Cabin in the Woods

Plant Camp Monday's

2011-02-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

Everyday gets closer to spring and I think most of us are good and ready and I love snow. We can get lots more so at least I can blog spring.

This pic is from over at our other homestead that the kids are running, its a Forsythia bush that I took a root cutting from the main bush over at my folks homestead. I planted a couple of twigs over here at the new homestead and it won't be to long they will be filled out, I love em.

The best part is these plants are an extension of a plant that we got from my grandmothers home that she had for years and may have gotten from her mother. So we have five generation, counting my grandkiddies when they have their own places someday, maybe six generations if I count my great grandmother. Starts from this plant will be passed on for a very long time.

Now I love yellow and spring brings on that color very nicely. I like to take cut stems from the bush this month, put in warm water and force them to bloom early. Makes a beautiful bouquet for your table inside.

Being out in the country I let ours go crazy and not worry about trimming but in town/city ppl will take good care to shape and make a nice border.

Heres a bit about this old fashion bush Forsythia , also called Golden Bell

http://www.gardenersnet.com/tree/forsythia.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=forsythia&hl=en&rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&prmd=ivns&source=univ&tbs=shop:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=8qxrTY3ZM4aBlAeZ-oH_AQ&ved=0CE0QrQQ

Do you have any forsythia growing in your area? How about any plants that have been passed on.

Garden update:

I have little seedlings, in less then a week , normally they take a couple of weeks but I would keep the bigger homestead a bit cooler so with a much smaller area and much warmer they couldn't but pop up sooner.

Heres another tip to protect from damping off of those precious seedlings. Sprinkle some cinnamon on the soil, cinnamon has antibacterial qualities and its said to help. I use and have not had any problems,

Also you'll want to have a little air movement for your plants as they grow, A small fan will help, adjust so they don;t get hurricane winds but jsut enough to sway them a bit. It help circulate and could be another help from damping off. Damping off is when your so excited seeing the little guys and then you have another look and they are chopped down , not a good thing.

Weather:

We had a nice hail storm earlier with heavy rain, thunder too. We have a metal roof on the vintage cabin so it was loud .

Well folks have a great week and always a big thank you for stopping by.

Don't forget to head on over to the Homestead Barn Hop, looks like another good one

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/02/barn-hop-2.html

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2011-02-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

Got something new to share you might like to join or just visit some great blogs.

Homestead Revival http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/ is hosting a "Homestead Barn Hop". Looks like lots of fun and new bloggers to meet and share of their homestead and happenings.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/02/barn-hop-1.html

So head on over to the Barn Hop!

We had such beautiful weather last week , the break sure helped but we are backed to cold. Oh well it won't be long we'll be in those gardens before to long.

I started some seeds yesterday, tomatoes that I have saved for many years and a couple of new types of heirloom tomatoes , I love heirloom tomatoes.

I have nice sunny windows and I set the little green house in the our vintage cabin. With the sun warming it up in the daytime and our wood heat those seeds will come up in no time.

I used some really old tray's that I washed up from many uses. Most I have to double up to make sturdy b/c of cracks on the side.

On the tomatoes I just made little rows and planted seeds, when its time and its true leaves are

on the little babies "cotyledon leaves" will be transplanted in bigger pots, I even use styrofoam cups for transplanting. I'll be growing 300 to 500 tomato plants so I need everything for pots and keep the cost down too.

I love to recycle things and one thing I like to save are toilet paper rolls and paper rolls. I use them for a couple of things. For fire starters, I add dryer lint, wood chips, even cracked nut shells, load them up and add old melted down candle wax from the almost spent candles. Perfect to get those fires started.

But for the garden seeds i cut those rolls in half, four times for paper rolls , place in seed trays and add seed starter and plant the seeds. Makes perfect little seed starters.

I did them last year and they worked very well. Saved from buying all those little pots. I planted sweet peppers and some sweet basil in the toilet paper rolls.

Heres a list of saved tomato seeds

Tomatoes:

Rutgers

Mr. Stripey

Cherokee Purple

Stupice

Pea Tomato, I got this one from Powell Gardens, I asked for a couple to give it a try. I forgot the name but its sooooo tiny.

New Heirlooms

Beefsteak

Big Rainbow

San Marzano

Peppers:

Californa Wonders, sweet

Jalapeno, hot

I can't wait tell I get my seeds from White Harvest, I'm so excited about the garden season.

The weather was warm in the low 70* so a nice BBQ was in store. I cooked BBQ ribs out on the grill and made potato salad, found some green onions to add to the salad. They were growing in the garden after all that 20" of snow we got. Oh come on spring : )

Also I put the cut ends, root part of the little onions back in the garden and they should grow back, I'll have to see and check back later on this. I best get them marked today or I'll think they are the other onions growing.

Hope your growing your own seeds this season, you don't need a greenhouse, just a nice sunny window. I have grown thousands of plants this way. My folks have even used an old van to grow tomato plants when I was a kid, it worked!

Thank you for the visit, be sure and check out the Homestead Barn Hop and better yet join in the fun.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2011-02-13T15:43:00.001-08:00

A beautiful weekend , so nice and warm even with snow still on the ground. Hubby wanted to have a snow ball fight so I had to obliged him, these things help with cabin fever and spring fever too. You ever see two ol folks in a snowball fight? Its rather funny esp when we couldn't even hit each other, we were more catching each others snowballs instead of blasting each other.

Heres a pic of garden still with snow, those are my rustic poles made into tepees for the pole beans

Well each day gets closer to spring and next month I'll be putting out the potatoes, maybe get some peas out too and other cold crops. I'm still working on raised beds and this will help me get into the garden sooner. Last year the new gardens here in the woods we had a late start with the gardens and oh how the rains came. If it wasn't for the raised beds there would have been no harvest. The paths were flooded but the beds stayed nice and dry and growing.

I added some more seed to my list from the seed company I'll be getting all my seed from this year. White Harvest Seed http://whiteharvestseed.com/

I mention them last week and hope you went over for a visit, a pretty site isn't it? I love it. So heres what I will send this week and more great seeds to order from them. Head over and see the seeds and all the info on the different types of seeds.

Tomato:
Aunt Ruby GermanBeefsteak
Blonkophch (little blond girl)
Federle
German Pink
Green Zebra
Hungarian Heart
Kellogg's Breakfast
Old German
Powers Heirloom
Red cherry-large
Roma
Rutgers

Beans:
Contender Bean
Empress
Henderson's Bush Lima
Calypso
Kentucky Wonder Pole
Rattlesnake Pole
Top Crop

Cucumber:
Boston Pickling
Market 76
National Pickling

Peppers: hot and mild
Anaheim Chili
Bulgarian Carrot Pepper
Cayenne Long thin, my favorite
Golden Cal Wonder
Purple Beauty
Serrano
California Wonder
Early Jalapeno

Okra:
Clemson Spineless
Long Pod Green
Red Burgundy

Don't you love the name of some of these seed/plants. I also ordered the book Perfect Pumpkins, I so would like to get another pumpkin patch growing again and I'm sure it will have lots of tips that will help me with a good patch.

Well I can't wait to start planting those seeds.

Old Camp news,

A few Plant Camps back I shared about a poinsettia I have had for two season now. It lasted the past two Christmases so I planted it last spring in the garden and brought it in before frost last fall. It grew slowly and around this last Christmas I seen a little red. Well here it is, not a perfect show but its growing and sense its St Valentines Day today I thought we needed a little red. So A Happy Valentines day to ya and if you still got a poinsettia still growing and its leaves are still hanging on, plant it in your garden, it will add some pretty green foliage , just remember to bring in this fall.

Heres a link to the poinsettia , experiment. http://compostpyle.blogspot.com/2010/07/plant-camp-mondays_18.html

Also if you missed any of the Plant Camp or need references ,check out on the right hand column on my blog on past Plant Camps, there's a list of plants featured in the camp also a button code to Plant Camp to copy if you like to add to your blog pages so you won't miss camp.

Have a beautiful week and thank you for dropping by.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2011-02-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

Time to get the Plant Camp started up again even with 20 inches of snow on the ground and more to come this week. Oh well!

But there's lots we can do inside and get those gardens planned and those seeds ordered. So lets get down to the most important part, seeds and good seeds. If your a gardener you probably been going through the many seed catalogs and how exciting they are and we want them all, well I do : )

This year I'm getting my heirloom seeds from a new company, White Harvest Seed

http://whiteharvestseed.com/

Its got a good story how I got to know this company. I got an E-m from the company asking if they could use a picture of a plant I had taken from my garden a few years ago. I was so honored to be asked and of course I said yes. They were putting out this beautiful website of just what I like, heirloom seeds.

They have it all, a large variety of seeds,bookstore. They can help you with your garden set up, a beautiful blog and a featured gardener each month and much more. You go through all the seeds and add them to your wish list, I got quite a list already made and ready to order.

I had to join, and to my surprise when you speak of a small world , well it certainly is. I found out that I knew the owners grandparents from many years ago. They owned an apple orchard and I knew I would be doing business with a very good family. I was so happy to find this all out.

If not all that being a wonderful company to order from I was asked and honored to be this months feature gardener, http://whiteharvestseed.com/special-programs/featured-gardener.html. WOW , They made simple ol me look pretty darn good except for that goofy picture of me , but unfortunately its my best :/

Check out other featured gardeners, very inspiring. Also if your featured you get a certificate for seeds. So if you or know someone is a gardener let them know.

I have White Harvest Seed Company button on the left hand side of my blog page, so go and really enjoy a good company and check out their blog, well worth it.

Heres just a small list of the heirloom tomato seeds I have in the wish list that I'll be ordering, oh theres so many seeds they have listed.

Powers Heirloom
TomatoRed Cherry - Large
Rutgers
Blondkopfchen (Little Blonde Girl), My little granddaughters will like this one
Beefsteak
Roma
Hungarian Heart
Federle
Aunt Ruby's German Green Tomato.

Along with the heirloom seeds I saved from last year , it doesn't look like i'm going to scale down on my tomatoes, no way!

I'll share next Plant Camp of the other goodies I have in my wish list from White Harvest Seed, I highly recommend for your choice of heirloom seeds. Check em out.

So get those seeds and get ready for gardening, its going to be a good year : )

Happy Gardening and thank you for stopping by.

tc linda

Quinzee/snowhut part 2

2011-01-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

Well I made it, didn't sleep in it though. The warmth of the cabin woodstove kept me in but I did go out at night and took a pic of the glow from the candle. It felt like I was in the North Pole.

I had to take several breaks letting the snow set for the final dig. I got in it and thought this is great, what a good place to camp out in the elements. But still concerned about the top coming down. So I didn't sleep in it. I needed to see what this dome does before I go into la la land. Besides sleeping in the cabin I dreamt about fly fishing and I doubt I would have such a good dream or even sleep in the snow hut

Here I am sitting in the cave , a bit cold and thinking I'll need to make the opening smaller. Or maybe running inside to the wood stove.

Notice the roof next to my nog'n, I didn't duck low enough coming in and gave myself a brain freeze on the outside of my forehead , so I bundled up good.

Now I couldn't wait tell the grandkiddies came over to check this cool playhouse out and sure enough they came over yesterday. I wanted to get all five of them in there but as they were heading in they were coming out of the thing fast. They said there was no room. What no room!, yeah I knew it was not big enough for hand ball but I knew there was plenty of room for all of them. So I checked

Oh no the roof had dropped to the size of a uncomfortable size , I could no longer sit in it. Oh I could have rolled up in a ball and slept but no this was not good.

My DD , mother of five crawled in and she thought it was great, maybe thinking a little break form all the kids, not sure.

My little 7 yr old granddaughter liked it to, the others headed to the cabin fast so didn't get there pic's quick enough .

So all and all I could have done the same thing digging out a snow drift. My next one will be done so different, and I will recruit others to help build a big one. I may add some water spray to make it more solid. And if I sleep over night in one I will make sure my hubby is standing guard outside to dig me out just in case.

I only wish I made these when I was a kid and even with my own kids. My mind didn't go further then a snow fort that was open and toss snow balls. This would have been a hoot to make with all the kid energy I use to have. We would have made a warehouse size Quinzee. Big enough for a handball game maybe even tennis.

Thanks all for following along my winter fun. I learn some things to do a better job next time. I also didn't freeze to death and thats always a good thing. Good news cabin fever is over with : )

tc linda

Fighting Cabin Fever

2011-01-21T07:34:00.001-08:00

More wonderful snow and I haven't been to the store since last month. It's ok cuz I don't care to shop and like being in the woods but I still get cabin fever. I want to do so much and I just stay close to the wood burner and think. I do a little in my workshop and theres much to do in there, do a little knitting, little reading and planning the seeds but still its really about getting out in the snow. Not just bringing in firewood all day but getting out and playing in the snow. So I did it.

I'm working on a snow shelter called a Quinzee . I first learned about them from a true outdoors nature writer and adventurer . She has a wonderful site that is full of interesting outdoor experiences. You can kick the winter blues reading her pages. Very inspiring lady and ready to help those that would like to get into writing as well.

If you like to walk the woods and forage she has much to share! Bird watchers ,theres some cool videos that she has taken. Also an encounter with a bear. Check her site out, a very gifted lady. http://www.writerbynature.com/

So with 7" of new snow and more to come this weekend I had all the right stuff to make the shelter. I layered up on clothing and while piling up snow I had to shed them quick. I got a few pic of my progress and later today I will be hollowing the Quinzee out.

