Noodle Farm

Last night, I played hooky from the Lomax market so I could make noodles. The corn stove is no longer running so I decided to set up my greenhouse shelving in front of a window and fill it with noodles. I had this set up at my old farmer's house last year. One of the nurses dubbed it "Sue's Noodle Farm". It fits :)

The forecast is for severe thunderstorms this evening, so I don't know if there will be a Burlington of market tonight and the same is forecast for all day tomorrow so who knows? 

We have to go to Burlington tonight anyway to deliver eggs to Hy Vee  and spend some money. I got done with my assessing job last week so I got my big check :) I'm gonna miss the money, but not the job. I did tell them I'd do some field work during the winter if I have time, but no frustrating office work!

I'm going to buy a new clothes line :) The rest of it is going for feed, egg cartons and paying down loans. We now only have a mortgage and a little bit left on the and hopefully the tractor will be paid off soon. :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Fruit Tree Bug Control

If it is sweet and it's in my house, it's usually made with either honey or stevia, but I have to admit, I do have a stash of the white stuff. I use it to kill bugs.

One summer, many years ago, when I was first learning to garden, I did a farmer's market down in Niota with a real master gardener. She said she hangs milk jugs filled with 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of vinegar and enough water to fill the jug half full in her fruit trees. I haven't done this the last couple of years because I've just been to busy, so I have no idea if it would have helped  with those horrible Japanese beetles. But, I do know that when I put them up in the spring after the blossoms are gone that my apples don't have many bugs in them. The little critters that like to bore into the apples are attracted to the jugs instead. They get down in there and then can't find their way back out. 

Grampa Tom thinks all the rain we've had in this spring should have drowned a lot of the Japanese beetle larva. So, hopefully, that won't be as much of a problem this year. 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Aloe Turning Brown?

So often people tell me they can't grow aloe, that it just turns brown on them and dies. Last night, my daughter said the aloe I gave her last summer had turned brown and seemed to be dying.

Sometimes, my aloe turns brown, like the little one in this picture. I can usually bring them back to health, but I haven't really understood what was going on. There were actually several little aloe plants in this pot that were brown last week. I had it sitting beside an open window and the babies on the window side all turned brown.

Last spring, I went out to my folks in Southern California. Out there, aloe grows wild, but I noticed that most of it was brown. They have been having a drought, so I figured that was the reason, but my aloe has had plenty of water.

Thanks to the magic of the internet and a little digging, I think I finally understand! :) Aloe will turn brown if:

1. The temp dips below 45 degrees.
2. Or if it experiences big environmental changes such as lots of light or wind.

So, if your aloe is turning brown don't despair! Move it to a warm protected shady spot and it will probably recover :) Then harden it off by moving it to it's summer spot slowly. Make sure the night time temps are high enough, then, place it in a shady spot that is protected from wind or just put it out for short periods at a time to start with. Then slowly increase your aloe's exposure to light and wind. It should be alright :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Laundry Soap

Made laundry soap today. I've been using home made laundry soap for years. It is so much cheaper than the store bought variety :) I've tried several different recipes, both liquid and dry. I prefer the dry because it takes up less space in my crowded big trailer and I like this recipe because it includes baking soda which helps with hard water. 

Being Creative does a great job at explaining how to put it all together so I  won't try to reinvent the wheel. Hop on over to http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html to get all the details. 

I use my handy-dandy little chopper-grinder rather than a grater because it does a better job of chopping up the soap.

And I've decided to ditch the plastic bag part next time. All I ever accomplish with that is tearing up a perfectly good plastic bag. After I get the soap mixed up, I put it into plastic ice cream buckets anyway so I don't see the sense.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Progress

Got the raised beds uncovered and planted a bunch of stuff today: more lettuce, spinach, strawberries, holy basil, basil corn, squash ... probably a few more things :) Lots more to plant! More rhubarb, asparagus, herbs and lots of flowers. Grama Sue is home! This place is going to shape up :)

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

What's Growing in My Cold Frame?

What better place to raise your kittens on a cool spring day?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Beats a cat condo, that is until the crazy lady decides she needs to water the plants :)

Blackberries

Yesterday, we planted almost 100' of black berries along the garden fence. 

It was a perfect day for planting berry canes. We had lots of rain in the last couple of days so the soil was nice and damp. It was also sunny, beautiful and not too hot! Can't ask for much more than that :)

Payton and Kathie had a great time filling the holes that Grampa Tom dug with compost and pushing the blackberry sticks into them. I followed them and made sure every thing was done right. It was so much fun! I  love working with my family!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

We Have Turkeys!

Grampa Tom has been working with a guy who had an accidental clutch of turkey poults so he bought them!

Turkeys are so cool. They are a very friendly bird. They will follow you around and beg you to pet them like a dog. We haven't had turkeys in a few years and I'm  very excited :) We put them in the round tank that we had the baby chicks in until yesterday. The momma is a royal palm, but the daddy is a ? 

Grampa Tom moved the chicks into the little chicken shed.  Our cats love to hunt little birds so, we don't let the chicks out on the pasture until they are big enough that the cats won't hunt them. 

The goats we bought at the sale with the chicks are starting to get their horns. Grampa Tom wanted me to make sure I got a picture of them for Olivia and Erik since they went to the sale barn with us to get them.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Crunch Time!

Grampa Tom is in the fields and I'm trying to get everything in the gardens, plus take care of most of the stuff that he does around here. Planting and harvest time = 15 hour days and supper between 10 pm and midnight! Not much time for writing. Sore and loving it!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

I want one!

