Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Prepper Too?

November 21, 2013 in Farm Life, Health | Tags: , , | 2 comments

Alternative title: Come The Revolution.

JaponicaCorn

Flour corn. Grown as an ornamental. But useful as a food, for both humans and poultry, should it come to that.

True confession time. I feel like I know you all well enough that I can come clean and you won’t judge me too harshly. That you won’t think I’m totally nuts after you read this. That maybe you’ll admit to your own closet “come the revolution” thoughts. And then I’ll show you pictures of my new bunker. Just kidding. If I had a bunker, I wouldn’t tell you. Wink. Read the rest of this entry »

Gray November Days

November 13, 2013 in Animals, Farm Life, Garden | Leave a comment

Today, as I look out my office window, it’s sunny. But it’s the first sunny day we’ve had in a week or more. In the winter, this area tends to get socked in with fog and gray for weeks at a time. What a gift sunshine can be in November. But it does make for some nice photographs.

TwigsWDrops Read the rest of this entry »

A Break in the Log Jam of Stalled Projects

November 1, 2013 in Animals, Farm Life | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

WelsummerRooster

Also making progress? This 10 week old welsummer rooster. In another 6 weeks or so I should start getting eggs from his siblings. Nice dark brown speckled eggs. Sweet.

If there is one life lesson I’m supposed to be learning this turn of the karmic wheel, its patience. Patience with people. Patience with projects. Patience with myself. Because once I’ve decided to do something, I want it done yesterday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Garden Wrap Up 2013 – Warm Season (Except Squash)

October 23, 2013 in Farm Business, Garden, Harvesting | 2 comments

MapleFallGnats

A new Japanese maple, planted this summer. The little light dots all over? I call them the blue fuzzy butt gnats. There are about a million of them around right now.

Well, we had the final killing frost on Tuesday the 15th. Tomatoes (which were already cracked from the rain), done. Peppers, done. Summer and winter squash plants, done. Cucumbers, done. Melons, done. Farmer, done.

So here’s the warm season crops I planted this year and how they did (minus the squash and gourds, which I cover in this post, in more detail than you could ever want). Read the rest of this entry »

Garden Wrap Up – Squash – 2013

October 8, 2013 in Farm Business, Garden, Harvesting | Tags: , , , | 9 comments

EarlySquashHarvest

Pie pumpkins, Spaghetti squash, and a few Sunshine kabocha.

Alternative title – More about Squash than you EVER wanted to know.

Well, we got our first kiss of frost the other night. Just enough to take out the squash vines and make the tops of the pepper plants a little upset. The season really IS almost over. The frost prompted us to pick all of the remaining winter squash, (planted May 13th – hello 4 1/2 month growing season). Frost on the pumpkin might be the romantic image of fall’s arrival, but in reality, more than a light frost can damage the crop you’ve spent the last 4+ months growing. Better safe than sorry.

Read the rest of this entry »

Garden Wrap Up – Cool Season Crops – 2013

September 30, 2013 in Farm Business, Garden, Harvesting | Tags: , | 2 comments

After living in a climate where I was lucky if I got 100 frost free days, it’s such a strange thing to have an entire extra MONTH of growing season here in Walla Walla. And that’s just frost free days. Of course, there’s at least an additional month of growing cool season crops like lettuce and spinach that can take a light frost. Which means that when we do finally get a frost sometime in early October, rather than running around covering everything and trying to eek out a few more days, I just let it come, say “phew” and breathe a sign of relief. Let’s face it, after starting onions from seed indoors around March 1st, I pretty much just keep gardening and after 8 months, I’m bloody tired. Read the rest of this entry »

Winding Down

September 24, 2013 in Farm Life | Tags: | 3 comments

Well, after a crazy hot beginning of September, where temperatures were still in the 90’s, we’ve finally cooled down, thank heaven. And I’ve been running around like a mad squirrel harvesting and drying and canning and freezing for the winter months. I just finished canning our 28th pint of tomato salsa! Dried beans mostly picked. Chilies mostly dried or pickled. A good portion of the winter squash and potatoes harvested. Onions all cleaned and stored. Corn blanched and in the freezer. You get the idea.

We’ve had rain the last few days, and the garden and yard looks so, well, fall-like. It’s my favorite time of year. The smells. The colors. The feeling of a job well done.
ClematisSeed Read the rest of this entry »

Roughing It, Once in a Blue Moon

September 8, 2013 in Farm Life | Tags: , , , , , | 6 comments

BlueMoonAugust2

The seasonal blue moon of August 20-21st. Defined as the third of four full moons to take place in a season, in this case between the summer solstice and fall equinox.

Recently, I visited a cousin of mine from my mother’s side of the family. She had a lot of family records I had not seen, and I brought a bunch of stuff home with me. I’ve spent hours reading first person accounts of the lives of my Grandmother Norma and my Great Grandmother Alzina. The short version? Life was hard and these women were tough tough tough. My grandmother weighed 85 lbs for 5 years after the birth of her second son. The birth almost killed her. She was plump later in life, and never apologized for it, with good reason. Read the rest of this entry »

Start with One Gallon of Tomatoes

August 30, 2013 in Preserving | Tags: , , , , | 6 comments

BBQSauceRaw

Yup, that’s a gallon of tomatoes.

I gardened in Colorado, at almost 7,000 feet in elevation, for 10 years. Our last frost date typically fell after the first week of June, and our first frost was in early September. We were having a really good year when we managed a 100 day growing season. Nights, even at the height of summer, were in the upper 40’s/low 50’s. That was NOT tomato growing country. Read the rest of this entry »

Grilled Corn Salad with Black Beans and Rice

August 20, 2013 in Meals | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 comments

GrilledCornSaladFinishedThis is another one of those recipes that I’ve been making every summer when corn season is upon us, for years. It originally came from Eating Well Magazine, July/August 1997. It is the perfect summer dish, showcasing ingredients in their prime and leaving you with little guilt.

The instructions are my own (I find the originals a bit to fussy). Throw a few extra ears of corn, peppers and onions on the grill the next time you are having a cook out, and then put the salad together the next day. And don’t skip the avocado. The creaminess really makes it come together. This is also a great dish for potlucks. Read the rest of this entry »

Jennifer Kleffner

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