Greening up

 This afternoon I told Ashley our weather this week has felt like we're stuck in March instead of the beginning of May. The things growing outside, however, prove we're moving on through spring. Everything is greening up and it's beautiful!

Remember the grapevines I pruned a while back? They're flourishing now! 

I even found the start of some muscadines! As a reference, these "grapes" are currently the size of a pinhead. 

Also gearing up for a summer harvest: blueberries! We have three separate plantings of blueberry bushes and they're all full of green berries. I'm definitely looking forward to these ripening!

Last year the birds ate almost ALL of our blackberries. This year the vines are really loaded down with blossoms and the starts of berries so I'm hoping there will be enough to share with our winged friends instead of me resorting to covering the vines with netting (what I planned to do after only getting to eat maybe five ripe blackberries). 

In the garden, things have really taken off, too. Mason turned 3 in April and he loves being a garden helper. He's standing in front of our potato plants. Between Ashley fertilizing the garden a few weeks ago and a lot of rain, the potatoes have really shot up. We need to hoe up the plants and cover the roots so the potatoes will be protected from the sun as they grow. Maybe we'll get to that tomorrow...

More growth in the garden--left to right: garlic (our first time trying this), strawberry plants, and romaine. Onions are growing towards the back--Ashley harvested a few yesterday just to see the size. It's also our first time growing those. 

Our house makes a great playground for kids. Last week I invited over Levi and Mason's preschool classes after we went strawberry picking a few miles away. We all had fun, picnicking in the yard, romping through the garden, visiting the animals and playing in the sandpile at the fort. 

This picture, in particular, made happy because it perfectly captured a gang of boys (and one mama) having a blast in our driveway. 

And this pan of rice krispy treats doesn't have much to do with spring, other than we celebrated Levi's birthday at school this week (it's not until June but his teachers let the summer birthday kids have a special day, too). When asked what type of treat he wanted me to make, Levi said John Deere rice krispy treats. This is the third John Deere birthday for him. I guess that's fitting to a boy who's growing up in the country and loves that John Deere green!

The Mother Lode of Kale

These three have been keeping me busy lately but more is going on at Okra Hill than just three boys being boys.

Before Easter Ashley planted broccoli, romaine lettuce, pak choi, etc.

Now we have lots of things growing in the garden--from front to back: potatoes, peas, carrots, broccoli, beets, sweet potatoes. On the other side are garlic, onions, strawberries, lettuces, cucumbers, corn, beans and tomatoes. 

We had to harvest the remainder of our kale crop to make room for the spring/early summer plantings. I did this in batches. One afternoon I picked a bunch, put it under the stroller (how I take Tyler to the garden and to feed the goats and chickens), and forgot about it until late that night. We ate that batch up and I gave away some. 

The mother load of kale, however, we processed using our clawfoot tub. If you read my That New House blog, you'll remember this tub was a special find--an antique we had restored for our master bathroom. I have rarely used the tub but the boys love it for baths. 

When Ashley walked in one Saturday at lunch with a laundry basket full of kale, my immediate reaction was to groan..."what are we going to do with all that?" Then I knew we'd put the tub to use (after I cleaned it properly of bubble bath, of course). Levi was happy to help with the task of washing the kale. 

A year ago or so we watched Small Farm Rising on PBS and learned all sorts of useful information, including the dunking method to clean greens. We loaded the kale into the water and vigorously swirled it to loosen any sand/dirt. Once we were satisfied with its cleanliness, we scooped it back out and placed it in a laundry basket lined with a clean towel. 

Bath, anyone?

Look at all that yummy kale! 

I researched different methods on how to preserve kale and decided to go with the frozen blanched method found here. Basically, you blanch the kale for 2 minutes in batches; dunk in ice cold water for 2 minutes; salad spin off the excess water; place on towel to dry off further; and then bag. 

