted for the week may slow them down again.

Yellow squash and zucchini are in full production now too. I brought plenty of them with me today as well. We've been enjoying them for several weeks now. One of our favorite ways to fix either one is to thinly slice the squash and an onion and cook them with just a little butter and seasalt. Or, we make larger, thicker slices and Danny grills them after brushing them with olive oil, garlic and italian seasoning and sprinkling them with seasalt.

I've been chopping up lots of them and putting them in the freezer for winter, and spring. I use the chopped squash in my salsas and use the chopped zucchini in my Zucchini Spice Muffins and Zucchini Bread. I package it in ziploc freezer bags in the quantity called for in the recipies, and then it's easy to defrost and use all year long. I love putting it up while there is so much fresh, organic produce available. I highly recommend the practice to others as well.

I also had lots of our free-range eggs. The hens aren't laying quite as well as in the spring, but I'm not complaining, the ones they are laying taste so wonderful.

I took some new pictures of the chicks when we moved the coops a couple days ago. They are growing so quickly. The first batch of chicks are getting close to the size of the adult chickens.

Have a good night!

Summer's bounty is beginning!

Squash, squash and more squash..Bonnie keeps on picking and bringing it in. Plus, cucumbers, swiss chard, a few peppers and just enough beans to eat while she picks. This evening I found the first two ripe cherry tomatoes, I was nice and shared one with Bonnie, Danny was jealous. I discovered them while we were all busy pulling weeds and weaving the tomato plants through the cattle panels.

I'm still trying to get the transplanting finished. This past week I transplanted three more rows of Rainbow swiss chard and Bonnie planted a few more eggplant. And this evening, I finally put in the marigolds at the end of each row of tomatoes. Danny's been taking pictures so you can see the progress.

You should see how hard the bees are working. They seem to be everywhere. Danny says they're very busy filling the hives with honey. He added another hive body to one of the hives last week. Unfortunately for him, he found out firsthand why the longtime beekeepers warn about being careful around the bees when it's too hot or the weather is changing. Friday, he went down to check on the bees without putting on the beejacket with the veil. The first two hives were just like usual, he picked up a handful to "pet" and let them crawl all over his hand. But when he got to the third hive, they were not in a good mood at all. They swarmed all over him and he got stung four times. He said he went running away shaking them off as he ran. He had quite a bad reaction in one arm. But, he's much better now, the swelling's gone and he said it's finally stopped hurting. I bet he'll remember to put on the suit the next time he goes to "pet" the bees.

We were all happy to see rain over the weekend, the excessive heat wave was about to bake everything in the gardens. It came just in time to save us from having to start watering all the gardens. The plants all look so much better, they've really perked up.

It was just too bad the rain hit on a market day. It was storming so hard here we decided not to try to make it to the market. I'm sorry if I disappointed you by not being there. Unfortunately, I won't be at the market this weekend either. This is the one weekend I told everyone I would be missing. I'll be back at the market on July 18th!

Chicks on the move!

This evening we moved the coops again onto fresh grass. This time we got them moved before they killed the grass under them. It's getting easier and quicker as we're getting used to the new routine.

Afterwards, I got the great idea to try to lure the big chicks into the Eggmobile. Only a couple of them followed the trail of chicken feed I left for them, so I deciced to wait until dark to try again. I closed their old coop so they would have more of an incentive to follow the chickens in to roost and we all went in the house. After dark, Bear and I went out with a flashlight and started catching them and putting them in one or two at a time. When we got down to the last two, we got tired of trying and decided to just wait until later.

The idea behind this new move for the chicks was to make room in the old coop for the baby chicks. We were planning to move them tomorrow afternoon, but we decided it would be easier on all of us to just get it over with while they were calm and it was cooler. It didn't take too long to get them all set up and now they can wake up to their new home in the big outdoors. They're still pretty tiny, but I think they'll do better in the coop than they would staying in the brooder, cooped up in the hot garage.

After we finished moving the little chicks, we tried again to catch the last of the big chicks. We got one easily, but the other one just kept alluding us. After too many trips around the yard to count, we gave up. But I couldn't quit worrying about it out there by itself (and Bear couldn't go to sleep.) So, just before midnight Bear and I went out to try again. We must have looked hilarious following it around and around. Bear finally gave up trying to be quiet and sneakily try to catch it and starting running after it while I followed them both with the flashlight. I couldn't help laughing. But it worked, the chick finally decided to try to escape out of the fence, as it wiggled its way out, Bear just reached over the fence and picked it up. Whew, I hope we don't have to do that again! As we came inside still laughing, Bear told me I had to get this in writing. So now you get to enjoy it too!

Goodninght everyone.

The first of our squash is here and delicious!

Monday, Danny picked the first basketful of yellow squash and zucchini!! We've already had it for dinner 3 times and had the leftovers for dessert. We love it!

This evening, Zach picked two more basketfuls of yellow squash and it looks like there will be even more ready to pick tomorrow. This will be the first market this year that I'll be able to bring fresh produce with me.

I sure wish this heat wave would let up, the weeds are going crazy. It's hard to get motivated to go out and weed when it's this hot. I so much prefer the air-conditioning, but I have to set a good example. We all went out again this evening to weed and mulch. When we all work together, it doesn't take too long to see definite progress.

I was hoping we'd at least see the rain the weatherman's been predicting for today. After all the weeks of endless rain, you wouldn't think we'd want or need any more, but the gardens are getting rather dry. If it doesn't rain tonight, we're going to have to start watering tomorrow.

Hopefully we'll be able to do some more planting tomorrow evening. Danny has quite a bit of swiss chard that's ready to get in the ground. The initial row of rainbow swiss chard is just about ready to begin picking. We got it all weeded and mulched again this evening. It looks so pretty with all the different colors.

