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!

Hi Everybody!

Well, we're ready for a big weekend at the market! I've been busy making lots of pickles this week. Our cucumbers are producing very well now. Earlier in the week I made 55 pints of Bread & Butter Pickles and today I made lots of Spicy Dill Pickles and Old-Fashioned Dill Pickles. I'll be sampling tomorrow! Come try them out!

I'll also have lots of fresh produce: tomatoes, assorted beans, cucumbers, peppers, basil, parsley, mint, swiss chard, eggplant and several varieties of squash.

Hope to see you there! I've got to get to bed now.

We've finally got ripe tomatoes!

Hip, hip, hooray! Last weekend we got our first ripe tomatoes. Today was the first market we had enough to bring some with us. If you we're fortunate enough to get some of them I hope you're enjoying them as much as we are!

We've been enjoying them all week, just eating them fresh, making salads, salsa and tomato sauce. I especially like snacking on the new Jelly Beans and Yellow Pear varieties.

Last night Danny grilled pizzas for us. They were fantastic! We tried something new for us. I used my Pizza Dough Mix, spread out really, really thin on stainless steel cookie sheets. Then, Danny made a pesto sauce with lots of fresh basil, garlic and olive oil and we spread it on the dough. We topped it with sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms and black olives. We covered it all with shredded mozzarella and he grilled it until the dough was crispy and the cheese was melted. It was so delicious. My mom said it was the best pizza she's ever eaten!

We've also been enjoying lots of fresh beans. We have 4 varieties this summer, Fortex green beans, Purple Royalty beans, Long-Red Chinese Noodle beans and Marvel of Venice yellow beans. They're all stringless varieties of pole beans. Danny's been grilling them, too. He tosses them with olive oil, minced garlic, italian seasoning and coarse seasalt. They look so pretty when they're finished.

It's so nice to have lots of fresh produce again. We finally feel like we've recovered from the storm. We have lots of cucumbers, eggplant, several varieties of squash, swiss chard, peppers, basil and of course all the varieties of tomatoes.

Monday I'll be starting on more dill pickles and peach preserves.

I'll try to get some pictures posted soon.

Busy, busy, busy!

I've gotten so much done this week! The cloudy days have been very helpful in getting a lot of weeding and mulching done.

Inside I've been busy too. I finished the Good & Hot Salsa, then I made of batch of Fiery Hot Salsa yesterday. Today I got 9 quarts of dill pickles finished, some Spicy and some Old-Fashioned. I'll have all of them with me at the market Saturday. If you get the pickles though you'll want to let them sit a few more days to absorb the flavor.

Back to work now, I still have more to prepare for the weekend.

Hope to see you Saturday!

What a hot week!

We had a good day at the market Saturday, but it sure was hot! While I was gone, Danny checked out the damage to the gardens from the storm Friday night. Things looked pretty good, except for the peppers. They can't get a break this year. There was a wooden crate sitting in the yard above the garden where the peppers are. Well, there was so much rain, in such a short time, that it carried the crate and most of the mulch, across the top of the plants in the raised rows, all the way to the bottom of the garden. It bent over all the plants in it's path. Fortunately, Danny was able to uncover them and straighten them back up. The poor little things are still "hanging in there."

My little sister and her husband came over in the evening and helped weed the okra and the peppers. We also tried to put the mulch back where it belonged, but it's too big a job for one evening.

Sunday felt even hotter and then it brought another storm at bedtime. This one lasted all night. We couldn't belive the lightening display. It went on for hours, I finally fell asleep watching it. All together, we got over 5 inches of rain this weekend.

In the morning it was still misting rain. I decided to take advantage of the cooler temperature and go out and get more weeding done. After so much rain, it's easy to pull out the weeds, but shaking off the mud is a very messy job. I had to stop several times and clean the mud off my glasses. I got all the rhubarb and asparagus weeded and part of the gourds. Then the sun came out and it got hot in a hurry. I kept weeding for a while though. I'm really glad I did. I found 2 nice size bird's nest gourds and probably a hundred more little ones. They're growing on an arch trellis and it gave me a little shade to be able to keep working a little longer. Finally, the heat and humidity were just too overwhelming and I had to go inside.

