Spring

Jammin’

Posted on by Melissa

Today is one of those days. It’s chilly and raining outside and all plans for putting in new fence were put on hold for a job that could be done inside.

These decisions are always ultimately left up to the hubby, because if he really wants to get something done, the weather won’t stop him.

Well, today he decided it was time to make jam, Rhubarb Jam. YUM!

But this made me feel a little sad, ya see, I work part time from home for a small business, updating their website and social media sites.

Today happened to be a day I needed to work, so I wasn’t going to get in on the yearly jam making, except for drooling over the mouthwatering sweetness that would waft down the stairs.

I had already pulled some of our rhubarb just after Mother’s Day and made a few little cobblers to deliver to my mom and some others on the way.

Kayla pulled the majority of the rest of ours last night, and Chelsey picked some of our neighbors’ this morning.

At lunch time I came up from the basement to make Fajitas. I had taken a Beef flank steak out of the freezer and settled on a Pinterest recipe from one of my favorite cooks, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.

I whipped up the marinade and sliced the peppers and onions last night and combined them with the flank steak to marinate overnight.

I cranked the stove to high, added the peppers and onions to the pan and in 5 minutes flat I had the house smelling like a Steakhouse! Man it smelled good!

While I was cooking, Chelsey washed and trimmed the Rhubarb. Dan set the table and shredded the cheese and we called Reed for lunch and sat down to try the new recipe.

It was pretty good and I think this recipe is a keeper.

As we put the leftovers away I dreaded leaving the kitchen. I absolutely hate days like this when I would rather be doing what the rest of my family is, especially when they’re in the kitchen!

Uhhh…  to the basement I went.

I could hear the progress upstairs as I clicked on the keyboard below.

Chelsey chopped the Rhubarb while Dan did the cooking at the stove. After it was cooked down, he added sugar, pie filling and jello, and Chelsey pureed it and poured it into the jars.

Kayla got home in the middle of the afternoon and jumped in to help.

By 5 I couldn’t wait any longer for a taste. I headed up the stairs to see what progress they had made. I noticed that the sweetness of the jam cleared up all signs of the Fajitas I had made for lunch.

Cherry, Strawberry and Blueberry flavors had been created and I couldn’t wait to try my favorite, the Strawberry Rhubarb!

There were quite a few jars on the table and they had set a few of the big jars aside for the neighbor who had shared their rhubarb.

Reed, the official taste tester, sampled some of the Blueberry and his eyes got big and he “Mmmmmm’d” how good it was.

Chelsey and Dan told me that Reed had wanted to try a chunk of rhubarb earlier. He popped it in his mouth, made quite a face, and ran to the trash to spit it out! Ha ha!

Here are some pictures of them working on one of the last batches.

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This is where, “Food, Family, Farmin’ and Fun” come together on rainy, Spring days in the kitchen… Jammin’

A day in the life…

Posted on by Melissa

Well hello there! Did you think I got lost??? I know… I’ve been AWOL lately here in the blog world, but don’t worry, I have lots of ex… good reasons 🙂

Now that daylight savings has kicked in and given us a little more daylight in the evening, we’ve been working later outside trying to get a start on Spring.

And that means a blank computer screen doesn’t really compete with a comfy bed at the end of the day… But, let’s see if I can give it a whirl tonight!

Today we worked on hauling manure out of one of our calf lots. We are planning on moving our momma sheep to this lot in a couple weeks so we are ready to lamb.

I know, you may think it seems late to lamb, but that’s just what works best for us here. We don’t have a barn or building exclusively for sheep to lamb in during the winter months like a lot of people do, so we choose to breed them later in the fall/early in winter so that they come in about May, when the weather is easier on both the ewes and the lambs.

Anyways, we will get the calves moved out and then we will herd our little flock of sheep across the yard to our little calf building so they can get all settled in before those little cuties arrive.

We got done hauling the manure, bedded it with cornstalk bales and inevitably did a little fixin’ today. I managed to crack a board as I was scooping up a bucket of manure with the skid loader, so out came the drill and the long screws and we got it all fixed up again.

We also adjusted the height of the red gate on this pen so the gate swings better. These little jobs always take a bit of time, but we’re glad things work better when they’re done.

Oh, I can’t forget to tell you about our moment of excitement tonight…

Dan was coming out of the calf lot with the skid loader after he had put the cornstalk bedding in. Two calves were running from one side of the gate to the other when Dan came forward to come out… and those two made a quick right and out they ran!

Crap!

Double Crap!

They ran straight up the yard towards the shed, then turned down the hill and ran full-on towards the bins! (I was just hoping they wouldn’t like the darkness down there because if they kept going they would be out in the field!!!)

It took Dan, Kayla, and me on the four wheeler to convince them it was time to go home! Thank goodness they didn’t get into the field.

What a way to end the night, huh? Just made me all the more ready to call it a day.

We still have a lot of manure to haul before we think about planting. If the weather stays good we might get some oats in the ground before the end of the week. That will be a good feeling.

