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You are here: Home / Archives for Garden

Garden

Odds and Ends From February 2019

March 30, 2019 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

One evening, I took the camera down the hill to where I milk. We are deeply grateful to a local man for allowing us the use of this large paddock, and Poppy appreciates all the grass in it! Pansy has her own fenced-off corner to keep her from direct contact with her mother (for obvious reasons), but they can be fairly close. Notice the mountains across the river? I enjoy seeing them in all their different moods.

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To get into the paddock, we cut across the fence near the top of the hill, using this stile that my boys built (on the suggestions of the property owner). Then, we scramble carefully down a very steep hill.

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I wanted to make lasagna one day, so Mr. Imagination helped me make the noodles. Yum!

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This was one of our first big pickings of tomatoes. Last week’s, about a month after this photo was taken, we got about twice as many as are in this picture! We’re very thankful for such a good harvest from our 104 plants. Today, I’m making the third enormous batch of salsa, since my big boys eat so much. We just happen to have very spicy peppers this year, which makes the flavor they enjoy, so the popular vote this week was to make salsa instead of bottling whole tomatoes and juice. We had about 110 pints from the first two batches; I think we’ll have 60-70 more after today. Hope that’s enough! Hard-working teenage boys eat a lot, and one of them was eating it by the cupful when I asked for taste-testers this morning. Notice the pink and black tomatoes? We had a bumper crop from our heirloom plants this year. We’re loving eating those super-tasty ones!

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Little Miss is watching me write this. She wanted me to write down her story, too: The man was picking apples. Then he saw the big, bad wolf, and then he made a brick house quickly and then he went in it and the big, bad wolf said, “Let me come in, let me come in.” Then the guy said, “No,” and then the big, bad wolf said, “Well, then, I will huff and I will puff and I will blow your house in.” Then he huffed and he puffed and he couldn’t blow the man’s house in. He said, “There’s a farmer’s tree down the road. Will you get up at 6:00 in the morning and come with me to the farmer’s?” The end.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Cow, Garden, Homemaking, Random Photos

December 2018 Photos

January 12, 2019 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

As usual, there are a lot of photos that don’t fit in any other post.

Mr. Sweetie was enamoured with this cicada that he found. It’s only an inch long.

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We planted sunflowers in a square for a playhouse for the two youngest. They figured out what is was pretty quickly, and Mr. Imagination built a table for it. He took these next three pictures.

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I planted zucchinis close to the sunflower house.30-IMG_5155331-IMG_51563

Little Miss loves helping me in the kitchen. She was actually quite helpful when I made Tomato-Cheese Pinwheels recently.

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The canoe continues to take shape. Mr. Intellectual adds a strip or two every day.

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The kittens are growing! Here they are at a month old.

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This is Mr. Sweetie’s lego airplane.

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Here is another example of the interesting vehicles we see driving past. This is an old Land Rover.

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One afternoon, Little Miss helped Esther and I to make tortillas. She loves helping in the kitchen!

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Another day, I sorted through a box of clothes set aside for her to grow into. She was thrilled to find that she could now wear this pretty dress!

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If you want a free Kindle book today, Chautona Havig’s A Bird Died is free for a few days. This is one I really enjoyed; read my review of it here.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Garden, Kittens, Random Photos

Garlic

January 9, 2019 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Two friends have asked me in the last few weeks how I braid garlic and onions. I happened to have a pile of garlic that I decided to braid this morning, and after I got started thought it would be a good chance to show how I do it, for those who were curious.

Start by fastening three heads together. I usually use string, but rubberbands were handier this morning, so that’s what I used this time.

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Braid a few times, then start adding in another head with each braid.

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Continue till it’s long enough, and then stop adding more. Braid a little farther without adding any, and then tie it off.

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Here are my finished braids of this year’s skimpy crop (I think it was a combination of poor soil and not enough sunshine where we put it), and I’ll have the boys hang them in the food storage room later.

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The softneck garlic I used to grow in Michigan was easier to braid, but I’ve learned that it’s possible with this hardneck garlic as well. When we want to use some, we’ll just cut or twist off a head.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Garden, Homemaking

December 2017 Pictures

January 23, 2018 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Simon helped me harvest the garlic on Christmas Day. We got 89 heads from an area about a meter square. 14-IMG_3928

We’re having a problem with fleas on the kittens. I don’t want to spend $30 each to buy the pour-on stuff from the vet, because the mama cat would just lick it right off and I don’t think that would be good for her, so we’re dusting them with diatomaceous earth every 2-3 days. They hate it!

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This cat has always loved to sit in boxes—but I think she found one almost too small for her, this time!

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This hen hatched six babies right after Christmas. We were able to sell the mother and all the babies.

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The positions we find the kittens in are sometimes pretty funny!

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Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: cats, Garden, Kittens, random pictures

Why I Haven’t Been Writing!

December 14, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I know, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything.  That’s because, when  I’m not doing this–IMG_9053

I’m trying to catch up with all this–

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Tomatillos, peppers, basil, eggplant
Tomatillos, peppers, basil, eggplant
Tomatoes
Tomatoes
And now, the blackcurrants are ripening, too!
And now, the blackcurrants are ripening, too!
Pole beans, salad greens, and strawberries
Pole beans, salad greens, and strawberries
Pumpkins and carrots
Pumpkins and carrots
The potato patch!
The potato patch!
This is supposed to be beans and cucumbers!
This is supposed to be beans and cucumbers!
Turnips and onions
Turnips and onions
Cabbages and carrots
Cabbages and carrots
Tomatoes and corn
Tomatoes and corn

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Garden

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The Family:


Dad and Mom (Gayle and Emma)

Girl #1, Esther, my right hand

Boy #1, Seth (Mr. Handyman)

Boy #2, Simon (Mr. Inventor)

Boy #3, Mr. Intellectual

Boy #4, Mr. Diligence

Boy #5, Mr. Sweetie

Boy #6, Mr. Imagination

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