In the evening, Danny and I went out to work the bees. We moved one frame of brood from the busiest hive to the other, not-so-thriving hive. We'll see if that helps them get established faster. Then, Danny put the second hive body on the thriving hive. It has almost all the frames filled in now so we're giving them room to expand. It is so fascinating to watch them. I'm happy we took the plunge into beekeeping.

Now I need to get busy again. For all those who have been waiting patiently, I have a new batch of Good and Hot Salsa cooking. I'll have it at the market Saturday. Come by and try it out. I'll be sure to have samples.

See you at the market tomorrow!

Hope to see everyone at the market in the morning! I'll have all the usuals plus more fresh veges. Danny picked beets, turnips, radishes, basil and lettuce this evening. My little sister picked 3 kinds of beans: red, purple and green (but there's not many so first come first served.) I picked lots of rainbow swiss chard.

It's hard to believe but we got hit by a major thunderstorm just after we finished picking. I guess we'll see in the morning if it affected the gardens.

Great news!

Guess what I found? Our first 2 cucumbers! After the rain yesterday, I decided to weed the beans and cucumbers. Quite a few of the cucumber plants are large enough now to reach the trellis, so I was trying to train them upwards. I was so excited when I lifted one and found 2 cucumbers ready to pick and another one almost ready. I also found quite a few red noodle beans close to being ready.

There are vegetables all over the gardens now. There are a few small eggplants, tomatillos, green tomatoes, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots and lettuce. Plus the rainbow swiss chard is looking great. I'll have quite a bit to take to the market this weekend.

Tomorrow I'll be starting the day pulling more weeds, it's supposed to be fairly cool again and three days in a row should get the gardens looking pretty good. I hope anyway! I'm being very careful to add more mulch as I go, it makes a big difference. The areas with the most mulch are so much easier and faster to weed.

The heat is speeding up recovery!

Thanks to everytone who joined us at the market yesterday. It started out raining on us, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. It didn't get too hot until the very end.

The heat this past week may be melting us but it's really helping the plants in the garden. We got our first few green beans this week. My sister came and picked a handful this evening for her son, he's 8 months old and he's going to have green beans for the first time. She was waiting for the most healthy, naturally-grown ones she could get. I hope he likes them!

Oh yeah, I got to eat the first ripe tomato a couple days ago. It was delicious! I can hardly wait for more. We're finally seeing green ones here and there but none are turning color yet.

This evening, Danny & I went out to check on the bees. It was the first time I got to work with them. I was glad to have the beekeepers jacket, the heat makes them a little more difficult, but they're not aggressive at all.

Both hives seem to be doing well. We removed the feeders this time and put in the missing frames. Now we'll see how well they do at filling them in. One hive is much stronger than the other, it looks like it's almost ready to put on the first super. I hope that means we'll have honey this fall.

Well, I need to get to bed. I'm going to try to go out early and get some weeding done before it gets too hot tomorrow. The weatherman is predicting record high temperatures this week.

The Hail Damage...

Here are some pictures of the hail damage. They were taken about an hour after the storm. As you can see, the plastic on the hoophouse was shredded, but it lasted long enough to save most of the plants inside. The plants on the picnic table were on the back porch when the storm hit. You can see the one container of peppers that survived in tact. They were on the bottom shelf at the very back of a plant stand protected by the rail posts.

This is all that was left of the beautifully colored swiss chard.

Our dog, Buttercup, was injured in one eye by the hail. She's okay now.

This was one of the potato beds. Before the storm, they were good-sized plants in full bloom.

The gardens are definitely making progress!

I found new seedlings all over today, the zucchini, yellow squash and cantaloupe all had more sprouted than the last time I looked.

