Muscadine Haircuts (Pruning)

It's that time of year again- when the woolly muscadine vines get haircuts.  I like this job because it neatens up our little vineyard. 

I follow the general rule of keeping a single cordon and then pruning the spurs back to two to three buds. This will help our vines produce good crop of grapes in late summer.  

This year I'm being more methodical and making a wreath (or two) from each section of vines. Here's my first one today. By making the wreaths as I go along, the vines are more pliable and easier to weave.

I finally finished this project yesterday afternoon (it took me about a week because I have to work in spurts between taking care of the boys and doing other things around the house). 

Yesterday I had a rough day with feeling overwhelmed with learning how to mother a kindergartener in school, parent a 19 month-old who has some slight developmental delays, and make sure the middle boy doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Everything felt like it was piling up--but when I went out to my vines and pruned them back, pulling out the long scraggly vines, I found some peace. I'm thankful I can work with my hands and mediate on life. 

Over and over I thought of the Bible verses about "I am the vine" so I looked up John 15. 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. " (NIV).

I've made 15 or so wreaths, varying in size between 14 inches and 20 inches. I'm planning to give my sons' teachers wreaths as end-of-the-year presents. And I'd like to sell the others to folks around here. 

In other news at Okra Hill, Ashley has plowed up the remains of our winter garden (collards, kale) because it took a beating from the cold-cold weather. 

Part of our spring garden is in the ground. That's a later post because we have some big changes to half of the garden. Happy last day of February! Bring on spring!

Snow comes to Okra Hill!

When our house was being built during the winter of 2010/2011, our area of South Carolina had several snow days.  Since then there haven't been any so when it snowed this week, we were all excited.  Around three inches fell- just the right amount to make Okra Hill look like a winter wonderland without being troublesome. 

I think the girls were perplexed by the white stuff. 

Waylon and Ziggy weren't quite sure what to do either!

I grew up in the NC foothills where we had snows most winters.  I don't miss the power going out or having to walk up our (steep) driveway when the snow made it impossible to drive.  But I have missed sharing a snow day with my boys.  

They all had a big time with it, although I think Tyler was disapointed his red car didn't have better 4x4 capabilities.  

Within a day the roads were clear and dry. Nothing could be finer than living in South Carolina (at least when it comes to fairly mild winters!).  

Eggs in God's Eye

We went to North Carolina this weekend to see my parents and came back home to find nests full of eggs. Mama gave me one of her God's eye baskets to use to collect eggs. It is the perfect size.  

I've recently started storing my eggs on the counter (or rather, in the back part of my pantry) after reading about the perfection of homegrown eggs. You can learn more about why this works here: http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/06/handling-and-storing-eggs.html. Because our chickens produce an average of 4 dozen eggs a week (I sell 3 of those to other mamas at our preschool), freeing up my fridge has been a good thing. I still wash and refrigerate the eggs that are overly dirty. 

Parsley fest 2014

Last week our South Carolina chickens experienced a frigid cold front. The lowest temp was around 8 degrees and considering today's balmy 60, that was a shock!

The girls survived just fine thanks to a light Ashley added in their coop for warmth and my going out repeatedly to thaw their waterer.  What really amazes me is they trucked right along with egg production.  

Our parsley, however, did not fare as well. So this afternoon I cut back the frostbitten sections. The girls loved this green snack (and they also enjoyed cilantro). 

We will see how or if the parsley comes back.  I hope it does because it's one of my favorite garnishes. 

Raised beds for part of the garden

Ashley is working on a new layout for our garden that will incorporate raised beds. He's using unfinished HardiPlank boards for the sides because they're made of concrete and should last for a while. 

The boys love helping their daddy. 

The hens are curious about what's happening in their neighborhood...

More progress...

I thought the older two boys were out helping in the garden but really, they had convinced Daddy to build them a place for water...in the winter. They can't get enough of mud and puddles!

Our little guy is 17 months old now. He hasn't chosen to walk yet (working on getting the strength to do that) but he does a great job standing. I think the hens think so, too!