 So all that kale, a laundry basket full, resulted in 7 quart bags. I don't think that will get us very far but luckily we'll have lots of other garden goodness to enjoy soon enough. The boys and I ate the last of our fresh kale tonight as kale chips. I already wish we had more :o).

Potatoes Popping Up

Potatoes are popping up in the garden! It's a neat sight to see the earth rising and tiny green plants emerging. 

It won't be long before these plants take off and produce one of our favorite crops. 

Here's Heidi, one of our chickens. She dominates the other girls, proving that a hen will behave as a rooster if there is no male present. Sometimes I want to pop her for how mean she is to the other girls but then I remember she's just a chicken with a brain about the size of a popcorn kernel. 

Also popping up...peas!!

The goats are doing well. The rye grass keeps their pen nice and green. Ashley is thinking about seeding this pen and making it a proper pasture. 

Waylon and Ziggy, waiting to be fed. 

The other night, Ashley, Levi and I cleaned up pinecones and sticks in the pen. Notice who's on the fence at the back...he didn't want to come in but decided to watch instead. 

Around back...

 So many of my pictures of our place focus on the front of the house, but the back side is just as beautiful. When we were choosing a house plan, one of the must-haves was a house that had character on all sides. Sometimes at night when I'm coming in from feeding our cat in her barn, I stand and just take in the house from the back side, the windows glowing with light. Maybe one day I'll have a camera that can capture those images...for now, the daytime photos are best. 

A while back I took all three boys on a picnic in the woods. We tromped through the woods, pushing the stroller with the baby, to a place we've named "the campsite" because it will be perfect for that purpose when the boys are older. There are some logs back there that the boys love to play on...here they are discussing their big plans for their logging company (their play revolves between their construction company, their logging company, or their gold mining company). 

This is the main reason we moved to the country, so we could raise our boys to be kids who love playing outside. This picture captures the moment perfectly. I have the best memories of playing in the woods with my brother; I know my little guys will have the same. 

Soon enough all three of them will be playing in the woods!

Collecting pine cones and other treasures...

Playing on the dirt bank on the old logging road that runs at the edge of our property. We have to enjoy this time in the woods because soon enough the chiggers will be out (and anyone who has ever had boys get chiggers in their pants will tell you that summer playing in the woods isn't the best idea). 

Every farmhouse needs multiple pieces of equipment. Now the boys have their own backhoe thanks to their Da (grandpa). 

Putting the backhoe to work--we like it because it's not battery-powered and there are two seats. 

Hope you enjoyed all this "back talk!" Have a good weekend!

Farm Fresh on Our Table

For any aspiring cook who feels hopeless in the kitchen and claims "I can't even boil an egg," please don't judge your cooking/baking abilities by that endeavor. The other day was my first time perfectly hard-boiling a batch of eggs. I was so proud! Although my mama uses the 20 minute simmer method (after bringing the eggs and water to a boil), I haven't had the best of luck. So this go-round, I went for the boil and then remove from heat, with lid on for 15-20 minutes method. I even stirred the eggs midway through to better distribute the yolks. And look at these beauties! 

 Thanks to our lovely girls out in the Chicken Palace (who molted and had a drop in egg production--but are back to giving us 3 eggs a day again). I made the boiled eggs to top our supper salad that evening. 

(P.S. Black granite...love the look, not the constant battle with trying to keep them halfway clean).

Levi loves helping in the kitchen (so does Mason, my almost 3 year old, but he was napping). He was equally proud of our job boiling the eggs because he remembered my effort a few weeks ago where I thought the eggs were ready and they weren't so they ended up in the trash. He did a great job peeling the eggs, too. 

I'm still learning to love eggs. Growing up I barely ate a bite or two of scrambled eggs. And I'm still iffy at trying eggs cooked any way but scrambled or hard-boiled. My favorite way to eat them is as egg salad. 

Tonight's minestrone featured three things from our garden: zucchini (from the summer--I shredded it and froze it in 1 cup bags), kale and tomatoes (well, the tomatoes are actually from my mama because she's the tomato canning machine--eventually I'll have to learn how to do that but for now, I get to enjoy her hard work). 

This minestrone is very tasty and satisfying--perfect for the tail-end of winter. I basically follow the Bush's Red, White, and Bean Minestrone recipe that I pulled from a magazine several years ago. Levi insisted that his Captain America cup be featured in the picture, by the way. Happy last day of February!

Hearts and Bunnies

Valentine's Day has always been a special holiday for me because my mama went into labor to have me on Valentine's Day (but I didn't actually arrive until the day after). I grew up having redhot hearts and conversation heart candies at my birthday parties. It never bothered me that my birthday fell after a holiday (though I always wished I could have had a pool party like my friends with warm-weathered birthdays!). This year we had Ashley's family over for a Valentine Waffle Supper so I had fun adding some heart decor to our house. 

Ashley's mom made me this simple burlap wreath that is hanging about the woodstove in our living room. I cut out a few felt hearts and added them to the wreath (no glue or sewing needed!). 

Last year I saw this cute heart garland on Pinterest and decided to make it one afternoon. Very easy and festive across my dining room window! 

Remember my grapevines...my parents surprised me with a birthday visit on Friday and we spent part of the afternoon weaving on my porch. Papa made a wreath and Mama encouraged me to make my wreath into a bunny (she's an expert basketweaver and always says she may not have been the most creative person but she certainly encouraged and inspired my brother and I). 

Here's the bunny making a very early appearance beside our door (I'm usually against holidays crowding each other but I can't help sharing this!). 

One of my boys pulled one of the pansies and I added it as a nose. 

We got a skiff of snow last night. Not really enough to take a picture of but it was special all the same. Happy Sunday afternoon to you!

Perfect Day for Muscadine Pruning

It's a beautiful Sunday here in South Carolina and we've been outside enjoying the weather. While Ashley worked on the garden irrigation, I pruned the muscadine vines.  Because I'm usually taking care of the baby, it's harder for me to help with heavier work outside. But since it was a nice day, I pulled out the outside mat and the little people enjoyed the day while I worked. 

We consulted several web sites to make sure we pruned correctly to help our vines grow and produce a lot of grapes this summer. February is the ideal time to prune muscadines. Here is one of the vines, pre-pruning. Notice all the branches shooting off all over the place. The main focus on pruning is the tendrils--they need to be trimmed back so that only 2-3 buds remain.

Ah, someone notices! He's perfecting the art of sitting up. So far, he's the biggest boy we've grown yet--at his 6 month check-up, he weighed 22 lbs and was 28 inches long (98th percentile for both). 

So here is our bunch of unruly vines, although Ashley did train them last year to have a single trunk and make the necessary T split into 2 cordons. These vines are fast growers and need pretty severe pruning to keep in shape for the years to come. 

Now here's the row, all pruned up. Naked, as Ashley put it, after I finished my work.

Here are the vines "bleeding." It's completely normal for the vines to drip sap for a few weeks after pruning. And no, they won't bleed to death.. 

 Little Man was impressed :o) 

I have always loved pruning, pulling weeds, getting things in order (as long as it's not hot and humid). Last winter I made some vine wreaths from some vines growing in our woods. This afternoon I wove these three with our muscadine vines. They're not perfect but it's neat knowing I made them with materials grown on our land. Now to figure out additional decorations for the wreaths.

Part of me feels like I should apologize for not posting in ages but you know how it goes...life happens. I really did want to post the past two months but just haven't been able to. Between my trusty Canon PowerShot going on the fritz to the holidays to more rounds of winter illnesses, I just haven't made the time to add anything here. I do hope to post regularly again--and with the spring coming, I know I'll be motivated. Today Ashley plowed up part of our garden to get ready for our spring planting--and we're excited to try new things and some of our past favorites. Happy February to you!