Planning Spring Gardens

Today in North Alabama we have a brilliant blue sky with a bone-chilling wind.  It feels barely above freezing today.  Definitely a coat-worthy day.  Temperatures make working outside for very long difficult.  Not to worry though because I am toasty warm inside and planning my spring gardens.  I have just ordered:
Burpee's Boost Collection because it promises "best in class" for taste and nutritional oomph and

3X6 Galvanized Steel Raised Bed because tilling gardens is so in the past.  My spring gardens will all be raised beds with the wonderful compost from the chickens filling up most of the beds.

And finally I ordered two pear trees that will be planted to the side of the chicken pens and after a few years make great pear preserves for us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In the light of Christ, I wish you everything good to eat and wonderful family news in the coming year!  May your gardens grow tall and give you much produce to enjoy, may you learn more about self-sufficiency and making do or reusing.  May you have less trash going to the land fills and give more money and goods to those who don't have.  Many blessings to each of you this holiday.  Peace in Christ!

North Alabama Farm Girl has made her cranberry relish and is looking forward to sweet potato casserole, fresh green beans, a turkey tenderloin and rice for her Christmas Eve dinner.

Longest Night of the Year Celebration

Last night was the longest night of the year.  This means that the nights will gradually get shorter and the days longer until we in Alabama experience our first spring like days in late February.  Yep, I know it sucks for you Northern folks in February still but our winter is a micro winter and thankfully short and sweet.  Yesterday it was hovering around 60 degrees and I was able to finally get the bonfire (a.k.a. yard trash) ignited and we roasted hotdogs over the hot coals and made s'mores with our flaming marshmallows!  Very nice night indeed.

It was made even better by having the day off even though I ran around like crazy trying to do all my piled up errands at once.  I did finally get my grow light so my bonsai (present from Mike) gets sufficient daily light.  A plus is that my Meyer lemon will also get to use the light and I should have some fruit this year.

My collard greens are chomped to the root by the deer.  With the warm balmy days though they may continue to grow and if I can keep the deer away, I'll have some more greens to enjoy through winter.

I stood outside tending to the bonfire when my neighbor, Don Browning, and his great grandson, Jack, stopped by for a chat.  Don loves bringing his greats over to see the chickens.  They are still talking about the fresh eggs I gave the little girl great last year.  I promised Jack I would grow him some popcorn this year.  He is a first grader and thought popcorn had to come from China and that it couldn't grow in a garden.  Nothing I enjoy more than having kids get to know what a farm can do for them.

Deer invasion

My neighbor who recently died had a passion for all God's creatures (her description) and that included feeding the local deer.   We have experienced a population explosion due to the deer getting fed about 150 pounds of corn each week.   Due to my neighbor's death, the deer are now hungry since I refuse to feed the local wild critters.  However, my poor collard greens have been eaten leaving me little fresh produce for the table.  The two messes of collard greens I did get before my neighbor's death were out of the world good.  I always remain hopeful though.  I might get some fresh deer meat soon and that would be awesome too.

Sundays

Sundays for me have always been a day of rest, reflection and food.  My Step Mom was a great cook - large quantities of germanic style cooking.  What the woman could do with cukes in sour cream and dill was amazing. We had german style potato salad - slathered in a vinegar and hot oil marinade - with bacon bits (real bacon) and green onions.  Pot roast for Sunday with carrots and red potatoes cooked in the beef's juices.  Homemade southern buttermilk biscuits and mustard greens.   So, so good.  Most of it homegrown.

For comfort food this week since both hubby and I are waylaid by a virus, I made tuna and mac casserole with a buttered crouton topping, collard greens simmered in chicken broth, a dab of cider vinegar and brown sugar with some ham hock, sweet potatoes baked slow and soft, everything but the kitchen sink soup (whatever is left over makes soup).  We have so many left over today that we eat when we want and as much as we want.

Ahhhh,  now for a nap and ballgames :>

Booger.

I ordered a broody hen containment system from Hayneedle for 79.98 <.http://www.hayneedle.com/Ware Premium Backyard Hutc>.  It looks just like our hen house - cedar tee-pee style.  And I ordered six fertile Easter eggs for our broody hen to hatch.

Fertile easter eggers from My Pet Chicken

Unfortunately, the containment system is on back order but I received the fertile eggs.  What to do?

Improvise.  Necessity is the mother of inventions.  I needed to get the broody hen out of the nest the other hens use for egg-laying duties and into her own area.  I used what I had on hand, an old wire dog crate, poultry wire under the bottom, newspapers over that and a basket turned on its side and then some pine bedding and a tarp to keep the hot Bama sun off them mid-day.  Ta-Da!

The new incubation and containment system

Now what would the broody hen and her sisters think of it?  

H'mmm, I don't remember leaving these eggs here.

Maybe.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

From field to table

Our garden's leaf lettuce is holding up to the 100 degree temps in Northern Alabama.  We had freshly picked lettuce salad for lunch as well as day lily fritters, home grown and canned pickled eggs and salmon croquettes.  Amazing what you can find to eat if you just look.  Were the day lily fritters any good?  They look a bit like a soft shell crab when cooked and they fry up very fast.  See for yourself in the pictures below if they were any good - nothing was thrown away!  Yum!

From field

To batter and flour

Frying up fast

Brown in under a minute

Lunch for Saturday 6/4/2011

No left overs

The pickled eggs up close