I Quit (for tonight)

11:35 pm - Don't quite have everything done, but I quit for tonight. Think I have the assessing almost done for this  year. Just have to turn it in. Good night!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Oooooo! My grandsons love Thomas the Train! Mixed with a farm, perfect toy!

27 Medicinal Plants to Grow in Your Garden

Looks like I've got some work to do! I've only got 8 out of these 27! I am planning on adding feverfew and comfrey this year. Some though, I've never heard of, like "Turkey Rhubarb". Is it different from regular rhubarb? So much to learn .

http://odyb.net/discoveries/27-medicinal-plants-worth-your-garden-space/


God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy 

Mother's 

Day! 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Thank You Nauvoo! Keokuk Tomorrow!

We had an awesome first market at Nauvoo today. We will be at Keokuk mall tomorrow from 8:30 to Noon unless we sell out  :)

On the menu:

Eggs

Dried rosemary

Fresh french tarragon

Fresh chives

Fresh sage

Fresh lemon balm

Asparagus

Radishes

Green onions

Lettuce

Grapefruit

Aloe 

Elderberry Plants

Thornless Blackberry Plants

Noodles

Jams and Jellies

Hope to see you there!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Market Update

It was so good to get back to Burlington last night, even if did get rained out after only 45 minutes :)

Lots of familiar faces, and lots of new ones too! I'll be in Nauvoo today from 2:30-5:30. On the menu:

Eggs

Dried rosemary

Fresh french tarragon

Fresh chives

Fresh sage

Asparagus

Radishes

Green onions

Lettuce

Grapefruit

Aloe 

Elderberry Plants

Thornless Blackberry Plants

Hope to see you there!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Market Update

We were at Lomax tonight. Didn't have enough time to post before the market. We've got lots of good stuff! People are absolutely amazed at the lettuce that I planted in January. Grampa Tom was telling people tonight that next year we are going to plant a lot more stuff like that. If it's ready before the markets, we will just  have to find a way to sell it or feed it to the chickens.

We will be in Burlington at the train depot tomorrow evening from 5-7

At the Sinclair station in Nauvoo from 2:30-5:30 Friday afternoon,

And at the Keokuk mall from 8:30-12 Saturday morning.

See you there!


God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Grampa Tom's Favorite Floor Plan

Every now and then, Grampa Tom looks at a floor plan that create and says, "That's the best one you've done yet."

Yes, I am a romantic soul :)
http://gramasuesfloorplans.blogspot.com/2013/05/grampa-toms-favorite.html


God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Asparagus

It made it! I thought the chickens had totally destroyed it!

Last year I grew some asparagus from seed over at my old farmer's house. I moved it home in November. I didn't know if it would come back up, but it did, and the chickens promptly at those  first shoots. I gave up on it, but today as I was driving out the driveway, I spotted lots of shoots! Woooohooo!

Sorry about yesterday. I was so tired I forgot to post. It's likely to happen now and then over the busy season, but I'll try! My mom says this blog is part of her morning routine. Hate to disappoint her. Don't worry MOM!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

My favorite type of vegetable steamer!

Keokuk Farmer's Market

It's always a good day when we go to Keokuk and make more money than we spend!

It  wasn't the worst day weather wise that we've set up at the mall, but it was cold and rainy most of the morning.  I had looked on the internet to see when the market started. Event Crazy said it started today, but no one else showed up. The Farmer's Market sign wasn't even out. We debated about just turning around and going home, but we decided to set up anyway. Glad we did! Thank you to all of our wonderful customers who felt sorry for us and came to buy!

Don't know if anyone else will show up next week, but unless the weather is a whole lot worse than this week, we plan to be there! 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Play Yard

Honestly, when I created a play yard for the kids, I was thinking human!

They had lots of fun!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Market Schedule

The Riverfront Market in Burlington is at the train depot tonight because of the flooding from 5-7. Grampa Tom will be there! Wish I could be there, but I plan to show up next week.

I'm skipping Nauvoo tomorrow because I'm doing a respite care job tonight, but I plan to be there next week. We will start from 2:30-5:30 and will expand the hours once we get more produce.

Saturday we will be in Keokuk at the mall from 7-11 am.

We've also picked up another of our stores. Grampa Tom is delivering eggs to the Hy-Vee on Agency and to Tom's market this afternoon!

That's all I know right now!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Painted Corner Update

Just in case you missed the market last night, I thought I'd take a couple of pictures of all the beautiful work Dave and Roger have done!

They have transformed this old garage into an inviting space that still opens to the outdoors. There is a fire place for cool evenings and room for a few farmer's market vendors. That's our table right there.

They also put in an ice cream counter for Dave's home made ice cream and a few tables. Beautiful job guys!


God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Markets Starting Tonight!

Grampa Tom is really cheap. I spent about 2 hours cleaning his truck out today to get it ready for the markets. This is all I found :(

We will be in Lomax at the Painted Corners tonight from 4-7 pm.

We will have:

Grapefruit that we picked at my Mom's in California

Noodles

Jams

Fresh Lettuce

Pasture Raised Eggs

Lots of dried herbs that I picked in November and put in the freezer

Lots of Aloe plants 

and lots of elderberry and blackberry cuttings

Tressa will be cooking up her famous tacos

and Dave will be serving his awesome home made ice cream!

Come by and see what they've done with the place!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue