|
I'm always excited when the amish-owned produce stands open for the season. This farm, located in Loganton, Pennsylvania, is home to three families. They have a beauiful new produce stand (on the right, where the truck is parked) where they sell produce from their gardens. On this visit I bought a half bushel of shell peas. I love peas, and two years ago I shelled a bushel. After blanching and freezing the peas, we eat them all winter. Last year I had to buy peas at a local grocery store. Yuck.  Kauffmans' Produce & Farm, Loganton, PA So I'm doing them again this year. I planted some this spring, but realized after they came up that I had planted the snow peas. So I'll try to get more in the ground for this fall. Tonight though, I saved some peas and we're having home grown chicken with homemade cream of celery soup gravy, fresh peas, sauteed yellow squash and egg noodles. I feel very Amish. 
1 Comment
 Tom loves tractors. If my soul rests when I'm in the saddle, riding a good horse, or writing, Tom's soul rests when he's on a tractor. I love that Tom is a tractor and pickup truck kinda guy. There is something so... Okay, so I do think his tractor is sexy. There, I said it. I hope you don't think any less of me. I love the manly-ness of it all. Yeah, I know that's corny. But speaking of corn, our fields are up about two feet now... In honor of Father's Day last weekend, I wanted to share Tom's passion...  Trey loves that this tractor has a radio...  Sunday afternoon drive  "I'm calling to tell you about a huge community yard sale!" My sister said excitedly. I looked down at Trey and thought, 'Uh, yeah, NOT going to happen.'
"It's so good, " she went on, "that I'll take Trey for you so you can go." And that was how I ended up in the car with my mother in law as we filled the car with bargains. After two hours of successful negotiations, I thought - 'Wow, I'm on to something!' 5 Tips for Successful Yard Sale Negotiation We try to raise as much food as we can here at the homestead. In addition to the hens, the meat chickens, ducks, lambs and rabbits, we also have a number of gardens. I plant the gardens around the house in a mixture of ornamental and edibles. When we first moved in, I bought a few truckloads of composted cow manure to fill in around the house. Our plants get huge, that's for sure... Take a look:  My kitchen garden. Two different cold frame sections - the kale and lettuce in the middle was planted back in March. It's perpetual - I cut it and it grows back. In the foreground there are pepper plants. I put those in a bit early, but moved the salad cold frame onto them so they had a nice head start. In the background are some sunflowers, my lavender, more sweet pepper plants and some volunteer dill...  The brassica bed. Red cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts and a zucchini. These beds are mulched with a thick layer of composted horse manure/shavings. Keeps the ground wet and cool. I did add an odd petunia for a splash of color...  Okay, before you make nasty comments about the lawn, the mower was broken and Tom fixed it. So the lawn doesn't look quite this ratty anymore. But here is an edible/decorative garden - cabbage and zucchini mixed in with day lilies and hollyhocks.
"Kathy and Denny are coming over for dinner!" Eyebrow raised, Tom turned to look at me. "And where," he asked, "are we going to sit?" "I have a plan!" I insisted. "I just need you to..." And so goes most of my great ideas. I have plan, and Tom has the muscle. In this case though, I think it turned out pretty nice...  Oat straw from the farm and old boards salvaged from a pile of wood. With a little more creative decorating, a sturdy straw table took shape. Our first chicken BBQ at our new little camper, eating chicken we raised here at the homestead, was a huge success.  Heavy denim on the bales save legs from scratchy straw. A leftover bolt of batik print makes a perfect tablecloth. |
Project Materials:Archives
September 2011
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed