It's all about the food, baby!

This is our fourth year here on the homestead. We are still learning, but things are coming along. This spring/summer, "Food First" has been our motto. That means forgoing other projects to get the garden in, keeping the produce picked, babying the plants, and making sure the harvest gets processed before it has a chance to go bad. In the past, we've been busy trying to make the house habitable, and not paid as much attention to the garden as we'd have liked.

We were a bit too ambitious at the beginning of spring, and planned to plant more things than we actually did. But those seeds will keep till next year, and the new beds should be ready by then.

I'm planning to spend more time babying our apple trees this year and next year, or at least until they are healthy. We have several very old apple trees that produce little inedible lumps that look absolutely nothing like apples, but make great slingshot ammo and bunny treats. Spraying, fertilizing, pruning, and all that other apple tree rehab that I've been meaning to do is actually going to be done so that we have real food instead of stuff for the squirrel to toss at me as I walk by.

Last year's birthday pear trees are doing well. One tiny tree has at least half a dozen pears, which I guess is impressive for the first year in the ground.

Our hazelnuts are also producing. We planted those year before last (I think). They were only about a foot tall, all 25 of them. Last year we got one hazelnut. lol This year we'll have at least a dozen nuts, and hopefully in a few years we'll have a real crop.

My berry patches are spreading like crazy. When I think of all the people I know that mow down berries because "those brambles are just unsightly"...*rolls eyes*. I have sevearal huge, very unsightly patches of brambles that are covered with sweet, succulent fruit. Free food. The same berries that are going for $7 a quart at the farmer's market. Yeah, give me that kind of unsightly any day. Oh, and it's a great excuse to reduce the area that needs mowing. ;)

Speaking of mowing, I've done a lot less of that this year. As a result, I have several new berry patches coming up and we have a lot more snakes. Snakes are good. I found a really cool brown snake in the potato patch this weekend. I didn't even know it was there until is slithered away from where I was weeding. I guess the reason most people think that snakes hiss is because of the noise they make in the grass as they slither away. I even heard one in my main garden, but didn't see it. I think it was underneath the landscape fabric. Maybe he'll catch that pesky mole I saw eating my lettuce.

There's just something about growing/harvesting your own food. I can't explain it. But if you've ever done it, even just a little, you know what I mean. I especially appreciate the wild food, like the berries. No work involved, just picking fruit.

Our plan is to eventually grow/hunt/raise all of our own food. We're going to get an incubator and raise some chickens for meat. We also have plans for a small fish pond. That means fish, chicken, rabbit, and anything we hunt, in addition to the garden and wild produce. A goat for dairy products is also in the lineup. We already have egg producers. That covers meat, veggies, fruits, dairy..what more could we want?

Someone told me that my lifestyle sounded like too much work. I suppose it could be, if I looked at it that way. I probably put in fewer hours, overall, raising food than it would take to work (at a job) and make enough money to purchase the same amount of food. I don't have to punch a clock, answer to a boss, or be part of a 'team' (the kind where I do all of the work and someone else takes all of the credit...yeah, you can tell what kind of job I had last lol). I have only myself to blame if I let the food spoil before processing, or if I let the weeds take over my garden, etc. I much prefer things my way, rather than squeezing into some pantyhose, heels, and a dress (heaven forbid!!) to drive to and from a job that takes me away from my family and locks me inside with flourescent lighting all day.

Here's a peek at what I've been doing the past week or so:

Blackberries: that's a gallon size freezer bag. I have two more of those to freeze just from today's berry picking. I'm not sure how many I already have put up. I think at least four, and that's even after we missed the black raspberry peak.

Green beans: This is a HUGE bowl. Little Sis and I had a nice afternoon sitting on the patio and breaking beans. Today was blanching and freezing; not nearly as much fun.