Oh, here's a warning for all the tomatoes growers reading this: It's time to check your plants for hornworms! One discovered our extra plants on the back porch and devoured most of the leaves before Danny stopped it. They're not the only pests attacking the gardens though. My parsley suffered the same scenerio from a parsley caterpillar. Potato bugs are out in full force and Japanese beetles have arrived.

Danny's fighting back with organic remedies for each of these pests. I'll keep you updated...

Update on all the chickens!

Shortly after my last post, two more chicks hatched but two others didn't survive, so we ended up with 28 new little chicks. All of them are doing well in the brooder in the garage.

It's hard to believe what a difference six weeks can make. When the last batch of chicks hatched, we had to keep the brooder heat lamp plugged in to keep the chicks warm enough in the garage. This time, it's so hot we have to keep the big fan running to keep them from overheating.

Thursday, after Bear and I finished moving the last of the new chicks into the brooder, I decided to try letting the big chicks out of their coop to run around with the rest of the flock. Surprisingly, the older chickens didn't seem to bother them at all. I suppose our plan worked. We've been moving their coop alongside the "eggmobile" as we move it around the yard in hopes that they would all be familiar with one another. So far so good. At night, the chicks go back in their coop and the rest go in the eggmobile. I haven't even had to separate them. Its turned out better than we hoped.

Now I'm hoping that the chicks will all be ready to move into the eggmobile by the time the new chicks need to get out of the brooder. Time will tell....

More "little peeps" are here!!

Wow! What a busy day for the chicks. Nate woke me at 5:56 this morning with the news that there were more chicks in the incubator. He said they were so loud that he heard them all the way up in his room.

When I went down to see, there were seven fluffed up little chicks waiting to be let out. I put them in with the other chicks and went back to bed. When Bear woke up, there were three more waiting to greet him. As the day has progressed, eight more have hatched and we can see several more eggs rocking in the incubator.

The nine that hatched yesterday have been moved into the brooder in the garage and are happily snuggling together. The ones that hatched today are still kind of sleepy and several are still wet.

We are enjoying watching them as they learn to get around. First they just kind of lurch forward toward the others. As they dry off, they start to heat up and want to get away from under the brooder light. Then they start walking around a bit with a lot of time to rest in between attempts. After a couple hours they begin looking for the food and water. The more they move around the more fluffed up they get until they look like little fluff balls, especially the buff colored ones.

So far, four of the chicks look like the buffs, most of them look like "chickmunks," and some of them are really dark like the Silver Wyandottes.

I'll keep you updated!

It's hatching day again!

This morning, about 10 o'clock, the first chick hatched as Bear and Nate watched excitedly. Two more hatched just a short time later. Then we waited all day, peeking in the incubator as often as possible....

We were gone for a few hours this evening and when we returned there were four more waiting for us. They were already dry and fluffed out. Within a few minutes of our arrival, another one hatched. Now, there are ten more that have broken through their shells and are "peeping to one another," but they haven't hatched yet.

Some of the excitement from last time has waned a bit, and it wasn't too hard to get the kids to bed, but they did have to come and check "just one more time" more than once. It is pretty amazing to watch as they hatch. Now it's my turn to go check "one more time before bed."

My camera is working again so we'll be taking pictures to post.

You should see the gardens now!

It's always amazing to me just how fast everything changes in the spring. I love looking out the upstairs windows each morning and taking note of the progress. Some days, especially after its rained, you can almost see the plants getting taller.

Most of the gardens are planted now. Just a few open spaces left to fill.

This evening we decided to add a couple more rows of tomatoes. The first ones I planted are about two feet tall now and Danny has started weaving them through the cattle panels. Some of them even have blooms on them already. The last ones to be planted haven't fared quite as well. They were planted when it was way too wet and I've had to replace a few of them, but they are growing. I'm starting to visualize picking vine-ripened, juicy tomatoes in all different colors. I think all together we have 17 different varieties this year.

We also decided to add a row of tomatillos. We have some planted in with the tomatoes, but they are coming up all over the gardens. We took Sam's advice (from Sunflower Savannah) and didn't start any from seed this year. She said the ones that come up on their own will be stronger and healthier. Last year, after the hail damaged all of mine, she gave me a lot of volunteers from her garden and they did great. So, Danny prepared a row and filled it with nice healthy transplants.

A few days ago, we planted more watermelons, bush beans, and sunflowers. We also planted amaranth. We're excited about trying to grow a new kind of grain, and I'm looking forward to the beautiful flowers it's supposed to have all summer.

My camera is not working right now, but we'll post pictures soon...

Oh, I also have another 41 eggs in the incubator. Hopefully, we'll have little chicks again in about two weeks....

The chicks got a new home today!

We moved all 27 chicks to their new home today. They have really grown quickly, except for the two little ones that hatched last, they are so cute and tiny.

We knew it was time to move them out of the garage when they started getting out of the brooder on their own when we went to refill their waterer. It was just too crowded in there.

So, on this beautiful, sunny morning, Bear, Nate, Sydney and I carried them out, one or two at a time, to the "old big coop." Yesterday, after Danny got home from work, he and the boys moved it alongside the new coop and got it ready for them. It was fun to watch them as they discovered the big outdoors. The coop has a rather large screened in area with a tarp over it for shade, so they have room to explore. They all move around it in a pack as if they were still in the brooder.

After they were all settled, we moved the fence around both coops with fresh grass for the rest of the chickens. We had to laugh when I opened up "The Eggmobile" (that's what I'm calling the new coop) and the chickens came pouring out of it. It didn't take them long to check out their old coop. They seemed totally mystified when they couldn't get inside, and then taken aback when they noticed the chicks. We're hoping that by the time the chicks get big enough to integrate into the flock, they will already be used to one another and get along.

As the day progressed, we realized we moved the chicks outside on a rather frightening day from their prospective. New home, new neighbors and then rain followed by major storms. We had a lot of lightening, thunder and even hail (but nothing compared to last year's hail.)