Danny got the new raspberries planted yesterday. We decided to put them in this year's pumpkin patch. Now he needs to make trellises for them. Although that may have to get put on hold for the time being.

The cantaloupe and cucumber plants my mom and dad transplanted seem to be doing well. Of course it's going to take some time to collect all the newspapers that were covering them and are now scattered all over the place.

This evening I finally started planting the watermelon seedlings that have been patiently waiting in the basement. I got about half of them in the ground and then got sidetracked weeding the eggplant. By the time I got back to planting, a storm had blown up and I had to go indoors. At least there was no damage this time. Just a downpour and then a beautiful double rainbow to enjoy when it was over.

The bees seem to like their new home. We're seeing them all over the place. I felt sorry for them last week. They had only been here two days when the hail came and took out all the flowers. But the clover came back quickly and it seems to be their favorite thing anyway.

It's fun watching the boys with the bees. All three of them want it to be their turn to take care of them. Yesterday, the two oldest went down by themselves. Zach couldn't resist tasting some of the honey and the comb. Danny told him he's not a beekeeper he's a predator. They all wish they needed to be checked on every day. The youngest one is jealous that he hasn't had a turn to wear the beesuit and help dad. I can't say I blame him, I'm still waiting for my turn too.

Things are sprouting!

Yesterday, my little sister came to see me. She dragged me out of the house to look at signs of improvement all around the farm. It helped that she brought her kids with her. They brought lots of hugs and kisses and I got to hold the baby and play with him while we walked around.

First she took me out to see the long row of lillies, there are lots of new shoots with buds on them. It looks like we will get to enjoy them this year after all. One of the red and yellow ones is already blooming.

Then we went to Grandma's house. Lots of her flowers are blooming again.

Next, we checked out Danny's grapes. They are putting on new leaves and she helped them along by removing some of the damaged ones. It looks like they are all going to survive.

She pointed out a few new blooms on the sunflowers and a lot of new leaves. The cosmos and daisies and crown vetch are all beginning to bloom too. We even discoved the tiniest zinnia blooming. The plant is only about an inch tall and the flower can't be bigger than a dime, but it's determined to live.

In the garden, we found that a lot of the seeds Danny planted the day before the storm are up. The beans and cucumbers are several inches tall. Even the cucumbers he planted the day after the storm are up about an inch.

The lettuce is growing again. There was enough swiss chard to have some for supper last night. There are even new carrots and radishes. She even pointed out six new blooms on the eggplant.

My mom and dad came a little while after she left and brought cucumber and cantaloupe plants from my uncle. They even stayed and planted them for me. We had to cover them with a sheet of newspaper to protect them from the sun. They are pretty good-sized plants, almost as big as the ones we lost. Maybe we will have a crop to harvest before long.

Oh yeah, we also had a friend bring us some dill and cilantro seedlings on Sunday. The gardens are greening up again.

Gotta get back to work!

Things are looking up again.

Today was a nice day at the market. Not too hot, a nice breeze, overcast but no rain. Thanks for all the encouraging words and offers of help.

It's been almost a week now since the hailstorm and I haven't cried for two whole days. There are actually signs of recovery on some of the plants. Yesterday I discovered that one shredded hosta has sent up a new shoot and is getting ready to bloom. And one poor, bent-in-half sunflower is blooming on the ground. There's even one zinnia with one flower.

In the gardens, a few things are starting to put on new leaves, like the swiss chard and some of the peppers and tomatoes. Most of them, however, were broken off at the ground and had to be replaced. With quite a bit of help and encouragement from family and friends, we've managed to transplant a lot of tomatoes and tomatillos as well as peppers. Danny is handling the situation much better than I am. He has worked really hard removing debris and replanting a lot of seeds and transplanting a lot of seedlings.

We've had quite a set-back but we're trying to look ahead and concentrate on the crops to come. I'll keep you posted as things begin to sprout again.

Starting over again!

I'd like to tell you all is well here at the farm, unfortunately we were hit hard by a hailstorm on Sunday afternoon. It's hard to believe a few minutes could change everything.

