Spring At Last

If there was ever a time we needed spring it is this year. We just needed that promise that the plants are still growing and the birds are still singing and there is still hope. When your life revolves so much with nature a simple bloom means so much.

Blessings from The Holler

Canned Quilter

Mid August In The Holler

The weeks go by quickly and another Autumn is here already. We are starting to see the first leaves turn and fall. School is starting and the canning is slowing down somewhat.

The grapes were loaded this year and the grape juice is tucked safely in the pantry now. We shared some with the neighbors as well. 

The peppers are loaded and it will be time to deal with those soon. 

The plums harvest was beyond our expectations to make up for no peaches or blackberries. 

The apples continue to ripen on the trees. 

Right now the lilies are blooming 

The Naked Ladies lilies are thick this year and I think will have to be thinned again. 

The gardens are winding down quickly now and we have planted very few fall crops. With both freezers full and canning jars running scarce we are not planting fall crops other than a few greens and such to eat fresh.  I have about 2 dozen empty canning jars left and refuse to buy any more. I think that the thousand or so that are already full will have to be enough. The pantry is full with no more shelf space left. I want to add some apple pie filling to the jars that are left and some pickle relish. I will freeze the peppers  and we are thinking to call it a year and get our seed saved for next year. 

I hope that all of you have has a productive fall as well and we look forward to a winters rest. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Farm Goings On

Well here is another week at the Holler. Spring has definitely arrived but the temperatures are  cool for spring temperatures this week. We have started opening the house every day and the laundry is again on the clothes line. The trees are budding out as well. Our young chestnut trees are blooming out by the clothes line for the first time. We are wondering if we might have chestnuts this year for the first time. We started those trees from seeds and it seems like just yesterday we were setting them out. 

We continue to work trimming rose bushes and shrubs to get rid of the winter kill and weeding flower beds and such. Mowing is a regular chore right now with all the rain we have been getting. 

The tulips are starting to get beat up from the rain and I will be cutting the blooms off soon and adding to the compost bins. 

Remember my huge "Knock Out Roses" that are so pretty every year. I almost lost them this winter. By the time we cut off all the winter killed wood there isn't much left. I am hoping they come out of it. 

With the return of the blossoms on the columbine the hummingbirds have returned as well. I saw my first one yesterday. once the columbine blossoms go away then they feed on the blossoms on the trumpet vines on the clothes line poles all summer. 

The Bridal Wreath or Spirea is beautiful this year but I did lose one of my larger bushes to the winter cold weather as well. 

The tulip Tree is in full bloom too. 

That last late frost came just in time to nip most of the peach blossoms so there won't be any peaches this year to speak of. The apple trees on the other hand are loaded and there will be plenty apples to make up for those lost peaches. 

I on the other hand have been busy with freezing mushrooms and O Wise One has two catfish cleaned and filleted in the refrigerator waiting for me to freeze those up as well. 

The Asparagus is rolling in on almost a daily basis and since I still have plenty in the freezer I have been canning it every two days. 

The tomato plants are still on the porch waiting for their turn to be planted in the garden. I am holding off hoping the weather stabilizes just a bit more. I like to plant my tomatoes the last of May or the first of June. Rarely before that and it always works for me.

The brassicas on the other hand will go into the garden here very shortly. We have potatoes and onions  up as well as peas. The strawberries are blooming and I cleaned out the raspberries last week. A huge thank you to Katzcradul for my start of those last year and they are filling in nicely. Last week we planted corn, green beans and field peas. As soon as it dries up a bit I will try to get out there and get some pictures for everyone. My rhubarb is growing nicely and it won't be long before we are eating Grandma Edna's rhubarb cake. O Wise One picked out pecans all winter to go in those. 

I have 12 laying hens and 4 are broody and setting on nests. I still have jars of chicken in my pantry from last year. I may be putting chicks on Craigslist like my turkeys. 

And speaking of turkeys both my first and second hatch of turkeys are gone. Both hatches sold out within 48 hours on Craigslist and I am now running a waiting list of people to call when the next 3 hatches are ready. I will save a few for myself but we still have turkey in the freezer and jars even from last year. So this year we will put up less turkey and chicken for ourselves. Now that it is just the three of us we just are not eating as much as we once did when we had more kids at home. Time to cut back more. 

So we start another year here in Hickery Holler. Thankful every day that we survived a long and brutally cold winter. Thankful that we continue to be healthy enough to produce as much as we do of our own food. Thankful for the land that provides nourishment for our bodies and our faith that provides nourishment for our souls. And yes even thankful for these aching muscles and looking forward to our bodies again becoming accustomed to the hard daily garden work. And thankful for all of you that visit so often to read the ramblings of this old man and woman. May we all have another great gardening year and fill those pantries and larders. May the grass stay short and the corn grow tall : ) 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Weekly Tally And Farm Update

It is indeed that time of year again. I am starting to see everyone putting out Halloween and Autumn decorations. And of course the stores already have Christmas stuff out. That just makes me so mad!  

The Apples are crisp and plentiful as are the critters wanting to eat them. They are predicting rain this weekend and O Wise One has been working on cleaning out the garden of all the finished crops. Next thing you know we will be picking up pecans and walnuts. With rain and wind in the forecast we will really have to watch the apple trees that hang heavy with fruit right now. In high winds it would be easy for them to break. O Wise One has cut some sticks and braced them up already and even though we thinned them, looking back I think we could have removed a few more. Next week apples are definitely on the canning to do list! 

The dirt roads are full of hunters these days looking for deer movements and those big bucks. Season opens in November. 

O Wise One made breakfast sausage with the rabbit trimmings from the rabbits he butchered and some ground pork. 

This will go great with those farm eggs, buttered grits and some buttermilk biscuits.

He also smoked some pork for seasoning meat. This was cut into small chunks and frozen in bags. 

This I use in those cream of potato soups and pots of beans.  The pork he purchased at a sale in town this week. 

This Weeks Tally 

11 bags frozen  pork seasoning meat
5 bags frozen rabbit/pork breakfast sausage
10 bags frozen stuffed peppers
9 pints canned sauerkraut
2 gallon bags dehydrated tomatoes

We continue to have a bowl of watermelon every night with our evening television shows. We will miss the watermelon when they are gone. The cucumbers are just about finished also. 

Still to be canned apples, potatoes, peppers and onions. 

We have started adding jars to the right side of the pantry in among the pots and such. I think we will work on reorganizing and making room for more jars this weekend. 

The left side is completely full,  all 7 16 foot shelves are full. 

As O Wise One pulls up the plants he brings in the seeds that are left on the bushes. I spent some time shelling another tray of both Jade beans and French Horticulture Bean seeds. He took a couple boxes of tomatoes to the lady that runs the small grocery in town. She works 6 days a week daylight to dark running the store and has very little time to garden so he thought to share some with her so she can put them up. She was very happy to receive them. He also has been sharing watermelons with everyone because we had so many. The lady that runs the variety store called me and was amazed at the size of hers : ) Credited it to that rabbit poop. 

The dining table has accumulated quite the collection of seeds all drying naturally under the ceiling fan. Above are dill seed, cantaloupe seed Healey's Pride, tomato Brandywine, tomato Yellow Pear, tomato Oxheart Paste, tomato Unnamed Determinate Paste, watermelon, and pepper California Wonder. 

One last note of business I would like questions for my Question and Answer post next week if anyone would like to contribute one. 

Well that is another week here in Hickery Holler. Hoping each of you have a safe and blessed weekend and as usual I will see you on Monday, if the good Lord is willin and the creek don't rise. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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