This past week has been very productive in spite of all the rain. Danny took a few vacation days off work to be able to work even harder on the farm! He and the boys finished putting up t-posts and cattle panels for the tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. They spread a lot more hay on the gardens, and Danny got a lot planted (transplanted and direct seeded.) He also built inner covers for the beehives and got them installed. I'm almost finished planting the tomatoes, I think I have space for 12 more plants.

This year we are closely guarding our "just-in-case replacement plants." We have moved them in and out of the hoophouse repeatedly because of all the storms. Last year, when the golf-ball sized hail hit, all the extra plants were either on the back porch or in the hoophouse and they got shredded along with the ones in the garden. This year, we're not taking any chances.

Well, the summer market in the Tower Grove Park is off to a good start. If you haven't been there yet this year I hope you can join us soon. We're there every Saturday from 8:30am until 12:30pm.

Opening Day at the Tower Grove Market!

Kickoff Celebration was a great success! All five of us were there. It was fun getting to look around at all the different vendors and trying new items. Bear and Nate had a ball again at the playground. They even found a way to play and work. They took a basket of my muffins, a few at a time, and sold them all!

You can see Zach working in the last picture at Oh Crepes!

Now we're back working on the farm. Hope to see you Saturday at the market.

Good news!

Two more 'little peeps' were waiting for Danny this morning when he left for work. They seem so much tinier than the others. I'm waiting until tomorrow to introduce them to the rest.

We still have hope for the other fourteen in the incubator, but we haven't heard any peeping for a while now. Oh well, we'll wait and see.

Today my Dad and Grandma came to see the chicks. Grandma seemed as excited as I was. She was hoping another one would hatch while she was here, but it didn't. Grandma also came to help me transplant various plants to larger pots to get ready for the weekend.

This Saturday, May 9th, is the Kickoff Celebration for the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. It lasts longer than the usual market. It runs from 8:30am to 2:30pm. Check out the website for all the details: http://www.tgmarket.org. Hope you can join us!

We'll be bringing a lot of heirloom varieties of tomato plants, such as Green Zebras, Brandywines, Tappy's Heritage and Reisentraubes (at Earth Day I found out that means enormous grape). We'll also have hot pepper, sweet pepper and banana pepper plants, as well as herbs and flowers.

I've been taking more pictures. I'll try to get Zach to post some tomorrow. I even managed to get a good picture of Grandma working, not an easy task because if she sees the camera she makes a face.

Five more 'fluff balls' have arrived

They all hatched this morning and are all doing very well. All 25 of the chicks have been moved to the brooder in the garage. The five that hatched this morning just got moved a couple hours ago. They seem to like being part of the brood.

There are still sixteen eggs in the incubator. Technically, they were just expected to begin hatching this evening. We are beginning to hear little 'peeps' coming from them. We're guessing that the different varieties take different lengths to fully develop.

I want to go check on them one more time before I go to sleep.

Update on the chicks

As of 9:30 this evening twenty chicks had hatched! Almost all of them hatched in pairs. To us, it appeared as if they were racing to see who could escape first.

Only 4 of them look like the Buff Orpingtons. The rest are a mixture of colors. Quite a number of them have coloring like a chipmunk. The boys are calling them "Chickmunks'!

Fourteen of these 'balls of fluff' have been moved into the brooder in the garage. It had gotten quite loud in here for a while. They seem to all start peeping at the same time.

Six are still very sleepy and some are still a little damp, so they are snuggling together in the box in the kitchen.

Right now, two more have broken holes in their shells but are resting in preparation for the 'big hatch.' The ones in the box were peeping loudly in encouragement, but now they are all sleeping again and the kitchen is quiet.

The adult chickens seem to like their new coop. We let them out for the day and when evening came, about half of them went back into it on their own. We had to help the rest of them get back inside. Today, they even rewarded us with the most eggs we've ever collected in one day, thirty-one!

Oh, I think the other chicks are hatching, I want to watch!

Some pictures...

An eventful night!

We all had trouble going to sleep last night, no one wanted to miss seeing the chicks hatch. Zach had the idea of taking turns sleeping and he took the first watch. Everyone else went to sleep, but...

About 3:30am, Danny woke me up asking how the chicks were doing. I came downstairs and found Zach sound asleep on the couch. When I looked into the incubator, one egg had a crack most of the way around it. I was fascinated. This was a first for me. I've never actually watched a chick hatch before. It happened in little steps. It rested a minute from its pecking, then it pushed and broke the top apart from the bottom. Rested a minute, then pushed its head upwards. Rested again, then gave a mighty kick and the bottom flew off. Rested again, then wriggled away from the shell. I was so excited I wanted to go wake everyone to tell them the good news... I didn't, I restrained myself. After all there were still 38 more to hatch. I went back to bed.

At 5:30, I decided it should be dry enough to put in with the others. When I came down to move it, there were 2 chicks dried off and waiting for me. The second one was a buff, the first three are all Siver-Laced Wyandottes.

I put them in the box, checked on the others and then went back to bed. When Zach and Nate woke up, there were 2 more hatched and waiting.

Bear, Nate and I have spent the morning watching chicks hatch. They are every bit as excited as I am. The thirteenth one hatched a few minutes ago. So far there are only two buffs. It's fun watching them as they go from these tired, wet, little bodies to cute, soft, cuddly, adorable balls of fluff.

I'll update later, the boys are calling me, two more are just about to pop out!

Surprises in the incubator!

When Danny came downstairs this morning to make coffee, he heard little "peeps" coming from the incubator. The boys and I didn't get to hear them until later in the afternoon. I was surprised, I've never heard "peeping eggs" before, I didn't expect to hear them until they hatched.