We all love our chickens. Although they slacked off a little on their egg laying a month ago, they've picked back up, laying 6-8 eggs a day. I sell some eggs to other moms at our preschool. In the spring, we may get more chickens because the demand for our eggs continues to grow. 

A perfect fall day

I never posted this when I took these pictures two months ago....

Cotton and Carrots

We have cotton in the garden!

This one is about to pop open. The fact that the cotton used for our clothes grows on plants still amazes me. 

Mason and I picked a gallon of carrots yesterday. They are big but surprisingly sweet.  

This guy LOVES carrots. 

Strangely enough our raspberries are producing a few berries. The vines looked like dead sticks all summer and now that it's fall, we are getting to try a few. 

Waylon and Ziggy enjoyed their morning snack. 

We had a frost Sunday morning that took several victims, including this basil.  

Overall the garden is thriving though!

Fall harvest begins!

We're working on the beginnings of a fall harvest here at Okra Hill: beets and carrots! I just loved the color combination of the magenta beets, orange carrots, green tops and aqua teal basket. 

Instead of taking the carrots and beets inside to clean up, I decided to do that outside... 

...at the goat pen with one of my favorite helpers! Waylon and Ziggy were very excited about their treats. The back pen doesn't have much vegetation so after a few weeks of living there, the guys are back out front. 

These goats crack me up...they refuse to move out of the way so I could dump the greens in so Ziggy got a beet green hat. I've heard the greens on beets are delicious but I didn't feel like trying them this go-round (they were covered in bug munchings). 

My little gentleman farmer...

It never fails...if I buy produce at the store because I'm tired of waiting for our's to produce, I find out a day later our carrots (green beans, broccoli, etc) are ready. Case in point...I bought carrots....

and then harvested carrots shortly after. I keep our carrots in water in the fridge (after trimming the tops, scrubbing them down and peeling). They'll stay fresh and crunchy this way for a while (I change out the water every few days or so). 

Fall is definitely here with cooler temperatures and my boys wearing Halloween costumes and eating candy. Happy days to you!

Dill Disappointment

This summer I worked hard, canning lots of pickles. I  made a ton of dills because our family and friends love them and I like to share them. Well....sometimes, just because something looks great (and you spent a lot of time on it) doesn't mean it tastes great. 

I opened one of my dill pickle pints the other day and thought they tasted awfully salty. Borderline, disgusting. I opened another one, hoping one jar was just "off." Nope, strike two. After opening four, I decided all of my dill pickles were NOT my usual delicious canning creations. Not even close. 

So Tyler, Mason and I loaded up the wagon with all of the dill pickles and took them out to our compost pile. At least they can be useful out there. 

Makes me sick to think of the hours I spent putting these together. Ugh! I think the problem was I used apple cider vinegar (which I have done in the past) and I increased the amount of brine I made (and probably used the wrong salt:vinegar ratio). Live and learn...If you happen to have a jar of my 2013 dills, please throw them out!

After our pickle dumping, I pulled my two younger boys around to the back to see the goats in their back pen. Ashley built a new pen for Waylon and Ziggy in the back because they have eaten almost everything in the front pen. 

In other news, the South Carolina State Fair opens today. I entered several things in the competitive Home and Craft Division. Two blue ribbons for Okra Hill: my blackberry jelly and my molasses-ginger cookies (my third year in a row earning a first place for those!). I earned four second places: whole dill pickles (thank goodness the canning is not judged on taste!), zucchini bread and butter pickles, muscadine jelly, and tomato-basil jam. 

Cotton!

I have always loved seeing cotton growing in the fields of South Carolina. Last year Ashley saved a few seeds from some cotton we had picked up and he surprised me by planting cotton in our garden.  

It's a beautiful plant- I had no clue they had such pretty blossoms. 

Even though the cotton won't provide food for us, it does make me smile (and I am especially excited about seeing the white bolls later in the fall).