One more thing… we had a heifer calf born to Angel this morning that was super cute! Check out a few pictures I posted on my facebook page and you can even help me name her!

Well, the wind burn is starting to set in and I’m feeling a little sleepy.

Will share more tomorrow, I hope. I have lots of catching up to do!

40 Degrees and Lovin’ It!

Posted on by Melissa

Can you say Spring Fever!?!

Today it (finally!) reached a glorious 40 degrees and the sun was shining! February weather was kind of a bugger and we’ve been looking forward to some warmer days.

This morning we had a couple visitors stop in as we finished up chores. It tends to slow up chores when we have company, but we love to visit, so we really don’t mind.

Roger, a gentleman in his 80’s, stops in pretty regularly to visit and see how his Jersey cows and young stock are doing. We enjoy his visits and he keeps us up to date with the latest coffee shop news.

Neighbors of ours also stopped in for a visit. They, too, were heading to a farm auction this morning. We haven’t been to a sale in awhile, and while this sale bill didn’t hold many items of interest to us, one thing piqued our curiosity.

A brooder house.

We have a dozen or so laying chickens that roam free around our farm. In one of our buildings we have some nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs in, but a brooder house might make a better home for them.

Here Nichole is checking our nesting boxes for eggs
Here Nichole is checking our nesting boxes for eggs
Even in the snow, the chickens love to roam free!
Even in the snow, the chickens love to roam free!

Well, they had quite a crowd at the sale. I think everyone was ready to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Since I now live an hour from where I grew up, I have found that sales are often a place where you will see friends you may not see very often, and have time to catch up with what’s been happening.

Today I had fun talking with Ron, a friend of mine from my hometown. I used to work with his wife Dawn and it’s always fun to hear what’s new going on in their world.

They run a fun little operation called Country Boy Salvage and I love keeping up with them on their blog. Check it out when you get a chance.

Sweeney Auction Co

The brooder house they sold wasn’t quite what we had in mind, but my friend Ron was confident he knew where I might find a couple for sale. Woo hoo! Networking strikes again (smiles!).

After spending a couple three hours or so watching items sell, catching up with friends and enjoying the fresh air, we headed back towards home.

On the way, we stopped at Norby’s, the local farm and home store, to get some supplies. I didn’t get twenty feet inside the door before I was mesmerized by the tall display of new seed packets!

Oh…. the possibilities  🙂

Ya see, seed packet displays are almost as fun as book stores! It’s hard for me to break away from the force field once I get drawn in!

I stand there looking at all the new varieties that I didn’t even know existed! Snake gourds? Miniature pumpkins on a stick? Gourds with necks as long and straight as canes? Those would be fun to paint!!!

And along comes the dream of an acre of garden… covered in pumpkin vines, gourd vines, melon vines, rows and rows of carrots and grean beans and peppers and tomatoes, and not a weed in sight!!!!

Of course I’m just dreaming…     sighhhhhhhh. If that was all I had to do. Dan just shakes his head at me. And smiles.

That didn’t stop me from picking out a dozen or so new adventures, though!

A girl has to have hope, right? And I always hope, year after year, for a nice big spot to grow my pumpkins! This year I’m going to hope for enough space to grow all these fun gourds too!

Don't they look like FUN!?!
Don’t they look like FUN!?!

When I got home, the Spring fever kicked in again. I reached onto my shelf of gardening tools and gloves, and fertilizer and pots. And out came my trays to start some seeds. Ohhhh, it’s so exciting!

And I want to get Reed to help me too! I’m super excited about that! I think he will enjoy watching them grow and I know he will love helping me put them in the ground when it’s time!

Ceramic planters

Here are a couple little planters I picked up at second hand stores last year. Aren’t they cute?

I brought them in and washed them up and started dreaming of what cute little flowers I might plant in them. I have them all ready for when I go to the greenhouses this spring 🙂

While I was at Norby’s they had some spray paint on display. I couldn’t resist picking out a couple cans, not even knowing what exactly I would use them for! Obviously, their marketing is working, haha!

Planters

Here are a few things I also had stuck away on my gardening shelf. I think they’re both good candidates for the spray paint I picked up.

The Spring Fever was kicking into overdrive as I imagined all of the things I could decorate my new perennial garden with!

My daydreaming came to a halt, though, as I was finished washing dishes… Dan stuck his head in the kitchen to see if I could come out and help for awhile.

Dan, Reed, Chelsey and Jason had started processing some of our smaller calves. I headed out to lend a hand with the bigger ones as we dehorned and gave vaccination shots. It always goes smoother with more hands and I was happy to help.

It was kind of a rodeo today though, with the pens getting sloppy and the ice underneath where it hadn’t thawed yet. The calves had a little Spring Fever too as they kicked up their heels, running laps around the pens.

In a couple hours we had them all done and it was time for chores. Dan put a new grader blade on my skid loader bucket so I was anxious to get out there and get the lot scraped clean.

It really does feel like Spring is just right around the corner today. And then comes Summer!