Announcing Our 6th Store!

A BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!, to our fans in Burlington, IA! Starting tomorrow at 10 am, the Burlington Hy Vee Store on Agency will be carrying our Rainbow Eggs in the Health Mart section. I plan to be there between 10am and 2 pm to introduce them. Come by and say "Hi" if you can!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Green Tomatoes

Remember my monster tomatoes? The ones I had inside? Well they got so stressed out waiting to be planted outside that they are just now putting on green tomatoes. UGH!

I'm pretty sure the problem is that I had them in little bitty 16 oz cups. Next year I think I'll just start one a week and put them in larger containers. Then about the first of March I'll plant a bunch of them for planting in April.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Blackberries

Our thorn-less blackberries are blooming. They even have lots of berries starting to form. We don't have near enough of these plants! They produce huge sweet blackberries and you don't even have to risk injuring yourself to get them! I'd love to have a half an acre or so of them. 

We were given a few canes a couple of years ago when the good folks at Baxter's Winery http://www.nauvoowinery.com/ were thinning theirs out. We didn't know how well they would do out here. Grapes don't do so well because the herbicide they spray on the fields around here tends to drift and stunt their growth, but these blackberries did fine.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

The Pond

I have always dreamed of a place with a pond or a creek running through it, but this doesn't quite cut it! It has been so wet here that you can pretty much wade through Grampa Tom's row gardens. The weeds are starting to take over and he can't do a thing about it. 

Yesterday I was telling a friend that I was hoping to extend my mound garden out another 2 or 3 rows yet this year. He was shaking his head at how much work that was, but last night I was on my knees in my mound garden cutting arugula and I didn't even get wet :)

Grampa Tom tells me the weather channel is calling for several days of dry weather after today. I sure hope they are right!

~God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Dilly Ideas

The dill is in full swing! Thought I'd post some "dilly ideas". I'll have lots available at the markets. Please post your favorite dilly ideas!

Dilly Ideas

Sprinkle into soups and salads.

Mix with melted butter, pour on potatoes.

Put in vinegar. Let stand for a week. Use strait on salads
or mix with oil for a delicious dressing.

Mix into sour cream for dip.

Cream into cream cheese for a delicious spread.

Dill bread: Use any basic bread recipe.
Add 2 TBS chopped fresh dill,
1/2 cup cheese
and 1/4 cup finely chooped onion.
Raise and bake as usual.

And of course pickles!
Slice fresh cucumbers.
Add dill, salt & pepper to taste.
Cover with 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water.
Sliced onions and a TBS of honey
add a nice taste to these refridgerator
pickles.

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Cucumber Trellis

This was our big project for today - getting the cucumbers up on trellises. Had we gotten around to it before, it wouldn't have been such a big job. All the vines were tangled so we had to carefully untangle them to get them started up the trellises. We have two 16 foot long beds this year. They already have little cucumbers on them so we'll have cucumbers in another week or so!

God Bless You All! 

~Grama Sue

Marjoram

Marjoram is another one of those herbs that don't over winter well here. I put it on the other side of the chimney that the rosemary is on. I don't have any in pots yet, but I have some seed that I plan to plant in a pot soon. I need to let this grow for a few more weeks before I attempt to harvest anything.

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Catnip Harvest

The catnip was starting to flower so I cut it. I'll hang it in a dry shady spot until it dries. Then I'll package it.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Gardening Without Dogs

The rabbits are chewing on my chard! I've never had to garden without dogs around. Not really sure how this will work, but I put aluminum flags all over the place today. Any other cheap ideas will be appreciated!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Pay What You Can

Over the weekend, I read an article about a restaurant in a big city. It was located in an area where some homeless people  were. The owners wanted to help them so they decided to throw out their prices and ask people to pay what they could. Everyone is asked to pay something. If they don't have much, they are asked to pay what they can. If they are able, they ask people to pay a little more to help them help those who can't. They are actually doing a little bit better on their bottom line than they were before.

