Guess where we are….
Blog
15 years today…
Today is our 15th anniversary. Every year I chose a song, it’s been Crazy by Gnarles Barkley, Fireflies and Songs by Sara Groves… and others.
This year it’s the Story by Brandi Carlile….
After 15 years, we really are ‘made’ for each other.
Happy Anniversary Neil.
No commitment CSA
Ever wanted to join a CSA but felt that the commitment was just too much? Ever wanted to sell CSA shares but trembled at the thought of not being able to fill your orders should calamity happen?
For the small time hobby farmer, gardener, micro mini urban farm wanna be that I have going on here, I have a nice little solution.
I am going to make no commitment shares available as I have them.
So I present….!
This weeks CSA ‘no commitment share’ is $8 (if you shop at a farmers market, you know this is reasonable). You get….
1/2 dozen eggs,
strawberry jam (strawberry balsamic peppercorn, or regular low sugar jam),
Roma tomato seedlings,
fresh greens (kale, Swiss chard and if requested, spices purple mustard greens) and to top it off, a lovely bouquet of roses to brighten your day.
I have only three shares available and they must be picked up by 11am Friday morning.
So, if you want to support my micro agricultural projects and help pay for chicken feed, join this week and enjoy without the commitment. ( ps, the jam is super good!!! Strawberries are from a local farm within 15 miles of my home!).
We be jammin’
Pepper-berry Balsamic Jam
6 c crushed strawberries
1 c sugar
1/4 c aged balsamic vinegar (the thick kind)
1/4 tsp salt
1tsp freshly ground pepper
20 peppercorns
4 1/2 tsp low sugar pectin
1tbs butter (at the very end)
Mix all together except pectin and butter, bring to a boil. Add pectin and boil for 1 minute. Add butter and stir until foam clears. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from bath allow to cool without disturbing.
This is a low sugar jam so it isn’t going to have an eternal long shelf life like high sugar jams do… Enjoy on a price of toasted rustic or sour dough bread with fresh goat cheese or brie.
No body loves you….
Dear stink bugs,
No body loves you. Please die.
-the human race
My friend Tina gave us this idea for a stink bug catcher, you fill with dish washing detergent and water, and use the spout to grab the stink bugs. They breathe their last and are contained. I just caught two trying to get romantic with each other. I have stopped generations of stink bugs to come!
Do you have a favorite way of getting rid of these buggers?
28 lbs later…
From Yoder’s farm in Rustburg, Virginia.
He has really grown up….
Elijah is really showing signs of maturity…
New skills
Today’s work day was mostly about keeping the kids occupied while Neil worked on the bathroom downstairs. I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to learn and do new things that he hasn’t always been skilled at. He’s tiling the bathroom downstairs and is doing a great job!
The kids and I went to a birthday party, prepared for 24 people for dinner and cleaned the house. We’re all tired and ready to tuck in.
Quail eggs
Elijah sold his first batch of quail eggs. He sells 10 for $5. If you are local and would like a treat, reserve some quail eggs and support a local micro youth operated business! They go fast!
Calm after the storm
Bathing Jude is like mud wrestling a rhino.
Want to see something gross?
Pulled this off the dog. (Gag)
Now clean your mind out with this….
Unapproved morning architecture
You might think its because I’m not monitoring my children that this can be going on without my knowledge to this point. However, I’m 10 feet away making pancakes… And she’s a very quiet one…. Stealth.
In the end it’s not such a bad project before breakfast.
“It’s a boat mom!” Yes it is!
Kale chips
Yesterday we picked up our first CSA bag from Lynchburg Grows. The best thing of course was the goat cheese from Spring Mill farms. But I also got a pretty little bunch of greens. The kids want to make a kale chip recipe that they found in my Urban Farm mag. So we added some more kale from the garden, a sprinkle of olive oil, salt and seasonings and threw it in the oven for about 8 minutes on 425. Crispy, audibly crunchy, delish…
Camping!
His first fish!
Crabtree Falls
Fish Fried in Mayo!
All the gang
Paddle Boat Action
Camp from across the Lake
Grass fed beef at Food Lion
I would rather buy local beef from a local farmer… But, purchasing in bulk to get the best price means I need deep freeze space… Which I don’t have. I think this is the first time in a year that I have purchased beef for our home consumption.
It was right next to the filet of wild salmon (which is $5.99 for a filet right now, great deal! Must mean the salmon are running!).
This beef came out to about $6 a lb. ($7.99 for 1.33 lbs).
A thought… We communicate with businesses with our dollars, the grocery stores will carry more quality food if we purchase it. Our dollars speak!
( of course, I also bought cheese puffs and little Debbie’s for the kids, each got to choose a special treat for girls night with our movie).
Playing ‘nap’
Playing ‘nap’ on moms bed is so much fun!
Pizza Hut reading program for homeschoolers
Pizza Hut has a reading incentive program called BOOK IT.
You can enroll your homeschool here…
The reward program has coupons for a personal pan pizza or a spaghetti that the teacher gives out to students for reading. The cool thing is that at our local Pizza Hut in Lynchburg they allow the kids to get the lunch buffet instead of a personal pan pizza. This works out better for us since my kids love the salad bar, not to mention that a personal pan doesn’t quite do it for my ten year old. It makes a nice, cheap, family lunch out, especially since the littles are totally free!
He’ll make a good daddy.
Milk for me….
Milk for baby…
Milk for me again….
A cuddle for the baby…
Delighted with baby…
He really loves his new cousin real baby Jackson, although at this point contact is limited for obvious reasons! He’d probably do a great job though! For now he can practice on the girls baby dolls.
New addition!!!
SweetPea
Many of you already know that I am not exactly a dog person. I’ve always preferred cats who are much more independent and I like their saucy little attitudes. The perfect combination of ‘pet me.-Now go away.’.
But I have been converted to belief in dogs as useful tools on my micro-mini-mini-super-tiny wanna be farm. Yesterday we brought home a super cute Great Pyrenees puppy. She has been named Sweet Pea.
Sweet Pea is a livestock guardian dog. Her former owner has promised me that our predator woes are over with this little munchkin. She should also keep out the groundhogs, deer and other annoyances we seem to be plagued with.
Right now we are working on having her bond with the birds…. And with the humans too. She will be a valuable asset to our family with small children.
You can read read about the Great Pyrenees breed here…
The lovely woman we got this dog from also gifted me with 10 laying pullets, they appear to be about 9 weeks old.
On another note…. Elijah’s quail finally started laying!
Here is his first egg, hopefully he will be ready to sell a few soon!
Local Scene
No commitment CSA
Ever wanted to join a CSA but felt that the commitment was just too much? Ever wanted to sell CSA sh…
More in Local Scene
Quality of Life
New addition!!!
Many of you already know that I am not exactly a dog person. I’ve always preferred cats who ar…
More in Quality of Life
City Chicken Micro Farm
No commitment CSA
Ever wanted to join a CSA but felt that the commitment was just too much? Ever wanted to sell CSA sh…