Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

Barn Home Project ~ Part 1

Let's see, where did I leave off?  We picked a beautiful spot, cleared the trees, leveled the ground, anxiously awaited getting the well drilled, brought in too many loads of gravel to count, and got everything ready for the concrete.

The top picture is of the trees being cleared for the electricity to be put in.  Believe me when I say that we fretted something awful about this part.  This location is heavily wooded and they were telling us that they would cut a 40' swath of trees.  It may not look that bad in the picture, however, nothing could have prepared us for what looked like a

Barn Home Project ~ Part One

Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

To begin with, I apologize for being so absent on this blog.  I realize some of you are not on Facebook and do not get those updates.  Last fall we began a journey of building a new homestead.  We knew before we started that is was not for the faint of heart, but still, we had no idea how trying it would be.

Healing our Highland

It is finally time to share with you our journey in healing our Scottish Highland calf.  The struggles and sadness have been great, and on most days we have fought to continue, but hard work is never a waste of time.  We decided that if nothing else, if the end result was terrible, we would at least have learned from it.  Little did we know we faced pneumonia, dehydration, paralysis and a lot of rehabilitation for this little calf.  

Warning:  picture below may be disturbing.

Sweet Pepper Salsa Relish

One of my dear friends introduced this basic recipe to me a few years back.  She moved to the Ozarks from the great state of Texas and brought this recipe with her.  From what I hear ... there is a nice restaurant down there that people rave about called the Blue Mesa Grill.  They specialize in Southwestern cuisine.  I'm not exactly sure how my friend got her hands on their Blue Mesa Jalapeno Relish recipe, but I'm telling you, it's absolutely scrumptious!  You can eat it by itself, slather it on hamburgers or any sandwich you please.  We eat it over meatloaf and roast too.  If you sliced everything small enough, it would be great on crackers.

Amish Tomato Ketchup

I finally did it!  Ketchup is something I've never done before, but over the winter, each time I had to buy ketchup, I cringed and vowed to make it for ourselves this year.

Our tomatoes are slowly rolling in, but I didn't have near enough to make ketchup with, so I headed to Amish country for the homegrown tomatoes I needed.  

There are so many recipes out there and I couldn't decide which one to try.  This recipe is an old Amish recipe from my Farmhouse cookbook.  It states that it is a sweet ketchup, sweeter than store bought.

Canning Corn on the Cob

In all fairness, I have to say that canning corn hasn't been the easiest thing I've canned, but it will be MORE than worth it when the wind is howling and the snow is falling this winter.

I hope I don't scare you off by saying that because it really isn't a big deal to do.

Tip #1 - First of all, make sure you know where the corn has come from.  If you buy it from a roadside or farmers market stand beware.  Be sure and know what type of corn it is.  Corn is one of the biggest crops that has been genetically modified and you don't want to feed it to your family.  

Canning Peaches

It's finally peach season again!  Beautiful, glorious peaches!

Last year, we had a huge shortage of peaches and we got very few put away in the freezer.  This year, the Lord has blessed us beyond words with the amount of peaches there are available.  

I'm not an expert on peaches, I didn't know one variety from the other until this season.  Now I am very familiar with Redhavens and I can tell you that these are the best that I have ever worked with.  They are extremely easy to peel and pit.

In the previous years, the easiest thing I found to preserve peaches was to peel and slice them and then plop them into freezer bags.  Easy, right?  Yes it is, however, since we are raising our own beef, or freezer space is extremely valuable and I've had a hankering (yes that's a word here in the Ozarks) to be able to open a jar of sweet peaches for dinner this winter.

So here's what I did.  It's ALMOST as easy as the freezer method.

Peel, pit and slice your peaches into your clean quart jars.  Fill your jars with peach slices about 2/3 of the way full.  Add 1/3 cup of sugar to each jar.  You may want it less sweet, but I went with 1/3 cup of sugar this year.  Finishing filling your jars just to the shoulders with sliced peaches.  Every once in a while, tap your jars on the counter gently to adjust the peaches on down.  Then fill your jars with water about up to the neck of the jar.  Wipe the rims and put on your lids.  Process them in a hot water bath for about 20 minutes and your done!  Disclaimer:  The Ball Canning book states to cook them for 30 minutes.  They tend to turn to mush if you do.  Here is another article on canning PEACHES where I got this method from.

Here is my result, the picture isn't that great, but it'll give you the idea....

After you finish enjoying a jar of these peaches, be sure to save the juice/syrup for delicious smoothies!

If you find yourself with a large surplus of peaches that are beginning to get soft and you can't get to them right away, a dear friend of mine told me her method of saving them.  Bag up the peaches and put them in the freezer.  Later when you have time, let them thaw just a bit and rub off the peels.  Then pit the peaches and put them in your blender.  Puree them and pour them into ice cube trays to use for smoothies later!  YUM!

For those of you who have been asking me where I've been, I apologize for being so scarce these days. Our area has had a terrible heat wave and drought.  Between keeping everything watered and general work here on the homestead, I've barely had time to get on this electric box.  Thankfully we've had a bit of rain this week.  Prayers for rain in our area would be much appreciated!

Next in line for the season will be different recipes for canning and preserving tomatoes.  They are just beginning to roll in, and I'll be sure to share those recipes with you too.

Until then, may you and your family be blessed and Happy Canning!

Also be sure to see how to can PEACH BUTTER and SPICED PEACH BUTTER!

Canning Blackberries

Having just barely gotten past our Blueberry season, the Blackberries are ripening!  These pictured here are the thornless and tame blackberries that are famous for getting bigger than your thumb.  We have gotten truly spoiled with this variety.  

A few weeks back, even before blueberry season was over, a dear friend of ours called to invite us to pick his wild blackberries on his homestead.  I've never seen so many wild blackberries!  There must've been acres of them.  You could pick all week and not be able to tell you picked at all!  We did not hesitate to jump at the chance.  They are delicious!  I have to admit, they are more sweet than these tame ones pictured here.  The only problem with the wild ones is that we braved the thorns and the ticks and the chiggers.  For those of you in the northern territories, chiggers are nasty little critters that you will never forget if you get in a mess of them.  They'll turn your ankle so raw before you ever know what bit ya!

Needless to say, after two trips to the wild blackberry patch to get the most tastiest blackberries I've ever eaten, three nasty tick bites and one round of antibiotics, I think we'll stick to the tame blackberries growing right here on our own homestead.  However, I must say thank you to our dear friend who not only opened his fields to our family, but also fixed us an extremely delicious homegrown meal of grilled steak and chicken fajitas, before we braved the wilds.

My favorite thing to do with blackberries is to flash freeze them on a cookie sheet and then drop them into a labeled freezer bag for future smoothie use.  While looking for new blackberry smoothies recipes, I came across some yummy sounding ones I thought I'd share with you.  

Doesn't this one look delicious??  It is a Blackberry Banana Mint Smoothie from Eat Good 4 Life blog.  We grow all kinds of mint and I'm always excited to find a new recipe that I can use the mint in.  I'll be mixing this one up as soon as this post is finished.

Here is a simple but good Blackberry Banana Smoothie recipe from Taste of Home that only has 4 ingredients.  What an easy breakfast!

Cooking the blackberries down for canning blackberry jam, they look a little more like raspberries than blackberries.  Click the Blackberry Jam Recipe link for my EASY tried and true recipe that we make every year.

The recipe uses 7 quarts of blackberries.  You may not want to make that much at one time, so just figure 1 cup of sugar for every quart of blackberries.  You'll never go back to store bought jam!

Here is a little added bonus recipe, one that I found in searching for new canning recipes.  It is called Maple-Brown Sugar-Bourbon-Blackberries.  YUM!!  Anything that uses brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and bourbon......count me in.  I do not usually use alcohol unless marinating meat with red wine, but this sounds really good and the alcohol will cook off.  You can find the complete recipe at Life Currents blog.

Now it's your turn!  Tell me what your favorite thing to do with blackberries is!  Leave me a link to your favorite post on blackberries.  

Later this week we will be heading to another friend's orchard to pick peaches.....I can't wait!  The thought of popping open a jar of fresh peaches at the dinner table this winter is pushing me to pick as many bushels as possible!  

Happy Canning!

Spring on the Homestead

Spring came early for us this year.  Sometimes it just seems early because of all the work involved, but this year, it just plain came early.  Every time I turned around, there was something I was behind on.  Ever feel that way?  

Growing Potatoes in Bags

Over the past several years, we have tried growing potatoes here in the Ozarks without much success.  Oh, we would get some potatoes, but they have never done very well.  If you know anything about the Ozarks, you well know what a pain it is to grow anything in this red clay.  This year, we are trying something completely different (for us).  I realize that this method has been out there for awhile, but it never occurred to me to actually try it.  Old habits die hard.

Seed Germination in Three Days

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Success !!

In my last post, I walked you through our sure-fire way of germinating seeds.  Here are the initial results.  

The heirloom Mortgage Lifters and the Early Girls are some of the very first to germinate in three days!  Several others have popped their heads out too.

You can see they have already stretched their necks up for light, so these little fella's will head out to the greenhouse where they can get the proper light they need.  

I understand that they need at least 12 hours of light to continue to grow.  Have you heard that from anywhere?  I know that our chickens require 12 hours of light to lay their eggs through the winter and that truly works wonders.  

I wonder if it's the same for these little plants to keep growing .....

For all of the instructions on our soil-less mixture and the steps we take to guarantee success with seed germination, please follow this LINK.  

Please remember, seed germination will depend on how good your seeds are most of all.

Our Sure Fire Germination Process

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This was our front yard one week ago today.  Many of you may remember how antsy I got with our warm January weather, which led to this ...

As you can see, they are acting like perfect little greenhouses!  Since our weather has been up and down the charts though, the seeds have not germinated yet.  They will pretty soon I'm sure, and I believe they will be stronger plants too.  However ... I am needing to get some seeds started now so I turned to our sure fire method that I learned last year which is to use our egg incubator.  It is excellent for regulating the perfect germinating temperature for seeds.  It should've been done before now, but I've been so caught up in sewing, that I have put it off until now.  

Bakersville Pioneer Village and Seed Store

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The end of January almost always brings around a visit to our local Baker Creek Pioneer Village and Seed Store.  Whispers of warm air have been stirring our thoughts of planning the garden.  I say whispers.....it has been over 60° several times this month, so what else is there to do but to make sure we have all the seeds we need.

Planting in Winter

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Here it is, the end of the first full week in January and I have been looking forward to being elbows deep in our sewing projects, but instead, it seems that the weather has turned my attention back to the fast approaching growing season.

We can not believe how many beautiful days we are having in January!  The warmest day last week was about 65°, turning my mind to mailing out the seed order.  The thermometer in the greenhouse was reading 80° and my fingers were itching to play in the dirt.

A Blessed and Peaceful Rest

This was the icing on the cake this Christmas season!  We were joyfully blessed with having both grandsons just before Christmas so I rushed around to get baking ingredients to make some yummy Christmas goodie memories with them.  They are truly one of my greatest joys.  Children are a blessing from God....and there is no earthly word to describe how precious grandchildren are.  We had a marvelous time together and I will cherish the memories.  Below are some of what we made for everybody.

Christmas Crafting

Christmas Welcome

Having a few weeks before Christmas, we choose this time to have some serious crafting sessions in our home.  We love having a homemade Christmas and have a continuous art class until Christmas "vacation".

Sowing Winter Seed

Above:  Winter Sowing 101

When I sow seed, I usually begin in February by incubating the seed and then moving them out to the greenhouse once they've germinated.  This regular routine of mine has bugged me ALL summer and now that harvest has passed, it has bugged me even more.  How do I begin this process earlier?  I don't want to be transplanting them for the first time into individual pots when it is time to be transplanting them into the ground, but my greenhouse isn't heated (yet) and the winter days are too cold before the middle of February.

Thanksgiving or Christmas?

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This is not our place and I'm not sure where the picture was taken, but isn't it splendid?  I'm using it as my screen saver at the moment.....and wanted to share it with you.  

I've been in this weird mood lately, feeling a bit out of sorts I suppose.  Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but everywhere you look, Christmas is in full swing.  

Autumn in the Ozarks 2011

This is my most favorite time of year!  The harvest is done, the stockpile of wood is complete, the hills are turning shades of gold, burnt orange and red and the weather is beautiful!  

Our Chicken Breeds

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This is Big Nate, he's a Barred Rock rooster and just about my favorite.  I love roosters, they come in so many variaties and they get so big.  Its fun to watch them find something on the ground and hear the funny sounds they make telling their hens to come get it.  We have a few Barred Rock hens too and their temperament is great.  They are my new found favorite breed this year.