Rain, rain go away at least for a day!

The first harvest from our organic garden. Even though it's so muddy, my boots get stuck occassionally, there is much to pick. Champion radishes, leafy green lettuce, rainbow swiss chard and stawrberries! How do you spell yummy!!!!

Much to weed out there, grass is starting to pop up and the ground is so wet it makes it difficult. But, I need to get out there and keep cultivating so it doesn't take over.

I made small trellises with my pruned grape vines. The bendable branches make very good tomato cages too. I am going to try to manufacture a bean pole for my kentucky wonder pole beans with it too.

Steve keeps all the bird feeders full, so the birds are happy to stay away from the early corn shoots. He fashioned scoops and funnels out of powerade plastic bottles to refill the feeders. Use what you have!

Dinner, we made a salad with the leafy green lettuce, thinly sliced vidalia onion, feta cheese and chopped tomato with fig vinaigrette. Wow, it was fantastic. Fig vinaigrette is made with 2 TBLS red wine vinegar, 3TBLS olive oil, 1 TBLS fig preserves, fresh black peper to taste. That make enough for two servings. For a larger salad just multiply. We served the salad with baked salmon steaks with a sweet chili glaze. We also ate fresh radishes with ranch dip. Great snack while waiting for dinner. By the way, we always cook our radish tops. A bit of garlic & olive oil and saute for a few minutes until wilted, yummy!

May 20-21, 2011 Tornados and Toil

What a weekend! Tornado warnings & watches all through our county on Saturday night. Crazy looking sky with evening entertainment of watching the storm cells on the radar, waiting until we could safely go to sleep. While we were watching the radar and meterologists on TV, I made a batch of pickled eggs. Very easy, and should be ready to much by Monday. I picked an ample batch of Swiss Chard and thinned the radish patches.

Thai menu for dinner, so I sauted the swiss chard and the mini radishes (whole) added 2 Tbls Fish Sauce, 2 TBLS lime juice and 1 cup lite-coconut milk. I also added 1 crushed dried hunan chile. Wow! Good as candy! I could have eaten pounds of it!

Sunday we were up early. Our first project was to construct a 24" high chicken wire fence along our farm fence to keep in the ducks, who were determined to get across the street yet again. 5 hours later we finished (the fence was about 200 feet long). Later we discovered one 20 foot span along our neighbors yard that is fenced just with two lines of barbed wire and the ducks easily followed the chickens under the wire and out once again! UGH! Fencing in that area is next! I also planted two trays of beets, one tray of cauliflower and one tray of napa cabbage.
Around 5PM we watched as wall clouds passed us to the south. Those clouds did not look good! You could see rotation and shifting! Luckily we were at least 25 miles away for the core of the storm.

Dinner on Sunday was grilled chicken marinated in lemon, onions, olive oil, spices (paprika, cumin, ginger and white pepper), old fashioned corn pudding and a BLT salad. The salad was outstanding! Fresh picked lettuce, fresh sliced radishes. chopped tomato, halved pickled egg, and sprinkled with bacon bits. Zesty dressing made with sour cream, gargonzola cheese, worcestershire sauce, buttermilk and fresh chives. Yummy!!!!

By the 10 oclock news we began to hear of the devastation in Joplin MO. Our prayers were for our friends there at the Millennium Club, hoping they were well away for the ruin. Half the town center area was completely wiped out by the club and it's employees are all okay! This spring has been an unusually violent one.

Friday, May 20th, 2011

The ducks are in Time-Out!!

With all the rain we have had in the last two days, our ducks have decided to check out all the new puddles or mini-ponds in the neighborhood. Last night, 6PM we get a call from our neighbor across the road that the ducks are in his front yard! Now, we live on a state road, rural, but fairly consistent traffic during the rush hours. Huge farm trucks barrel down the road at 70 miles an hour even though the speed limit is 55. And there goes Steve, right out of the shower, with a white t-shirt and his red flannel, Snoopy pants, running across the front yard to chase the ducks back acroos the road. Of course this means stopping traffic and yes, the first car to stop was full of tennage girls who took a liking to his Snoopy pants. You could hear the french expletives from 100 yards away!

Steve herded them into the barn, early bed-time with no dinner!

Spring 2011- May Journal

This is my first of many journal postings to archive our progress at creating Epitherrien Farms, a 5 acre, mini-farm, 20 miles south of kansas City MO. We have built a chicken coop, which currently houses 7 hens and 1 silkie rooster and will expand with 25 more chicks scheduled to arrive at the end of this month. Steve has transformed our horse corral to a 80' by 80' organic garden. The asparagus and strawberry bed is a permanent bed in the otherwise tilled area. The bed measures 70" by 6' and asparagus should be ready to eat next year (the third year). We created a duck stall in the barn, which is divided with a brooding area and an adult nesting area. Our picturesque farm has a pond and is guarded by two farm cats, Stubby, who is blind and was born on the farm. And Blackie, who is a young fiesty, female who loves to dig, roll and play in the dirt and must give a helping hand at all times. Blackie and Stubby have a hate, hate relationship! They give us hours of entertainment and annoyance! But what a scene it is to see Stubby running across the field after Blackie, who doesn't know Stubby is blind, a quick cut in the opposite direction would relieve her of Stubby's chase!

It is mid-May and our spring has been more like a Canadian spring, rather than a Zone 5, sunny and warm spring. Too bad I am not growing English roses! Planting has been slow, with the cold weather. Radishes, potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, hearbs and several types of greens, (collards, chards, spinach vine etc.) have been doing well. One lonely artichoke plant and several lettuce plants that didn't die over the snowy winter are looking very healthy. We had our first salad from the lettuce on Tuesday night. Green leafy with a bit of dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, olive oil and very thinly sliced red oinion was all that was required! Fresh indeed!

Last night I planted 14 tomatoe plants, 6 peppers and 4 eggplant, all of different varieties. I will record the best producers this year. Tonights task is to build a scarecrow, as the blackbirds have already found the tomato plants. One was nibbled down to a twig already this morning. (No we don't own a gun and will not use them for target practice).
Next in the ground will be the 4 trays of beet seedlings (I just adore beets) and the 3 sisters planted in the beautiful raised planter boxes that Steve built for me. They are 6 foot square with little seats in each corner for easy reaching. These will all go in this weekend. By Memorial Weekend I hope to have everything planted and fabric added over the ripening strawberries.

That's it for now, I'll update soon and I ask for advice on one problem, I have a worm farm that has been producing castings and tea by the boat loads but I have a fly infestation. How do I keep the flies out? If anyone knows please help!