When we came home this evening, we were surprised again. There were two chicks waiting for us in the incubator and "peeping" loudly. One was already dry but the other one looked like it had just hatched, it was still damp. They both seem to think Bear is their mom. When he holds them they are quiet and relaxed.

We had to scramble to get supplies together for them. We thought we still had a couple of days to prepare. For tonight they're in a big box in the kitchen. After they've all hatched, we'll move them to the brooder in the garage. Gretchen, our indoor cat, will be happy about that, for now she's locked in the basement.

Just wanted to share the good news.

The chickens have a new home!

We moved the chickens into their new home today. It really does look a lot like an old-fashioned covered wagon. The chickens weren't nearly as excited as we were. First, we tried pushing and pulling it ourselves. We found out we're only strong enough to move it on level ground. Then Danny hooked it up to the lawn tractor and pulled it over near the hay bales. He stopped briefly so he and the boys could load it up with some hay.

Then he let the younger boys climb in and go for a ride while he moved it into place. They were thrilled! He ended up having to go get the big tractor to get it precisely where he wanted.

The chickens were very happy to have a totally new area to explore and to scratch up. Of course, first they scattered all over the farm while I was moving the fence around the new coop. The boys and I spent hours rounding them up again and getting them back inside the fence.

We tried coaxing them to go inside the coop and check it out for themselves with breadcrumbs, but it didn't work. So, when it got dark, still they didn't want to go inside. They tried to get back to the old coops. We had to pick up each one individually and put them in. Zachary got a flashlight and put it at the back so they could see where they were. That seemed to calm them down and by the time we headed back to the house they were beginning to roost.

The plan is to leave them inside the coop for the next couple of days. We want them to become accustomed to their new home before we let them out. With all the hay in there it should keep them occupied for awhile scattering it around and eating all the seeds in it.

Hopefully by the time we let them out the new chicks will have hatched! I removed the eggs from the automatic turner this evening so they can begin positioning themselves for hatching. They should start hatching on Tuesday. I'll let you know when they do.

Time to recover!

Wow, what a busy weekend! We accomplished so much in the gardens.

Saturday, Danny finished tilling & hilling all the gardens. Then we started planting potatoes. We got all our seed potatoes saved from last year planted then started planting another heirloom variety that we decided to try. After that Danny and Zach rolled out haybales over them. We're trying out our own variation on the "Ruth Stout method" again. After the hailstorm damage last year, we don't think our results were typical. We're hoping for a much larger return per plant this year.

Then we finished our preparations for Earth Day on Sunday.

The weather cooperated nicely for Earth Day, it was sunny and warm, but a little too windy at times. The turnout was a big success. It was nice to see many of our regular customers and to meet so many new people that we hope to see again at the summer market. Our boys had a good time exploring and learning. We were all very glad to get back home though.

Today we're all trying to recover. Surprisingly, Danny managed to find enough energy to plant a couple rows of veges after work.

We'll, I need to go candle the eggs that we're incubating. I'm very hopeful that by this time next week we'll be taking care of a bunch of chicks.

Progress in the gardens!

We had a very productive day today on the farm. Danny re-tilled at least parts of all the gardens. Then he used the new hiller attachment on the tractor and started forming the rows for planting.

After that, he started planting seeds. He direct-seeded okra and swiss chard. Besides that he cut a bunch of grass with the push mower to get grass clippings to put in the gardens. He even mulched the onions.

Meanwhile, Zach was busy cutting grass with the riding mower. I love the way the yard looks just after the first cutting. Everything is so green now, we can really see a difference in the field in front of the house where we moved the chickens around all last year. It's funny, you can see exactly where the coops sat with each move. The grass is so much darker and thicker. It's hard to tell that it was mostly weeds the previous year. The chickens did a great job of eating the weed seeds and providing a multitude of fertilizer.

I was busy working on the front flower bed. I got quite a bit of weeding and mulching done and planted a few new plants. I added 2 new varieties of peonies and a new variety of bleeding heart. Right now, the bleeding hearts and the violets are in bloom and the peonies look like they're just about to bloom.

I also worked on potting plants to take to the market. I'll have quite a few with me at Earth Day and even more at opening day of the Tower Grove Farmers' Market on May 9th. So far I have crown vetch, daisies and violets. Tomorrow I'll be potting 2 varieties of hostas.

Time to get some sleep, tomorrow's another busy day.

Earth Day at Forest Park is this Sunday

Please come and join us at Earth Day this Sunday, April 26th, in Forest Park!

The celebration is located all around the Muny. We will be in a new location this time. The entire Tower Grove Farmers' Market will be located in the Food Education section. It will be to one side of the Muny, more centrally located than last year.

We have been very busy making preparation to be there. I have been grinding lots of flour and making lots of mixes. If you didn't get to the market early last time, you missed out on the new Buckwheat Pancake Mix. I sold out rather quickly, I'll be bringing a lot more this time. Come give it a try. It's made with certified organic, freshly ground buckwheat and flaxseed as well as steel-cut rolled oats. I may even be giving out samples of the finished product. Danny picked up the permit today to be able to sample our products.

For those of you who have been waiting patiently, the Amaranth has finally arrived and I'll have it with me at the market. Also, I have the Golden Flaxseed once again.

Hope to see you there!

Reminder about the market tomorrow

Just a little reminder, I'll be at the St Louis Community Farmers' Market in Tower Grove tomorrow from 9:00am to 1:00pm. It's the last one for the season.

I did get the new mixes, "Denise's Healthy Buckwheat Pancake Mix" ready in time for the market. Come and try one for yourself.

Hope to see you in the morning!

Changes on the farm

There is so much happening on the farm now! The little peach trees have bloomed. Flowers are popping up all over. The peas have sprouted in the front flower bed. The chickens are back inside their movable fence. Or maybe I should say, we're trying to keep them in. After all these months of freedom, they're not too happy about being restricted from the gardens. But we are trying, because every time they get out they eat the seedlings popping up in the gardens.

You should see the progress Danny and the boys are making on the new chicken coop. Both ends are up and connected, the doorways for us and the chickens and the openings for the nesting boxes are all cut out. It has a trap door in the floor for easy clean-out and its almost ready to put on the top. Danny's making it up as he goes along because he couldn't find plans for what he wanted. I think it's going to look like an old-fashioned covered wagon when it's finished. We're trying to find a good name for it, so if you'd like to make a suggestion, feel free.

I've been trying to hurry him up building it, because I expected to have a lot of new little chicks by now, but none of them hatched. I'm disappointed, but I'm about to try again. This time I'm going to use an automatic egg turner in the incubator.

We have lots and lots of little plants in the basement. There are literally hundreds of tomato and pepper plants. They've all been transplanted into larger pots now and are getting bigger everyday. We have about 15 varieties of tomato plants, most of the heirloom varieties. The Brandywine and the Old German Striped varieties are really taking off. Last night when I went to water them, they were so tall I had to raise the grow lights over them again. We also have a number of herbs that are growing quite well.

It looks like we'll have plenty of plants to bring to Earth Day at Forest Park. It's on Sunday, April 26th this year. It was a lot of fun last year. We hope you can join us.

I'll also be at the St Louis Community Farmers' Market this Saturday, April 11th. It's the last indoor market we'll be at this season.

I've been working on a new mix for Buckwheat Pancakes. If you'd like to be one of the first to try it, come see me on Saturday. It's wheat and milk-free, but I add milk and yogurt to the mix when I make it at home.

Hope to see you soon!

Excitement is in the air now!

The first tomato seedlings made their appearance today! I'm so excited, I started them in flats just a few days ago. When I came home from the market today about 6 different varieties had popped up.

It's been a busy week. Last Friday, Danny added the needed amendments to each garden bed and then tilled them all. Two of the beds he expanded, one a little, one a lot. We're hoping it will allow us to spread out a bit, some of the rows were just too crowded last year. Oh yeah, the chickens were thrilled. I got several great pictures of them following behind the tractor.

Since then, we've been working on starting seeds and ordering needed supplies in the evenings. Yesterday and today Danny's been working all over the farm. He built a very nice set of compost bins. He's been putting in raised beds for herbs, and putting in stakes for trellises along the edges where he can reach without stepping in the garden. After tilling last week and all the rain this week, you just sink in the mud if you try to walk in the gardens. He also planted snow peas in the front flower bed. We've never had them there before, but we're envisioning walking out on the porch and picking and eating them as a snack. (Last year my little nephew named them green M&M's.)

Besides all that, I'm trying to hatch chicks in an incubator. I set 46 eggs in it a few days ago, so it's keeping me busy turning them several times a day and monitoring the humidity level.

We were also getting ready for today's market. It was such a beautiful day, it was nice to see so many join us at the market.

Now I need to go turn the eggs.

Happy chickens!

Danny made the chickens very happy this afternoon, he plowed up the first garden bed for this year! They went wild when he finished. They definitely lived up to our slogan about them, "happy, healthy chickens with nothing better to do than walk around all day eating bugs."

Friday, Danny will be adding the organic amendments to that bed and tilling them in. Then, hopefully, the other 4 garden beds will be dried out enough that he can get them plowed too. I'm sure the chickens will be very happily following right behind him.

Meanwhile, I'll be starting to plant seeds in the basement. Danny prepared several flats for me this evening.

Can you tell we're finally beginning to get excited about spring? Hope all of you are too!

Okay, our winter break is over!

Time to get back to work! Not that we ever really slowed down, we just got busier making improvements to our house and concentrating on schoolwork with the boys.

Now we're back, thinking and planning for the upcoming growing season. Danny made improvements to my seed starting area in the basement this weekend. I now have running water in the basement with a hose to water all the little seedlings we're about to start. No more hauling water down the stairs, or bribing the boys to help me. (ha,ha) He also put in a new fluorescent light above my work area and generally cleaned up and got my work area organized.

This evening we've been going through our seeds, sorting, taking inventory, trying to decide what we still need to order... so much to do to get started again.

Recently we got the test results back from our soil samples from the different garden areas. Now it's time to start adding the recommended organic amendments. Overall there's not much that needs to be done, all the organic matter we've been adding the last few years has really paid off. It's just the newer beds that need a little extra help.

Time to dream about it now!

I'll be at the Winter Market this Saturday

Hi everyone! Just wanted to remind you that I'll be at the Maplewood Winter Farmers' Market this Saturday from 9am to 1pm.

I'm bringing plenty of goodies. Right now my favorites are the soup mixes and cornbread mix. I have the Mixed Beans and Peas (the recipe is on the blog) and the Split Pea Soup Mix. I also have plenty of the Chili Bean Medley. They are all certified organic.

Today I was busy making my Pizza Dough mixes. Tomorrow I'll be working on Banana Muffin Mix, Zucchini Spice Muffin Mix, Waffle Mix, Pancake Mix and Cornbread Mix. Remember, they are all made with freshly ground, certified organic flours.

After that I'll start grinding the various kinds of flour. I love having such a variety. Each one has a little different flavor and texture and I like to experiment with combining them for a healthy delicious way of cooking and baking. If you haven't tried it yet, or want to try something new, come see me at the market and I'll tell you more about them.

I'll also be bringing my Mixed Grains. They make a wonderful breakfast cereal. I like to simmer them at night while I'm getting ready for bed. Then I turn off the heat and let it set overnight. It absorbs the rest of the moisture and is cooled off and ready to eat when you wake up. You can enjoy it hot or cold. You can make it with water or use juice for added flavor and sweetness.