I went away from the cabin , didn't want to make a mess in the front yard. I like snow with no human footprints. I building the dome next to the creek out back.

This pic is the start, I used a old broken lawn mower and a cooler for my filler. These will be pulled out as I hollow out the shelter. Makes for less digging. If out in the woods and you needed to do this , using your backpacks would be good and just pull them out at the door opening.

Next is just start piling snow on it. Hubby took the snow shovel so I used a milk crate. Worked great until I got that shovel when he got home from work, Wow I wish I had the shovel in the first place.

The temp was in the lower teens and I would take breaks and come in for some coffee. This is such a different kind of workout and I was huffing and puffing. Here the pile is about 3 ft high

I got it to almost 5 ft and letting it set, this setting is needed and called “sintering” the snow crystals adhere to one another and help in bonding the structure together.

This pic is hard to see , the sun was setting so called it a night.

So today I'll be out and work on my project. Will I sleep in it? Oh I just don't know but I will sit in it and have some cocoa, maybe light up the Sterno and cook some soup. See how really warm it will get. Now providing it does not collapse, well see.

I'll need to put foot long sticks in it from the outside , these will be guiding sticks as I dig inside the dome. When I hit or see the end of the stick it means to stop, that way the walls will keep an even 12 inches thick. Oh I got a lot to do, cabin fever over

I'll get back later with pic of success or failure. See ya

Thanks again for stopping by. I was hoping to get seeds ordered and a list of them as will. I will do that after this project this weekend.

Plant Camp, will be coming up to and I'll share about how that two year long Poinsettia fared.

tc linda

Enjoying A Winter Birthday

2011-01-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

Today is by hubbies birthday. We don't go all out on birthdays on us ol folks , we like the laid back time on a snowy cold day at home. I do like to say things like "what do you think it is, Your Birthday" when we need to get a load of wood inside for the stove. But the ol timer appears to be sleeping and it looks like I'll need to bring in the wood. I'll make it noisy though : ).

I have been cabin bound for a time and stay out of the stores for over a month after Christmas. I don't think of birthday cakes for January in Dec. My bad, so I made hubby some pancakes, no candles so I cooked up some link sausages , a stack of pancakes with a link sausage on top, well it work, food always does.

Making some bread, grill some Cornish hens outside and peach cobbler for later tonight, along with a good movie. Hey I think it will work,lol.

Our plans for a 3 mile hike almost happen but we lazied out, but the day isn't over yet and there's that wood workout to bring in, helps with that pancake I had.

The grandkiddies called with a birthday song and that's always a wonderful gift. Our oldest granddaughter's birthday is tomorrow, she'll be nine and what a wonderful birthday gift she was for hubby just a few years ago and such a joy everyday sense, along with all our grandkiddies. An overflow of Blessings for sure.

So whats been up with me, CABIN FEVER, yep even happens when you love not going anywhere and being snow bound, happens to the best of us. I really think its more anxious to get my garden seeds going. I need to get over at the other homestead and get my coffee can containers, get lots of potting soil and get rock'n on Winter Sowing http://www.wintersown.org/ Check this site out, great way to help with garden fever early.

Later this week I'll have a list of my seeds that I'll have ordered, get the little green house ready, work up some newspaper pots and kick this cabin fever to the curb or in our case the roadside ditch.

Getting back into knitting, not much just those easy and fast dishcloths, making coasters too.

I need to get the yarn store b/c I want to make socks again. Actually knitting is a great way to past the winter time, its peaceful and rewarding plus keeps your hands out of the snack bowl, well sorta. Yes I would like to lose a few pounds, so off colas and lots of fattening stuff. I gotta cuz I need to fit in that kayak and not sink it : (.

Still lots of snow on the ground so here's some pic's around here.

Our driveway

This Christmas popcorn canister is full of bird seed, time to knock that snow off

The ol willow chair is topped with snow too

Along with the rockers , won't be long I'll be rock'n with ice tea and a good book, but not today!

Looks like will have snow for some time with more added later this week, continued snow bound but all is well with the thoughts of spring on down the road.

Oh the birthday boy is snoring away , time to bring in that wood, I'll try and be quiet, not!

Take good care and so glad you dropped by.

tc linda

Kayak Ice Fishing

2011-01-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

Well I guess for some ol gals sis and I are pretty tough. Well sort of. On Dec 30, 2010 we took our kayaks out on our last fishing trip of the year. It was a beautiful day, warm even, so we thought we would not have any problems with the lake being iced up. Wrong O.

When we got to the lake we just stared and wonder if kayak sledding was in store instead : )

Looks like someone else must of wanted to go fishing to cuz they tossed in a few big rocks to see how thick that ice was, and also tossed in their cigarette butts (bottom of pic) gave up and went home. But we stayed , oh are we tough gals, our Mom calls it nutting ol women :/

Over at the launching area it was iced over but along the edge there was an opening, yeah!

So loaded up and ready to go

Most the ice I had to break with my paddle, even tossed in my anchor and draw it back in, some ice I was able to paddle through. Go nutty women , i'm mov'n now!

As the morning grew warmer the lake would open more areas to fish in so we got a good spot to throw in our lines. Notice the line of ice, this is where sis caught an ice fish, yep she reeled in her line and a chuck of ice shape like a fish was on her hook . I should have took a pic , it was a catch and release.

We didn't use live bait but I used a Christmas gift from sis, this little rubber fish lure is almost to cute to fish with but I gave it a shot, no bites

In fact no fish or bites at all, but I got to do some ice fishing. After all these years of talking about breaking ice and fishing I did it ;).

Toward the end of trip we were able to be out in the middle of the lake and the wind was up, there was even white caps and getting colder. We had a good work out getting back to shore paddling against the wind but we made it.

We got back to shore loaded up our yaks and ate cheese and Ritz's crackers in the heated truck. Did I say we were tough :/.

I stored my kayak for the winter and quite satisfied with watching kayak fishing on Dish Network and waiting for the nice spring days that fishing will begin for us again. Unless we get a wild hair to give it another try but I think we are good to go and will wait. The thing is I/we did it.

I like to make this New Year a year of doing things I talk about doing, take on those challenges that I set up for myself. Oh they may be little simple challenges in the big picture of things but if it gets me out and about I think it will be good for body and soul. Have you heard the saying "Move least ye rust". Well winter can do that to ya, its hard to get out in that cold, easy to stay by the fire and drink hot cocoa, watch a movie or play on the computer.

So I'm looking out the window as the snow is falling in the woods and thinking about snow camping, well I make that debris hut that I tried a couple of years ago and really sleep in it, maybe make a igloo quinzee, snow shelter and spend the night in it. Well the snow be deep enough, will I give it another shot! Well I cook again in the snow using the Dutch Ovens and make some camp coffee. Go for a hike and check out tracks in the snow.

These are things I like/want to do but right now I'm warm , I can see far into the woods and watch for wildlife, they can't see or smell me and may come up close to the cabin. The birds are gathering from plants in the woods and from plants in my garden. When the snow quits I'll toss out the bird seed and fill up the bird feeders. I only think of going out in the snow for now.

When I bundled up I'll take some pictures of our snow in the woods. The next few months will be a black and white look for awhile outside , maybe a glow of a firepit for a splash of color. A fuzzy red squirrel running up a tree. The brown colors of split wood and the green wagon I pull the wood in. Many arm loads a day into the cabin for wonderful heat.

The color inside the cabin are many with warm throws, the fire going, the looks of hot veggie soup and homemade bread and soft yellow butter. Drinking a cup of amber color hot tea over a spread of colorful seed catalogs and hopes of spring someday with all the beauty it brings and gardening.

I love these days where I can reflect, pray , hope , grow and most important love.

The snow is still falling and there's more wood to bring in. But before I head out, theres a seed company that i'll be featuring this month, I have a list of wish seeds that i'll be ordering from them. So stay tune soon for my next blog , I'll share which seeds I'll be planting . Time for getting set up for starting those seeds next month, winter sowing and getting Plant Camp started up again too!

Have a wonderful blessed week.

Thank you for stopping by.

tc linda

Wonderful Holiday Season

2010-12-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

Since Thanksgiving its been so very busy for me like everyone. And I'm way behind on Plant Camp : (. I'll get er started back up the New Year. So let me share some updates here in the woods.

Snow, not deep but wonderful snow.

I hope it stays and more added for Christmas. I love the stuff.

Thanksgiving was great, for the first time I didn't cook it. DD made a wonderful dinner with so much goodies. This trading homesteads is working out very well. I get more time with the kiddies and really enjoy that valuable time with them and eat good to boot : ).

Putting up the Christmas tree and bringing out all the sentimental ornaments, decorating the cabin, the smell of pine and on the woodstove a pot of cinnamon simmering. Hot cocoa and candy canes. Christmas programs and family gatherings. An sitting back and watching the woods for a critter to walk through and lots of different birds. Yes its a wonderful season.

Hubby and I celebrated our 31 Anniversary this month, wow it seems like yesterday when we met , actually in the woods. I was living in the woods at the time, in a little cabin I built next to a creek. The main cabin where my folks, sister and our workroom was up on the hill. I loved it but still I wanted a family.

**************************************************************

You know it was hard to find good men or any man for that matter : / in the sticks so I did the best thing, I prayed for a mate and sure enough God provided one for me and my future husband came walking through the woods. We dated a couple of times with some neighbor friends and in a couple of months we knocked on the preachers door and wed. I was 27 and he was 32.

************************************************************************

We were blessed with three beautiful children of strong faith and now our basket is overflowing with beautiful healthy grandkiddes. A homestead to raise our family that continues to grow.

**********************************************************************

I loved my little cabin in the woods by the creek and low and behold I have once again a cabin by the creek.

My prayers were answered way more then I prayed for. Thank you Lord Jesus for all your Blessings and many more to come.

***************************************************************************

The Christmas Season is here and like always I'm behind in the shopping. Its hard when one does not like to shop , so I do this when I can squeeze in some time in town between client appointments. Kiddies will be the most important to shop for, clothes mostly and we'll have a very small gift exchange with us older folks. It will be a game of sort with seeing and taking. Theres a limit of $5 or $10, we haven't decided yet. The cheaper ones seem to be the most fun.

So this Christmas it will be over the river and through the woods to grandkiddies house we go. So different but so wonderful .

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Many Blessings to you all

tc linda

Dutch Oven Cook'n

2010-11-13T15:22:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I tried out my newly season camp ovens/Dutch ovens. They are the ones that have three legs and a lid that you put coals on top for an even bake in the fire pit.

I've been building up the garden with compost and also bits of chard wood. Its very good for your garden, along with ash but not to much ash. Chard wood does a whole new thing to your garden. I first heard about the ancient ways of gardening called Terra Preta, its adding biochar as an amendment to your garden soil;

Get some time check this out http://www.philipcoppens.com/terrapreta.html.

So in my garden I'm making little burn spots , cook my food cover the fire with soil to burn out and not have to move it from firepit to garden. So I also started two biochar as well as cook our meal .

I made two dishes one a chicken in wine and another is ,oh boy peach cobbler.

I don't drink wine mostly because it makes my nose numb and I get really sleepy but I've been hearing how good it is to cook with so I gave it a shot and yum yum was the chicken tasty. Such a different flavor this wine gave the chicken.

Here is the cheap bottle of wine I got , I'm sure not a wine connoisseur so I just went by the pretty label, thought it looked good with all the leaves falling.

Well they say to cook with wine that you like so hubby and I had a sip

I didn't care for it but hubby did. I like coffee :)

So cooking the chicken in the pot tell brown, I only used half a chicken breast b/c I didn't know how this was going to go.

Then the chopped onions cooked a little. I cooked both the chicken and the onions using the chicken skin for fat , then removed . Worked out good.

After adding the chicken back into the oven w/ the onions I added the wine and pulled off the fire to simmer with just a few coals underneath of the oven.

No need for putting coals ontop of this dish. Simmering in the garden

I checked and tasted and knew this was going to be good.

Now while the chicken was cooking I worked on the peach cobbler and had that on another little firepit.

Peach cobbler cooking, almost done

On this dish I put coals on the top to make it more like a oven ad get that nice brown on top.

Ta Da!! Its done, a little to brown on the bottom , but not to bad for first time, yum

I also tossed on a couple of potatoes and an onion wrapped in foil. Slice those taters in almost half and pry open and tuck in some butter, sprinkle with pepper. The onion quartered, add sugar and butter. Oh these have a smell that will make the wood critters go crazy. Yum good! Just toss em in the coals and check with fork.

Dinner, hubby and I ate outside, it was a beautiful fall day and dinner was delis

Cup of peach cobbler, oh this was good

Thoughts on camp cooking and cooking with wine. I loved it. Food is always good cookedoutside.

I did do a little over cooking aka burnt on taters and cobbler, but still was able to eat.

I would do a cooking in wine again using different wines. I love cooked onions and the onions did not have a good flavor but the chicken was excellent. So its experimenting with this dish.

I used a simple cobbler recipe and very easy . If you need recipe let me know , most your cookbooks have cobbler recipes. So nothing fancy with this one , just turn out very good.