Peter Piper ain't got nothin' on me! 'Cept mine didn't come already pickled. ;)
Hot peppers. The long ones are Holy Mole, the shorter ones are Ancho chillies, and then the little red chillies. I'm hoping to get these into the solar dryer tomorrow morning.
I had a bad craving for potato salad, so I did some digging. Literally. That is one big tater!
Zucchini: there's so much more where that came from. I got most of it blanched and frozen today, but then I ran out of ice, so I have plenty sliced for a casserole tomorrow.
Cherries: a friend of mine took me cherry picking and I ended up with three times this amount. The photo was taken prior to sorting. I still have stained fingers from pitting them. lol

Hope everyone else is having as much fun as I am!!

Garden pics and gratuitous peeps

What a difference two weeks can make! The before and after pics are two weeks apart, and I just can't get over the difference!

Before

After

The above pics are really just a small portion of my garden. But you get the idea.

Corn Before

Corn After

Potato patch. It looks small but actually measures 1000 sf. I have Yukon Gold potatoes at the top (closest to the camera), and they seem to be doing well. The white ones at the bottom, not so much.


And those gratuitous peep pics:

Now let's see how many google hits I get for 'gratuitous peeps'. lol

Ah, the sounds of berry picking...

..."ouch!" (berry thorn in the arm)
"Yum!" (eating berries)
Buzz..."Ouch!"...Slap! (mosquito)
"mmmmm" (more berry eating)
Buzz..."OW!"...Slap! Slap! (more mosquitoes)
Buzz..."Son of a...!!!" *Wildly waving arms* (Japanese beetle in my hair)

I think we missed the peak of the black raspberry season while we were on vacation, but I got about a gallon today. The blackberries are coming in now, as well, so hopefully I can keep up with those and get them all picked.

I usually freeze them. Big Sis likes to make smoothies with them, but I use most of them for cobbler. There's just something about a warm, fresh, buttery cobbler in the middle of winter, ya know? I'd kind of like to try my hand at blackberry jam if I get enough extra.

Dh was thoughtful enough to cut paths to most of the berry patches for me. I am going to ask him to cut a path through the biggest berry patch (it's at the very least 50x50). Yeah, I could do it myself, but I don't often get to do the whole 'damsel in distress' type thing, so DH likes it when I bat my eyelashes at him and remind him he is so much better with the scythe than I am. (It's true, he is.) Besides, if the sun is out and the mosquitoes aren't, maybe he'll take off his shirt. *le swoon*

And that reminds me...I'm off to find my thighmaster. Sheesh! Having a super hot hubby is a lot of work! lol

An award? For me??

Not only was Daclaren of Planetary Verbosity the first one to make me a daily read, she is the first one to bestow an award upon my humble blog. Thanks, Daclaren!!

I love her blog. She and her husband are restoring an old homestead She's got vision, perseverance, and is not afraid to get dirty. Her place will be incredible when it's done. She is one awesome chick. Be sure to check her out at Planetary Verbosity. (Yes, I know I linked her twice, but she's just that cool!)

So..the award...

Drum roll, please!!

This is the Arte Y Pico Award.

Here are the rules for the award:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribution to the blogging community.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.

4) The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog so everyone will know the origin to this award.

5) To show these rules.

_____

My five are tough, because a few of the ones I'd like to choose have already received the award (Daclaren, City Mouse, and EarthHeart).

1. Vamp's Worldview : Vamp is outspoken, well spoken, lovely, and an atheist. We have atheism in common, and I've learned a lot from her. I love her 'bites' of news.

2. Fried Chicken and Grits: Southern Goddess is not only young and beautiful, she's witty, intelligent, and has that same 'freak out and stock up' thing I have over all the junk happening in the world right now. Her blog always makes me laugh.

3.Greenery Lover: Also Vamp, but the rules say five blogs, not five people, and this blog deserves and art award if any blog does. The pics are breathtaking.

4.Future House Farm: I stumbled on this blog via a web ring. It's amazing if you are looking for gardening info and hysterical commentary. I think this is the only time I've ever sprayed OJ on my monitor just from reading about squash bugs and bolting spinach.

