10 Boxes To Start

Well here we go. My new raised beds for a garden are finished and placed. Each one is 2 foot wide and 8 foot long. They are constructed by O Wise One with local lumber purchased from the sawmill down the road and cut from this mountain. They are two foot wide because  I wanted  beds that I could reach easily across. Most are 10 inches tall. They will be left natural wood with no paints or preservatives. In the bottom are our cardboard moving boxes and packing paper from the move. Next are layers  of stick from the yard that fell with that February ice storm. Next are layers of leaves from the yard, grass clippings, peat moss, sheet rock torn from the house during a bathroom update with the paper removed and soaked in water(gypsum), and rabbit manure. Eventually the beds will be filled on top with mushroom compost from a local supplier. Kind of a Hugelkultur meets lasagna gardening approach.  I have no idea how this will work but should be a great start to a small garden as well as a useful way to dispose of yard waste and moving materials. Eventually we may actually prepare a small garden spot but for now this will give us someplace to plant a few veggies for summer eating and I will can any extras. We have so many other things to do that it is nice to get this one thing out of the way and move on to building a clothes line and a chicken coop.We also want to repair and upgrade the perimeter fence this summer so as you can see this first season will be a busy one. No major construction just lots of little repairs and updates.

The boxes are in the northeast corner of my yard away from all trees. I can plainly see them from my deck. Eventually we may put a small fence around that corner of the yard to keep the dogs and chickens out. For now we will just observe how things unfold.

We have lots of compost in rings that will eventually go into these beds as time goes on and they need it. We compost newspapers, food scraps from the kitchen and yard waste on a regular basis. 

As we trim trees from the recent ice storm  we are burning the wood and the ashes are also going into the beds in small amounts and the compost piles as well. 

Everything added so far is even local except the mushroom compost and the sheet rock. O Wise One is hoping to try his hand at vermiculture (worm farming) in the future which should also contribute to some nice worm castings for the gardens as well as fishing bait : ) We are making progress. Most importantly we are observing right now. Observing the weather patterns for our new home, where the sun is the brightest and little things that can so affect a garden but go unnoticed. Frost pockets and wind directions and where water stands on the property. Where the topsoil is the rockiest and where the top soil is the thickest. And most of all what our neighbors are growing is a great way to figure out what grows well here, when to plant and what to expect from this new climate. 

We still have to decide on where to put a small asparagus bed and maybe a little rhubarb patch. Maybe some fruit trees but dwarf so that we don't  have to climb ladders to prune and maintain. Blackberries and grapes as well. Not as many as on the farm but a few would be nice. We constantly have to reminds ourselves to keep everything small. The object is to scale back to allow time for other stuff as well.

So life goes on and we settle in to make our little acre as productive as possible, supplement our diet, provide us with exercise and activity into our golden years. We should be able to have the same things we did on the much larger farm but just on a smaller scale with much less upkeep. Fortunately our full freezers and jars of produce that we moved from the  farm will tide us over while we plan, lay out and prepare our new gardens and get started.

For those of you my neighbors please feel free to help us out and share what grows well in our area and on your own farms and back yards. Recommendations for flowers and shrubs as well as vegetables and fruits that do well in this area are greatly appreciated and we never get too many suggestions for anyone in the area that would like to contribute.  

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Roasting Canned Potatoes

I received an email recently from a reader asking how I prepared and used my canned potatoes. These are small red new potatoes ( Red Pontiac) that I canned 2 years ago roasted in the oven. This is one of our favorite ways to eat them. 

I simply open the jar and drain the water off the potatoes.

I place a little olive oil about a tablespoon in the bottom of a 9 inch skillet and then add my drained potatoes on top and stir them around a little to coat them. 

Then right in the middle of the skillet above you will see a big dollop of real butter. About 2 Tablespoons. Then I like to sprinkle with sea salt and a little garlic powder to taste.

Then I place them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Take the skillet out and take a spatula and turn them once and place them back in the oven for another half hour. Take out and enjoy. For many who say they don't like the texture of canned potatoes try them this way. I like to serve them with meat loaf or baked chicken.

Just one more way to serve those jarred vegetables. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

First Things First

With eight huge white oak trees and three hickory trees in our yard and a house that stood empty for over a year there were plenty of leaves when we moved in. Since it was winter we just ignored them! Bet the neighbors appreciated that. Come spring the first order of business was to get all those leaves up. This area is notorious for shallow top soil so all these leaves are in temporary wire compost rings all over the property. The large black bags are also full of leaves that will go into my garden raised beds. I keep adding my coffee grounds and kitchen scraps to the piles as well.

It's hard to garden without topsoil so composting will be a regular chore for many  years to come just like at the old place. It takes years to build soil and it is an ongoing endeavor. Luckily there are rabbit and horse farmers around and I see horse manure available regularly. This area is really big on horses. Horse manure will be a last resort because of the weeds though. We have already purchased some rabbit manure until we can get a start on our own. We are also hoping to keep a small flock of backyard chickens for eggs so that will help some with compost material also. Eventually we will build a permanent compost bin but for now these rings will suffice. And this fall will bring on another batch of leaves that we are hoping to be more prepared for.

This picture is not very clear but we have discovered that we also have a large patch of English Ivy that will need to be gotten rid of.

Anyone out there have success eradicating it and want to share their success with me? I know that it is extremely invasive and can damage your house with it's tendrils. Doesn't look like it minds that shallow top soil at all.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Along For The Ride

Look what is waiting on my deck to go around the base of the oak trees in my new yard. Hosta that originated from O Wise One's Grandma Edna's house.

Straight from the old farm where for those of you that have followed for a long time know that it grew around the old Maple tree in the middle of the driveway. I have enough for a great start and sure hope it likes Tennessee.

And  remember my Mama's  Rugosa Roses. These originated at my home place in Louisiana. They have the greatest smell and the bees love them.

I have 5 bushes in pots on the back deck. O Wise One drove all the way to Missouri and brought them back for me. God I love that man !

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

She Aint Heavy She's My Neighbor

I wanted to tell you a little story today. As most of my regular readers know O Wise One and I made the decision late last year to sell our large farm and downsize to a smaller home and acreage in a new area with a little milder climate. We hoped to slow down our life just a hair and spend more time together enjoying life a little more and concentrating less on producing vast amounts of food not because we needed it but just because we could. Over the past few years as all of our children had grown up, gotten married and built their own lives we had needed less and less food for just ourselves. More and more of our vegetables and fruit were being given away to neighbors and charities than ever before. We sold enough to supplement any expenses the garden would incur and canned what was left over. With fewer children we consume less and required less. It was time to think about downsizing. So we sold our farm to a young couple and moved to a small 1300 square foot brick home built in the 80's and an acre of land in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. December 1st we signed the papers and took possession of our new home. This home met most of the requirements we were looking for. It was small but with a brick exterior and metal roof it should require very little upkeep. A fireplace for backup heat and a nice big back yard. Close to several medium sized hospitals but a little over an hour outside of Knoxville and two from Nashville and the large Medical Centers that come with big cities. 

Yep we loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly! Took two Uhauls, a horse trailer for the big dogs and a Trailblazer. 

Even more important is that even though we live on a busy road our area is unincorporated. No HOAs to tell us what we can and can't do. The neighbors on the road behind our house have chickens, goats and even pigs on their small acreages. Little gardens are abundant and there are lots of churches and organizations in the area. You see O Wise One and I are not your typical retirees. We don't golf ( although I can). We aren't the country club sort. We are the backyard barbecue type, church on Sunday an occasional movie and lots of lawn mowing and gardening. American legion meetings and maybe a quilt group near and it is just about perfect.

 In Missouri the number one question that  people asked us was " Are you one of them preppers". Now while I never really considered myself a prepper we have so much in common with them that really I guess I should. But I absolutely HATE labels and people that have to have them. We lived the way that our parents and grandparents before  us did. We preceded the prepper movement so we consider ourselves pre-preppers. We are the generation that was taught that God takes care of those that take care of THEMSELVES. That being said a little common sense goes a long ways. You will always find food in my house.

Maybe not fast food or packaged food but always food.

 Never have I not had lots of quilts because I'm a quilter like my mother and grandmother before me. With a fireplace to warm me and lots of quilts you should never go cold in my home.

 My clocks are wind up  and a hundred years old not battery operated 

My phone is rotary dial. If the lights go out my phone still works.

Without lights I still can see.

Without lights I can still sew

My clothes aren't designer they are homemade. A good pair of jeans or maybe some shorts and a shirt with big pockets for seeds or eggs is the style of the day.

As are my bed linens homemade

My dish cloths are crocheted

My dishtowels homemade

And my clothes line dried.

My nights are spent with a good book or the good book and maybe a DVD and a crochet hook.

 My bread comes from the oven and not plastic.

And the list can go on forever. 

In February of this year a major and devastating ice storm came through this area. We lost power for days and some even for weeks. Our life never changed other than the house was a little cooler than when we ran central heat. It never got below 55 in our home when other peoples pipes were bursting. When the local Walmart shelves were bare (and they really were!!!) we still ate and well. But the whole just of this long story is that as soon as we could dig out O Wise One and Baby O started knocking on our neighbors doors and checking on them. He and Baby O got out everyday and delivered hot meals cooked on our fireplace and barbecue grill to those who had none. Hot coffee and biscuits in the morning and atleast one hot meal at night. Jugs of fresh drinking water to those whose pipes had frozen or burst. 

Now I could not help but thinking to myself that this was the same frozen food and jars of canned food that people had laughed at me about canning and being a prepper. Don't you get so tired of the zombie apocalypse jokes? This was the same food that people had encouraged us not to move that it wasn't worth it. This was the same food that someone had actually came by and tried to buy from me for almost nothing prior to my moving.  

This was the same food that my husband and daughter now ventured out onto the ice covered terrain in the cold to deliver to neighbors we had never met ,door to door, to keep those people many elderly and some with small children fed. Many of these neighbors had no electricity or water for almost a week. Indeed the Lord helps those that help themselves but more importantly he also blesses those who help others. 

One elderly widow neighbor lady told O Wise One "I have lived here all my life and no one has even been by to check on me". She asked my husband WHY  he would do this for someone he had never even met. My husband's response.

"Congratulations you're my new neighbor and welcome to my  

Tennessee".

This same elderly neighbor just gave me the pears off her pear tree this year!

So the next time someone remarks negatively about your lifestyle choices or makes comments about your gardening addiction, quilting addiction, food hoarding or canning addiction. The next time someone tells you that you can buy it cheaper at Walmart than you can grow or can it. Or better yet how old fashioned you are. Just smile and think to yourself that there may come a day when those Walmart shelves are empty and plant a little extra for the neighbors.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Rainy Day Projects

With all this rain of late I took advantage of the inside time to make new potholders for my kitchen. It was past time to pitch the old ones. I made regular size ones for pot holders and a couple of the larger ones that I use to put hot pots on.

I have used the same pattern for years which is basically just single crochet for the pot holder itself a shell border of double crochet. Made of heavy cotton yarn they last for many years and are machine washable. 

Yo can find the original pattern at  http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2008/11/22/my-basic-potholder-pattern/

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Mountain Springtime

Despite almost daily rain for a good part of the spring the temperatures are finally warming up. The small azaleas along my front walk are starting to bloom. I find it funny that there is a hedge row maybe 20 feet long and the azaleas planted there are obviously not all the same variety and they will obviously bloom at different times.  So far only the white ones are blooming. I want to plant more azaleas around the yard and they should do wonderful under all these oak and hickory trees.

We mowed our grass for the first time and it took a whole hour and a half front and back. Sure beat the 8 plus hours at the old place. The trees are just starting to leaf out. The lawn has lots of places where there is no grass and we will eventually have to over seed some areas with a shade tolerant grass of some sort.

As with any new place it is interesting to see what is going to pop up. We have 3 patches of iris so far. Don't know what color yet.

And these should be daylillies.

So far this is the only bush I am unable to identify. Does it look familiar to anyone? There is one by the front door also. They are overgrown and will require some pruning to get them back into a manageable size. Beside this one is holly and some more iris. This is on the North side of the house and behind the privacy fence so there is lots of shade.

As the days go by and we work on the place we learn more about the plants that are here. There seems to be a zillion little chores that need to be done outside and we sneak out and work in the yard when we can between these spring rain showers. I think once we get things pruned and some mulch put down to prevent those weeds that will not only make the place look tidier but also help cut down on maintenance. It all just takes time.

Hoping you all have a wonderful spring.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

Everything Old Is New Again!

While the temperatures are warming up here in Tennessee the rain is unrelenting. The area that we have moved to gets over 5 FEET of rainfall a year.  Here on the top of this mountain rain is almost daily right now. Not the pouring rain and spring storms that you see in spring in Missouri. Here it is mostly the slow and soaking drizzle for hours on end and sometimes all day long. O Wise One and I have decided that the good people of  this part of  Tennessee should have webbed feet. But we have to hope that this rain continues once we get our garden planted. 

In the meantime O Wise One and I have rehung our old door. Over a century old this door has cranberry glass  and is truly exquisite. It has hung in my homes for the past 20 years or so and has made the trip to Tennessee beautifully. Not wanting to put it on an exterior doorway because of the cranberry glass we have decided to hang it on the bathroom doorway and I will sew a curtain to go over the glass on the inside of the room for privacy. O Wise One ripped down that perfectly good and shiny new vinyl clad piece of junk from Lowe's that came on the house and put up our century old bunged up door that I originally purchased out of a farmers shed for a whole 12 pack of beer over 2 decades ago. 

Right now O Wise One is making wide door frames and base blocks and a beautiful molding cap to go on top of the door frame to more closely match the period of the door.

Our mirror over the bathroom vanity is a century old solid tiger oak mirror off an old dresser long discarded. And beside it sconces with pull chains. Anyone else remember those. We will add wide base molding and a crown molding up top to finish this room off.

Lots of bars for safety in the bathroom as we strive to prepare this house to grow old in.

And trying to tuck additional storage in every nook and cranny that we can. In the small homes that is so important to be able to have a place for everything. Trying to stain and sand cabinets inside is a real pain though.

So even though it rains almost daily right now we still have lots do inside to keep us busy. For two people so used to planting it is hard to wait. O Wise One has 6 raised beds started but we have not planted anything yet. We wait and observe what the climate will do and try to figure out a strategy in this almost temperate rain forest environment. So different from our prairie gardens of old. It will take lots of composting and soil building over many years to compensate for the shallow soil that this mountainous area is known for. O Wise One has already found a local rabbit grower and started collecting bags of rabbit poop for soil amendments and our first order of business was three large wire composting rings for leaves. As we start to see seed potatoes and onion sets in the stores we wonder if we won't be skipping the early spring planting season while we prepare beds for later spring and summer crops. Right now we watch the locals and study the environment and plan how and where we will plant what as we make plans for our future crops. Luckily our freezer is still full and our pantry has lots of jars left to carry us over until that first harvest.

Until next time....

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Spring Salutations

Well here I am back sharing with you all. At this time I am going to unveil the new view from my front door here in Tennessee at the new Hickery Holler here on the Cumberland Plateau. And just in time to wish you all a blessed Easter. It has been an eventful winter with a February ice storm that was unusual for this area and quite exciting. We sustained little damage other than a jump on next winters wood supply for the fireplace and lots of cleanup in the yard. We did however lose electric service for about a day and a half but with plenty of quilts and a fireplace we managed quite well. Many of our neighbors were not so lucky.

We have settled in nicely and I have my corner of our little cottage living room staked out. Right next to the fireplace and near a window for plenty of light.

I have used these winter months to teach myself to knit. You are never too old to learn new skills and I can crochet but never learned to knit. The Internet is such a useful tool when used constructively.

O Wise One has staked out the opposite side of the fireplace for his own space and has settled in nicely as well.

I have planted my first flowers at the new house but look forward to many more in the years to come. Nothing says Spring like a pot of pansies. Pinterest projects have also kept me busy this winter as you can see by the milk can. (I deliberately hid  the address)

And my new Easter wreath to welcome guests.

But with the warmer temperatures of early spring the daffodils are blooming and the neighbors trees as well. So in true Hickery Holler fashion O Wise One has begun construction of our first three raised beds. We will also be experimenting with some hugelkultur beds and straw bale gardening also. We have constructed three temporary compost piles for all the fall leaves. This area is notorious for shallow top soil so we will have to get creative with our gardening but think that we can rise to the occasion. 

O Wise One and I  take the time regularly to ride through the mountain back roads and have found the beauty of the area to be breathtaking. The people warm, welcoming and proud of their rich history. 

So as we take time to celebrate our faith we hope that you all have a safe and happy Easter.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter