Farm Report: What A Difference A Few Weeks Make

It is truly a miracle what a few weeks of sun, warmth and rain can do!  God is good.  The garden has taken off and is looking great.

I'll give you a little tour...

Here are the snap peas this morning.  The crazy plants on either side of the trellis are blue potato plants.  Who knew they'd get so big? 

Here's what the snap peas looked like on May 27th.  You can't even see the tops of the trellis in this shot.

Here's a snap pea.  The littlest Young'un has been eating copious amounts of snap peas straight off the vines.  If she's outside and we can't find her (not that a situation like this would ever occur), we just have to look in the garden.  She's in amongst the peas.

The lettuce bed is looking a bit bedraggled.  We've eaten TONS and there's still more to pick.  The plants regrow if you cut off the lettuce instead of plucking out the whole thing.

One of a several plantings of beans.  Carrots are coming in my little lines along the front of the plot.

Same beans on May 27th.

Tomato "walls" growing.  We're giving something new a shot.  Tomatoes are actually vines which is why they seem to climb right out of those wire tomato cages we usually stick them into.  String has been tied around the wooden posts on either side of the plot and the tomatoes will climb up the string.  If it works, picking tomatoes will be a GREAT deal easier!  There also also eggplant and peppers in this plot.

Another tomato wall.  Some seeds have been planted in the empty middle of this plot, but I'm not sure what they are.  Farmer Ron did the planting.  Nasturtiums have the small plants in the foreground.  Did you know Nasturtium leaves are edible and pretty yummy in salads?

A row of sunflowers next to the fence and tomato (not in walls) in the front.  There are also some pole beans next to the fence way at the end.

Here is a list of what's in the ground as of today:

tomatoes - 35 or so plants

peppers - green, red, purple, jalapenos

beans - bush and pole

snap peas

kale

swiss chard

lettuces

eggplant

sunflowers

zucchini

cucumbers

raspberries

broccoli

basil

sage

thyme

rhubarb

potatoes

carrots

radishes

rutabaga

soy beans

tomatillos

Happy Growing!

Frivolous Friday - Just One More

When I saw this photo, my first thought was "What's so funny?"  We've got tons of the classic sitting-on-the-couch-in-a-big-pile-of-family photos.  It actually took me about a minute to find the funniness.  What possessed them to take this photo and who volunteered to be... well, I'm just going to stop there.  You'll have to find what I mean for yourself.

I promise, this will be the last photo I post from Awkward Family Photos.  It really will.  I just can't help it; I love to laugh.

Mega Swag Bucks Day

Have you signed up for Swagbucks yet?  No?  What are you waiting for?

If you haven't signed up - you're missing out on free Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Starbucks gift cards.

Fridays are Mega Swag Bucks day which means you even more Swag Bucks for doing your regular searching on the internet.  Swag Bucks has also started daily polls which take about 30 seconds and earn you 1 Swag Buck.  You can also click through their no commitment special offers and earn a Buck or two.

Signing up is easy, just click here or on the sidebar widget.

Want to learn more about Swag Bucks?  Check out this post.

Happy swaggy searching!

Will it Roast? Potatoes

Cue the music.

Turn on the funky, blinking colored lights.

It's time for everyone's favorite Little Farm game show - Will It Roast?

If you're new to our series you might be asking, "Why roast a vegetable?"  Well, first and foremost, because it makes veggies taste amazing!  It's also EASY and healthy.  What's not to love?

Tonight's contender is potatoes which, of course as everyone knows, will roast.  Potatoes will roast and they'll be delicious doing it.  Any type of potato will roast - russets, red, yukon gold, fingerlings - you name it.  Roasted potatoes are tender and creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside.  They are also a very economical side dish.  Mmmmm. 

The same basic recipe we used in our other Will it Roast? posts applies to potatoes - Veggies + high heat + oil = some veggie deliciousness.

Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes with skins on, I probably use about 3 lbs for our family
Olive Oil - a few tablespoons
Salt and Pepper
Extras:  onions, garlic, spices like thyme or rosemary

Line a pan with aluminum foil.  (Not necessary, but it makes clean up so much easier and, as such, make your veggies taste that much better.)  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Cut potatoes into cubes.  They shouldn't be some small diced sized.  Ours are usually on the larger side of bite sized.  If you are using small red potatoes - just halve them or leave them whole if they're really small.  Spread the potatoes out on the baking sheet.  Drizzle oil over them and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  At this point, you can also add some minced garlic or a slivered onion or both to the baking sheet.  Herbs are also a great addition.  I'd try a single herb the first you do it.  If you want to get really crazy - roast some potatoes and carrots together.  It will probably take about 30 minutes for your potatoes to get those crispy browned bits on their edges.  If you are making a bunch of them, you might want to spread them on two pans.  Your cooking time will also be longer if you up the quantity.  Giving them a stir or two while their cooking is a good idea also.

You're going to love these things!  Eat them with beef, chicken, even burgers.  I've even had salads made with roasted potatoes.  Oh. My.  Yummy.

Stayed tuned for our next episode when we ask - Lettuce, Will It Roast?

Just kidding - lettuce will NOT roast. 

The Gals Are On Strike!

Have you noticed how slowly the numbers on The Egg Count have been creeping up?  For the past couple of months, we've been averaging 3.4 eggs per day from the four Gals.  However, things have changed.