It also makes a great side dish for dinner. Or try it in stir-fry. You can serve it any way you would brown rice. Each grain adds it's own taste and texture and they have various protein contents. For instance, millet has 15% protein, spelt has 17% protein and quinoa has 18% protein. It's a tasty way to add vegetable protein to your diet.

You can also get the same benefits when you bake with my 10-Grain Flour. It has all the grains as in the Mixed Grains, and of course, all the same health benefits.

Hope to see you Saturday!

What a beautiful night!

It's such a bright, clear, snowy night! This is the first lasting snow of the season, yesterday's snow melted too quickly. The boy's spent hours playing outside today.

Personally, I'd rather just watch from inside where it's nice and warm.

I hope you are enjoying it too!

It's a georgeous day today!

The kids are taking advantage of the beautiful afternoon. They are raking leaves at Grandma's house and dragging them by tarpful onto one of our gardens. Then they are wading around through the leaves to scatter them all over. It's hard to tell if they're working or playing, but they are accomplishing their goal.

When it gets a good, thick layer of leaves all over it, Danny can start plowing, or maybe layering on manure from the neighbor's cows and then plowing.

Hope you are enjoying the day, too!

It's kind of quiet around here now.

Things have really slowed down now here on the farm. We're concentrating on schoolwork and getting organized again.

It was nice to see such a large turnout at the first winter market this past Saturday. If you were there, you know we (the vendors) were kind of packed in like sardines. It was great still having fresh produce to sell. We had ripe tomatoes and green tomatoes, tomatillos and plenty of swiss chard. I hope everyone enjoyed shopping. My middle son was there with me and he had a great time working and shopping. He loves getting the fresh apple cider.... and chocolate.... and honey sticks.... and granola.... and...and...and... and when he gets home he even shares!

Thanks for all the support we received throughout the growing season!

Clean-up is well under way!

It's been a busy few days around here. Danny started out by taking care of the bees. He decided to condense both hives back down to one hive body each. From what we learned at the beekeepers meeting they'll stand a better chance of surviving the winter that way.

After that, he and the boys finally got the pool packed away for the winter. Then it was on to fall clean-up all over the place.

Yesterday, Danny, Colin and the kids worked together and removed all the t-posts and strings and old tomato plants from the tomato garden. Today, Danny brush-hogged over it and the squash/cantaloupe garden and the boys raked and piled up the debris. After it dries out a little they're going to burn the pile to be sure to kill any diseases that may be lurking in the old plants.

They also started removing the fencing from the cucumber rows. They removed the drip tape and soaker hoses from two of the gardens. They even got quite a bit of grass cut and the chicken coops moved. The boys managed to get quite a bit of outdoor playtime mixed in with the work (they were jumping haybales this afternoon.)

Bonnie and I worked on pulling out tomatillo plants and found an unbelievable amount of ready to eat tomatillos hiding underneath the plants that weren't affected by the frost. We have several boxes of them to put up. (Just when I thought canning was almost over!)

Today I worked on removing the debris from the gourds and then weeded the asparagus. It looks like the majority of new plants I started this spring survived the summer in spite of all the weeds and are actually doing quite well. I hope we'll get our first crop from them in the spring.

Then I started weeding the swiss chard. It looks beautiful, the frost didn't affect it at all. The chickens were thrilled, they got to enjoy all the imperfect leaves I removed. I should have quite a bit of it to take to the market on Saturday!

I guess the next big project will be removing the dead plants and taking down the rest of the fencing in garden #1. Next year's gardens will have a completely new arrangement. We need to rotate crops again. Most likely the herbs and swiss chard and the hoophouse will be the only things to stay in the same place next year.

Danny is very anxious to fertilize and plow and then let the gardens rest for the winter.

Oh, we also got our first sweet potatoes this weekend, about 20 pounds so far, and we still have about 2/3's of the row left to harvest. We're excited, it's the first time we have ever tried to grow them. We decided it was a success and we should do it again next year in greater quantity so we have enough to share.

Hope to see all of you at the market on Saturday! I'll be at the St Louis Community Farmer's Market. This will be the first one of the winter season.

The frost got us this time!

Yep, we got hit hard last night. We are officially finished picking tomatoes for the year. At least it held off until after the weekend. We had lots of tomatoes and other produce for the weekend market. And, on Sunday afternoon we picked as many green tomatoes and tomatillos as we could.

It's strange this time of the year. There's a feeling of sadness at the thought of most of the plants dying. But, at the same time, there's a feeling of relief. It's a time to start looking forward to the next growing season and time to clean up from this one.

Of course, there are still the over-wintering vegetables to take care of. We have the hoophouse rather stuffed and plenty of lettuce, swiss chard, turnips and beets that like the cold still out in the open. We're still trying to figure out how to get some of it under cover before we get any snow.

We're happy it's going to warm up again for the rest of the week. It will make clean-up much more tolerable and maybe even enjoyable.

Friday we're going to winterize the beehives (or at least get a start on it) and begin removing t-posts and fencing and pulling out the dead plants to get the gardens ready for fertilizing and plowing. We've decided our gardens aren't ready to go completly no-till yet. They are still in need of more organic matter mixed in with all the clay.

It's making me tired just thinking of all the work to be done!

No frost yet and none in the forecast for this week!!

Whoopee! The frost missed us! I hope it missed all of you too!

I'm so happy to still be able to look out and see the beautiful flowers blooming. The cosmos are taller than I am. The zinnias are still blooming but the cold nights are slowing them down.

The gardens are still producing! The leafy greens and the root crops are loving the cooler weather. We have lots of mustard greens and turnips and radishes and the beets are almost ready to eat. It looks as if we may even still have ripe tomatoes this weekend. I know we'll have lots of geen tomatoes.

Today I'll be putting up what's left over from the market. I'm going to freeze tomatoes and work on Bread & Butter Pickles and Dill Pickles. Tomorrow I'm going to try to make another batch of Not So Hot Salsa, Zachary informed me at the market that I'm all out of what I made earlier in the summer.

