Around here

Things are growing.

There isn't much wind.

I made a bean trellis from an old swing set frame.

There is the other part of the swing set.

Tomato plants are looking good.


So is the lettuce and broccoli.

The clothes line is up.

I found this giant wok in a freebie pile at a garage sale.

I can picture stir fry on the fire pit this summer.

Little Mama says hi.


Do you see our little treasure?

Here's a better view.

(I haven't weighed it yet for all you egg weighers out there)



Thanks for visiting.

Around here

We're taking many trips out to the coops.

The hens are enjoying the ramshackle run.



Trying to get a pic from the inside.

Pretty wants to be in a picture too.

Chubby (cheeks) is trying to stay warm.

We are getting low on firewood.

Sniffing fox tracks

Following deer tracks through the garden..

..to see that they were munching on unpicked beets.




Feeding the birds from a homemade Christmas present.

The garden tool shed is waiting for spring.

So is the duck nesting box.

The dock is waiting for summer.

Happy St. Pattys Day!

I just finished a tasty meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage.

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Our last 5 days weather wise couldn't have been nicer. I sure hope the Arctic blasts of winter are gone for good. The fact that it is Michigan I know we aren't done but a girl can dream, right?

Over the weekend we raked leaves and...

...demolished the old crate coop.

You served us well for 3 years but it was time to go.

We couldn't justify keeping you and your leaky roof when I have this "new" beauty.

Nothing left but the foundation.

Our yard looks less trashy now. We still have a bit of trashy left but that's how we roll.

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I collected sap until I almost got tired of it.

All of this 8 gallon container.

Plus all these.

About 22 gallons worth, and the sap is still flowing.

I had to get our propane tank refilled so I could do this again.

Melissa asked for a close up of our hook system. Our taps had built in hooks so it made hanging the jugs easy.

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Not all good news though.

The winter was a hard one for us but it was even harder on our pond. The inhabitants of our pond actually.

It looks like all of our large fish have been wiped out. Bass, large mouth and small, and our stripes. All of the big Bluegill and Sunfish.

Both of our carp too.

The ice hasn't melted all the way yet so I'm not sure if any small ones are left.

We were stocking up as a future meat source and had only eaten a few last summer.

We were hoping to have a fish fry with our camping guests this summer. Sorry ladies.

I'm bummed, I had caught and brought home most of these fish myself.

Of all the years we have been here we have never lost fish over the winter.

Looks like I need to renew my fishing licence.

*

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. Dolly Parton

A tale of two syrups.

I usually make my own syrup.

Boil 2 cups of water, add 4 cups of sugar, stir till clear, add a splash of maple flavor.

Its usually cheaper than store bought and I don't care for the butter flavor most syrups add.

It's easy and I always have those ingredients on hand.

Hubby has been wanting to tap our maple trees for quite some time. Last year he bought some old syrup taps on ebay. Don't you love a guy who does stuff like that?

You tap trees right before the temps get in the 40's, so last Sunday he drilled and tapped 7 of our maples and rigged some milk jugs to collect the sap.

And we waited.

The chickens scratched.

I took a self portrait.

It got warmer and the daffodils peeked out.

We didn't have to wait long.

In a day and a half we collected about 12 gallons of sap. (it's really like water)



You have to boil it down outside unless you like your walls and ceiling to be sticky in your home.



I manned the pot.

The guys worked on the dock.

It boiled into the night.


Our first batch was thin, but tasted amazing. Our next batch, we boiled down more and was thicker.
I filtered it through t-shirt material to get out the bits and bugs.
In total we got about a quart of syrup.




Words can't describe how good this is, all I can say it was well worth the effort.
It turned cold again and the trees have stopped producing, we hope the next warm up brings more sap but since this is our first year we don't know what to expect.
We've read that some trees like silver maples don't work well for flavor, apparently we have the good sugar maples. <3>

1 year

I have had my blog for one year today. Little did I know what I was getting into. I started reading other peoples crafty blogs and thought what a fun thing to do. A journal for myself but also to show others the little things I am doing in my day to day. The fact that any of you find it interesting is just a bonus!

I still read and love the crafty blogs but I have evolved into the farm type blogs too. Now mind you, I barely qualify in the farm department. I have 4 acres but no farmhouse. I have chickens but no livestock. I have a tractor but use it for hayrides and plowing snow. I have a nice size garden but it doesn't feed us for the year, not even close.

The thing that I love most about this blog world is the women I've "met". Sharing ideas and our lives with each other. What a funny, talented, interesting bunch you all are.

Countless times my hubbie will come in the den to see what is so funny.

Today I want to talk about food preservation.

As I stated above my garden isn't a huge one. When you toss in a few rabbits who wipe out over half of your bean crop, red worms in your potatoes, a month of drought does the cukes in, you are only left with so much to eat fresh and a bit left over to put away.

We have been eating fresh pretty much the whole summer, first asparagus and peas, then peas and lettuce, then lettuce and cucumbers, cucumbers and beans, now beans and tomatoes. We will eat as much fresh as we can and if there is extra, that is when I start canning.

I had about 25 tomatoes, not enough for a huge batch of sauce but still a good amount.

I quartered them, put them in a pot and set it in the fridge overnight. In the morning I poured a considerable amount of water out (less to boil down). Then put it on the stove warm up and poured more tomato water out.

I save the water, label and freeze for winter soups.

I then pureed the thick tomatoes, add the spices, sauteed the onions an garlic in a separate pan.

I ended up with only 2 quarts worth of sauce, not worth canning right? WRONG!

I just use a smaller enamel pot lined with old canning rings twist tied together to keep the jars off the bottom.

I went back out to the garden, picked the beans and made a 2 pint batch of dilly beans with what i had.

I got water boiling, put the 4 jars in, took the dilly beans out after 10 minutes, got the sauce out after 40.

This is what the pot looks like with a steamy camera lens.

Who says pints and quarts cant get along.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Last evening while watching mindless TV, I sliced more apples and got out the dehydrator.

I woke to a quart of apple chips.

I put some in the kids lunchboxes and snacked on some myself.

With rising food costs, every little bit will help this winter.

I want to thank you for the wonderful year of sharing ideas, your funny, kind and thoughtful comments and new friendships!