We had golf-ball size hail that seemed to last forever. It did damage on it's way down then bounced back up and caused more damage on it's way back down again. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. I got the camcorder and recorded a few minutes of it until it changed directions and I had to shut the door and head for the basement. The tornado sirens were blaring and we were all really scared.

When it was over we surveyed the damage. It's just unimaginable. There's nothing left of the gardens. The hail shredded everything. There's just little stubs where the vegetables were. Even all our replacement plants were on the back porch and got shredded too (except one container of peppers.) The only other things left are the swiss chard and chives in the hoophouse. They survived but the hoophouse didn't, it too is in shreds.

In the morning we were enjoying our surroundings, the first sunflower and three zinnias were blooming, the entire fence-row of tiger lillies were in full-bloom, the daisies and crown vetch were a mass of yellow and pink. The whole flower bed at Grandma's was blooming. Everywhere we looked made us happy.

Now, it's all gone. I spent most of yesterday crying. Everytime I look out a window I see something else that was destroyed. Even our house and vehicles are damaged. It is so overwhelming.

The only up-side is our family and friends. As soon as they heard what happened to us they started coming to our rescue. Sam and Billy at Sunflower Savannah told us to come and get plants. They sent tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos (I can't believe this will be the third time we'll be planting tomatillos this year!)

The next day, one of our extra moms brought over more tomato plants. Then my little sister, my brother-in-law and his mom (who brought the plants) came and helped us start replanting.

At Danny's work, others were calling around and finding out what we could do to try to save some of the stubs we have left. They even sent organic remedies and formulas we could try.

My uncle is sending cucumber and cantaloupe plants that he needs to thin in his garden. We've had several other offers of help and some are coming tomorrow evening and others are coming to help on Friday.

We really appreciate all the support and love we are receiving!

Excited about getting bees!

Guess what? Today's the day we get our bees!!!

I've been wanting them ever since I got honey from Femme Osage Apiary at the Tower Grove market two summers ago. I started asking questions then and have been doing research ever since. We've gone to lots of beekeeper meetings and asked lots of questions.

Before the meeting this past Monday, we finally got our equipment. Danny and our youngest had fun painting it together a couple days ago to prepare for their arrival. Today, all the boys are helping to clear the area and get set up for the bees.

They've all had fun trying on the beekeepers jacket with the veil and playing with the smoker. I keep telling them they're going to wear it out before we get to use it. Even Danny came in a little while ago to tell me he started a fire in the smoker so he could "try it out."

This evening we get to go pick up the bees. We're all going together to see what a large beekeeping operation looks like. We're just starting with 2 hives.

Our main reason for wanting them is to help with pollination in the gardens. But, we're also anticipating the delicious honey they will provide. We were afraid we were starting too late to get any this year, but were assured at the meeting we should get at least one super of honey by the fall. We can hardly wait!

Ask me about it at the market tomorrow! I'll have swiss chard and radishes again, plus turnip and beet greens and purple kohlrabi for the first time this year. I may even have a few hot peppers.

See you tomorrow!

Beautiful day at the market!

What great weather we had at the market today. The sun was shining, it didn't get too hot and the wind didn't try to blow us away! Thanks to all who joined us there, we really appreciate your business.

Thanks also for all the nice in-person comments about our blog. It's very encouraging! I'm happy to hear we are helping others with what we're doing.

I took a stroll through the gardens when I got home. I did a little weeding in the squash patch and then a little more in the herbs. Then I checked on my newly planted kohlrabi plants. I really, really, really hate rabbits right now! Out of the entire new row of plants, they have eaten all but 5 of them!!! Anybody know of a good way of keeping them away from the garden, other than high-velocity intercranial lead therapy? lol It's way too big to fence off all the garden areas and they just keep hitting one section after another.

Well, after the stroll, we all enjoyed Danny's cooking. He made grilled chicken breasts, potatoes and onions. We also got to have a big helping of our rainbow swiss chard. It is so delicious, even our youngest practically inhaled it.

