Kaylee Milk Cow?

Got a really good picture of Kaylee the other day. Seems I always go out to take pictures when she's resting in the shade in the afternoon. She's a Jersey heifer, but we don't know if she will be able to breed or not. Grampa Tom bought her at an auction and later was told the reason she was there may have been because she was a twin to a bull calf. Usually heifer/bull twins produce females that can't reproduce. You can read about it here http://www.extension.org/pages/39317/we-have-twin-calves-one-heifer-and-one-bull-will-either-have-issues-reproducing

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Chicken Proof!

HA!!! We have some pretty ticked off chickens, but we are going to have peas! We really don't like clipping wings, so we have been trying to find ways to grow stuff in our raised beds without having them eat everything. We've had varying success, but haven't produced anywhere near as much in these gardens this year. We will be able to pull the netting off when we need to pick. 

Now to figure out something for the taller plants. We have tomatoes in the beds now, but we only get tomatoes from the blooms that come higher than the chickens can jump!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Bucket Chicken Nest Experiment

My bucket chicken nest experiment is a success!

Our old metal nests are rusting through. I've been brainstorming about cheap alternatives. I decided to see if our chickens would like laying in a bucket. I put some bricks around it to stabilize it and put some straw in it. The chickens love it!

We have a set of roll out nests. We hate them and so do our chickens. They might work in some big factory setting, but you can't use straw in them because it blocks the roll out portion. Even if you don't use straw, it is difficult to get your fingers around the eggs that are under the roll out tray. 

We only have a few chickens that will use them for laying, but they do like to roost on them! Mostly they just serve as a high flutent chicken out house.

I want to make some shelves to put buckets on with a board across the front to keep the straw from being kicked out quickly and to hold the handles up to serve as perches. They would be easier to clean and fairly cheap to set up. 

So all you local peeps, if you've got any extra 5 gallon buckets you'd be willing to part with, please give me a  call!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Preserving Cherry Tomatoes

I've been dehydrating my excess cherry tomatoes. One of my favorite sites is Food in Jars. This post is about ways to preserve cherry tomatoes. I will have to try these! I have been dehydrating my little sweeties. I love dried tomatoes for snacking on. She suggests cutting them in half, which I haven't been doing. Will have to try that. Here's the link: http://www.foodinjars.com/2011/08/five-ways-to-preserve-small-tomatoes/

These are my cherry tomatoes. This variety is a "black" cherry. They tend to be a bit green on top, but they are delicious!

I cut them in half and put them on my dehydrator shelves.

Then if it is sunny outside, I set the dryer in the sun. If there isn't enough sun, I plug it in.

I'll put these in a jar for yummy snacking later!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Economy

Warning: this is a rant!

Grampa Tom loves to listen to the news channels. Drives me nuts. Republicans, Democrats, it makes no difference, they are all focused on the wrong things. Jobs and credit availability are all they talk about. However, jobs and credit availability will not get us out of this mess.

#1. We have to GET OUT OF DEBT! Banks and insurance will not save us. They simply make what we work for more expensive.

#2. Our focus needs to be on self-employment, creating business and investment. The government cannot do this!

A while back, I watched a black and white movie called "The Devil and Daniel Webster" I was horrified at how Daniel Webster was characterized as a Christ-like figure, but what fascinated me was the attitude of the characters at the beginning of the movie. There was a character who tempted the others with debt and jobs. Those he tempted started out balking at his offers because accepting a job or a loan equaled slavery. This attitude is what made America the economic powerhouse that it was. Until we return to those values, the land we love will continue to decline.

Fortunately, there are many of us who are rebelling against this slavery and we will gain our freedom! I invite you to join us!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Patty Pan Recipe

Saturday, Grampa Tom came home from the farmer's market in Keokuk raving about what Angelini's Pizza  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angelinis-Pizza/104870421466?sk=wall  had done with our patty pan squash. He didn't get the recipe, but what he described sounded pretty doable. So I decided to try to come up with something similar.

I started with these ingredients: Chard, tomatoes, onions, garlic and a patty pan from my garden and some sausage from Duck's Foods in Nauvoo. I love Duck's meats. If I don't grow the meat myself, it probably comes from Duck's. 

I browned the sausage.

I sliced and added onions.

Then I added finely chopped garlic. I've had a couple of different garlic presses, but I wasn't impressed with how they work. If you have one that works well, please let me know where you bought it!

I chopped and added several chard leaves.

Then I quartered the patty pan.

I removed the seeds although I don't know if that was necessary.

and then cut it into cubes.

Then I put it into my dutch oven. I should have started out with it, but when you are spacially challenged (and yes I made up that word) you just have to  make adjustments and clean a few more pans.

Then I covered and cooked it on a low heat while stirring frequently until the patty pan squash was tender.

Then I seasoned it with salt and pepper. The salt shaker is from a health food store in  my parent's hometown Borrego Springs, CA, but I've been refilling it with Real Salt that I buy at the Hy Vee stores in Quincy, IL.I also used about 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.  I folded about half of it into the mixture and then sprinkled the rest of it on top.

I put the cover back on to melt the cheese.

And served it up with some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. Grampa Tom loved it! So will you!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Sunflower Faith

This little patch of sunflowers is so interesting. It looks like I planted each one a few days apart, but I think it's really just the amount of sunshine each is getting. They are perfectly lined up showing the development of a sunflower almost like a time lapse photo.

I took some pictures of each one so you could see how big they are against my hand. God often speaks through nature. These beautiful flowers that follow the sun (Son) remind me of how faith develops, either for a specific promise or just over the life of a believer.

Faith is born beautifully packaged, but hidden in the heart.

The promise is revealed, but it has lots of growing to do.

At full bloom, it's beauty reaches for the sky!

As it matures, the external beauty fades, but new hope is forming as it bows it's head before the creator.

Who looks and declares, "Harvest time has come!" The seeds that have been created will feed the hope of others, multiplying hope and life all over again!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue