You Can Not Reap What You Do Not Sow

I am sharing this with you, Constant Reader in order to be accountable for my lack of planning and caring for my garden this year. January saw a plan for my summer garden which was thick with food for storage. June saw that I had ordered no new heirloom seeds and had absolutely no energy for planting-period. Sarah's Eden is not at all what I had envisioned but this will help me to organize my thoughts. Never again will I be so unprepared and unmotivated. Shame on me!

The horseradish I decided to try this year. I have no experience with it, but I know it can be preserved and I guess I will figure it out as I go! Let me know if you have planted horseradish before  and how you used it!

 Regular old beans. Bush style so they don't have to climb. We have about 50 jars left from last year, so why did I plant beans?!?!

Heirloom tomatoes.

I planted 2 boxes of broccoli and have had a few meals, but not near as prolific as last years. (grrr)

2 more years and we will begin to harvest asparagus. Patience?!

Red Russian Garlic I replanted from last year's amazing harvest. I know- I have to get the scapes cut off~

Burpless cukes for my cucumber/mint water. Sllloooowwwwwwww to grow.

Pok Choi, Swiss Chard and Collards-Happiest with them! Planted in the square foot method.

2 boxes of onions (red, yellow, white) and leeks. Those will all go into the dehydrator when it is time.

I call this the Annex. In the straw bales I planted summer squash and zucchini. On the left side are purple and rattlesnake heirloom pole beans. These will be left to dry on the vines for storage beans. In the top of the picture are my pepper plants and a lonely heirloom tomato plant that chose to reseed himself this spring. Excited to see if it is the yellow or the cherry tomatoes.

So, Constant Reader, I give you my vegetable garden. I am incredibly disappointed in it but am trying not to beat myself up too badly. I will reap some things although my sowing was not up to my standards. I have also planted an herb garden I will share with you soon.

God Bless~

Rising Phoenix

This year has truly run away without me. After spending the last 6 months slaying dragons, gracefully surviving an incredibly difficult professional year and hunkering down for a very long and cold Maine winter, I am ready to focus again! Like the phoenix rose up from the depths-I am back!

I have clawed my way up from deep despair and was not satisfied with ground level happiness. I saw the mountains in the distance and decided to spread those wings (which were broken by another long ago) and focus on the highest peaks.

I have begun a soap making business and I got sober. My heart and my mind have been transformed from an angry, bitter, pained, broken human being to an inner peace that can only be given by God. I know his arms are around me for he has changed me completely.

Which brings me to a personal attack which took place this past week by a person who has known me since birth. It was the third time she has lunged the knife into my back and in my world-3 strikes you are out. Yesterday, I removed the knife from my back and used it to carve her out of my life-forever. Difficult-yes. Necessary-yes. You see, along with sobriety goes peace. I have no time for fake relationships and even less time for being dragged through the dirt publicly. People make their own choices and decisions and have to live with the consequences of those.

I have made many mistakes in my life. I have hurt people, I have treated people poorly and I have made a complete ass of myself. Through sobriety and therapy, I am working to become a better person. I'm not afraid anymore. That is an amazing feeling!

If you are struggling with drug or alcohol issues or are a victim of domestic violence, I plead with you-please get help. There are so many places to receive it and (believe it or not) YOU are not alone. I care about you and I am so happy to be standing before you as I was made to be. Whole.

God Bless!

Bread-Rosemary

So, this is a new bread recipe for my family here on the farm and I am amazed at how quickly the pieces disappear! I could make a loaf every day and my two teenage boys and husband would see to it that there were no crumbs left. Feeding Frenzy! 

Enjoy!

Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water

1 T sugar

2 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

2 T fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dry rosemary

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp pepper

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 cup bread flour plus 1/2+cup for kneading

***1 egg whisked and 1 T water for egg wash***

In a big bowl put water, sugar and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes

Add salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil and flour until ingredients form a ball

Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes. Add more flour as the dough becomes sticky

Knead until smooth

Put dough in a covered, greased bowl until it doubles in size (about an hour)

Punch dough down and form into a round loaf. Place on a nonstick surface (I used non stick aluminum foil) and let it rise double again (about 45 minutes)

Preheat pizza stone in 400 degree oven

Place dough on preheated stone after it has risen for a second time.

Top with egg wash

400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until top is golden

3 Hobbies- Do You Have 3?

The new secret to happiness is (drum roll please)...

                ...having 3 hobbies that don't have anything to do with screen time and that aren't connected to your occupations. Happiness=No Screen time? Not a difficult concept to wrap my head around.  Time for some soul searching and deciding what are those 3 hobbies I possess  to find complete and total happiness in my somewhat chaotic life. I think I do have 3.

1. Soap Making
2. Gardening
3. Prepping



Soap making is going to (hopefully) turn into a profession but at this time it is just a hobby. The time and money involved to go from hobby to full production is a little frightening for me at this time. Making soap fills my creative need. The variations of styles, textures, scents and colors are endless. Plus, the final product outcome makes you clean!

Gardening fills my connection to the earth and its many cycles. I am in no way a drugged out hippie. It is just a passion of mine to continue to make improvements and changes on my little farm and take it as far as I can. If you aren't inspired by a tiny little seed who grows up and nourishes your body, then you definitely have to unplug!

Prepping allows me to plan ahead and create security for myself and my family in scenarios big and little. It takes the stress and worry out of any impending dangers. I know Jesus taught of the birds relying on their faith to provide for them but I am pretty sure He would be proud of the Preppers of the world. I would like to think that if birds were able, they would prep-squirrels do!

So what do you think? Do you want to be happy and have a more amazing life? Take inventory and decide what kinds of interests YOU have. Go ahead...I'll wait!

Apple Crisp- Hidden Acres Style

I'm not a big dessert freak...but my family sure does have some favorites. I made an easy apple crisp this weekend and had most of the ingredients on hand. A stocked pantry is a good sign as we head into some leaner financial months!

Hope you enjoy it~

Ingredients

4 apples
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup butter-softened
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

375 degrees

Grease bottom and sides of 8 inch square pan

Layer apples in the bottom  of the pan

Mix remaining ingredients together and spoon over apples

Bake for 30 minutes until the topping is a lovely brown

Serve with some ice cream or whipped cream or whatever you fancy!

Tis The Season-Dehydrating Turkey

We always stock up on turkeys this time of year. At $7.00 a bird it would be silly not to. We ended up having our regular Thanksgiving feast and then the next day another turkey went into the oven. It seemed like a good idea at the time but as we started eating through the second bird, my family began to show some signs of~ "Enough already"(kindly of course). Oh, dear. Whatever were we to do with all of these scrumptious leftover white and dark pieces of heaven? 

Making jerky was our first thought but reading about how turkey can come out somewhat more brittle than beef, we decided to dehy it. Oh what fun!

This works well with chicken and turkey, but you will not want to use goose or duck or any other bird that has a lot of fat or prepares as greasy. Fully cook the turkey. Allow it to cool and remove skin and any extra fat. 

The recipe said to cut the turkey into cubes measuring 1/2 an inch. That did not work out for me at all. I cubed what I could, but there was also a lot of shredded and extra falling pieces that ended up on the tray. 

Layer turkey meat in a single layer on lined dehydrator trays. Set temperature at 155 degrees for 4 hours and then lower to 130 degrees for the rest of the drying time. The pieces should be hard and dehydrated all the way through.

 (***Remember, I can not direct you as to the full length of dehydrating. It all depends on your machine and your situation.)

To use your dehydrated turkey pieces: add 1 cup of boiling water to 1 cup of turkey. 

Use in soups, stews, and anywhere else you would use turkey!

Good luck and keep dehydrating!!!

Very Thankful

And another Thanksgiving approaches. I certainly have been counting my blessings as of late. As cliche' as it all sounds-Life really is too short.

17 days ago an intervention from God's hands to my heart  struck like a bolt of lightning. For as amazing as my life is and all the blessings I have received- I was sick. Sick in my body, mind and soul. The sickness (driven by anger and hatred) was driving me deeper and deeper into hell.

As my husband and I sat at our table that night 17 days ago, we both were struck with an overwhelming ENOUGH! Like hitting a brick wall-enough. Our eating habits, our drinking habits and every single one of our other habits had us driving straight off a cliff. Thelma and Louise was my past life and I knew at that moment, things had to change. Dramatically change.

So, we started our change. We dumped every drop of alcohol out onto the ground. Signed up for 2 different 30 day challenges (planks and abs). Settled on a couple of walking routes. Logged out of Facebook. That last one was really a leap of faith for us both. It has been the most difficult part of all for me. I miss some people from fb, but I don't miss the drama and hate that shot at me every time I logged on.

With so many changes I am starting to feel like a new person. In those 17 days I have lost 7 pounds plus a million pounds that have been hitching a ride on my back for far too long. I know I will never touch another drop of alcohol and when the 30 day promise is over, I will decide what I am going to do about Facebook. As for the anger? I am only human. I am a work in progress (as I know we all are) but I am not going to be wearing so much on my sleeve. People will need to come after me hard to get a reaction. Some will. I'm getting stronger every day. I can handle it.

So, Constant Reader~ Happy Thanksgiving to you. I wish you love and peace and joy and calm. Hold those you love close and hold yourself closer. You mean a lot to me! God Bless~