Thursday, July 18, 2013

Daily Farm Journal...Thursday


Our morning started about 6:00 a.m. and by 6:30 we were both in the garden. Not long after daylight we could hear the neighbors tractor coming up the lane and since there was no dew we knew they would start baling the hay.   We traded the tranquility of the early morning birds for the roar of the tractor engine and the smell of diesel fumes.


O Wise One went to start feeding and watering animals and by 9:00 I had quite the trail of dead and dying weeds behind me in the rows.  It seems this is an endless job in a garden this size. By the time one crop is weeded they have doubled their size in the next crop over. This is still a young garden and we know from experience that as the years progress the weeds do become less and less as long as you do not let them go to seed.



Not long after 9:00 the heat had already started to build and I was ready to pick my vegetables before it got too hot so the broccoli was first on the list. This is the hybrid Premium Crop.  The heat index for the last two days has been over 100 yet I continue to pick not only main heads but also side shoots from this hybrid.


Next on the list was another days picking of basil. The dehydrator has been full of basil daily. Once the picking from the day before is done then I load the dehydrator again.  


First picking of cucumbers was also ready. I almost let them get too big. During the process of picking the cucumbers I managed to get bee stung.
This is the heirloom variety Straight Eight. In another day or so I should really have a picking. Guess I had better get those pickle crocks out and wash them and get them ready. I also grabbed a lone bell pepper.


The dill heads were also ready to pick and I also cut some of the leaves. You'll see later I had a plan. Just in time for the ripe cucumbers too. I couldn't have planned it any better!  I see pickles in my future : )
 

The basil was washed and loaded into the dehydrator.

 
Next in order I browned a pound of venison burger and a pound of ground beef.  Then I threw some fresh chopped  sweet onions and that bell pepper that I picked this morning. Then some fresh garlic, some of that fresh basil, and some mushrooms. 



I added two quarts of my canned tomato sauce from last year and let it simmer on really low heat for awhile.


Next in a skillet I browned two links of our homemade venison/pork Italian sausage. Both the venison and pork off this farm. 


Then it was cut up into chunks.



And you guessed right it went in the pot too!


Some of those cucumbers were sliced and a half a medium sweet onion also.  


Remember that dill weed? Now it comes into play. 
 

 I add about 2/3 cup of sour cream to a measuring cup then I snip up my dill weed into it. Then I add buttermilk to make it a dressing consistency. 



To that I add some freshly ground black pepper, salt and about a teaspoon garlic powder.  Stir this well and add more buttermilk if it needs to be thinner.  



Now pour that over your cucumbers and onions and chill it for atleast several hours.

Now some hot spaghetti for that sauce, steamed fresh broccoli, sliced cucumbers and onions and some homemade garlic bread that I had in the freezer. We all feasted for lunch! 

Baby O has disappeared with her father. O Wise One Is making a parts run as it seems that I managed to break the lawn mower mowing and Baby O hitched a ride to the library. So I will be chopping and blanching Broccoli for the remainder of the afternoon. 


It's a relief to know that they haying is finished and that my goats have plenty hay to get them through the winter. Another job completed and another blessing to be thankful for! 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter


16 comments:

  1. I love reading your blog, very inspiring. Thanks also for posting the pickled beets recipe, I have a surplus of them and will give it ago. Thanks for sharing :)

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  2. If you'll let me come and live I promise to help work in the garden and help do whatever else you need. :-)

    You inspire me to continue to try to add more and more to my skills.

    Do you have any suggestions for which herbs I can grow in pots since I can't plant them in the yard?

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    1. Basil grows great in pots. I have grown dill also in pots on the porch. Unsure what other herbs grow well in containers. I would imagine the smaller varieties of chives would.

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    2. Thanks. I want to try a few basics. Basil would be a good start.

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    3. Rosemary is a GREAT pot plant! In my area it can not over winter so I purposely PUT it in a pot so that it can be brought in later. Any herbs do well in pots as long as they are watered well. I have grown everything from chamomile to sage to lemon verbena. (Lemon verbena and Lemon Balm are great things in pots because they are SO wonderfully scented- they can fill the room!) Any herb that you use, plant in a pot! They are very satisfying to have.

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  3. What kind of grapes and blackberries do you grow? I visited mt local garden center and found Jade bean seed, $5.00 for a half pound. I'am going to try to plant them next week.

    Sue

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    1. My grapes are reliant and am unsure of the other variety. My Blackberries are Doyle. Google them they have a website. Save some seed from your Jade they are open pollinated!

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  4. Its amazing to me, my garden is long since burned up... and yours is just now going strong. What a difference a couple of states makes! Here in Texas we burn up fast sighhh. I long for the Ozarks of Arkansas where I grew up. The growing season as I remember it oh so many years ago was gentler and not so early to burn up.

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    1. I have been to Texas many times. The warmer winter weather is nice but I just don't think I could take that brutal heat anymore. My parents lived in Seadrift Texas for awhile in the early 50's. He was a welder and worked the pipelines , the stories he used to tell about that Texas heat : )

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  5. My goodness, what a busy day! The cucumbers, onions, and dill dressing looks fabulous! I can't say enough good things about your blog! I think some high schools should consider starting a Hickery Holler Farm class based on your blog and the information in it! That would be all the curriculum they need! I'm thinking all of the kids in the United States could benefit from it.

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  6. Good golly Miss Molly! Sign me up for dinner anytime =) Yummo!

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  7. I agree busy day-it is always so rewarding to eat what one produces themselves-food looks delicous

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  8. My 7 yr old son has a gardener heart and 'checks on things' about four times a day. It is the first thing he does in the morning and the last thing he does before bed. He gives me progress of the tossles on the corn, the size of the vegetables and he is the one that harvests everything. I can NEVER beat him to it! (And I want to!) Last night he was thrilled to bring in the first cucumbers and bean and we ate the first zucchini yesterday!

    Today, my four children (9,7,4,2) and I are going to head out to pick huckleberries. I reward them for their sweaty work with a swim at the lake afterward. Last year we picked 25 pounds and it got us through the whole winter and spring. But I am afraid we won't get so lucky this time...the bushes aren't terribly amazing this year. Maybe because of all the rain? I don't know.

    I do not envy your canning in high 90 degree weather! But I'll be sweating a bit myself because Friday nights at our house are pizza and movie nights- so I'll be bending over a 500 degree oven making pizza for a while. One will be a garlic and basil pizza with tomatoes and feta. (My favorite.)

    Have a good day! (I am so glad to be able to comment now! Thanks for doing whatever you did!)

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    1. Sounds like your son is a gardener in training to me! I haven't picked huckleberries since I was a kid. I remember going to my grandmother's house in Mississippi and picking them with my parents. They make a WONDERFUL jam : )

      On the commenting I eased off on some of my security settings on the blog. I get a little more spam to contend with but thus far nothing that couldn't be taken care of easily.

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  9. Love your pictures.
    I have been dehydrating mint and onions, and next will be potatoes.
    I'm going to try the potatoes and the onions together for hash browns. I'll just do one means worth in each jar.

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  10. I am new to growing dill this year. Do I dry the flower heads too and use it like I would the "leaves"???

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