This evening we're going to the Beekeeper's Meeting. Time to ask lots of questions about getting them ready for winter.

Gotta' get busy!

No frost yet and none in the forecast for this week!

Oh no, they're talking about a frost!

What happened? I thought we were safe for a while longer. At least they're only saying "possible frost in low-lying areas." I hope being up on the hill will spare the plants for a little while longer.

Just in case, Danny covered what he could. He and the boys also moved all the potted plants either into the house or the hoophouse. Over the past week or so he's been transplanting into the hoophouse as well.

I even talked the boys into cutting enough flowers for several large flower arrangements for me. They are so beautiful! Especially the cosmos. This is the first year we've had so many. We didn't even know how big they could get, the plants are over 5 feet tall and covered in blooms. I took several pictures a few weeks back but I still can't figure out how to post them.

Bonnie is supposed to come and pick tomorrow afternoon. I hope there's still plenty to pick and the frost doesn't arrive tonight. If it holds off, there will be quite a lot for the market Saturday.

The large watermelons are finally ripe. Zach brought in a 29 pound watermelon this evening (he couldn't wait to weigh it!) It looks great! He wants to cut it open tomorrow. That will be a great snack while we're all working hard. I think I'll cut up some for samples too. Come and try it!!

I made something new this week: Dilled Green Tomatoes. I think I'll wait until next week to bring them with me, and to sample them, so they have plenty of time to soak in the garlic.

Tomorrow I'll be baking all 3 kinds of muffins: Banana, Zucchini Spice and Green Tomato with raisins. The Green Tomato Muffins were a hit for the last two markets. I think I'll make extra for this week.

Here's hoping we all avoid the frost tonight!

Another beautiful week and lots of ripe produce!

We have an abundance of ripe produce to be harvested tomorrow. It's difficult to believe this is almost the middle of October. Normally, we would be preparing for the first frost by now. Instead, Danny and the boys got to swim last weekend and based on the forecast, they're planning on swimming again this weekend.

This whole growing season has been pretty crazy around here. At least now we're getting to enjoy an unusually late season harvest. The tomatoes are ripening nicely, the cucumbers are still setting new fruit, the watermelons are finally ripe, more cantaloupe are ready to enjoy and the eggplant look great. Even the new crop of lettuce, radishes and turnips are ready to pick. The swiss chard looks wonderful. Even the gourds are producing prolifically. We even got our first bottleneck gourd last weekend.

Danny and the boys went out to check on the bees. They are still very active and filling the hives with food for the winter. We were hoping to get some for ourselves but it looks like we'll have to wait until next year. Oh well, we did each get to sample a little of it.

It's supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny Saturday. I hope to see lots of you at the market. You'll have lots plenty of choices!

Update on the guineas

Daddy and baby are doing fine. Sunday morning when I woke up, Danny told me to look out the bedroom window. They were both sitting atop the boys swingset. I'm surprised the keat is strong enough to fly that high already. I'm glad though, it's chances of survival are much better that way.

Beautiful day at the market!

The weather cooperated beautifully at the market today! It was great to see so many of you there!

Hope you got to try my new Green Tomato Muffins. I used my Zucchini Spice Muffin recipe and substituted the green tomatoes in place of the zucchini. I'll plan on making them again for the next few markets. If you missed out today, you'll get another chance.

It was nice to have so much fresh produce available. It appears we'll have even more next week. The watermelons weren't quite ready for today but they should be perfect by next weekend. Some of them are huge!

Danny was busy at home while I was at the market. He got the hoophouse re-covered and ready to start transplaning into for the winter. He plans on building another one before it gets too cold.

He was also busy working on the new chicken coop. When I drove in he was painting the base of it. He's starting with a trailer framework. So far, he's removed the original wood, sanded the frame and now he's painting it "John Deere Green." He's getting the boys excited about the project, and getting them to help too. Yesterday, Zachary helped paint for a long time. They're all happy to be included in the planning and choosing the materials and looking forward to actually helping to build it. The idea is that having it up on wheels will make it much easier to move. And it will hold a lot more birds than the old ones.

There's always plenty to do around here!

The Green Tomato Cake was a hit!

I can definitely recommend the Green Tomato Cake Recipe. I made it yesterday and it was a big hit. In fact, there's none left.

I did make a few modifications to the posted recipe. I only used 1 3/4 cups of sugar. For the flour, I used 2 cups of freshly ground Combo Flour (wheat berries and flax seed) and 1 cup of unbleached flour. I left out the nuts and the coconut.

Tomorrow I'm going to try something new. I'm going to make my Zucchini Muffin Recipe but substitute green tomatoes in place of the zucchini and add 3/4 cup of raisins. If we like it, I make some for Saturday's market and you can try it too.

On a different subject, we've been having fun watching the guinea family as the keats are growing. Yesterday, we got to see the five surviving ones learning to fly. They were so cute. We all excitedly cheered them on.

Today, we were disappointed when we couldn't see most of them. All we could find were the daddy and one baby. They've rejoined the chickens and were safely sleeping in the big coop when I checked on them earlier. The keat was protectively tucked under daddy's wing. I wish they had all been locked up last night!

On a brighter note, we should have lots of fresh produce this weekend. The weather has been cooperating quite nicely this week and the garden seems to appreciate it. I'll have lots of swiss chard, cucumbers, tomatoes-both ripe ones and green ones, tomatillos, radishes, spicy mustard greens, basil and lettuce. I'll also have smaller amounts of acorn squash, gourds, cantaloupe, parsley and beans. If even appears that we have several varieties of watermelon that will be ripe and ready to pick. These will be our first ones this year. If they're ready I'll try to sample some at the market.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Pictures of the keats!

Green tomatofest at our stand this Saturday!

Get out your best recipes for green tomatoes! My husband and sister informed me that we now have an abundant supply of large green tomatoes! I will be bringing boxes of them with me this weekend.

If you have a favorite green tomato recipe, please post it for all of us to try!

Here are a few recipes I found and want to try.

CLASSIC FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
4 to 6 green tomatoes
salt and pepper
cornmeal (REMEMBER, I HAVE FRESH GROUND CORNMEAL)
bacon grease or vegetable oil
Preparation:
Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 - 1/2-inch slices. Salt and pepper them to taste. Dip in meal and fry in hot grease or oil about 3 minutes or until golden on bottom. Gently turn and fry the other side. Serve as a side dish - delicious with breakfast!

Or, try this variation:

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
4 to 6 green tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
salt and pepper
flour for dusting
2 eggs, beaten
cornmeal or bread crumbs
bacon grease or vegetable oil
Preparation:
Salt and pepper the tomato slices; dust lightly with flour. Dip slices in beaten egg, letting excess drip off, then coat well with meal or crumbs. Fry in hot grease or oil until browned, turning gently (about 3 minutes each side). Keep warm in a low 200° to 250° oven if frying in batches.

For a healthier option, try:

OVEN FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
4 to 6 green tomatoes, cut in 1/4-inch thick slices
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup water
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Preparation:
Sprinkle tomato slices with salt and pepper on both sides. In a shallow bowl mix beaten eggs, milk, and water. Put the all-purpose flour in a shallow bowl. Dip each slice into egg mixture, then into flour.* Dip each slice into egg and then into the flour again. Arrange tomatoes in large, shallow, greased baking pans, or bake in 1 pan, in batches. Tomatoes should not touch. Bake uncovered in 400° oven 20 minutes, turning halfway through.
For crunchier coating, dip slices the second time into egg mixture then into seasoned bread crumbs or corn flake crumbs, with a little Parmesan cheese, if desired

I even found a recipe for:

GREEN TOMATO CAKE
This spiced green tomato cake is surprisingly delicious, and it's a great way to use green tomatoes before the frost gets them.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil or melted shortening
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 cup raisins
2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes
coconut (optional)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, beat sugar, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well. Stir in pecans, raisins and tomatoes.
Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Top with coconut if desired. Bake for one hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. .
Serves 12.

I think I may bake this in muffin pans for Saturday.

GREEN TOMATO PICKLES
Ingredients:
4 quarts sliced green tomatoes, loosely packed
1 quart sliced onion, loosely packed
1 cup pickling salt, divided
1 pound light brown sugar
6 cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
2 small red chile peppers
1/3 cup mustard seeds
1/4 cup celery seeds
1 tablespoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cloves
Preparation:
Place sliced tomatoes and sliced onion in a large bowl; sprinkle salt over them; stir. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours. Place in a cheesecloth bag, and squeeze gently to remove excess juice (personally I would just drain well). Discard the salt liquid. Combine remaining ingredients in a large kettle. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 2 minutes. Pack tomato mixture and liquid into hot sterilized 1-quart jars (with 1 piece of the chile pepper in each jar - cut if necessary), leaving 1/2-inch headspace; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on ring bands. Process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes.
Store in a cool dark place. Store opened pickles in refrigerator. Makes 4 1-pint jars or 2 1-quart jars.

For more recipies check out this website: http://southernfood.about.com/od/greentomatoes/r/bl10712d.htm

Hope to hear more suggestions from all of you!

Reminder, I won't be at the market tomorrow!

Just wanted to remind everyone that I won't be at the farmer's market tomorrow! We get to do something as a family. We'll be going to the Special Assembly Day in Spanish Lake to learn more about putting Bible principles to work in our everyday lives. We're all looking forward to it.

It's been a very productive week putting up a lot of produce. My little sister came and picked even more today. A little break will be greatly appreciated.

With help from friends and family, I had a record breaking day (for me) making dill pickles. Today I made 33 quarts of them. Yesterday I only managed 14 quarts. Plus, we put up tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos and squash in the freezer.

We are all ready to call it quits for the night.

Oh, I have to tell you, I got a bunch of pictures of the guineas this morning. The parents have started bringing them nearer to the house. They are so fun to watch, I kind of got carried away with the camera! I'll try to get Zach to post them for me.

Another exciting thing happened today, Danny brought in our first honey from the hives after he went out to check on them and put a super on the second hive. It tasted wonderful! He says both hives are very busy making more!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Our gardens are water-logged again, thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ike. At least the rain seems to be over, it was nice to see the sun this afternoon. I hope we get the warmer weather they're promising for the week ahead. We have lots of produce just waiting for the heat to make them ripen.

We're finally getting enough tomatoes to continue making salsa and start putting some up in the freezer too. I love being able to take out a package of frozen heirloom tomatoes in the middle of winter and make fresh spaghetti sauce or use them in my Mixed Beans and Peas Soup. It makes up a little for all the hard work during the summer.

If you haven't tried it for yourself, pick up some at the market. All you do is wash them in cold water, cut them in half, take out the core and them put them in freezer bags. Be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before closing the bag. After that, just put the bag in the freezer. Then you, too, can enjoy fresh tasting, naturally grown hierloom tomatoes in the dead of winter. It's worth trying!

I'll be putting up a couple gallons of them tomorrow!

I won't be at the market this weekend, but I'll be back again on September 27th.

New babies on the farm!

What a nice surprise we got yesterday. We found 10 tiny keats (baby guineas) trailing behind their parents! They are so cute! I'd like to show you, but they have very protective parents and we haven't been able to get pictures of them yet. I'll keep trying.

The boys are so excited, they keep running outside to watch them. Then they come back and give me the latest update on them. Apparently, 6 or 7 of them are brown and 3 are white. Strange, both of the parents are grey and white. Of course, they'll all change colors as they mature.

I'll try to post pictures soon!