Hanging It Up For The Season

Good morning everyone :)  I was going to keep going at Lomax until just before Christmas, but ... Grampa Tom tells me it's time to hang it up for the season :(  So, this will be my last day in Lomax until spring.

I'm having so much fun there, but I'm only making enough to cover my expenses and there is so much that needs to be done at home. I've got 4-5 months to butcher chickens, write about chickens, herbs, cooking, eggs, Mary Lou's shop in town, proof-read and edit 3 books, over see some building projects, babysit the grandkids and maybe even clean my house.

I'll be there today from 9am-3pm. I have pies, cookies, fudge, candies, pumpkin bread, squash, potatoes, gourds, dried herbs, onions, turnips, radishes and more up there. I'll be serving soup made from our potatoes and tomatoes and real turkey and roast beef sandwiches from 11-2.

Come see me if you can!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Deep Freeze Survivors

They made it! 

I have another bed of kale and a bed of spinach that are under plastic. I wasn't to concerned about them, but I didn't have enough plastic to cover these beds. The blankets and sheets on these didn't quite cover them so I wasn't so sure. 

I'm a happy camper!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

12 Degrees????

Saturday evening, when I looked at the forecast, I was surprised to see 2 nights of 20 degree lows. Sunday and yesterday I worked furiously to get the garden ready for it. I would just let it go, but it's going to warm right back up. A lot of times, kale spinach and lettuce will survive fine for a couple of cold nights if they are covered. But 12 degrees this morning? Really? 12 degrees??? We'll see.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Freeze Dip

It's gonna be a crazy day! For the next 2 nights, it's supposed to get down to 20 degrees. That means I have to get out as soon as the sun comes up and start working! I have to get the rest of the squash, gourds, radishes and turnips picked over at our remote garden. At home, I need to mulch and cover, mulch and cover ... Then, I need to go up to Lomax, pack up everything I have in the garage and put it inside. Grampa Tom is in the fields, but I'll have my 3 y/o grandson who is a big helper and my heart son Karson there to give me a hand at least part of the day :)  So glad I got to sleep early last night!

Here comes the sun! Gotta go!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Lunch is Served!

So the markets were all done, but I've got quite a bit of squash left, whole patches of radishes, lettuce, chard, kale and herbs, lots of potatoes, gourds and pumpkins, a few watermelon ... What am I going to do with all this? I decided to ask Dave (the owner of the Painted Corners) if I could sit there for a couple of weeks and try to sell some. He suggested that I make some pies and cookies. I reluctantly agreed. I tend to eat way to much sweets when I do that, but I couldn't talk Kay into supplying them, so what do you do?

Then you know how things kinda evolve ... I thought, "We've got a whole lot of potatoes yet. Why don't I just see if I can sell soup and sandwiches for lunch on Friday and Saturday." Put out my shingle today thinking if I got 2 customers over the 2 days, it would be worth persuing until Christmas.

I had 8 customers! Woohoo!

Six of them were a group of bicyclists who were biking from Wisconsin down to the Gulf Coast. They were pretty impressed that the potatoes, lettuce and apples were all grown by us :) They wolfed down 2 whole pies after they ate their lunches. They also got a really big kick out of my grandson who very stealthly snuck up to their table and stole a cookie. They were laughing so hard, I couldn't even dicipline him :)

Tomorrow, I'll have:

     Potato Soup                          $1.50

     Sandwiches                          $2.00

          Ham

          Turkey

          PB & J

     Pie Slice                                $2.00

     Home Made Ice Cream         $1.00/scoop

     Pop, Water, Lemonade         $1.00

           or Green Tea   

    Cookies                                  50 cents each

Whole pies and plates of cookies and fresh veggies will also be available!

Come see me! Lunch wil be served from 11 am - 2 pm . Baked goods and produce will be available from 10 am to 5 pm at The Painted Corners in Lomax, IL!