Chamomile is just starting to bloom in my small herb garden. Chamomile is a common bushy garden herb with small daisy type flowers and with a fragrance similar to apples. It is a very easy to grow plant and needs full direct sun and average soil conditions. Chamomile will...
Read moreI make a lot of homemade Greek yogurt. And I don’t know if you know it or not but Greek yogurt is simply regular yogurt which has been drained with cheese cloth to make it thicker. In fact if you drain yogurt overnight you’ll end up with yogurt cheese...
Read moreThe other day a very polite and professional crew from DAS set the explosive charges for 3-D seismic testing on my farm. Wires, cables and geophones still have to be placed. I expect blasting will commence shortly. Blasting will not be done too close to my house, well or...
Read moreWhen I awoke yesterday it promised to be a beautiful sunny day. Not much rain in the forecast. The sky was blue and the birds were singing. We had experienced a light frost the night before and I was waiting for the grass to dry so I could mow...
Read more“Always name a good dog after a bad man.” - Vance Randolph Such sad eyes. “Calhoun” is my husband’s new mountain cur puppy and he is the most laid back pup I think I’ve ever seen. His split face is unusual and the one white and one brindle ears are...
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Every year I “put to store” about a year’s worth of food and supplies for my family. I begin in June when serious gardening commences and try to be finished by the end of October. My tool for planning a year’s worth of food and household supplies is a detailed and complete household inventory. For over 25 years I’ve done a yearly household inventory...
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I went to collect eggs yesterday and found a dwarf egg sitting in the nest boxes along with the regular size eggs. I thought to throw it over the house but instead decided to tempt Fate and brought it indoors so I could take a picture of it to share with you. Tiny or miniature size eggs in standard size hens are the natural...
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Sometimes hard seeds need a little help. Did you know that if you soak hard coated flower seeds – like Morning Glories, Sweet Peas, Four O’Clocks or Moon Flowers- in water for 24 hours before you plant them that they will germinate easier? It’s true. Some people will add a little milk or vinegar to the water because the acid helps to break down...
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It’s important to feed fruit trees every year and to feed them only once a year. Fruit trees should never be over fertilized. The best time for feeding trees is when they are at “silver tip”. Silver tip is when the buds are swollen and look silver. But this year we’re late in feeding our fruit trees and just got to it yesterday. We...
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I never met a spinach pie that I didn’t like. And with the usually cool spring we’re having here in the US this year, we may be looking at a bonanza spinach crop in home gardens all across America. Spinach pies are one of my favorite ways to use fresh spinach. There are a lot of different recipe variations and I’m still perfecting my...
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In spite of all the moving/not moving craziness, I managed to sow a small plot of flax for cloth . The variety that I planted this year is called “Marylin”. From first sowing the seed to harvest is about 100 days. I used a garden spreader to sow the flax seed instead of just broadcasting the seed like I have done in the past....
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Every September I look forward to cook stove season. I love those first early morning kitchen fires. The snapping and popping of dried and seasoned wood before dawn signals the end of summer, and the promise of bacon, eggs and biscuits prepared on a cook stove on a chilly fall morning is a breakfast worth getting up for. But what I really love more...
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I never met a spinach pie that I didn’t like. And with the usually cool spring we’re having here in the US this year, we may be looking at a bonanza spinach crop in home gardens all across America. Spinach pies are one of my favorite ways to use fresh spinach. There are a...
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I bake bread about once every three weeks or so and I thought you might like to see the recipe that I use. It’s an older recipe that I’ve modified a little and lends itself to different flour alterations and combinations. I like this recipe because it makes 6 good size loaves and keeps...
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For people who keep backyard chickens or ducks, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing – especially in the spring. That’s because this is the time of the year when small poultry flock owners are positively polluted with extra eggs. But it’s a good problem to have. Early spring brings with...
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I know spring seems like it’s far away. But before you know it people who keep backyard chickens will be swimming in eggs again. One way to use up an abundance of eggs and to store the nutrition of eggs for long-term storage is by making egg noodles. Egg noodles are simply flour, water,...
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I grow and freeze lots of broccoli every year for winter use because I’m a big believer in storing a year’s worth of food. I’m also a believer in eating what you store, and making due with what’s in the cupboard, freezer, root cellar and pantry. One of my favorite uses for frozen broccoli...
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Happy Ground Hog Day! Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is good eating. And the Pennsylvania Dutch are known for their ability to “make do” and combine ordinary foods in special ways. One of the better-known dishes inside and outside of Pennsylvania Dutch Country is Pebble Dash or Shoo-Fly Pie. Shoo-Fly pie is a very old folk...
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Chicken and Dumplings is versatile and I never make it the same way twice. When Chicken and Dumplings are on the menu it is an opportunity to use up any fresh vegetables in the refrigerator that are past their prime. I have used fresh, frozen or canned chicken with good results. And I’ve used...
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Green beans and yellow wax beans are a favorite vegetable for many people. They are easy to grow and easy to can or freeze. Selecting Green Beans Always try to obtain the freshest and most tender green beans possible. Reject beans that are over mature, hollow, tough, limp or floppy. It takes approximately 1...
Last week I had a canning jar break in my pressure canner while I was canning chicken with the bone in. I very seldom get jar breakage so I was surprised. Sometimes you can hear a jar break in the canner during processing and sometimes you can’t. Often when you’re not expecting it, a...
Home canning fresh mushrooms is easy. Like all low acid vegetables (mushrooms are actually fungi) mushrooms must be canned with a pressure canner. Mushrooms are usually packed in ½ pint or full pint jars. It takes approximately ½ pound (8 oz.) of fresh mushrooms to fill a ½ pint jar. When selecting mushrooms for...
Pumpkin butter made from fresh pumpkins is delicious. It doesn’t taste the same, nor does it have the bland texture that pumpkin butter made from commercial packed pumpkin has. It’s extra effort to cook and prepare the fresh pumpkin instead of just opening a can, but I think that the finished product is more...
Of all the old-time methods of preserving fresh eggs the “water glass” method gives the best and most dependable results.
Treadle sewing machines are built to last almost forever and are actually very simple devices and lend themselves to easy home repair, service and maintenance.