It appears the Gals are on strike.

When the Young'uns skip out to check for eggs each day, they are coming back sad faced and empty handed.  We've been eking out about an egg a day for the last week or so.

Hmmmm.

This is only our second year of having chickens here on the Farm, so Farmer Ron and I are not exactly poultry experts in any way, shape or form.  Like most things we do, we figure the best way to learn is by doing, so we got the chickens and we're figuring it out as we go.  We even took this approach to having kids..."Let's just start trying and see what happens."  So far, it's worked well, a bit chaotic, but well.

Not being completely well versed in the way of the chicken, we're at a bit of a loss as to the slow down in egg production.  Many theories have been thrown around the dinner table - a sneaky little neighbor gal, the lack of sun, a shortage of eggs on some other planet (think aliens), a need for the coop to be moved, chicken stress (whatever this might be), a sneaky animal neighbor, chicken cannibalism (we haven't seen any empty shells).  See how may possibilities with which we have to work?

The best theory we've come up with is that the Gals are molting.  What is molting you ask?  Here's your answer, thanks to wiki answers:

Molting is the process of shedding and renewing its feathers. During the molt the reproductive system of the bird is allowed a complete rest from laying and the bird builds up its body reserves of nutrients. It is a natural process, designed to maintain the birds' ability to escape enemies by flight( strong new feathers) and to provide greater protection against cold winter conditions. In most breeds the molt occurs once per year but can actually happen twice in the same year. The molt can last from 3 months and occasionally for up to 5 months depending on the condition of the bird at the start of molt. A good tonic added to the drinking water will help speed this along.

So, we're using molting as our working theory of our lack of eggs.  We really don't have a clue if it's a correct theory, but we're going with it for now and we'll see what happens.  Three months is a long time to keep these Gals if they aren't going to give us eggs since we don't keep them over the winter anyway.  (They end up in our freezer somewhere around the start of December.) 

Will we break the Laying Chickens Union strike and bring in scabs? 

Stay tuned...who knew chickens could bring such drama to our lives?

Edible Landscaping - Amazing!

I found photos online of the Edible Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  It's fascinating to me in many ways.  For starters, it gorgeous!  It's also very creative.  I love the all of the colors to be found in using plain old vegetable garden plants.  What a great way to create some beauty and feed people at the same time.  Don't get me wrong - I love me some flower gardens.  (I wish I was better at growing and more committed to my flower gardens here on the farm.  Maybe I'll work on them more when I am not growing Young'uns.)  The idea of edible gardens just intrigues me.

We're trying our hand at edible gardening in a couple of places around the Farm - some pole beans growing along the garage and herbs in flower beds.  The Edible Garden at the Botanical Garden in Atlanta went for it in a big way.  They converted an acre of parking lot into a garden that can be eaten along with an outdoor kitchen for visiting chefs to teach classes in.  How fun is that?

Thought I'd share a few photos to get you thinking and also a link in case you want to see it for yourself.

An "amphitheater" of veggie plants with fruit trees along the top.

Same amphitheater - side view.  Veggies in the Round. 

Kevin Gillespie, our favorite chef from America's Top Chef (we were addicted to that show back when we had cable), picking herbs from the wall of herbs.  I love the wall of herbs!

Herb wall - up close and personal.

Find out more at Garden Design.

All the photos are courtesy of Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Best Birthday Cake!

It's my birthday today. I don't want to lose my Mom card, so I won't reveal my true age. Let's just say I am not 40, yet...

In honor of my birth (Thanks Mom!), I thought I'd share my very favorite cake recipe of ALL time. Seriously-this cake is a little bit of heaven. It is especially delicious with some sort of fruity sauce - like rhubarb or strawberry- and some REAL homemade whipped cream on top.

Oh. My. Goodness. It's to die for.

This is not a cake for those who shun fat and calories, but, even if you are one of those type of folks, you should make it anyway. Afterall, you don't eat cake everyday - it's for celebrations! So, you can afford a few extra calories now and then.

Kentucky Butter Cake
(How can it be bad with the word Butter in the title?)

Cake
3 c flour
2 c sugar
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 c buttermilk (or 1 c milk "soured" with 1 T vinegar or lemon juice)
1 c butter, softened
2 t vanilla extract
4 eggs

Butter Sauce
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c butter
3 T water
2 t vanilla extract

Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. Do NOT skimp on the grease! Trust me, I of what I speak. In mixing bowl, add butter and whip until fluffy. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix again until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and milk a bit at a time, alternating between the two, and mix on low speed until just moistened, then mix for 3 minutes on medium. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for 55 - 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

In small saucepan, combine all butter sauce ingredients. Heat over low heat until butter and sugar are melted.

Using the end of a wooden spoon or a long tined fork, poke about 20 holes all over the bottom of the cake (which is still in the pan at this point). Slowly pour the sauce over the cake and watch it soak into all those holes. Remove cake from pan as soon as sauce is absorbed. Just stick a plate over the cake, hold the plate and cake together and flip the whole thing over. You may have to give it a couple of knocks on the counter. You can eat the cake either warm or cold, plain or with sauce, with or without REAL whipped cream.

I just have one birthday request- if you use Cool-Whip, please don't tell me about it. Thanks.