We love this idea! I don't know if we can implement this at the markets that we accept WIC at, but tonight, I decided to try this in Nauvoo. It worked wonderfully! We've often had people say, "Oh, I'd love to have some _____, but I just can't afford it." I hate that! We've struggled and we can't afford to work for nothing, but this way we can help people out! There are some people in Nauvoo who really need help, but those who have enough in Nauvoo have always been very generous. Thank you! This is a way we can all help!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Catnip

Grampa is always on my case about growing weeds, but I do it anyway! Catnip is a weed that grows all over the place around here, but it looks similar to other stuff, so I planted some seeds so I could compare the wild stuff to some catnip that I know is catnip. When this gets big enough, I'll cut it off and dry it. Haven't decided if I will make it into cat toys or just sell it. I'll probably try to sell the dried herb and if I have any left this winter, see what I can do with it craft wise. 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Noodles Finally!

Ahhh... noodles, noodles, noodles, how I have missed you! I've been so dog-gone busy with that stupid assessing job that I haven't made noodles all spring. Last week, a big wind came up at one of the markets and smashed my display egg carton so I had to blow some more eggs to make another one. What do you do with nine eggs in a bowl? Ya just gotta make noodles!

My farmer client has this really neat tool to cut noodles with. I've used a pizza cutter for years, but this is a step above! I decided to try it out and it works really well. I'll have to see if I can find a tool like this somewhere for myself.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Baby Cows on Pasture

The baby cows are out on the pasture. When we first brought them home, we left them on the trailer until they were old enough to eat grass. Three of them got really sick because they hadn't had enough colostrum from their mothers, and one died. You can see 2 of them in this picture. The other one was around somewhere. Grampa Tom and Catherine fed all 3 of them bottles this afternoon. We had a neighbor offer his pasture for our sheep so they are visiting over there for the summer.

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Attack Turkey

Today, I'm featuring a neighbor's turkey. This thing is so funny! It loves to chase my car. It get's all puffed up. 

And then ATTACK!!!!!!!! It pecks at my tires and runs in front of my car to intimidate it. Makes my day every time I go by! I always go really slow past this place. I just hope he doesn't get run over before he becomes Thanksgiving dinner.

Grampa Tom's Conventional Row Garden!

Grampa Tom actually has 2 conventional row gardens. This one is at our place. The other is at a neighbor's. They are an elderly couple who have always gardened and cannned a lot. This spring they decided they didn't want to do all that work anymore, but they still wanted to be able to step out the door and grab a fresh tomato or cucumber. They stopped by here and asked Grampa if he'd like to take over their garden. 

This one drowned last year with all the rain. It is doing a little better this year, but we'll see! I keep telling him he needs to make it into a mound garden, but he doesn't have to wait on a man to till it, so he's resisting. Big boys and their toys! ;)

 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Market Update

Catch us at:
*Nauvoo Sinclair Sation
         3:30-6:30pm
*Tues.
 Behind the Quincy Mall
         3-6pm
*Thurs.
 Burlington Farmer's Market
          on the River Front 5-7:30pm
*Sat.
 Keokuk Farmer's Market
          at the Mall 7 - 11 am

Out of Eggs?
We are also in:
   
    Macomb Hy-Vee
    Nauvoo Ducks
    Quincy Hy-vee Stores
         on Broadway and Harrison
    Tom's Market in Burlington


THIS WEEK'S MENU  


FREE RANGE EGGS
Rainbow -  $2/6-pk    
                    $3/doz


From the Garden:

(While supplies last)

Lettuce $1.50/bag
Chard   $ 2/bag
Kale      $1/bag
Onions  $1/bundle
Radishes $ 1/bundle
Peas $3/qt
Kohlorabi $1 each

Herbs $1
dill, basil, thyme, oregano,
sage, flat leafed parsely,
cilantro


BAKE SALE:
(not available at all markets)

Muffins & Breads - various prices

Jams and Butters - 1/4 pt $2
                                  1/2 pt $3
                                   pint $4

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue



                               

Rosemary

Here's my rosemary patch. Last year I had a couple of plants in my herb garden outside the trailer. Rosemary doesn't over winter here, but with the plastic over my herb garden it almost made it! The rosemary was still green up until that last bout of cold that we had in March. :( 

I'm going to try it again. This spot is on the south side of a brick house. I'm going to bury it in straw and put plastic over it. It just might work.

I'm not counting on it though. I'm going to keep a bunch of it inside over the winter.  I bought several plants because it sells well, but I put one in a pot so I can have some starts next year. Once the stem gets long enough, you can bury it under some soil. The stem under the soil will put down roots as well. I will be able to divide this pot into many separate plants next year.