I thought I'd do a cookout this weekend but my workshop has been going non stop, getting out some Thanksgiving rush jobs out. I'll get a left over turkey recipe and make a dish , oh turkey pot pie in the Dutch oven sounds good to me.

I would like to hear your thoughts on cooking with wine. Got a good dish to share.

Doesn't need to have wine, so share those Dutch Oven recipes.

Thanks for stopping by , have a great week coming up !

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-11-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

I'm still working decorating with the orange colors. I don't know but as soon as the spooky holiday is over all the beautiful fall decorations are piled in a cart and ready to get rid of. Seems our wonderful Thanksgiving holiday is getting skipped over more and more.

I want this holiday to stretch out for a long time. I'm not ready for Red and Green yet , I still want orange, corn stalks, mums and pumpkins.

I also like to take the long country roads home and drive slow and see if I can find an ol fence loaded with bittersweet. Love to take clippings. Haven't done that for a long time sense there's bittersweet growing in the woods over at our other homestead.

Heres a pic of some I gather a couple of Autumns ago for decorations

The berries are reddish orange and then when cut they open to a beautiful bright orange very pretty.

I had heard somewhere that you can drink a tea made form them but also heard they are poisonous, so I'll just use as a decoration for now.

Heres some other pictures and also a link for some info on the plant. I haven't thoroughly read all the link so it might have some info on making a tea from the plant or some medical uses.

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=bittersweet+plant&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=tlfXTIacEIXangepsbywCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CCsQsAQwAQ

http://www.gardenguides.com/taxonomy/american-bittersweet-celastrus-scandens/

So do you have this growing on your homestead? Are you like me and want the Fall colors to stay around longer : )

Have a great week and thanks for dropping by the camp.

tc linda

Seasoning the Irons

2010-11-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while out burning brush and doing some garden cleaning and harvesting I decided I need to get those two camp ovens season, some call them Dutch Ovens. I have both types, two with legs and about three w/out legs. And oh my cast iron skillets. I love cooking from them and they have had years of seasoning.

One is a big 20 inch skillet that has been on many a fishing camp trips. And I still use when I', fix'n a big dinner for the family. I remember when we first moved to the woods that I made my uncle a pancake right out on the campfire.

He was expecting several pancakes and he's a big fellow and I thought I'll be cooking all day to fill him up. So I poured and poured the batter while he was watching and filled the skillet full to the edges. I was surprised myself when it was time to flip over, I made it, all in tack. Served him up on a much smaller plate with a flapjack over flow. He still remembers to this day and will bring it up once in awhile

On our last trip I took along a smaller skillet and we made our breakfast out on the firepit. All so good and jsut adds more seasoning plus it still has the smell of our last camp trip. I love that smell.

Now these camp stoves this weekend I was thinking of jsut using the oven inside to season and you can do that but I wanted to see how tossing them in the firepit would work. It worked out perfect and they both seasoned out nice for the first time.

These camp ovens are ready for the peach cobbler that I'll be making this weekend. And maybe do another dish as well. You place the oven in the coals and put coals on top of the lid so it gets good and baked.

I'm going to go ahead and do a Camp Oven cooking on my blog with pictures and recipes. I have this Camp Cooking Book 100 years , recipes from the Forest Service. Lots of ol time pictures and great little short stories. I'll add a few little stories as well. Plus it will get me some good training in cooking in these camp ovens and Dutch Ovens.

Theres nothing like cooking outdoors. The smells and the food is just wonderful. It brings families together around the campfire and even in the winter with snow on the ground you can still make a fire and start cooking. So if you like cooking in your irons follow along because these irons are jsut as nice cooking inside and I do that all the time too.

Share some recipes of your own as well. We'll have fun on this camp cuz theres food : )

I'm home today , planning on heading into my workshop soon, but I'm so enjoying the leaves falling, hearing the squirrels running on the metal cabin roof gathering the falling acorns. Birds busy getting the little acorns and finding bugs before they head underground.

Garden is slowly going into a rest but still have fall cold crops hanging on.

Its a beautiful day.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-10-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

We are heading into one of my favorite holidays this month. Thanksgiving with family and friends. Lots of food and wonderful smells from the kitchen. My favorite is those orange dishes, pumpkin pie and candy yams. But lets talk about those pumpkins. I have a couple on my porch. I don't get into the spooky holiday and carve them but I do love the Autumn Harvest and leave them whole. They make a great decoration until I'm ready to open them up and roast the seeds, can even cook up the pumpkin too.

Heres a pic of some pears I picked and the pumpkins in the background.

I didn't grow pumpkins this year but planning on next season. Sis and I for the last couple of years have a pumpkin growing contest. See who grows the biggest pumpkin. Her idea the first year, I won, she forgot to plant the seeds. Last year she won, I forgot to plant my pumpkin seeds and this year nobody won we both forgot to plant. But wait tell next year : )

Heres some pic's from the pumpkins over at the old homestead.

The grandkiddies love the seeds roasted and my sister loves to make pumpkin bread. I like it all , the orange colors in the Autumn from all those pumpkin patches to the stacks of pumpkins at the grocery stores.

Heres a cute little pumpkin that we seen at Powells Gardens , a botanical garden that we live close by. We went on their pumpkin walk a week or so ago and seen all the artistic carved pumpkins all lit up. No spooky stuff just a nice walk in the dark.

This is a baby pumpkin thats potty trained.

So what do you do with your pumpkins after the spooky holiday?

Thanks for stopping by the camp , cool weather setting and we may have to light up the campfire. See ya next week.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-10-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

Oh a little late getting back into the Plant Camp. But I'll get it started with all the beautiful fall colors of Chrysanthemum's also called Mums.

I love these beauties and each year and I can't wait tell they are along roadside stands, garden centers and even the grocery stores saying take me home. I always plant them along the gardens after the flowers are spent and see if they will grow back next spring and most the time they do. I'll pinch back the foliage until July to make sure I'll have a little fall color in fall.

Heres some Mum's I picked up this last weekend to give the porch a warm feeling and say fall is here.

The ones I got are garden mums and here's a link to how to grow.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg7068.html

Also some more Mum pictures , they are beautiful!

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=Chrysanthemums&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=ueHFTOqFJaWpnAfKkoWLCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CDkQsAQwAg

Chrysanthemum is from the Greek, chrysos (gold) and anthos (flower).

The Chrysanthemum flower symbolizes fidelity, optimism, joy and long life.

A red chrysanthemum conveys love
A white chrysanthemum symbolizes truth and loyal love
A yellow chrysanthemum symbolizes slighted love

Heres more interesting facts,

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/tropicalflowers/chrysanthemum

A Bit of Interesting "Mum" History, quoted :

"It was way back in the year 1798 that chrysanthemums were first introduced to North America from Europe. After the official Chrysanthemum Society of America was founded, their first exhibition of mums was held in 1902. Research shows that mums were prevalent at least 2,500 years ago, and that mum festivals are still celebrated every fall in Japan. A chrysanthemum festival highlighting the arts and culture of Japan was held at the famous Longwood Gardens near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1999. Longwood's gardeners grew and trained more than 20,000 mums inside this spectacular conservatory. During that festival, Japanese artisans demonstrated the art of making life-size dolls using the chrysanthemums grown in the Longwood conservatory. It is also notable that of more than 160 different species of mums, most of them are native to China, Japan, and Europe. "

So I hope you have a porch full of Mum's for your fall look. Its always great if the weather stays nice to carry the colors into Thanksgiving but sometimes thats pushing it. And sometime you just gotta buy that look alike that you never have to water or plant and can bring it out every year for the holiday seasons. I got a couple of fake decorations but I so love the real ones the best : )

Happy Fall at the Plant Camp

tc linda

Back From Trip

2010-10-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

We got back first of the week and its so nice to be home. We had a super good time traveling some 11 states , seeing our new grandson, camping out next to alligators and bears , swimming in the Gulf of Mexico to climbing the mountains of the Great Smokey Mountains. It was great.

Started our road trip close to our neck of the woods, Missouri Ozarks, then further down south to Arkansas, Louisiana,Mississippi, Alabama, Pensacola Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,Illinois, and back home to Missouri.

Heres just a few of the close to 3000 pictures sis and I took. It was just three of us traveling on this trip, my hubby ,sister and I. Sis's hubby stayed home to turkey hunt , oh well he missed a good trip.

First the reason for our trip our sweet little grandson , he makes our 7th. This is our son's first baby and was so happy he was home from Afghanistan to see the birth. Our son is so cute to see him take care of his wife, our daughter in love and their little son. It was hard to leave but I', already planning another trip : ).

This little guy sleeps all the time and his folks say he does a little possum sleeping too. Hes a good baby and I love him so, wish they lived closer. TRIP TIME!

Louisiana we stopped at a park with this boardwalk it went all over with all these huge cypress trees in the water, it sorta looked like gator territory

Heres a pic of hubby and I in Mississippi next to the river.

Down in FL sis and I played in the cold water and looked for shells. I don't know why we were holding hands, maybe scared of sharks or something we were not sure of. We would have gone crazy if something big and unknown showed up.

We had a ten man tent for the three of us, we up it up take it down and agreed not to yell at each other , it worked good when we had a plan. Most the time we would have had a yelling match getting that house up.

We cooked out on the firepit and always had coffee going. A couple of stays in the alligator camp was something else. There were gator slide tracks all over and one by our tent. Sis and I would go out with flashlights to see if we could see one but no deal. But we knew they were there and I'm sure they seen us.

This camp ground was beautiful, the hiking trails looked like snow , the sand was so white. It also had lots of boardwalks running to the bay. one could rent canoes or kayaks to run the gator river. We almost did this, next time for sure.

Heres a gator foot print, it was very big.

The gator hiking trail

Alligator river, it looks like a small Amazon River

Heres a quick breakfast in North Carolina campsite, we were heading to the Smokies. This camp had hiking to Lake Fontana;

I took tons of tree pictures but not as many as baby pictures :)

We woke up to a foggy morning and oh was that pretty

Then on to the beautiful Smokies, oh my!

And here I am at one of the Appalachian Trails , unprepared for hiking to Maine that is for sure but we did go up a 6600+ ft. mountain, mostly driving but walked up to Clingmans Dome, huffing and puffing along with the hundreds of other ppl doing the climb.

So this is a pooped out picture of me , but someday I will walk that trail all the way from Georgia to Maine.

Theres so many more beautiful pictures I took and I hope to share in another blog or two later on.

Its great to get back home and I have my little mountain (hill) to look out in the woods and when the fog comes it reminds me of the Smokies. Even tho we hit 11 states it was jsut a drop in the bucket what we seen. We did so much in our week long trip and plan to do section hiking and sightseeing as we make more trips down to see our grandson.

Thanks for dropping by, Plant Camp will start up next week so see ya soon.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-09-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

If you put out a veggie garden you just gotta have the easy to grow Zinnias. They brighten up the all green garden, very easy to grow and last tell frost. They are annuals so you need to save the seeds alto I'm sure some come up voluntary. But for a for sure show save those seeds.

Heres a few that I have growing this season, but the green one I grew at the other homestead and its a favorite of mine, sorry I don't have the name so I'll jsut call it Green Zinnia.

They make great bouquets and the more you pick the more they grow

I didn't get all my seeds from saved seeds planted this spring, I have some that look like peppermint, red and white stripes. I plan on planting all my seeds nest spring before they get to old.

Did you know that the different colors of Zinnias mean different things ! And that the meaning of Zinnia itself is a symbol of lasting love, goodness, thoughts of an absent friend, constancy and daily remembrance of good memories. Now I know why I like this flower. : )

Yellow zinnia means daily remembrance, white zinnia represents goodness,scarlet zinnia represents constancy magenta zinnia flower is a symbol of lasting love and affection, while a mixed colored zinnia means thinking of an absent friend, this taken from my research.

Also found that the first Zinnias were found in the wilderness of Mexico in the 1500's. The emperor Aztec, named the Zinnias which meant "eyesore" because they were dull and unpleasant. But the common Zinnias of today are not so dull and is called the garden Cinderella because of all that the flowers level of transformation has gone through.

Zinnia angustifolia is one of the three wild Zinnia species that most of today's many varieties and hybrid strains come from.

Heres a link to some pretty Zinnias , notice the deep purple one with specks of green , very unusual.

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=zinnia+flower&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=qOmfTJWYCp-Qnwfs-YibDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQsAQwAA

I hope you grow this flower, kids love to pull em them and bring them in for mommy or grandma. I have rec many from my little loves and I don't mind them picking because they just keep on growing.

Thanks for stopping by the camp this week. I'll be taking a couple of weeks off, we had a brand new Grandson born yesterday and on my Moms 84 Birthday too! Mom was so excited to have a great grandson born on her B-day.

We'll be heading down to Florida to see him and give him a whole lot of hugs and kisses.

We decided to tent camp the whole time. Camping by the ocean too! Wind our trip in the Smokies on the way home and spend a night or two camping out and hiking. I'll be taking pictures of our visit and trip so until I get back you folks have a good one and see ya at the camp in a couple of weeks.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-09-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Every Autumn I head out to the trails to check out the pessimism's, not to eat alto you sure can but to see what our winter is going to be like. It never fails so far!

I take the slippery seed out and cut open, there inside will be little white things in the shape of a fork, spoon or knife.

There meaning or prediction would be if there's a spoon you will be shoveling snow, a knife will be a cold icy winter and wind that will cut you like a knife and the fork will indicate a mild winter.

Heres a pic of the tree and a open persimmon seed from a couple of yrs ago. You see the little shovel, we had snow that year. Last year was a shovel too. I have not checked yet but very soon and see what type of winter we will have. I hope a shovel again : )

Have you ever ate an unripe persimmon, ohhhhhh its awful your mouth puckers up and feels really dry. Not good. But when they are ripe they are so sweet and yummy.

We used to wait tell a frost but they say you can eat before. Just look at the fruit and make sure its very soft, give it a taste and check those seeds. The seed is rather hard to open so take care when cutting open.

Heres a picture link of persimmons .

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=persimmon&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=oraWTNbSN5DungeJwNC2CA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CEQQsAQwAw

There are different types of persimmons but the ones we have around here are the Common Persimmon , Diospyros virginiana

Like the tomato, it is not considered a "common berry", but is in fact a "true berry" by definition according to some research I found.

Theres even a song we use to sing as kids about a possum up a simmon tree. I'm trying to remember the words.

Heres another interesting link about persimmons.

http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/divi.html

So when out in the woods and on the trails take along a bag because you might come across a persimmon tree that you can eat the fruit and find out what your winter will be like.

Thanks for joining in this weeks plant camp. Have a great week : )

tc linda

Yak Sisters Adventure

2010-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

That’s what sis and I call ourself , the Yak Sisters. True we yak alot but we do it now in our kayaks, well until we settle down to serious fishing that is.

We always fished growing up, Mom and Dad even wanted to live on a river boat, we be call’n ourself river rats I specd. But I’m glad they took to the land instead cuz we now can have both.

How in the world did we get into kayaking!!!! When I think of that word I thing of White Water, tipping over and staying under while my head is beating on rocks and boulders. But little did I know this is a growing sport in fishing from a kayak, The Kayak Anglers. That was for us.

We were looking for something we could pick up and go. First it was a canoe but sis would have no doings with me and her in a canoe, here’s why. DH and I took floats trips with the kids all the time. I was always on the front rowing and hubby in the back. We did good. So the first time that sis floated her and I went together, I took the back and she the front. OH boy was that mistake.

We went from bank to bank all down the river. It was wearing me out. I told her to row harder or well be here forever,( I didn’t know that my hubby was the one who really got us down those rivers). Well it kept up and finally the motion put me to sleep , thats right I fell asleep at my post ,couldn’t help. It was a drool on your pillow type of deep sleep. I was gone.

Sis looked back and yell “What Are You Doing. I woke up fast , wiped the slobber from my face and back to rowing. I never heard the last of that and we now have our own vessels to row : )

When we bought our kayaks we decided to get the same ones so we won’t say mine is better then yours kind of thing. I didn’t think we were going to look like bobbies twins going down the lake or river. Sis got us both camo t-shirts and matching visors.

Our yaks are green and last weekend when we were out on the lake coming in a women on the dock said we look like turtles on a log, I thought she said turds on a log : (. I guess its better to look like turtles.

We tried our kayaks on our friends pond first and did some fishing, we caught 80+ fish in a couple of days and had a blast. We were ready for the big time stuff now, off to the lake.

We've been decking our yaks out , accessorize they call it, its really more run dressing these Yaks cuz every thing fits. Not like that 2 size smaller dress one would like to buy :/ Heres a pic of my yak all deck out for fishing, we haven’t got kayak paddles yet but this little adjustable one is great for getting into coves on the lake.

We we told each other , Lets Look Professional, like we know what were doing. All was good , we carried our kayaks out of the truck at the lake, all eyes were on us now, we placed our rods, and did little prepping for launching, hit the restroom, I hate that part cuz you know ppl are looking at ya, Hoping there was toilet paper in that concrete outhouse.

Ok sis is pulling her boat out to the ramp and looking good at this point until she hits the water and wham she slips big time , legs and all in the water, I’m shocked and everyone has their mouth open , I know this cuz I’m looking at everyone now, sis is still flipping and I just can’t move. Wheres the professionalism here? What is she doing? What now? What seem like hours was really seconds and I pushed the boat so she could grab the handle. If I tried to grab her by hand I would have met her fate. After all she wasn’t in much more then knee deep water , just couldn’t get up. I couldn’t dive for her , water just wasn’t deep enough.

So we went fishing anyways the dry turtle and the wet turtle, nobody yaked and we caught no fish. We sat out on that lake tell dark and nobody on the lake, sis was to embarrassed to go in. In silence , in my mind “professional alright”!

The next week we did better but the tables turned and it was my turn to look professional. I was heading in and I had one foot on the shore and the other still in the yak. My rubber cheap knock off croc came off and while I was trying to retrieve it I did what looked/felt like the splits. Sis asked what in the world was I doing? Brushing up on my ballet!

In those kind of moments of trying to look cool and miss way out on left field, you just keep head down, focus on what your doing and row like heck away from the crowd. In my case run to the bath room , head still down then back on board and row like heck. We stayed out late in the dark again.

We are having a blast with our new adventure. I mean sis and I a couple of years ago was excited about collecting buttons and every Friday we would have a button exchange. We figure our kayaking was a cheaper sport. Not much makes us happy. We sometime get along like a burn’n house but now we have the lake to hose us down : )

We even got Mom who will be 84 yrs in a few days out on the yak at the pond, she yaked all over. Our kayaks are really hard to tip over , just got to be careful on slippy rocks and such getting in and out.

Heres sis on her yak, we have big life jackets that we are planning on replacing for kayak vest, much more comfortable and don’t hit you in the chin like these do. (could be why we looked like turtles) We found out we don’t need to wear them just have a vest in the boat. Both of us can swim but when the water is really choppy its good to wear them.

Sis is my best friend and the best kind of person you could ever meet. She has survived cancer, I shaved her head when her hair was falling out and she has up lifted many cancer patients. She and her hubby have no children but she is a great aunt/mom to mine. Sis is as real as a person can get and I love her so.

Here I am , we fish on a 71 acre lake that is really close to were we, hubby and I live, just a

couple of bends and hills over.

Theres a little island on the lake that we plan to have our lunch there, my foot is in the way. After I took the picture I fell asleep , the peacefulness of the water put me down in lala land again. I just had a cola and I should have been rowing all over the place, oh well nap time. Sis shaking her head, real professional!

Theres huge lily pads on the lake and one could use as a table for lunch , play cards , board games, they are big

We are planning another fishing this weekend at the lake, but also looking into taking a river trip and camp over night on the river. Theres lots of room yaks to hold camping gear, tents, food, and cooler. That would be so fun to do that.

So the Yak Sisters will be off for more adventures , Thanks for dropping by. Hope I got you interested in getting into kayaking. I kinda thinking of a women’s yak club would be fun to start.

Theres a big group called the “Sisters On the Fly”, sis and I talk of joining on down the road. This group goes all over fly fishing, float trips,hiking and they do it all by pulling vintage trailers to their camp. They kiss their hubbies good by for a couple of weeks and take out for an adventure. Check em out on the net.

All take good care
linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-09-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Watch your noggin when it turns Autumn and the wind is blowing.

The Carya Fruits (hickory nuts) are falling. Hurry to gather b/c the squirrels
have this in mind too.

I gathered these a year ago by our friends fishing pond, fishing wasn't good so I gathered the hickory nuts.

Here in the woods we have some early drops of hickory and I'm hoping will have some nice ones to pickup. These in the basket are very nice.

Did you know there's lots of different hickory nuts and that the pecan is a species of hickory!

Carya illinoinensis (pecan)

A pecan, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk. Like the fruit of all the members of hickory genus;

Heres a list of hickory nuts

Southern shagbark hickory
Hickory bitternut
Hickory pignut
Hickory shellbark hickory or Kingnut hickory
Red hickory
Hickory shagbark
Hickory sand
Hickory mockernut

Check this hickory site for iding

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/carya-fruits.htm

Also facts on hickories

http://www.thenutfactory.com/kitchen/facts/facts-hickory-nuts.html

Along with gathering nuts we use the wood from wind fall for our grilling, oh does it make for good smoking and BBQ's and it just smells so fallish, my favorite time of year.

So on a nice cool day head out and gather those hickory nuts, check out walnuts too : )

Thanks for dropping by the camp. I thought I'd have a blog page before this but time got away. I'll have some pics of my new Kayak and fishing adventures I think by Wednesday . Also about my sister and I the "Yak Sisters Adventures".

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-09-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a good Labor day weekend. Sis and I took a 4 day kayak fishing trip at our local lake. I'll be posting about our new kayaks, the lake and our catch. So the camp this week will be short cuz I'm pooped and did not do my homework on a plant.

But I do have some pictures of sunflowers that I grew on my other homestead. Good thing I got pictures b/c my sunflower cropped failed this season. Either the rains washed the seeds or those crows got em .

So enjoy these mammoth sunflowers and some different types as well. Not only are the seeds good for you but the birds love them too.

Hope you all had a safe and fun weekend, next week I'll have a plant to share for the camp, this week it will be a fish story : ) , next couple of days

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-08-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Oh this next plant you might not like but rest assure this is not the culprit of allergies in the fall.

Goldenrod Solidago sp.

I love this plant, tells me that fall is almost here. A host to so many beneficial insects. Its the last big flower show of the season and blooms from summers end tell frost.

Poor Goldenrod gets the blame for hay fever sufferers when the real culprit is ragweeds (Ambrosia sp.) that bloom at the same time.

Here's what happens. Ragweed needs wind to pollinate so it sends out billions of pollen hope'n to find a female flower. The bad part our noses are in the way.

These ragweeds don't have a pretty showy flowers so we tend to blame the Goldenrod for this suffering. We see that showy Goldenrod flower and point fingers and whip noses.

Because the makeup of the goldenrod pollen grains are fat and sticky so they will stick to insects for pollination from one plant to another. So in order to get affected by Goldenrod pollen you would have to stick you nose in the stuff. Hachoo

Along with the many insects that visit the Goldenrod there are two different types of insects that are parasites that uses the Goldenrod for a host plant, they make their homes on the stems and are called galls.

Here's a nice group of Goldenrod, be sure to look at them differently now , they are very pretty.

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=goldenrod&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=Rf96TMSuIouLnQeuzqiWCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CEYQsAQwAw

Also Goldenrod is medcinal, here's an informative link.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/goldenrod-000251.htm

Well I sure hope I changed your mind on this plant and lets go after that ragweed.

Have you notice the weeks flying by? I sure have. I'm just about ready to decorate for Autumn.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by the camp

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-08-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

This plant I have growing , its names sounds like an ol song Joe-Pye, maybe b/c its reminds me of ol Joe Clark that I use to play on the banjo and fiddle. There should be and ol Joe-Pye song for sure.

Oh boy is this a plant to have. great for the butterfly gardens but its a biggy, from 4 ft to 10 ft tall on some varieties. A deffinite boarder plant. I know already i will need to move my one plant.

Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatorium purpureum

This picture is of my new plant , not very showy yet

Here's a link to some pretty Jo-Pye Weeds

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=joe+pye+weed&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=f-RxTMipOMWqlAfjmemmDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQsAQwAw

In your butterfly garden this plant will attract the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Great Spangled Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, and the Tawny-edged Skipper.

Joe-Pye Weed is an herb, a wildflower, a butterfly plant and an ornamental for the flower beds
Its got some other common names you might know like Queen of the Meadow, gravel root, kidney root, mist-flower, snakeroot and purple boneset.

Joe Pye is the name of an Native American who was a herbalist who used the herb to cure fevers.

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/joe_pye_weed.htm

You can start from seeds and this is another great Winter Sowing seed you can start the first of the year, get those containers saved , toss in your seeds and put outdoors.

Joe-Pye Weed comes in colors of darker purples, wine, lavender and white. The purple shades seem to attract butterflies better than the white. Oh it looks like I got a white one.

Some of theflowers are more fragrant then others having a vanilla-like fragrance. These plants make nice cut flowers and can be dried too for arrangements. A nice all around plant to grow in your gardens.

Well that's it for the camp this week. I was humming ol Joe Clark while typing this up. Might get out the fiddle and start playing again. Maybe make up a song for ol Joe-Pye Weed.

Have a very nice week and always thanks for stopping by the camp.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-08-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

Its Monday again , seems these weeks are fly'n by so fast. With school back in session for many, harvesting the gardens, battling the heat it just seems there's no rest. I'll be ready for the cooler weather and life getting into the Autumn routine.

Glad you could make it to camp. This week I'm going to share another new plant for me. My hubby brought home some unknown plants from school , they had a plant sale and all the left overs were given out. He handed me a box of seedlings with no name

School was out for summer and the instructor was gone, so no name. It was a wait and see. Where to plant, sunny, shade, where? So I chose in between . Weeks went by and they have flower heads.

Drum roll please,the unknown plant is Cockscomb, Celosia argentea .

These are still pretty small, I chose a good place for them to grow tho, they like sun

Well being new to this plant I googled to get info and was surprised to see it was edible. I clicked it on and it was a picture of a chicken head and its cockscomb said you can eat that part of the chicken and it taste like frog legs, thought I was going to say chicken?.

That was the wrong cockscomb for sure. Cockscomb flowers are said to resemble rooster combs so that's why I got into the wrong site.

But cockscomb is in the Amaranth family so there was hope that one could eat this plant.

Cockscomb flowers are also known as Wool Flowers or Brain Celosia, suggestive of a highly colored brain. People eat brains! its still looking good.

Cockscomb has no fragrance, that was looking positive to for eating.

Then I came upon this , In West Africa, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia, Celosia argentea is grown as a leaf vegetable and cereal crop. In southern Nigeria, it is the most important leaf vegetable and is known as soko. BINGO! We can eat it.

But like all new plants I still want to do more research on it before I cook it for super. Like find someone else around that eats it.

Celosia have very bright colors. They have three different kinds of blooms; candle, crested and plume.

I would like to grow the crested variety (Celosia cristata). It looks more like Amaranth that I'm more familiar with.

Here's some pictures of the different types

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=Cockscomb&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=-atoTPCsJYGKlwebtqWfBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDcQsAQwAw

Native to Africa, America and Asia. Celosia means "hot" in Greek. Perfect for this HOT summer.

So there it is growing and doing well, pretty easy to grow and not much care. I should be able to save seeds.

So those surprise unknown plants do pay off , hubby did good : )

Another fun camp and so glad you made it, see ya next week. I want to try and get some other everyday blogs in but boy is it hard sometimes. Autumn please come soon : )

Take good care
linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-08-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

You ever drive the country roads and notice different wild flowers? How about the one that really catches your eye. Its a bright red orange about a foot high. Its a butterfly weed.

Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa

From the milkweed family. Asclepias, is the host plant for Monarch butterflies
So its a must for the garden when you want butterflies and humming birds to visit. Plus adds a nice bright color to your gardens.

Well I'm pretty new at growing Butterfly weed. I have tried to transplant from along our roadside , it didn't take. But I was able to grow from seed. Its a very bright orange.

Did you know Butterfly Weed is edible and medicinal. Heres info on that.

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/Butterflyweed.htm

Heres a link to a lot of pic of butterfly weed
http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=butterfly+weed&um=1&ie=UTF

Now another type of plant that attracts butterflies is the Butterfly Bush, not to be mistaken for the butterfly weed. Two different types of plants but they sure attract the butterflies and hummers.

We went to a Butterfly Festival at Powell Gardens. Was I in for a surprise and a couple of new butterfly plants for my gardens. Plus seeing all the native and tropical butterflies.

A beautiful fragrant Butterfly Bush , Buddleia davidii

Grow this beautiful bush for Hummingbirds, Swallowtails

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=purple+butterfly+bush&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=KF9fTPnhMcP6lwfoyPSZCA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CC0QsAQwAA
Great for cut flowers, can be used as a border plant or in containers. Considered mostly allergy free. Deer resistant. Blooms July all the way to fall. I'm so going to enjoy this plant.

This other plant I got is a Butterfly Weed plant , forgot the name and it did not have a label. I will need to go back and check this one out. Its a tall plant, 30" or so.

Well I like those butterfly attracting plants so these are a great add to the gardens.

Let me know how you like them in your gardens.

Have a wonderful week and thanks for dropping by the camp : )

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-08-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Lets talk about Lemon Grass at the camp this week!

This spring I bought a small lemon grass plant for the herb garden. I had grown lemon grass before and it never got to big but this plant is growing wonderful. Its way over a yard high and so full and the bugs are staying away from it.

I do have to keep hubby away cuz he thinks its a weed grass. He's banned from my gardens when he has taken out a few crops by not knowing whats what. He gets to mow the grass and so he gets his cutting down stuff that way. I have come running out of the house screaming to many times when I see a plant in danger of the mower, so boundaries have been set. Sometimes a gardener's gotta use tough love if they want a garden still standing : /

I was introduced to this herb when I did a 100 mile local foods challenge one summer. I had to be creative and I wanted to use herbs from my garden. Eat foods that were raised and grown in a 100 mile radius. I wanted to try something I don't cook much of and I like, Asian food.

I didn't have lemon grass growing at the time but I did buy a tube of lemon grass puree. I worked up a Thai dish and it was a hit so I went in search for lemon grass to grow.

Lemon Grass Cymbopogon ciatrus

Theres some health benefits of Lemon Grass you might like to check out
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-2-2006-107399.asp

How about a lot of pictures of lemon grass, here ya go!

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS312US313&q=lemongrass&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=fTVWTN2RIJP2swPCm4TYDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CEsQsAQwAw

I haven't done anything with my plant but plans to dry some and maybe powder it up as well. I'm thinking lemon pepper on chicken and grill, yum. Also would be good sprinkled on veggies. How about wrapping the leaves around ears of corn and grill , might give it a nice new flavor.

Lemon Grass is a member of the Poaceae family, which includes all the common grasses. Originally from Malaysia, it does well in any humid climate. No wonder its doing well here in Missouri. Its been hot and humid.

You can harvest Lemon Grass several times in a season by cutting the upper portion of the leafy part. I will need to bring inside and try and keep for replanting in next spring. I will see if I can get seed from it as well.

Dry the leaves for a zesty tea, hot or cold. It has a light lemony taste with a slight hint of ginger. Its a good pick me up when your drag'n and good for the digestion too. Helps ease the pain of arthritis

Naturally caffeine-free and taste great. Recent studies show that Lemon Grass has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. So this plant is a good one to add in your herb garden. It really would be nice added in any type of gardens, flowers and veggies.

Do you grow Lemon Grass? Maybe cook with it? Tried the tea?

Thanks for dropping by this week at the camp. I learn a bit more about the plants I grow. This week for sure I'll make some lemon grass tea , cuz it s a push week and I know I'll need a pick me up.

Take good care and have a great week, see ya at the camp

tc linda

Survival Seeds

2010-07-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Good things come in small packages, that is for sure. A package arrived yesterday from Home Town Seeds http://hometownseeds.com/.

I had entered a drawing and won these survival seeds. I'm so excited to have these.

First I will share about why I'm so excited to have survival seeds then will share the blog site New Life on a Homestead that put this on. You will so enjoy the reads and info on this blog.

Survival Seeds:

I save seeds, grow heirlooms and save and share the seeds for next season, pure and simple. Also do some seed trading as well. That's always fun.

But to have a bag of survival seeds WOW . This is a what if you can't get any seeds, what if your crops fail and you don't have your own seeds to save. To me its like having insurance on almost everything we have, home ,car, health, life you name it . So why not seeds. Its the "what if's" happens. And we know "what if's" do happen. I got insurance seeds to grow more food for my family and others.

These seeds came from a new to me company and I think I'm going to do business with them. The package came real fast , their prices seem really good and the seeds look wonderful and everything is neat and comes to you just like they said. Also a nice information papers about the seeds and all the how to's from storing to growing.

Here's what Home Town Seeds sent me http://hometownseeds.com/

Its hard to believe that there's over 22,000 seeds in all those packs. It will plant more then 3/4 of an acre They are well sealed and labeled. I am storing them in the freezer for a longer storage life. They are a great addage to my preparedness way of life.

All are 100% non-hybrid so I will be able to save seeds from the harvest.

Here's the list of seeds that Home Town Seeds sent me.

1) Sweet Corn, Golden Bantam

2) Peas, Lincoln

3) Radish, Champion

4) Onion, Utah Yellow Sweet Spanish

5) Beet, Detroit dark Red

6) Tomato, Rutgers PS

7) Spinach, Bloomsdale Longstanding

8) Cabbage, Golden Acre

9)Swiss Chard, Lucullus

10) Lettuce, Romaine Paris Island Cos

11) Carrot, Scarlet Nantes

12) Pepper, Yolo Wonder

13) Winter Squash, Waltham Butternut

14) Cucumber, Long Green

15) Squash Zucchini, Black Beauty

Its a great package and they have other seeds like flowers and herbs. I think this would be such a nice gift to give to the gardeners in your life : ). Check em out

How it happen.

I was a new follower to this wonderful blog page, New Life On a Homestead http://newlifeonahomestead.com/

I was so liking it I put the sites button on my blog site. Life is busy and its hard to get reading everyone's blog pages and even blogging, as you all know . But it was the right timing and I almost missed it . I entered the drawing and won.

I am sorry I didn't blog about the drawing, my bad. Not only sorry my followers didn't get a chance to sign up but also finding a great site that has lots of good stuff. Read about how they solved the Acid Reflex problem in their family.

But I do hope I can make it up to you by sharing (New Life on a Homestead) plus on down the road sharing seeds from my garden : ).

So head on over and check both New Life on a Homestead and Home Town Seeds.

Have a great weekend
tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-07-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Last week was ok but this is summer and we need color. What a better plant to bring to the camp then the beautiful Echinacea's.

Most gardeners have them growing. They are great for background, along boarders, gosh just about anywhere. Who doesn't like Echie's? The butterflies and bees sure like em too! Echinacea I have to say are my all time favorites.

Echinacea purpurea , also known as Purple coneflower.
Aateracea, Daisy family

Here's some I grew from seed. I used the Winter Sow, http://www.wintersown.org/ method and had very good results. These pic's are from over at my other homestead but many have been moved to our new place in the woods. Its just these pic's are so much prettier then the ones I took over

here.

These others are Echinacea's I bought from co-op's and oh did this open a new world for me with these beauties.

This white one is so pretty , Its name may be White Swan

And these are????? I forgot : (

Here's a bouquet I picked with lime green Echie's. They are great for cut flowers and I like to dry
them too for arrangements.

Here's a nice link if interested in this gotta have it my garden plant : ) http://www.home-herb-garden.com/echinacea.html It also has an herb index!

Also I love this plant b/c of its medicinal values. I take the Echinacea capsules when I get that on set of a cold , seems to help. Heres a bit more about that as well.

http://www.home-herb-garden.com/echinacea-herb.html

I sure needed this color this week for the camp. I hope you have Echinacea's growing in your garden.

Happy Gardening and thanks for visiting the Plant Camp.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-07-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Did you guess the Christmas in July plant? Its a Christmas tradition! Yep its the Poinsettia.

I have it growing in my garden. DH always gets me a couple of Poinsettias from school that kids grow in Ag. and sell. The plants seem to do well for me during the holidays. But after that I just watch as each leaf falls off before I toss them out.

They usually last into the early spring but this year it would not die so I went ahead and planted by the garden. Its going to be a test plant to see if I can actually have it ready for Christmas this year.

Its just green now and I'll have to bring in before frost this fall.

Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima. The species is native to Mexico

Did you know there is a common misconception that the poinsettia is highly toxic. Not so, but it could upset stomach and sap can cause temporary eye problems if you get on your eyes : ( that's enough there to make me cautious of the plant.

Even though the plant is not very toxic, people who are sensitive to latex may suffer an allergic reaction and maybe should not bring the plants into the home. There goes Christmas tradition. Fortunately we are not allergic to latex.

The poinsettia can be difficult plant to reflower after the the first big show. The plant needs a period of uninterrupted long, dark nights for around two months in fall in order to develop flowers. I heard of putting the plants in the closet for a time.

The colors come from photoperiodism, this means it requires darkness for 12 hours at a time to change color. At the same time, the plants needs a lot of light during the day for the brightest color. This is really going to be a pain. Now I know why I see poinsettia's along curb sides , nobody wants to mess with em.

But I'm going to give it a try just the same.

Here's some more interesting Poinsettia facts.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/facts.cfm

Even though a Christmas type plant its helping me think cool and snow on these hot muggy days of summer.

Happy Christmas in July

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-07-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

This week lets get Daylily Crazy. I just love Daylilies . For many years I just grew the orange ones, you know the ones that you see everywhere even along ditches. I would see others with beautiful displays of these beauties with so many colors. Maybe its about timing but I'm finally in the world of Day lilies .

Did you know you can eat daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) from the flower to the roots? I tried an orange one in a salad it not only was pretty on the plate but tasty too. I'm going to give them a try in stir fry. Here's more info

http://www.ehow.com/how_4466550_eat-daylily-hemerocallis-fulva.html

I know I was starting this Plant Camp with my plants on the homestead but I just got to share some pic's from our botanical gardens that we live close by. I took pic's last week . They did have a plant sale so I got some plants and hope next season I will have lots of daylilies to show you.

The first group is taken at Powell Gardens and I'm sorry I don't have names for them , so if you know some of them or have these jump right in and tell us : ). Next time I visit I'll take a notebook with me and get those names.

Pictures are taken with a cheapo digi, so even tho pretty nice it still doesn't do the flower justice.

Now this group are the ones I'm growing and I can't wait tell they start to expand.

El Desperado

Fooled Me

Stella De Oro

?

?

?

This is a Lily growing over at our old homestead, plan to get it started over in my new lily gardens

I do have these added and won't see a flower until next year I hope : )

Dixie Flamingo

Chicago Royal

Missouri Moon

Peach Horizon

Atlanta Rufflelette

Ruby Throat - I bought this one blooming

This is just a drop in the bucket to many beautiful Daylilies. A flower that last one day, so glad they grow many in groups and you have a nice showing for the early summer.

If you have some Daylily pictures on your blog pages please leave a link so we can go over and go Daylily crazy : )

Thanks for dropping by at the Plant Camp. Next week will be something strange growing in the garden this time of year. I'll give you a hint "Christmas In July" can guess what plant will be featured at the camp next week?

Have a great week

tc linda

Creek is rising and the beans are done

2010-07-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

Oh the rains came today big time. Seems like almost everyday it rains, but today's rain made the creek rise and keep rising. It was over the bridge kind of rising, yikes.

Loud, roaring and rolling , nothing going to stop it .

Do I stay or do I go? (isn't that part of a song?)

Heck no I'll stay and have my bean dinner by the creek and watch this : ).

Where I sat is a 12 ft drop and the water was pretty close to my chair here. Now that's high water in a very short time.

It was like a huge river and all the noise it made. I always thought living by a big loud water fall would be nice but that's all you would hear, couldn't hear the birds and other critters. So I'm glad the creek is receding back to normal. It won't be the muddy look for long . Soon the water will be crystal clear and I'll see all the pretty rocks shining (wish it was gold). The soft sounds of water flowing down the creek and the sounds of the critters once again.

My thoughts watching this monster of a creek go wild was float trips. If only there would not be log hang ups and bridges with water over them in the way this would be one crazy ride to somewhere. But I just sat and enjoyed my bean dinner and glass of ice tea.

Beans were cooked w/ ham hocks, onions and herbs. Fried taters n'onions and cornbread. The stick to your ribs kind of dinner and oh so good.

Well if we don't have anymore rain tonight we should be safe from the creek. I was worried about my lower garden w/ 61 tomato plants : ( but all was safe.

Now we need a nice dry up, maters don't like their feet wet to long.

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-07-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

This week I'm combining three in one, Wild Ginger , store bought ginger root and fresh green beans from my garden. Sound's like a recipe to me.

My plant is Wild Ginger, Asarum canaddense

I have just this one plant that is new to the homestead. I have not seen it growing in our parts of the woods yet but I sure hope so. Just got to keep looking.

How pretty Wild Ginger is with its heart shaped leaves. . The odor and color of the flowers attract certain insects essential to pollination. Now I see why over at the ol homestead I have just one plant and its not producing that well. I need those bugs! Found out they are ants that pollinate the plant, I need ants ?

I should bring over the other Wild Ginger to get this patch growing.

The root is used from the Wild Ginger plants for making ales and medicals . If you scrape the root you can smell the ginger. Here's a link to get more info on the plant.

http://www.abnativeplants.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=99

Wild Ginger is not the same kind you would fine in the grocery stores, The beautiful ginger root you can buy and use in your cooking is Zingiber officinale. I'll be using this in my recipe.

Here's a link to tell about the ginger root that we see in the store

http://www.floridata.com/ref/z/zing_off.cfm

My sis and I love a chinese dish called Szechuan green beans

I couldn't wait tell my Wild Ginger grew to use this so I bought the big roots of ginger and picked some green beans for my garden. Along with some green onions. This dish is a bit on the hot and spicy side so you can tone it down a bit.

I dusted the ol wok to make this dish and went to town on making for the first time. I love cooking out of the wok but have not for a very long time. I think I'll keep it out and use more often. Hope you like this dish.

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:1 pound Chinese longbeans (also called yardlong beans or just longbeans)

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger,

chopped2 scallions (spring onions, green onions),white parts only

1/2 teaspoon chili paste1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Pepper to taste, optional

2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying, or as needed

Preparation: Wash the longbeans, drain thoroughly, and trim the tops and bottoms.Cut the longbeans on the diagonal into slices approximately 2 inches long.Chop the garlic, ginger and white part of the scallions.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the longbeans and stir-fry until they start to shrivel or "pucker" and turn brown (5 - 7 minutes). Remove the long beans and drain in a colander or on paper towels.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the wok on high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and scallions. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the chili paste and stir-fry for a few more seconds until aromatic.

Add the longbeans and the remaining ingredients. Mix together and serve.

Serving suggestion: Szechuan Green Beans would make an excellent side dish to accompany Mapo Tofu but I made a fried brown rice.

Sorry no picture of finished dish , hubby started in and ate it all up. And he's not an Asian dish fan either.

I'm glad to be able to make different dishes with the green beans this year and also learn about my ginger i'm growing. I'd like to try making ginger ale someday.

If you have a favorite ginger dish or green bean dish please share.

Thanks for joining the Plant Camp this week.

Have a wonderful week with lots of Blessings

tc linda

Plant Camp Monday's

2010-06-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

Helenium (Sneezeweed, Helen's Flower)

Here on the homestead I'm growing a hybrid sneezeweed Helenium 'Sabins Early Flowerer'.

Sneezeweed , just the sound of them makes my nose itch. But this name comes from the fact that the leaves and flowers were once used for snuff not because it is an allergen. Cherokee Indians used to make the dried flowers into a herbal snuff as a cure for colds.

Heleium grows wild in the western mountains states and can be toxic to livestock over an extended time of grazing.

Its closely related to the sunflower. Great for cottage or wildflower garden with other summer flowers such as Salvia, Heliopsis, Helianthus, Sedum, Agastache, Lilies, and ornamental grasses.

Great for the bee and butterfly gardens.

A new plant for me. I purchased my plant at Powell Gardens http://www.powellgardens.org/ plant sell this spring . I couldn't resist.

I plan to divide plant once it gets established , nice for cut flowers and I'll see if it dries well for arrangements. This plant is such a bright and fun plant to look at.

My plant likes to be in full sun and will grow to about 3 ft high . its a native perennial that is easy to grow and blooms for several months beginning in midsummer , altho mine started blooming already. The flowers open deep red w/a brown and yellow cone . Then it develops orange and yellow streaks on its petals.

I might try some blues in the background and really pop those bright colors out even more.

Here's a link with more info http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3343654/How-to-grow-heleniums.html

Well its thumbs up for this plant. I'm just glad I don't have to say gesundheit when we have visitors over and they pass by my plant. But I won't mind saying a God Bless YOU. Now that's nothing to sneeze about .

Thanks for joining in on the Plant Camp. If you got this plant growing tell us about it and how you like it. Leave a link if you like to expand our Plant Camp over to your blog pages and you can share about your plants growing . That would be so much fun.

See ya next Monday
tc linda

Not going to eat Combo's for awhile

2010-06-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in your life where you do something embarrassing or stuff happens to ya that you would never tell in a million yrs. And then one day your old enough that it just doesn't matter. The things are kind of funny and your ok with it. That's my blog today. Let me share.

Thank you for the good thoughts but if you want to laugh out loud go right ahead, I can take it.

I've been working on this Amish Friendship bread for a little over a month now. I'm still wondering if its worth it. Its not frugal at all but still giving it a shot. Over on my other blog I've got a Friendship Bread Project going this summer

http://homesteadblogger.com/inthewoods/friendship-bread-project/

I have three breads made w/recipes. You'll need to have your starter tho. I have my positives and negatives on my breads and pic's.

Ok It was Banana Nut Bread, I needed three really ripe banana's ( this is not the story I really want to tell, just sharing about my bread and setting things up, plus a picture to share ) I didn't have three almost black bananas but my Mom did. I added this because isn't it cool when things you need are there in one way or another :). Or the fact Mom's always come through for ya : ) So bread making was on. Here's that picture.

Pretty huh! New bundt pan does it every time. Ok on with the good, bad and ugly.

I had to run to the store and get a few things for this bread like nuts plus those bananas weren't getting any fresher, so no time for breakfast or lunch . I grab a cola and a bag of Combo’s to eat on the run, those little cheddar Cheese pretzels things. May never eat them again , here's why : (.

While I was driving on the country road just munching away I hear and felt a crack in my mouth. I spit in my hand the pretzel (slowing down on the road) and seen something white, wiped it up and oh my gosh its a whole tooth, oh I was in shock that in my hand and mouth was someones tooth. I was so upset that I wanted to go back to the store and complain big time and hurl up chunks too. I had to contain myself.

Then the real shock-a-roo. I felt that something happen to my mouth, looked in the mirror and oh no , it was My tooth, My front tooth, My when I smile there’s a hole in my teeth. Oh no .

That nasty tooth that I was holding that I thought was someone’s else’s was my very own tooth. Can you believe this :(

I called my sister, who was still in town, I said buy some super glue quick and bring it over to my home, hurry . I was not going to leave the woods look'n like this.

She came in the door and said whats up, and I gave her a big grin, her mouth flew open then she said wheres the banjo’s : (.

Working with the glue I got my tooth stuck to my finger, I was panic now. I put a towel in the sink thinkin I might drop it down the drain, how worst could things get.

I got that tooth stuck back in with super glue , but it looks a little lower then what it was before : (. I was worried it might pop out again or worst in my sleep I’ll swallow it. If that happens I'm done with that tooth.

Good news I got a dentist set up for Monday early morning. Staying in the woods this weekend for sure .

So there, I can’t eat the bread b/c of the nuts . I can’t tell if its a nut or a tooth. Two things popped out good for me that day, my new bundt pan popped my bread right out and my tooth popped out.

Two things I'm glad I didn't do. Throw that tooth out the window while driving and bring that tooth to the manager in the store complaining while he/she is seeing I'm without my tooth :(.

I don't think they would buy my story.

Yes its sad, and I was in a panic, but all is well and the super glue is working just fine, I am a happy camper.

Now there's some embarrassing stories about myself that I will never tell. I don't care how old I get. But if you see me chuckling to myself I must be remembering and that's always a good thing.

Just chill'n out in the woods tell I get to the tooth store : ).

Have a great weekend. Stop by Monday for Plant Camp. See ya

tc linda

Hey if your old enough to share an embarrassing story of yourself go ahead , I won't tell : )

Plant Camp Mondays

2010-06-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

I plan to use my Monday blogs for introducing some of the plants here on the homestead. This will help me do more homework on the plants that I grow, their meaning and uses. Theres plenty to learn. I’ll add the botanical names as well, add some recipes and tips on using herbs in lotions , teas and other wonderful info.

Theres a fine line between herbs and veggies and other types of plants so I’ll be including all my plants that grow here in my gardens along with foraging wild plants and flowers from the woods. Herbs being my favorite.

I think this Plant Camp will be fun! Please join the camp, we are in the woods so come along for a stroll in the gardens, along the trails, we’ll check out whats growing along the creek beds. We’ll go mushroom hunting too!

On those chilly days in Autumn will chat by the campfire and talk plants.Talk about pumpkin bread made from those beautiful pumpkins we grew during the summer and all the goodies from our harvest. Snow days will put on our hats and mittens and forage in the woods for wild craft items. Back at the camp for hot cocoa , soup sounds good too : )

Make soaps from the gardens herbs and decoration from foraging in the woods. Theres so much in the world of plants. This is a true gift from God.

Maybe on down the trail we can swap seeds and plants. I’m think’n maybe having drawings for seeds and plants, lotions , soaps, won’t that be fun! How about a birdhouse or something fun for your gardens in a couple of drawings ! I love to share. So will see how big the camp gets and go from there : ) So join in and share some of your favorites.

My first plant is a new one for me. Compass Plant: I first seen this while dh and I were walking the 3 mile trails at Powell Gardens. http://www.powellgardens.org/

This is a Botanical Garden in our area. If you have a chance to go, please do, its wonderful.On their brochure it says the plant turns to have less exposure to the sun during the hot summers, therefore it’s skinny side is facing north and south.

I have one growing in my garden from the plant sale they had this spring and sure enough it is facing north and south.

Compass PlantSilphium laciniatum
Aster family (Asteraceae)

The common name derives from the belief by pioneers that the leaves of Compass Plant pointed in a north-south direction. While this is probably true more often than not, it is not always reliable. The resin was used by the Native American children as a chewing gum. With its imposing height, interesting leaves, and abundant yellow flowers, Compass Plant is an extraordinary plant. No tallgrass prairie is complete without a sizeable population of them.

Here’s more detail: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/compassx.htm

Thanks for joining our first day at Plant Camp Mondays,

If you have a website or blog be sure and leave link so I and others can go visit ya, thanks.

See ya next Monday
tc linda

A Walk In The Woods

2010-06-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

Took a stroll out in our new little paths in the wooded area in front of our trailer/cabin retreat , its about an acre with lots of smaller tall trees. The deeper woods will have to wait tell fall for making paths. Some really huge trees in there. That will be where I build my outpost.

The woods and creek bed is lined in spots with my favorite wild roses.

Here the creek after the rain ,after it came down a bit. Fun to play in looking for arrowheads and pretty rocks.

We'll need to make a bridge to get over to the deeper woods , its so thick here but the paths will make it so much easier to go on those nature walks and bringing the building materials for the new Outpost. There's a tree back there that I'm sure it would take four people to wrap arms around it. I'll have to get pic's and Id it.

Its been raining off and on so had some time to take a few pic's and forage at the same time.

Bleeding Heart leaves by the front porch

Gooseberries , this area is full of them. last time I ate a gooseberry there was half a worm in it, I always check from now on.

And wonderful blackberries, hope the birds leave me some! Not very big but oh so sweet.

Always an interesting tree, limb, or big ol vine in the woods.

Some wild mushrooms too

I stick with what I'm sure of on the mushrooms for foraging and eating, but still these are fascinating to look at.

Garden news:

Well I thought I'd be eating green beans a bit sooner but they are ready to pick now. I'll check the potatoes and see if I can get a few new taters and add to the green beans. I'm going to wait tell the bean vines are dry, wet vines will make a rust on the plant if touched. So don't want rusty bushes and beans.

Sun is out , day at home, so out I go for another walk.

Take good care and many Blessings

linda

Jewelweed and Poison Ivy,treatment from nature

2010-06-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Out here in the woods we have lots of Jewelweed ( Impatiens capensis) growing by the creek. I mean lots. It has an unusual little flower like a little horn.

Another name "touch-me-nots" b/c in drying or when touched it contracts,coils and splits explosively , casting seeds far away in all directions. Could be why we have so much of it.

I have just seen a couple of flowers so they are almost ready for the show. Its like it own little jungle with a dense canopy of plants

It's said by rubbing the leaves and stems on the skin will prevent and even cure a poison ivy infection as well as take the sting out of sting nettle. Thumping my forehead here, my sister has a case of poison ivy on her arm and here I'm sit'n on the stuff, thump, thump. Dr sis to the rescue quick!

Here's some info about Jewelweed http://www.altnature.com/jewelweed.htm

I plan on making some salve using the jewelweed and other herbs that I'm growing.

Now this next picture is total irony to me. When I seen this growing right in the middle of the Jewelweed I felt kinda sorry for it, but just for a little bit.

That's right POSION IVY, growing smack in the middle of its antidote. What was it thinkin!

This week went really fast , home today in the workshop , breaking for some ice tea , and a little blog time : ). For lunch I think I'll grab a sandwich some chips and eat by the creek.

Last night it was so still just the sound of a lone bull frog. Lighting bugs lit all around and if I really listen hard enough I could have heard them.

Have a great weekend
Blessings, linda

Not Opening This Mailbox

2010-06-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

I was out hoeing the maters when Coal our lab was looking down our road and barking. You know dogs have different barks, I'm hungry barks, need a drink bark, I like that squirrel bark.

But this was a different bark. Little did I know it was a young steer on our road. It was just moseying on down the lane like it was a neighbor coming for a visit. I grabbed the camera hoping the dang beast would not attack me and worst head to the gardens. It seen me, kicked up a few and headed toward our mailbox. What in the world is he listening to . I'm not going to open that mailbox for awhile. Mainly b/c of cow snot :o(

The beauty trotted on home, maybe he'll visit another day----hope not. OH and I carried a bucket of water for this guy too. Go, just go.

Garden news:

We got beans folks, yep they may be little but not for long . We could be eating fresh green beans this weekend.

I got three good size beds growing at different stages. We'll have green beans and new potatoes , yum

The Nasturtium are starting to bloom, the plant is small but it doesn't take away from the beautiful jewel colors . I should of had these planted way earlier . They like the cool weather.

Well I didn't get my garden all hoed , cow took president . Looking for the day when I'll be picking fresh tomatoes.

Have a peaceful evening, no cows on the road

Blessings , linda

Amish Bread / Test Bread

2010-06-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

I made my first Amish Bread this morning after 10 days of working the starter. I was having doubts whether it's all worth it, but more so of finding enough family and friends to give this to. I crunched the #'s and it seemed like I would be making basket's full of starter and not enough people to give it to. And plus if they would take it at all.

I had visions of me standing on a street corner desperate handing out starter and people passing by not giving me eye contact. And worst people yelling out at me "make your own Bread" yikes. What was I going to do.

Also was wondering all this week , what if I wanted bread on day 5 or 6 or 7. I had to wait 10 days. What if I wanted to go on vacation what then. What if I croaked would DH work that starter in my stead :(, I seriously doubt it. What if I lost friends over this. I knew i was good with family they are stuck with me but to lose friends over Starter. All the what if's.

Then a few kind forum friends said I can freeze it, hallelujah there was an answer to all my Amish Bread woe's. Not to mention all the variations of bread I could make with this starter.

First of all I have never tasted Amish Bread, guess i lived a sheltered life. Everyone says it's wonderful. So I was excited to get this starter 10 days ago from someone I have never met. Dh brought home this ziploc bag of goo from work. I guess the wife of one of dh's coworkers was getting desperate. I might send her a thank you note that she can freeze this stuff.

My bread was cinnamon with vanilla pudding. I used only one pan , it calls for two or a bundt pan which i do not own. Also it says no metal and use wooden spoon when mixing up the last part of starter to divide in bags for friends, hum.

When we moved I forgot to get my wooden spoons. I live in the woods with no wooden spoons, hard to believe. What to do, think linda think. Stick off a tree, use my hands , really gooey. Ta-da, there it was, my plastic spaghetti thingy. The prongs really went to town on that starter and I had it whipped up in a flash.

I didn't fill it up b/c this was a test , BTW the pan I'm using was a gift from Homesteadbloggers a few years back when I was blogger of the week. I love my pan.

Almost done

Well it didn't get much higher

Here's the thing, it tasted good but it was really dense, real heavy. Is it suppose to be like that?
Now mind you it's the cook, but I didn't see the big deal with this bread from any other breads that only take a few minutes to make, like pumpkin bread and such.

The time plus so much sugar to make this starter well unless I did it wrong just doesn't measure up (that was another thing I forgot to get from our other homestead, measuring cups. DD has all my cool cooking stuff. I need to pay her a visit :)

A note on how I measured for a cup. I took the coffee pot filled with water to 4 cups, took 4 coffee cups and started pouring water in each tell they were even, then I knew how much a true cup was.

Most/all the time i just toss in and it turns out right. But this was a test bread and I wanted it to turn out right.

So I got more testing to do but I sure need to know if this is a really moist bread which i do like. But oh the time it takes.

There's another bag on the counter that is resting and tomorrow I'll work that bag of goo for ten days again. I'll try another recipe, get my measuring cups and wooden spoons and make up another batch of Amish Friendship Bread.

Let me know if you have made this. How did it turn out. Did you pass out the starter to family and friends? Did they work the stater the whole 10 days? Are they still friendly?

So back to the drawing board on my Amish Bread. Here's another thing too. Hubby, good ol hubby would have down that bread in a flash if it was right, there still some left, not a good sign : (

All have a great weekend, I'm grilling chicken breast , veggie mix and macaroni salad for din din. Dessert--- Amish Cinnamon Bread :)

Have a great weekend
Blessings linda

Winter Sowing Pays Off

2010-06-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

I went over for a visit yesterday at our ol homestead to get some grandkiddy hugs and they wanted me to see the flowers that were blooming. Dragging me by the hand we went all over the place.

They were so excited about this lily that dd gave me several from a co-op a couple of yrs back.

Then we checked out other plants and flowers that are blooming. Lots of them are from the Winter Sowing" I did. Seed that I put in coffee cans drilled on the bottom for drainage, filled about 3" of soil, clear plastic w/ holes held by rubber bands on top for light and water to get in then set outside in the cold snow/ice winter. Put them out the first of January and left alone. At times I had doubt with all those containers covered in deep snow.

I had 170+ containers that year with so many plants coming up in the late winter, hundreds of plants. I was a transplanting fool that yr. And now I'm seeing beautiful plants that I will save seeds and do again this winter and start them out here at our new homestead.

Here's a plant that has always been hard for me to transplant but yet it grew well from the winter sow, Butterfly Weed

There's so many plants in the butterfly garden coming from the Winter Sow that I'm sold on that way of growing perennials. Google winter sow and you'll be amazed how many plants can be planted in the winter this way.

It must have been visiting day. I visited my youngest DD and got some lovin from our grandbaby who will be a yr old in Aug. He's growing up so very fast. Loves to move around and looks like one of those little crawling babies you wind up and let go.

I also took a trip out to my sisters and bil's homestead. Mom was there and we sat out on sis's porch and talked about all the projects that need to be done.

She has a big beautiful white lilac that is so fragrant. That's a big ol bee on this flower head along with other critters having there lunch.

Well I got my visiting fix in so back home here in the woods. Do some work in the shop and later when it cools down do some gardening. Oh and some sitting under a big oak tree with a glass of ice tea and a good gardening magazine.

Have a great weekend coming up
Blessings, linda

IDing This Mystery Plant

2010-05-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today we noticed a new plant growing here on the homestead. Never seen this before, also had a neighbor take a look and they never seen such a plant either. Maybe you might have.

Here's the strange part. This fruit that is way below the top part looks like some kind of ear of corn growing but the plant part does not look like any corn plant I have ever seen. The plant is about 36 inches tall

So if you know this mystery plant I'd be sure pleased if you leave a comment about it. Thanks

Here's some other flower pic's that I planted on our homestead.
Bee Balm one of my favorite plants Monarda didyma "Purple Rooster" great name

Another favorite Echinacea coneflower -Echinacea hybrid

Yarrow Achilla Strawberry Seduction great for flower arrangements

Strawflower Chrysocephalum apiculatum , Little flowers on this plant

Well I thought I was done planting tomatoes, think again linda. If around 300 plants were not enough Mom and Sis gave me about 100 more b/c they were tired of planting there 130 plants. Oh no , nothing like putting another 100 out.

Thing is once there planted I'll be done. What am I say'n its only begun. There will be horn worms to pick off, watering, picking a warm tomato and eating it right there in the garden, got to carry my salt shaker. And then the harvest and canning.

But when the winter snows blow , I'll pop the lid off a jar and fix up some hot veggie soup. But there will be plenty of BLT's before soup time. Unless I make some of that cold soup, oh whats the name of that stuff?

So I'm waiting for it to cool down and start planting again. I just fixed BBQ ribs, potato salad and corn on the cob for din din, so thought I'd get a journal in for today while I'm resting. Ate to much :).

Yesterday I put corn, okra,collards, cabbage, seeds of a flower mix and tomatoes in the third garden. This evening along with the tomatoes, theres peppers and cabbage to set out.

Later tonight, dark time Mom and sis are coming out and we are going to watch a movie outside, lol. Its pitch dark out here in the woods and sis got her a projector and big screen. So well bring out out comfy chairs, pop some popcorn and feel like the old days when they had drive in's.

Do you remember those drive'in's? Are there any still around and open? Those where great days when the family went to the drive in. I loved the concession stands and how they would show all the good foods on the really big screen. No entertainment center can match those big screens.

Well off to the gardens. I'll check in later after the movie and see what you all did for the weekend.

Many Blessings
linda

Pic's around the homestead

2010-05-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Since I got my new camera I can get back into taking pic's of our new place. It will be nice to see before and after, even tho there's hardly any after because things keep changing , moving around. A work in progress always. I enjoy the growing part.

First there's the creek, boy is it ever changing. When we had all the rains it was roll'n. Temps to toss in a canoe and ride to the ocean. But I just sat back, watched and listen to the great sound. Most the times it's just a free flowing creek that I can see little fish try'n to get back up stream. Water flowing over a bed of little clean rocks. Might try my hand at panning for gold. A bridge will be needed to get across. Plans on a wooden one so we can make paths in the woods and build that little log cabin (Outpost).

Here's where hubby and I have our coffee and just sit and listen and watch the hummers and other birds. When MOM and Sis come over we have dinners out here on the deck. Mom always grabs one of those rockers.

Here's one of the new gardens taken earlier, things are really growing now that the rain is over and sun shin'n. I have two other gardens that are getting full of tomatoes. I have them growing away from the walnuts and oaks.
I need to get mulch for my plants and work on the paths so I can get in when it does rain again. I use lots of straw.

When we first moved here I just had to grow something so I used a couple of tires left here from SIL for a quick garden. I still have thoughts about growing food in tires. A few organic gardeners say its ok as long as there's no wires hanging out, clean them up good and they are fine. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.

I'll be sharing new plants and this one Acanthus Spinosus is really new to me. I'll have to see if it has a common name. Do you know this plant? It seems to like it out here in the woods. I'm starting a perennial garden and wildflower gardens as well.

Sis and I are heading into town/city today to meet with clients. Plans for a stay at home weekend and plant , BBQ and just relax, maybe a game of Washers.

Have a safe fun weekend.
Many Blessings, linda

Being Prepared

2010-05-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

When I lost contact with Internet, blogging, forums, from a down PC I also lost that urgent feeling of being prepared. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. My body rested from all the news , I even got away from the news. I did hide in the woods so to speak.

Thoreau said something like this, if you heard bad news once why do you need to hear more of it again. There maybe some truth in that but most people can't do without hearing the news. It does keep us informed plus back then Thoreau probably didn't have the worry of a nuke dropping on his head from a crazy. So knowing what's happening around you is to our best well being. We can plan and use the best resources we have. Unless one is at ground zero you got a good chance to make it. And even then there's hope always.

Being prepared: Oh how I was into that. From the time we moved to the sticks in the early seventies to now even. I still have Y2K beans and wheat in sealed glass jars. Beans may not be good but the wheat will be and if your hungry a 20, 30 year old dry bean may taste pretty good.
I collected buckets from bakeries, close to 200. You ever clean the frosting out of one of those? You don't want cake for a very long time. I stored water and food. I planted big gardens , canned and dehydrated . Collected many books for the prepared movement I was in. I lived and even dreamed of being prepared.

I made up a BOB "bug out bag" one for the auto and one for footing it. Last year without having a PC I used that time on another adventure of hiking. It turned out to be part of my "being prepared". Thoughts of hiking the Appalachian Trails, items that you took along on a 6 month hike. Ounces counted on such a hike.Altho at this time of my life knocking off 6 to 7 months for a hike just would not work. First I would miss my family, wouldn't do well for income, (it cost average $6000 just to go hiking) I sure wouldn't be making any money on the way. Plus the garden. A section hike of a week or two would work for me.

But the real part was preparing , I did some shake down hiking to get the body prepared. What if one had to evaluate ones home. Grab the BOB and head out on foot. What if you had elderly that needed help out and there was no way out using an auto.

Oh I even thought of pack mules and dogs for protections carrying there own vittles on a pack. I was in a heading into the woods movement for sure. But enjoying it along the way. Camping out in my Outpost for 11 weekends in a row and cooking outdoors. Making a debris hut in 14* weather. Plans for a sleep out in it , but I did not do well. To close to home and the fireplace going sounded a lot better. I just lived to close to the project. I chicken out : (Learning how to make fire without a match. Sis and I had a contest on this one, who could make a fire faster. We searched the woods for dry tinder and went to work. We had coffee after we got the fire started, hubby came up with a match :/

But the thing is we tried and we still work at it. Even though I live in the woods I'm not going to stop being prepared. My energy is to be more prepared . Back using the computer I am still reading preparedness more then ever. The movement is growing.

I found this list on a forum I belong to and they copied from another, so I'm going to copy. I wouldn't think the orginal writer would mind sharing. The more people that prepare the less burden it will be on supplies for those that did not.

Copy " If you think an economic total collapse is coming then this little lists of ' to do 'things is about right.

Step 1Only buy what you need. Don't spend a penny more than what you must, and befrugal in what you buy. Buy used whenever possible, and go for quality overquantity. Save, re-use, and do without when you have to. Remember all thosestories about your grandmother walking 10 miles daily barefoot in the snow? Weneed to do the economic equivalent. Get some mettle and use the wisdom of ourelders to learn to be frugal and spend wisely.

Step 2Get out of debt and start saving money. The dollar is sure to plummet evenmore in the face of world economy collapse, and evidence shows that gold pricesrise when the dollar decreases in value. Investing in gold may be the way to gorather than cash savings. Gold coin investing can help you preserve the value ofyour money if the dollar sharply plummets. Gold retains its value, and can betraded for stronger currencies or used to purchase good and services. If thereis no extra money to pay down debt or start saving, focus on necessities likehousing, food, and supplies.

Step 3Be creative about sources of income. As more large corporations go underand thousands of jobs are lost, think outside the box for ways to bring inadditional income. Examples of ways to earn extra money include direct sales,online writing for upfront or residual pay, selling high-demand items online,and selling items on consignment.

Step 4Consider a career switch, and get the necessary training while you can.Jobs in health care and energy conservation are expected to thrive even withglobal economic collapse.

Step 5Stockpile food, water, and emergency supplies. Dry goods like grains andlegumes, along with canned goods, bottled water, water purification tablets, andfirst aid supplies should be kept on hand in case of emergency.

Step 6Learn to be resourceful and do things yourself. From home plumbing togrowing your own food, learn to provide for your own needs as much as possible.Start now to learn how to create and tend a food garden, and consider spendingtime studying up on home repair and other useful skills.

Step 7Network with friends, family, and neighbors. Build relationships withinthe local community so that you can rely on them - and they on you - in case ofworld economy collapse.

Step 8Learn to barter. Have on hand important goods like personal care items(soaps, razors, deodorant), non-perishable food items, tools, first aidsupplies, and other necessary supplies. Consider what you know. Do you know howto garden? Are you skilled in holistic health techniques? Do you know a lotabout home repair? These skills are not only valuable for you, but you can usethem to barter and help others in case of world economic collapse." end of copy

I would like to add is to have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. God would not have put us here for nothing, there is a plan. Pray for guidance, collect knowledge and resourses. Know there is a Great Hope that is bigger then anything we have to face.

Many Blessings
linda

Went fish', last weekend

2010-05-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Went fish'n last weekend and caught a mess to fry up. I used my new stove and had all the iron skillets going. Fried taters n'onions in one, cornbread in another and the big 20 inch skillet for fry'n up the bluegill,redear and black crappie.

Sis and I skinned the fish by our creek,it felt like we were camping out. I toss the guts in a dug up hole and then buried them. But later that night I heard a pack of coyotes run'n the creek and I bet they were sniff'n out my compost or just plain go'in crasy from the smell of fish fry'n but those taters and onions will do it for sure.

Sis had brought her motorless little Tracker boat. She and I took across the small 70 acre lake, pretty easy rowing when you got the wind blow'n ya. But coming back was a different story. We had to fight the wind. Sure wasn't making headway until we made a team effort after yelling at each other, like "its your fault, no its yours, can't you row, we should have stayed on the bank, we should have stayed home" stuff like that. I can imagine our Mom , who;s fishing on the bank, pipe down your scar'n the fish. When we contained ourself and act like adults sort of, we came up with a plan to work the boat. We did a 1,2,3,4 switch oars other side,1,2,3,4, switch to other side until we got to the other side where Mom and DH was fishing. We dared not let up for fear of drifting back to where we started.

We looked goofy I'm sure going nowhere against the wind but when we put our sister teamwork together we made it workand probably looked professionaL, naw we stilled looked goofy. Two ol ladies in a row boat goofy!

What made things worst we started catching fish close to the bank. We didn't need that boat after all. Oh well we had a good workout.

Later that evening I got a few of my tomatoes in just 70 plants with many more to plant. I put out another 67 heirloom tomatoes tonight. Had a cookout and did some mowing. In town tomorrow and hopefully I can get back soon enough and put out some more tomatoes. The last couple of days have been great for drying up the grown.
Well off to read some blogs, thank you for stopping by
Many Blessings
linda

Beautiful Sunny Day -last week news

2010-05-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a beautiful day, sun shinning and no rain. Time to dry up a bit. I'll be able to work the gardens this weekend, yeah. Sis and i went to the city/town to meet up with clients, just got home and I stood outside and listen to the owls talking to one another .

The moonlight and stars shinning ,something that seems a long time sense they shone b/c of all the storms.

Oh its always nice to get home. We go in town about a couple of times a week and the rest of the time at our homes sewing. I love our setup getting to stay home most of the time.

We had tornado's south and east touching down, a few roof damages were reported yesterday evening. I kept the weather station on while I was working in my sewing room.

I scored today, at one of the designers stores I do some work for. One of there employees asked if I wanted an old Singer sewing machine with cabinet. I asked how much, free she said. Now you never turn down free stuff especially sewing machines. The cool part it's a beautiful distress black cabinet real French looking . Perfect with my other furnishing in our trailer/cabin. I've been decorating with a French country look. Using creams and black trimmings. This was such a surprise. Plus she said it sews very good ,has all the goodies with it as well.

Now when sis and I go into town we'll have a late lunch . Today it was BBQ. We order dinosaur ribs (WHAT) we just had to have em. Oh they were big but tough as an ol rooster. Or I should say an ol dinosaur. Us "longer in the tooth" people need a bit more softer meat, we should have left dino alone and order something normal. My black lab is gnawing on the big bone now. It was a good day for her too. :)

We'll start brown baggin and stop by the lake to have lunch , save time and money on DIY lunches. We are like little kids in a lunch room trading one thing for another.

Oh my have I got hooked on this blogging again. I came in tonight, told DH I got a couple of movies for tonight. He's waiting for me to get'em started and I'm blogging instead. Looking over I see him sound asleep and snoring. So much for movie night. That's way ok ;I'll just keep blogging away:)

Its going to be a busy weekend. Gardens will be top on the list, Those 200+ tomatoes have got to get in. Muddy or not.

I'm ready to go blog visiting . I also joined some of the groups. I think this is a great feature on the all new HB. Lots of good info and easy to get quick answers to your homesteading questions

Have a great weekend and many Blessings
linda

2010-05-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

A day of sunshine :) after much rain lately. They are calling for more rain tomorrow and I did hear the tree toad. That little critter is my on target weather man. Pretty much can count on rain when you here the chirp.

I'll need to get acquainted to different nature clues to weather here in the woods, even tho we are not to far from our other homestead the woods is deeper and denser. Yesterday a crane flew right by the window here were as over at Locust Trail Homestead they would fly high. It looked so prehistoric. I'll have to ID some of these hoot owls, most are the common hoot but there's one that sounds like a monkey.

Last night I awoke by a very strange scream. I need to keep a lookout for cougar. Some yrs ago I was confronted 2 times by a beautiful cougar. I stood my ground mostly cuz I couldn't move (froze) just what your suppose to do when confronted by the big cats, Oh and act big, with arms held high. I'm just glad I didn't pass out.

Hummingbirds are licking sap from one of the oak trees or maybe picking up some ants for their young, probably both. They fly and look in the window at a bouquet of iris, and wonder why they can't get to it. There's a big bleeding heart that my dd planted and they seem to really enjoy that.

Hope to pop in some tomatoes tomorrow before the rains come again. DD and grandbaby will be coming over for a visit. She'll be working on a baby blanket for a new family member on her hubbies side.

Haven't decided on what to fix din din. I ordered an electric stove/oven. Been cooking on a two burner hot plate. It cooks but I sure like to use iron skillets and start making breads in the oven. The new stove will be in this Saturday.

At the other homestead I had a 6 burner Wolf gas stove. Won't be good here b/c we will not have propane. Just heat with wood plus electricity for appliances. My dd is very glad to have the Wolf. Its a wonderful canning stove.

Living in the trailer has not been bad at all, true I can't fix all the things I had over at our other home but I was wanting/needing to scale down a bit. Here its all about organising and keeping things that really would be used. Most important things like my recourse books, gardening,nature homesteading, magazines I had to have here. The knitting and quilting materials needed to come. I left my art studio for the girls so they could have scrapbook parties and plenty of art supplies for the grandkiddies. All I took was my watercolors for some nature painting outside.

I do have my homebase business here in one of the rooms, I make slipcovers. Its been a family business for over 58 yrs. The big shop over at the homestead will still be, teaching dd's the trade and if grandkids get involved it will be 4 generation in our family trade.

Well i'm off to read some blogs ,have a great week

CompostPyle

2010-05-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

My first blog here so I'll get right to it. First thank you for dropping by. I use to blog all the time until my computer hit the dust and time got away to get back at it. It was a long break that I missed but it was good to know that I can live like before w/out one. Now I have a laptop that is so much fun.

Let me share about me for a bit and then you can see if you want to visit again. I sure hope so.

My family and I grew up in the city, we moved often, maybe every year it seemed, many schools. So out of high school we , Dad,Mom, Sis and I moved to the sticks it was for good. NO more moving, we loved it . WE had only electric , no house, no water, only woods. We first tented and then got a small vintage trailer , sleeping quarters were tight. Sis head at my feet and my head at hers. when you had to roll over everyone rolled over. In the winter we would wrap heated bricks from the campfire to warm our feet and I guess noses to. I remember waking up to my long hair froze to the wall of the trailer.

We got tough in those days, woke up to campfire coffee and good outdoor cookin'. We needed to be cuz of the work ahead. tearing down old house to start our cabin. Haul rocks up the hill and pulled hundreds of nails. Our first real building was a two holer outhouse. Not sure why we needed two holes, never really needed or wanted company when nature called.

We put out gardens , had every kind of homestead animal and even wild critters would hang around. The cougar was a bit much but he/she went on its way. We lived the Thoreau lifestyle, simple.

Now after a few yrs in my later 20's I met my hubby coming out of the woods. We married had our three children and built an earthhome just about a half a mile as the crow flies from my first home in the woods.

Time flew fast and we now have six grand kiddies and another little blessing on the way.

Now somethings in life just make good plain sense. When dh and I got are 20 acres and built. I made a packed that I would never move,ever. Well don't ever say that cuz that is just what we did. We exchanged homes with our DD,SIL and the 5 grand kids. We needed to scale down and they needed more room.

For awhile now I have been seeing a trend for smaller homes esp. for us empty nesters . Making smaller footprints along lifes path and can see the impact we cause if we don't clean up our act. Plus simplicity sounds good to me. Even living in a tent in the woods sound good. We are pretty close to that now. We traded our 4000 sq ft home for a beat up old trailer home and lovin' every min of it. You see this home has got the biggest windows that overlook the woods and creek. It feels like i'm on a camping trip with hot showers.

I have the garden growing and even enjoying some fresh goodies. The only sounds are the creek and nature. Owls hooting evenings and mornings, wild turkey in the woods , cows mooing and coyotes yapping in the distance fields. There's no light pollution and the stars feel like you can touch them. Bluebirds and hummers and all kinds of birds. Big oak trees that line the curve driveway that looks more like a walking trail. It's wonderful.

The best part is this feels like home b/c our grand kids were here and knowing they are happy in the home that they know and love. It all just made so much sense to do.

So come along with my reads, there's lots of stuff to do. Herbs ,heirloom plants, flowers that I will be sharing about and pictures to. Our plans are to build a small cabin and on down the road a bridge over the creek into the deeper woods to build that Walden's Pond writing cabin. It will be my new Outpost.

CompostPyle is my new name, pretty fitting for an organic gardener with the last name Pyle. I'll be talkin' on that subject to. You toss in a pile of natural waste and come out with black gold that those of us who love dirt will know what I'm talkin' about.

So off to read other adventures and maybe pickup a new friend or two. Add me to your list if you like the simple things in life and share em with me. Bring along some rubber boots and we'll go walking in the creek looking for arrowheads or cool rocks, do some mushroom and foraging hunting or just hang out by the firepit and have a cup of coffee.

TC CompostPyle or you can call me linda if you like : )