Now I have got to get some sleep.

Planting again!

Well, yesterday was as busy again as usual. Danny planted six varieties of cantaloupe, and I got five varieties of watermelon started. I know they should have been in sooner, but better late than never.

I also transplanted another row of kohlrabi. The plants in the first row are really growing well, we can see the kohlrabi bulbs forming now. If you've never watched them growing you really should. It's the only plant I know of that has the bulb grow above the ground. Mother Earth News called them "space cabbages" and I can understand why. It shouldn't be too much longer now until they're ready to eat!

All over the gardens, things are really taking off. For a while it seemed most of the activity must have been going into the root systems. But now things are starting to get taller. The tomatoes are almost tall enough to start weaving them. The cucumbers and beans are getting closer to the trellis.

The okra Danny replanted last week are all up and trying to catch up to the first ones. The radishes and turnips are doing well. The lettuce and herbs have sprouted.

The only down side this week is with the potatoes. We walked back to check on them yesterday and some of the plants had no leaves left. We discovered these nasty-looking, orange, squishy, sticky bugs all over the place. Danny looked them up, they're potato beetle larvae. We have got to get rid of them! Quickly! He sprayed them with diatomaceous earth (organic friendly, all-natural) and by last night it seemed to be working.

My co-op order arrives tomorrow! Thankfully! I have been out of wheat berries since last Friday, so I haven't been able to make any of my products that need it. Tomorrow is going to be crazy. I don't know yet what time pick-up will be, but I'll be working like mad to catch up once it arrives.

I think I'd just better apoligize in advance for anything I don't have on Saturday. I will do my best to restock, but there are only so many hours in a day. Come by and see how well I do.

I'll have quite a bit of swiss chard and radishes at the market this week, as well as about 7 dozen eggs. I'll even have a dozen guinea eggs. This will be the first dozen this year available for sale, up to now I've been keeping them all for myself. If you have never tried them, they are the most wonderfully flavored eggs, they are very small, but the yolk is the same size as the jumbo chicken egg. They come from the most beautiful bird...from a distance only, they have the ugliest head you can imagine.

Sam, thanks for the comment, I hope you get to celebrate soon!

Stop by, say Hi! and stock up on Saturday! See you there!

Time to celebrate!

Yeah!!!! I finally finished planting the tomatoes (all 230 of them) and replanting the tomatillos, since the frost killed the original ones.

I also got the sunflower/zinnia beds weeded and the zinnias reseeded! And, I got enough weeds out of the long flower bed that we can actually enjoy the peonies, they're beautiful!

The boys discovered the first ripe strawberries yesterday! They taste wonderful! Unfortunately, the kids fed a couple to our dog, Panda. He decided he loved them. While I was pulling weeds, I looked down to find Panda eating the strawberries in my basket. You should have seen the disappointed look on his face when I yelled at him to stop, he gave me those big sad eyes and walked away slowly. A little while later, Danny started laughing out loud, Panda had a strawberry face. Now I just hope he doesn't find the ripe ones before we do.

Today, I need to continue preparing for the market on Saturday. I should have quite a bit of swiss chard this time. The warmer weather is really helping it to take off. I love all the bright colors. If you haven't tried it yet, stop by and get some for yourself. We love it steamed with onions and a little salt and butter.

I may even have the first radishes for this year. I could see some popping out of the ground yesterday.

If you want eggs, you'd better come early. I'll probably have about 9 dozen by Saturday, but they go quickly.

I'll have quite a few plants for sale this weekend. I have heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, a few sweet peppers and a lot of hot peppers, airplane plants, aloe, as well as Pam's Pumpkins. This is my sister's variety, they produce very well.

Last fall, we had a party and all the kids, with help from their parents, scooped out the seeds and then we seasoned them and toasted them. It was a lot of fun! Afterward, I took some of the pumpkins home and turned them into filling for pies. See what you can do with them!

Hope to see you Saturday!