5.Blue Hill Smells Like Cow Poo: The title says it all. She's a homesteader in training (like so many of us), with a great sense of humor, rehabbing an historic home. She should post more, though. (nudge nudge)

Ok, that's five! Thanks again, Daclaren!!

Calling all winos!!

DH and I are looking for some new wines to try. I'm currently hooked on Sutter Homes Moscato. Cheap and good, how can I beat that? lol What can I say, I'm a cheap drunk. lol I love their Moscato, though. It tastes like apricots.

I've never tried the wine in a box. It just seems wrong to drink wine that doesn't have a cork, ya know?

But I'm open for suggestions!! Tell me what your favorite is and why. Leave suggestions. If I can get it here, and it's not out of my price range, I'll give it a shot!

Vacation

*sigh* Vacation is over. It's back to work. Not just back to work here at the homestead, which is where we usually vacation and we enjoy that, but hubby is back to work in the real world. I miss him after having him by my side for over a week.

This year we decided to have a 'real' family vacation. We aren't usually the vacationing type. Our traveling is usually limited to visiting family in TN. But this year we made a side trip to the Smokies. DH and I lived most of our lives in East TN, so the Smokies were a regular trip for us as kids. The girls, however, didn't get that pleasure. Big Sis was there when she was about 3, and Little Sis had never been.

We had a great time. We spent a couple of days in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, drove into the Smokies a bit just to look for bears (we didn't find any this time), then went on to visit family.

We had some small adventures. Or perhaps I should call them misadventures. But those are the kinds of things that make vacations memorable.

To start off the vacation fun, I dropped my cell phone. In. The. Toilet. I know what you are thinking...gross gross gross! lol It wasn't that bad, but still, it was wet. And now the phone is on the fritz. I don't feel too badly, since I know at least two other people that did the same thing. It's not like I was using the phone at the time; it fell out of my pocket. It's friggin' funny when you think about it. lol Anyway, the phone works, as far as receiving calls, but the menu is constantly scrolling up and down the address book and calling out is only possible if you are calling someone in the phone's memory and hit 'talk' at exactly the right time. So the night before our trip, I had to run out and get a trackphone, plus a minute card, just in case.

We made great time getting to TN. Then the traffic from Sevierville into Gatlinburg was at a standstill. We moved at about fifteen minutes per mile. Then the 'low coolant' light comes on in the car, and the temp starts to go up, so we had to shut off the a/c and roll down the windows. We were soaking wet with sweat by the time we reached Gatlinburg. Oh, I forgot to mention the two chihuahuas we were traveling with. They'll get their own post at some point. Those poor little guys were feeling the heat worse than the rest of us.

Later that evening, we were out in Gatlinburg. It's the sort of place that you walk to every shop. So we were at least a mile from the hotel, stopping to get chinese to take back to our room, when the storm came up. DH and Big Sis stayed to wait for the food, while Little Sis and I took the chi's and tried to beat the storm back to our hotel. We didn't make it. We were soaked to the skin and then some. We each had a dry spot where we had the 'doggie bags' (those purses for carrying super spoiled tiny dogs like ours). Big Sis and DH only had soggy chinese food to keep them dry. lol I got pics of us all dripping wet, and it was really funny at the time.

I think the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, until we got stuck in traffic on the way home at tunnel construction on the VA/West VA line. One hour to go three miles, all because people didn't get into the proper lane about five miles earlier when the sign plainly said "Left lane closed at tunnel". Duh.

I loved vacationing and visiting family, but I was grateful to be home. I used to travel a lot when I was younger. I've been to many states and even Australia. But now, I'm just an old homebody. Thankfully, we had a few more days of vacation to enjoy at home before the real world beckoned. I think I enjoyed cutting hay and working in the garden with DH every bit as much as hotels, swimming pools, and shopping. More, in fact.

*taps heels* There's no place like home.