This is the rosemary I brought home from my mom's house in California last year. She has a whole hedge of the stuff in front of her house. I'm so jealous! This rosemary is a little bit different from the plants that I bought. The leaves are slightly thinner, but it still has that great rosemary aroma. Next year I'll take starts from this plant and put them outside too, but for right now, I'm trying to get a good potful.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Asparagus

I've been wanting to start an asparagus patch for quite some time now. The farmer that I take care of has some growing wild in his road ditches so yesterday, we went out and dug a bit up. I don't know if it will take or not. The roots of these things are awfully deep. I'm not sure I got enough to get a good start. I understand it can take a year or even two for you to see new shoots once tops die. We'll see. I did get a few small spears  to cook for supper!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Elephant Garlic

This is my elephant garlic. On a whim last year I picked up a bulb in a grocery store. I really didn't expect it to grow since a lot of stuff in grocery stores is irradiated any more, but I put it in the ground and it is looking good! I've never used elephant garlic before. I hear it has less flavor than a regular garlic, but I suppose that would make it better for just roasting and eating it whole (something else I've never done). I should have some to play with and some cloves to plant for next year in a month or so. If I like it, I may have to take my chances and buy some more!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Winter Onions

These are my winter onions. Some people call them Egyptian Onions or Walking Onions. They don't put a bulb on under the ground. they multiply by putting little bulbs on the top which grow into plants that drop and then root. They tend to be something of a weed, so I have them in a tire to keep them contained. My boy has a huge patch of the stuff at his house. I love this plant because it grows in all but the coldest part of the winter. You cut the green shoots instead of pulling the whole plant. It's great for onions to put in a salad or anything you'd put chopped onions in. I'll probably go up to Jesse's and grab a bunch of sets so people can plant them in their yards themselves. They sold pretty well last year. 

God Bless You All! 

~Grama Sue

Kale

This was last year's new veggie. It sold well. All I have right now is this one lone plant (grr.. chickens) but we'll have more soon!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Garden pictures

Thought I'd try to post a picture or 2 of the farm every day. My peas are coming on! I have a tiny patch right now, but Grampa has quite a few more coming. They are the sugar snap variety with an edible pod. These are very frustrating to pick because you think you've got them all picked and then you discover 10 more that must have grown as you were picking the others!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Baby Goose

We have a baby goose! One of the younger geese decided to sit on the eggs this year. Grampa wasn't to sure  how well it would do, so he didn't put any extra eggs under it. Two of the 4 eggs hatched, but one of the goose-lings only lived a short while. Hopefully this one will grow up with no psychological problems. Geese are a very social animal. They don't do well all by themselves, but I'm not sure if they need others their own age to thrive or not. 

Naked Dog

We had both of our Great Pyrenees sheared yesterday, but at the time I took this picture, the other one was to embarrassed to come out from under the house. Grampa Tom stuffed a huge garbage sack plum full with dog hair. There's enough there to make at least one blanket if you were to spin it.  They weren't to enthusiastic. Lady really fought it, but I'm sure they both feel much better in this heat!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Mound garden

My new mound garden. Tried to post this directly from my phone, but for some reason the pictures didn't load.

This is a 24 X 48 foot garden that I've been digging paths in and piling up the dirt on the beds. Both the beds and the paths are 3 foot wide. Most people make 4 foot beds, but I have some trouble getting to the middle of our 4 foot concrete block beds, so I decided to scale these down. The mounds are oriented north to south so they get the most sun. The mounds will be permanent garden beds that never have to be walked on. 

Advantages:

1. Soil is not compacted.

2. Better drainage.

3. Weeds can be pulled and crops harvested even if it has just rained.

Right now it is mostly potatoes. I've got a few tomatoes, some melons and a bed of summer greens planted in it. The greens are chard, kale and an new thing for me "arugula". I'm not done building it yet. I'm thinking about  taking it out another few beds and planting a fall garden in those. When the crops come out, I'll put some compost over them and rake the straw in the paths up on to the mounds to rebuild them for the next season. Then I'll put new straw on the paths. It's more work to set up than a conventional garden, but I won't have to wait on a man to come till it :)

God Bless You All!

Grama Sue (who doesn't do tools with motors)