We are cooler now. Lots of frost this morning and frozen birdbath! It was also very foggy. The daytime temps run in the high 50's. Not too bad for March. We have chances of rain for several days; we hope it happens.
I finally re-tilled the garden that I had already tilled so that part is ready to plant. I have ordered strawberry plants from Stark Brothers, Surecrop. I will plant them in the 'kitchen' garden that I have just tilled. I have tried for two years to get strawberries started again and failed.
This is the east end of the garden. The strawberries will go next to the fence.
Note: The bird feeder is still not upright! My helpmate has just been too 'busy'!
I have not started any seeds inside yet. I hate to have leggy plants and here I don't set out most plants until May 10. I should plant spinach, lettuce and some other cool season things very soon even if I have to water them in.
I made the angel food cake and the lemon sponge cake to use up the yolks. We ate the angel food and I froze the other one.
I still have quite a build-up of eggs. I plan to take a couple of dozen to the beauty shop this afternoon and I have told a neighbor to stop by.
I made a successful batch of yogurt but failed again with the mozzarella. I looks like my microwave is cooking the curd rather than just heating it. It will be usable in some cooking or diced over salads but that is all. I need to do more research. I made very nice mozzarella a couple of years ago. I don't know what is going wrong.....this is a different microwave. I may try the hot water method next. I just boiled the whey to make more ricotta. I hope it turns out. The last one did. It was the first successful ricotta using the leftover whey. It made maybe a cup of ricotta cheese.
I also went out to the Milk Parlor and skimmed the cream from the extra milk and ended up with a little over l quart. I made butter again. I am freezing it.
I did my first yard walk about a few days ago and found these little beauties.
There were 3 or 4 more clumps in various places (surrounded by groundcover (aka, dead nettle and henbit)).
The others are just miscellaneous pictures:
The curious chickens. It is hard to get a 'portrait' because they swamp you; even stand on your feet,
but I managed these,
This is clear of weeds only because the bird feeder is hanging above and the birds scratch on the ground getting dropped seeds, more daffodils with buds,
I can't remember what these small bulbs are planted at the edge of the golden agastache bed.
I wonder what the draw is......these two cats are now hanging out near this bed (bird feeders are located here). I think we are down to just three now. Ahhhh, life in the country with varmints, probably coyotes.
I finally re-tilled the garden that I had already tilled so that part is ready to plant. I have ordered strawberry plants from Stark Brothers, Surecrop. I will plant them in the 'kitchen' garden that I have just tilled. I have tried for two years to get strawberries started again and failed.
This is the east end of the garden. The strawberries will go next to the fence.
Note: The bird feeder is still not upright! My helpmate has just been too 'busy'!
I have not started any seeds inside yet. I hate to have leggy plants and here I don't set out most plants until May 10. I should plant spinach, lettuce and some other cool season things very soon even if I have to water them in.
I made the angel food cake and the lemon sponge cake to use up the yolks. We ate the angel food and I froze the other one.
I still have quite a build-up of eggs. I plan to take a couple of dozen to the beauty shop this afternoon and I have told a neighbor to stop by.
I made a successful batch of yogurt but failed again with the mozzarella. I looks like my microwave is cooking the curd rather than just heating it. It will be usable in some cooking or diced over salads but that is all. I need to do more research. I made very nice mozzarella a couple of years ago. I don't know what is going wrong.....this is a different microwave. I may try the hot water method next. I just boiled the whey to make more ricotta. I hope it turns out. The last one did. It was the first successful ricotta using the leftover whey. It made maybe a cup of ricotta cheese.
I did my first yard walk about a few days ago and found these little beauties.
There were 3 or 4 more clumps in various places (surrounded by groundcover (aka, dead nettle and henbit)).
The others are just miscellaneous pictures:
The curious chickens. It is hard to get a 'portrait' because they swamp you; even stand on your feet,
This is clear of weeds only because the bird feeder is hanging above and the birds scratch on the ground getting dropped seeds, more daffodils with buds,
I can't remember what these small bulbs are planted at the edge of the golden agastache bed.
I wonder what the draw is......these two cats are now hanging out near this bed (bird feeders are located here). I think we are down to just three now. Ahhhh, life in the country with varmints, probably coyotes.
I always enjoy reading about and seeing photos of life there on your farm. You are busy as ever, and I hope you have a great crop of strawberries this year. I think it's neat that you make your own ricotta, mozzarella (when it turns out)and butter too. Plus collecting so many eggs you are able to share with others. I'm sure they appreciate fresh farm eggs.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend and I hope you get some rain. I hope we don't, as tomorrow is 'painting' day and it is predicted to be nice.
Love & hugs dear Glenda ~ FlowerLady
Love the "taste of spring" I got from this post. We've still got a couple feet of snow on the ground and 70% chance of snow this afternoon. Don't give up on the mozzarella . . . I know you'll conquer it!
ReplyDeletePlanting strawberries, wonderful. I want to come and spend the summer there. Winter here, summer there -- it would be perfect.
ReplyDeleteWe had severe thunderstorms last night.
Oh, my! Down to only two cats? Maybe they chose that spot because there's someplace there where they can duck into safety? We have chances for rain all next week, starting with Sunday. It went around us last time and though I can still dig a hole and feel moist ground, we could use some more moisture to green things up. Our fire danger is really high right now, with wind and warm weather. My strawberries are "Albion". They wintered over good last winter but I'm not so sure about this one as I didn't get the bed mulched. I see a few that are still green, but not many!
ReplyDeleteI really think that's wonderful that you can make your own butter and cheese. Reminds me of the butter and cottage cheese my mother used to make when I was a little girl, before we left the farm. Fresh milk, around here, comes at such a premium price that it just wouldn't be cost-effective for me to try to make my own. I know raising cattle is expensive and a lot of work. But gosh, the benefits cannot be beat! All the manure you can use, all the cheese and milk you need. Not to mention sharing your land with those magnificent animals.
And yeah, I remember having chickens standing on my feet, even jumping in the air to try to grab whatever I might have in my hands, or even my fingers! I guess they must look like big fat pink worms to them. LOL Hugs xoxoxo